How to Write a Blog Post

Writing can be difficult, and writing regularly can see downright impossible. But here’s the thing: writing, especially blogging, can become as organic as breathing air with just a little practice and the proper planning and approach.

To get yourself on the proper track to writing killer posts from now until forever, we’ve compiled a list of seven essential elements that you should keep mind well before attempting to put fingers to keyboard:

1. Focus on Looks More than Readability?  Big Mistake

Some bloggers and traditional writers fall into the trap of thinking that just a few well-placed images or a high-resolution photo or video are the best ways to beautify your copy.

Proper formatting and maintaining an overall consistency throughout the copy is the best way to make your blog much easier to digest for readers and increases the likelihood of it being shared through social media networks. People love to read things that are easy to understand and follow uniformity from the first word to the very last period, so why not take advantage of that?

2. Know Your Audience

Before you even think about staring a post, whether it’s your first or your 101st, you have to be mindful of who you’re writing for. When nailing down a target audience, keep these questions in mind:

  • What does my audience want to know about?
  • What are some “pain points” that may resonate with my audience the most?
  • What can I provide my audience that would set me apart from others like me?

As an example, say you’re trying to write a blog geared towards older, retired veterans looking for ways to volunteer in their respective communities. Because there might be more of a technology gap between them and a much younger generation, an article may focus on how to learn to utilize social media to search for nearby volunteer networks.

3. Use Headlines and Subheads to Draw Them In

Writing a title or headline that immediately captures the attention of the reader will elevate your blog and increase the likelihood of people reading more.

Adding informative and relevant subheads to your copy creates a sense of chronology and organization when reading, and allows readers to easily identify what sections are going to be about before reading them. This saves readers time by being able to avoid certain sections that may not pertain to what they’re trying to read or learn as that time.

4. Quality is the Best Policy

Once you’ve organized your thoughts and locked in a viable topic, you’ve got to start writing. Your content needs to be organized, compelling, informational, but above all, accurate. Readers do not respond well to nonfactual information. Not only does this hurt your reputation as a writer, it also affects you credibility as a person.

Making sure that whatever research you do you strengthen the veracity of your post is also valid goes a very long way in establishing yourself as a reputable blogger.

5. Optimize for SEO

Once you’re finished writing, be sure to go back and optimize your copy for search engine optimization, or SEO. Focus less on the length of sentences or phrases and more on the overall fluidity.

There’s a fine line between organic writing and blatant keyword stuffing that can be crossed if you’re not careful. If a word can be replaced with a keyword, feel free to do such. But be mindful of how much you do this. Many of Google’s latest algorithm updates have all but abolished the use of shadier SEO tactics to increase search visibility.

Relying more on quality content and meaningful sentence inclusion go a much longer way in the end.

6. Call Your Readers to Action

Preferably placed in the middle or near the end, a call to action, or CTA, gives readers a task that can potentially turn them into repeat readers or followers. A CTA can take many different forms, but most are either clickable buttons or a hyperlink that points a reader to more information or resources.

For example, asking readers in an article to subscribe or sign up for a monthly newsletter of your site is considered a simple CTA that increases your following without being too invasive.

7. Try Marketing Socially

Blogs rarely become popular by just sitting around on the Internet. Marketing your content socially is one of the best ways to get your name out there into the world. Applications like Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds are all perfect ways to advertise.

There’s also third-party software, like Mail Chimp, that allows you to create email and newsletter campaigns that you can send to readers for free.

Summary

There are certain elements that you should be mindful when considering how best to write a blog team project management tools. Quality content, good organization, savvy marketing tactics through web software, proper formatting techniques and SEO optimization are just a few of the ways we mention to create compelling, informational and engaging content. Read our take on the subject: