How To Write a Blog In 5 Steps in (2021)
How To Write a Blog In 5 Steps in (2021)
A Great Blog Post Writing a blog post is a bit like driving; you can study the highway code for months (or read articles telling you how to write a blog post), but nothing can prepare you for the real thing like getting behind the wheel and taking to the open road. Or something.
"Wait for it ... wait for it ... BASS DROP."
Now that I'm done with that vague metaphor, let's get started. You know you need to start blogging to grow your business, but you don't know how. In this post, I'll show you how to write a great blog post in five easy steps that people will really want to read. Ready? Let's start.
How to Write a Blog Post in Five Easy Steps [Summary]:
Step 1: Plan your blog post by choosing a topic, outline, research, and check facts.
Step 2: Create a headline that is both informative and catches the attention of the readers.
Step 3: Write your message, either write a draft in a single session or gradually write a word on parts of it.
Step 4: Use images to enhance your message, improve its flow, add humor and explain complex topics.
Step 5: Edit your blog post. Make sure to avoid repetition, read your message aloud to check the progression, have someone else read it and give feedback, keep sentences and paragraphs short, don't be a perfectionist, don't be afraid to cut out or modify your text last minute.
Now let's consider each step in more detail.
, Step 1:
Plan Writing a blog post First a disclaimer - the entire process of writing a blog post often takes more than a few hours, even if you can type eighty words per minute and your writing skills are sharp. From the start of the idea to finally hitting 'Publish', you could spend a few days or maybe even a week 'writing' a blog post, but it's important to spend those vital hours planning your post and even thinking about your post (yes, thinking counts as work if you're a blogger) before actually writing it.
Does your blog post have enough circles and crosses?
Long before you sit down to put the digital pen on paper, make sure you have everything you need to sit down and write. Many new bloggers overlook the planning process, and while you may be able to get away with skipping the planning stage, doing your homework will actually save you time and help you develop good blogging habits.
Choose a topic that interests you.
There is an old maxim that says, "No fun for the writer, no fun for the reader." It doesn't matter what industry you work in, as a blogger you should live and die by this statement.
Before performing any of the following steps, you should choose a topic that really interests you. Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - will kill a blog post more effectively than a lack of enthusiasm from the writer. You can tell when a writer is bored by his subject matter, and it's so worthless it's a bit embarrassing.
Do not go there.
I already hear your concerns. "But Dan, I have to blog for a company that makes cardboard boxes." I feel your pain, I really do. Over the course of my career I have written content for dozens of clients in a number of less-than-exciting industries (such as financial regulatory compliance and corporate housing), but the hallmark of a professional blogger is the ability to write well about any subject, however dry it may be. However, blogging is a lot easier if you can muster at least a little enthusiasm for the topic.
You also have to be able to accept that not every post will get your engine going. Some posts will feel like a chore, but if you have editorial control over what you write about, choose topics you'd like to read, even if they're related to niche industries. The more enthusiastic you can be about your topic, the more enthusiastic your readers will be when they read it.
If you're really desperate for inspiration, check out our list of eight blog topic generators to get you started.
Write an outline for your post
Great blog posts don't just happen. Even the best bloggers need a global idea to keep them on track. This is where contouring comes into play.
An outline doesn't have to be long, or even detailed - it's just a rough guide to make sure you don't keep wandering about something that touches on your subject.
For example, this is the outline for this post that I sent to my editor before starting work:
Introduction
[Brief summary explaining what the blog post will cover]
Part 1 - Schedule a blog post
- What bloggers should do before getting the pen putting on paper - sketches, research etc.
Part 2 - Writing a blog post
- Tips to focus on writing, productivity tips for bloggers
Part 3 - Rewriting / editing a blog post - Self-editing techniques
, things to watch out for, common blogging mistakes
Part 4 -
A blog post Optimize - How to optimize a blog post for on-page SEO, social shares / engagement, etc.
Part 5 - Conclusion
- Completion
The purpose of this review is to make sure I know what I'm planning to cover, in what order the different sections will appear, and some bare details of what each section will contain.
Contours keep you fair. They keep you from indulging in ill-thought-out driving metaphors and keep you focused on the overall structure of your message. Sometimes I'll write a more thorough sketch (and sometimes I don't bother with it at all), but usually something like the above sketch is perfectly acceptable.
Whether you're writing your sketch in your word processor, on a piece of paper, or even on a napkin, do whatever you want to keep you focused.
Do Your Research
One of the biggest secrets that professional bloggers (myself included) don't want you to know is that we don't really know everything. Frankly, sometimes we don't know about a topic before we sit down to write about it.
Pro tip: You don't actually need a passport to write a travel marketing post.
