How to write a blog post needs certain principles and strategies. Writing is hard work if you don’t approach it the right way. Not only that, writing a blog post becomes a tedious task and it will discourage you from continuing your blog altogether.
I know a lot of beginner bloggers who gave up after five or fewer posts. This article will help you go to work directly, and not stop and research. You only need to understand three things: blog post types, principles to write good posts, and how to write good blog headlines. At the end of reading this post, you will be able to write a good blog post that people would like to read and share.
How To Write A Blog Post: Types Of Posts
There are several types of posts. Some are long unending articles others are small
- Listicles
Listicles are a popular way of writing articles. Listicles are posts that focus on a list of things. An example is 100 ways to change your style or 10 principles to write a good blog post. Listicles are easy to read.
- Long articles
How to– How to articles show you how to do something or how to achieve a certain goal. This is also the most known type of article. Usually, these are written together with listicles and are easy to read.
What is– What are articles also explain the current state of something? These could be news-type blogs. Or they explain something that people are looking for.
Resource posts- These are guide articles that explain how to do something and gives a full detail with links to other posts and more. With resources, you feel like you are reading a manual.
#How to write a blog post: long articles are friend to search engines
- Infographics
Infographics became new trends in the last few years. Infographics are an abridged and image version of a long blog post. For example, instead of writing 10 steps to do something, you show it in a one-page image using images and text.
#How to write a blog post: use various types of posts
How To Write A Blog Post-Fast: The Process
Writing seems a tedious job. Starting a 3000 words article is daunting by its self. The secret to running kilometers is to start with one. And the first strategy you put in place will take you to the desired destination.
- Niche Down
How to write a blog post begins by niching down on your topic. The problem with many blog posts is that they are very broad. You cannot write about health, because health is not a direct problem. Instead you need to write on specific problems such as diabetics.
Even writing on diabetics is a big challenge. Because it is still a broad problem. People usually don’t ask about diabetics, unless they are new to the disease. They ask what foods are good for diabetics. Or Physical exercise for diabetes.
The easy way to niche down is to understand your audience. What are they looking for? This takes used to the send step.
#How to write a blog post: be specific and solve a problem
- Keyword research
Keyword research is one of the best ways to understand the market need. Previously, I had written 100 posts of average 1500 words, and got low traffic to my blog. The blog is still alive, but it gets very small traffic every month. On the last 5 posts, I made, I went to a keyword people were looking for and only these posts, although were competitive keywords, are ranking well.
Why was I wrong? Why didn’t my effort bring fruit? Well, two reasons, one, I was working on very competitive keywords and I was being buried alive every time I posted. Second, I was not writing to answer people’s questions. I was writing what makes me happy. Although I did the keyword research, my post was not down to earth and practical. I was into the theories.
Here is how you do keyword research.
Every post should answer a certain question that your readers have. See this post. I am writing ‘how to write a blog post’ this is something I overlooked for long. Because writing a long post every day is very easy for me. sometimes tiresome. And sometimes gibberish. Once in a while, I write a good post.
What I usually focus on is how to give the readers the best in the easiest way.
#How to write a blog post: Find out what people are looking for
- Parts
Once you get your keyword, the next step is to make subtitles. This seems easy but still hard work. Here is how I do it.
- Google autosuggest and google related– this is one of the best tools you need to use. Autosuggest is a google suggestion while you type on the search box. These are the keywords people use while searching for something.
Example: ‘how to make a coffee’
From some keyword research we knew that there are at least 22k searches on google only from the USA. And that is also easy to rank as the publisher’s competition is low.
The next step is to take this keyword and put it on google.
Look below the search results on google. And you will find more keywords.
Select at least 5 keywords to form these that are related to your original keyword. For example a person who searched ‘how to make a coffee’ is also interested in how to make coffee with a coffee maker, how to make coffee with milk, how to make good coffee at home, how to brew coffee.
These are keyword I found from this simple research. I would use these keywords in the H2 and H3.
- Go to ubersuggest and google keyword planner and interest the same keyword. ‘how to make a coffee’ In ubersuggest, look inside the question keywords section. Questions also can be good subtitles.
Follow the same steps are no.1. if you find additional keywords, that could be subheaders .ist there
4-Arrange your header and subheader.
Ayn Rand, a known writer says that every writer, beginner or advanced, must have an out line before writing any ariticle. Outline is a map for your article. You kno where you are and how long you need to write on.
Make sure the whole process is easy, and the subtitles will help you write content.
How to make a coffee
- Introduction
- How to make coffee step by step
- how to make good coffee at home
- How to brew coffee
- how to make coffee with a coffee maker
- Ingredients
- how to make coffee with milk
- how to make coffee with coffee powder
- Conclusion
Here is a general arrangement of my blog on the topic. I understand the arrangement is not full and some things are not relevant. But a person asking a given keyword, may also be interested in the sub-topics listed.
#How to write a blog post: create hierarchy of your post
- Write
Here is the best part of following this simple step. Write one page for each subtopic. That is probably 500 words for each. It is easier to write small on many titles than any titles. Having subheaders is the best way to write a good blog post. Here, focus on giving the best possible solution in a small text as possible.
#How to write a blog post: write as fast as and as much as you can
- Critics and doubt
The brain is hardwired to keep you safe, by discouraging you from taking risks or from losing your energy. This was useful for thousands of years, as energy sources were scared and the world was more dangerous than it is today.
The pity is this trend of the brain has continued its effect. Today, we fear to start something, for fear we would fail. We also doubt someone hat is not there in the real world.
Once, you decided to write, and once you are sure people need your solution, keep writing. Stop your brain from doubt. Keep writing. It is possible to write 3000 or more words every day if you have the time. Keep writing. And write as fast as you can.
#How to write a blog post: Don’t prematurely judge your work
- Revise
Once you finished writing keep it somewhere for the next day. On the next day, edit there three things.
- Grammatical error.- use Grammarly. The free version is also more than enough. If you want you can purchase for greater grammar and vocabulary accuracy. Grammarly is one of the best tools on the market.
- Hierarchy – hierarchy or flow of your post is mandatory. Readers should follow you until the end of the post. While you review your post, read it as if you are the audience. Does it flow from introduction to the subtitles to the conclusion? Is it easy to follow?
- Are there other posts you wrote before that could strengthen your current post? If yes, then link them here.
#How to write a blog post: Always revise your work before posting
How To Write A Blog Post: Principles
- Blog post should be clear
What are you writing about? If people don’t understand the purpose of your blog, then it is futile. You can not write something that is not related to people’s challenges. It is always better to write a shorter clear post than long gibberish.
They say you need to write for a high school student. These are fresh, and do not have an idea about the real world. If you can write to them with the knowledge they have and the matrutiy they have, then everyone would get it. Imagine how clear you need to be.
These means don’t overuse complex words and sentences. Make your paragraph short. Therefore 2-4 sentences in a paragraph.
Tell me how to read your post at the beginning of the post. Show them the advantage of reading. Here ask, what is the main idea of the post? Is it easy to get lost In the process? IF you don’t have one clear idea of what you wrote, it is probably bad writing.
- Use a conversational method of writing. Write as if you are talking.
- Use headers
H2, H3 headers are good not only to classify your blog into smaller parts but also to organize your blog. The organized blog is easy to follow.
- Include a call to action
This is important. Any post you write should tell readers what to do next or they will leave, and may never come back. Call to action could be telling them to subscribe or share.
- Include Links
Use internal and external links. Links help your readers stay and learn more. This will minimize the bounce rate from your website.
- Use Images
Images make your post alive. You need to choose images that could complement your article. Find images from Unsplash or Pexels and make sure to minimize their size before using them.
Use unsplash and pexels for completely free image resources.
#How to write a blog post: make clear title that engages action.
How To Write A Blog Post: Introduction and Conclusion
Your article needs to follow certain tactics to make it more readable.
- Introduction
The introductory part is the most important part of the post. Here not only show what the post is about but also you give the road map.
A successful introduction should have three things in them
- A general overview of the problem that the audience has. You need to say what the audience is looking for using their language. ‘sometimes a shop coffee is not as good as a home coffee. Or you don’t have time to leave your home and buy that Starbucks’ This is generally attractive for the reader. It makes them feel, you understand their problem.
- A road map- it is rather hard to read a long post. In this short attention age, writing long posts seems unattractive. This is why you need to wite to solve a problem. If you solve a challenge people have, they would climb a mountain to get the solution.
Show them what you wrote and how they need to read it.
- Promise- tell them what they would get at the end of reading the article.
- Conclusion
The conclusion is a call to the action part of the post.
#How to write a blog post: the beginning and the ending are what people remember most
How To Write A Blog Post: Headlines
Headlines should help people to click to read. That is why it is necessary to understand the importance of headlines. Here are the principles that will help you get more clicks by adjusting your headlines only.
- Use negative keywords often
This seems manipulative and dark. But it is true. Using negative keywords gets more attention than the positive keywords. After all we are all doomed. This is probably why most news is negative than the positive.
#How to write a blog post: unfortunately people gravitate to the negative
- Use lists
10 ways to get a visa fast is better than how to get visas fast. Probably as human beings we are wired to follow orders. we always need step by step guide even on most private things. You can use the ‘step by step guide’ in your title.
#How to write a blog post: lists are easy to read
- Suspense
Not giving everything is the key here. Viral websites use such tricks. You probably have read posts such as ‘ she thought she found love, but what happened makes your heart melt’. This type of title was deemed as clickbait and spammy. These days many are avoiding them. But similar titles you can find on websites such as bored panda.
#How to write a blog post: inspire click
- Promise
‘How to get 10k followers in one month’ type of topics are common. If you are looking for such solutions, these posts would attract your attention.
#How to write a blog post: solve a problem
- How to
‘How to lose your money investing in a month’ is an example. ‘How to change your life in a month and live your greatest potential.’ This moves people to take action. It makes them doubt if they re doing what you are promising.
#How to write a blog post: give step by step task
Finally, How to write a blog post
Blog posts seem to be easy and effortless. However, one needs a certain strategy and principles to create a good post that people want to read.
If you follow the above principles and process, you will surely be able to write more blog posts and high-quality articles.
If you have questions contact us.
#How to Write A Blog Post