Since you’re on this page, you must be looking for some blog writing tips to turn your next piece of writing into a successful blog. You’re in the right place!
In this article we’re going to give you the ultimate guide to writing a great blog post that’ll cut through the noise. If you have a knack for writing, all you need to do is follow these easy guidelines to write a well-turned and captivating blog post that’ll keep your readers hooked right till the end.
The Most Common Blog Writing Format
A blog post is any entry, article, news piece or guide on a specific topic that you write on a blog. Be it to share your story, promote a brand, boost SEO or revenue, it can be an effective way to do any of these.
There are many popular blog formats, among which, these 7 are found to be the most common:
- The fun / culture post
- The “What Is” post
- The “How-To” post
- The List-Based post
- The Curated (“Ultimate Guide”) post
- The Infographic post
- The Newsjacking post
Once you picked up the right format, how do you ensure your blog post catches the eyes of your target audience?
Blog Writing Tips to Make a Good Blog Post
A good blog post should answer questions and help readers resolve a challenge they’re experiencing — and you have to do so in an educational and interesting way. Simply ask yourself – ‘Does this answer what the reader has been looking for?’ and ‘Why would someone keep reading my blog and keep returning for more?’.
And to make sure these two questions are answered you have to provide some actionable steps while keeping the content engaging and read worthy. For instance, write a precise introduction that’ll grab the attention of the audience and will make them want to continue reading your post. And also use examples to make it enjoyable and accessible to your reader through your writing.
Keep in mind, it’s all about being interesting and educational.
So, how do you actually go about writing one of these engaging and informational pieces? Let’s dive in.
10 steps to writing a blog
Here are the steps you’ll want to follow while writing a blog post.
1. Generate ideas
The first and foremost step to writing a blog is to generate ideas. Make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience while considering potential topics.
- Start by asking yourself- what do they want to know about? What will offer them value and what will resonate with them? For example, the Contentguyz team targets individuals or business owners who want to get SEO optimized content marketing, copywriting, blog writing services to promote their product or business.
- Understand your target audience. Consider their demographic and interests. Customize your blog’s theme based on the audience persona that’ll be able to draw them in. Also consider your goals and niche.
- Then brainstorm and come up with a winning idea / topic for your blog post.
2. Create a content outline
As the writer, start by drafting a content plan / template, it’ll be a life-saver.
Sometimes because of the overwhelming amount of information on a topic, it becomes difficult to put them in a coherent manner, not to mention how that might appear to the reader if not done right.
So, for the reader, make a content outline as well. Try to
- Flesh out your idea by detailing subpoints of your topic and listing important supplemental information.
- Put some white space on your post.
3. Pick a catchy headline
The title of your post should be short, descriptive and clear. It should draw attention to itself. It’s essentially a virtual guidemap to your blog so try keeping it to 65 characters or fewer for getting your content seen by search engines.
Consider using benefit-driven phrasing, powerful verbs, and numbers that speak impact.
Because first impressions matter, right?
4. Craft a captivating introduction
Now that you’ve grabbed the reader’s attention with your headline, next you’ve got to keep them.
On the Internet — people’s attention spans are much more limited than with print. So your opening paragraph is crucial. And the first mistake to avoid here is – sounding too academic because in the blogging context, this approach bores readers. To get in their shoes, try using empathy. Think about what the readers want to find in your blog. Set the tone of your content.
5. Write the blog
Now, use the outline previously made as a guide and bring to life all your points. It’s vital to spend adequate time researching, writing, and revising your blog content. Use your own unique voice, all while keeping your audience in mind. And don’t forget to use-
- Short paragraphs- so that it’s easy and fast to read.
- Make it scannable using subheadings, white space, bullet points.
- Provide interesting supporting points.
6. Accessible language
The golden rule of blogging is-
Less is More
When it comes to tone and language, restrain yourself from using all those fancy, academic jargons. Try simple language that would be understandable for your audience.
7. Proofread, edit and revise
The editing process is an important part of blogging. Correct any spelling, grammar, or factual errors. Eliminate needless information and wordiness. Also watch out for any careless typos, punctuation or capitalization errors.
8. Add graphics
Use images and illustrations to help your reader take a breather and focus. Choose some visually appealing and relevant images for your post. But don’t overload your post with too many of those, so it doesn’t distract your reader from reading and finishing your post.
9. Optimize for on-page SEO
There isn’t really much point to writing a killer blog post if no one can find it.
And that’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in.
It involves strategic use of keywords, URLs, page title and headers, meta description, titles, templates, and meeting readability standards.
10. Insert a Call To Action
You’ve hooked your readers’ attention, drawn them in and then led them through with compelling points, now you need to give it a conclusion. For that- insert a CTA to give the readers some actionable ideas indicating what you want the reader to do next — subscribe to your blog, opt for your services or read a related article, etc. to wrap it up. But do not clutter your blog post with it or advertisements.
By now, you should understand the basics of writing a blog post, such as – who you’re writing for and how exactly you’re doing it. Writing a great blog post is not as confusing as it may seem at first glance. Rather, it’s fairly easy if you can follow these tips and have a passion for writing.
Contact us to find out how strategic blog writing can help your company grow rapidly and get more information about our SEO optimized blog writing services.