This doesn't mean that all bloggers are insincere fakers. On the contrary, the natural curiosity of many bloggers makes them great at what they do. If you're blogging for a living, you should be able to jump from one topic to another with ease, even if you don't know about it. What allows us to do this and write authoritatively on topics that are new to us is knowing how to properly research a blog post.
It almost goes without saying, but relying solely on Wikipedia as the primary source is almost always a bad idea. Yes, Wikipedia has thousands of well-researched articles, but it's not foolproof, and false facts make their way into articles without the editors noticing. In addition, every verifiable fact on the site is quoted through links elsewhere on the Internet, so why call the middleman?
Lou Diamond Phillips was a total beast in 'La Bamba'.
If you rely on third party information to write your blog post, choose authoritative sources. Official associations, government websites, widely cited research papers, and leading industry experts are all good examples. However, no one is always right, so approach any source with a journalist's trained skepticism and question everything until you are sure your information is solid.
Check Your Facts
A few years ago, I edited a piece written by a colleague that focused on the highlights of a major technology conference. The writer had, under a very tight deadline, done a fantastic job in no time writing great lyrics, but failed to check his facts properly. He quoted an article from Forbes in which the writer claimed that Steve Jobs used PowerPoint onstage - something that never happened. It was lazy journalism on the part of the Forbes writer and an easy mistake on the part of my colleague, but the result was the same; one poorly researched article had a direct impact on another because both writers failed to do their due diligence.
All it takes to convince your credibility is one glaring mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, but it's crucial to avoid these kinds of blunders. If you're just starting out, your credibility and authority will take a big hit if you publish inaccurate information, and even if you have a blog with millions of loyal readers, your regular customers will be more than happy to jump over your mistake - Just have a look in the comment sections of publications such as Wired or TechCrunch to see how quickly this can happen.
In the event that you fall prey to a well-done hoax, repeat a lot of scattered misinformation, or just make a mistake, admit it right away and be transparent about your edits. If you try to sneak something past your readers, you can bet they will call you on it, adding to the damage. Be honest, accountable and fix it - quickly.
How to Write a Blog Post, Step 2: Write a Great Headline
Everyone and their grandmother have an opinion about headlines. Some say you should be as specific as possible (so as not to mislead your readers and manage their expectations), while others recommend a more abstract approach. Vague headlines might work fine if you're Seth Godin, but for most of us, being specific is better.
Some headlines practically write themselves.
There are two ways you can write blog post headlines. You can determine your final headline before writing the rest of your post (and use your headline to structure your outline), or you can write your blog post with a working title and see what fits when you're done.
Personally, I somehow don't follow a rigid strategy. Sometimes I come up with a strong headline from the start and stick with it, while other posts take a lot more work. While sites like Upworthy have arguably screwed up writing on the web with their clickbait headlines, the process behind the site's headlines is valuable as it forces you to really think about your post and how to get your audience's attention.
Your approach to headlines should also vary depending on your audience. For example, let's take a look at these super-specific headlines from all over the web:
How Our Side Project Raised $ 51,365 in 60 DaysDriven
How Lua CEO Built an Enterprise Messaging App ThatOpen Rates from 20% to 98%
5 Things We Did in 2014 to Growth by 1059%
The exact numbers presented in these headlines are all framed in a context of actionable advice to other marketers and startups. These types of 'case study' blog posts often perform well, due to their transparent nature (which pulls back the curtain on successful growing businesses and the people who run them) and the 'how-to' angle (which attracts people who want to achieve the same through examples from practice).
People LOVE articles with instructions.
That's all well and good if that's what you're looking for - which is rare in my case. I haven't read any of these posts simply because it seems like at least half of the blog posts in my RSS feed are structured this way (including this one). They're great for the sake of example, but I've glossed them over because they're so similar to the dozens of other posts I see every day telling me three hacks to grow my startup X percent in Y months.
Another common technique is to ask a question in your headline. Done right, this can be extremely effective, as in these examples:
Can an algorithm write a better news story than a human reporter?
Would you be part of a crowd sourced environmental alert system?
What do Uber, Zenefits and public health in a Kenyan slum have in common?
However, this technique is also getting tiring, and nowadays it is used by fewer publications (luckily next to the always annoying "You won't believe ..." headline). If you choose to ask questions in your headlines, make sure it's a question that your audience will be genuinely interested in.
Writing headlines for blog posts is as much an art as it is a science, and probably warrants posting your own, but for now the only thing I would recommend is to experiment with what works for your audience. If your readers want hyper-specific case studies on how to do things, by all means let them have it. However, don't do something just because someone else is, especially if it doesn't resonate with your audience.
Writing a Blog Post, Step 3: Writing the Section
So you've done your research, picked a headline (or at least a working title), and now you're ready to actually write a blog post. So go for it.
Make sure to actually turn on your computer before you start writing.
As with headlines, there are two ways to write a blog post. You can either sit down and write an entire draft in one sitting (my preferred workflow), or you can gradually work it out over time. There is no right or wrong answer here - just what works for you.
However, I recommend getting as much done in one session as possible. This makes it easier to stay focused on the subject, reduces the chance of you forgetting crucial points, and also lets you get the damn thing out of your hair faster.
Even if you work more effectively in short bursts, try to write as much as possible that you get during those sessions. The more times you have to revisit a design, the more tempting it is to add a little here, and a little there, and before you know it, you'll be completely off topic. Get as much done as possible at once, even if you prefer to compose a blog post in three or four writing sessions.
Like most skills, writing gets easier and more natural the more you do it. When you first start out, you'll find that it takes a week (or more) to write a post, but with practice, you'll be rolling in great posts in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, there are no "hacks" or shortcuts when it comes to writing - you have to put the time into the coal.
NOTE: Many people struggle with writing introductions. A good strategy is to write the introduction last. Just get into the flesh of the blog post and worry about the introduction later. Here are five easy ways to write a great introduction.
Writing a Blog Post, Step 4: Using Images Effectively
Writing for the web is a very different animal than writing for print. Oftentimes, people simply don't have the time, will or ability to focus on long blog posts without any visual stimulation. Even a well-formatted, text-only blog post will likely have your reader screaming back to Reddit or Twitter in minutes, which is why it's so important to include images in your posts.
Images HelpBlog Post Flow More Effectively One
Ur Of the main reasons for including images in your blog posts is to split up the text. Many people scan blog posts instead of delving into every word, and running images throughout the text will make your post appear less intimidating and more visually appealing.
Images make great visual punchlines
Everyone loves to laugh, and a well-chosen image can help lighten the tone of your messages and inject some much-needed humor into a piece. This can be especially effective if you're writing about a dry (or downright boring) topic.
This image has nothing to do with blogging.
Images make complex topics easier to understand
Let's face it - sometimes digital marketing (and hundreds of other niche topics) isn't the most accessible topic for newbies. That's why images are an essential part of your blogging toolkit if you're hoping to expand your audience. Charts, charts, infographics, tables, and other visual resources can help your readers understand abstract or complex topics and the points you are trying to make.
Writing a Blog Post, Step 5: The Editing Part
Writing Blog posts is difficult. Editing a blog post is more difficult. Many people mistakenly assume that editing is simply crossing out sentences that don't work or fixing grammatical errors. While sentence structure and grammar are both very important, editing is about seeing the piece as a whole and sometimes being willing to sacrifice words (and the hours it took to write them) for consistency.
I won't explicitly tell you to check your spelling and grammar - you should anyway. However, I'll provide some self-editing tips and suggestions for sharpening your writing so that it packs a punch and keeps your readers scrolling.
Avoid repetition
Few things are more shocking to read than repeating certain words or phrases. Once you are done with the first draft of your blog post, read it and check if there are any words that can be substituted to avoid repeating yourself.
Repetition - avoid it.
BONUS: Every writer has a "crutch" word or phrase. This is a word that, however carefully they try, the writer simply cannot fail to include it in his work. Identify your support word, be vigilant, and make sure it doesn't occur more often than necessary.
Read your message aloud to check the flow.
This is a trick many writers learn in workshops. If a piece reads awkwardly out loud, it will likely read awkwardly in your reader's mind. It may seem a bit silly, but force yourself to read your message out loud to check for cumbersome bottlenecks or contrived sentences. Do you find yourself struggling with the flow of a sentence? Rework it until it rolls off your tongue.
Have someone else read your work.
This is crucial for inexperienced or casual bloggers. Asking a friend or colleague to check your work is not an admission of weakness or a sign of failure - it is a promise to make your work as strong as possible.
Consider asking someone else to read your work.
Ideally, ask someone with editing experience to prove your work. Also, make sure they understand that you're not looking for help pinpointing typos or grammatical errors (but if they do, great), but that you want to hear their thoughts on the flow of the piece and whether it is structurally logical. Do your points come across well? Is your position clear on a controversial topic? Does the piece prompt the reader to reflect or challenge an existing belief? Is the advice you give worth following? These are all questions you can help answer when another set of eyes read your work.
Keep sentences short and paragraphs shorter
Nothing is more likely to intimidate or upset a reader than huge walls of text. It's a common mistake for inexperienced bloggers, and one that I see far too often in many online articles.
Sentences should be as short as possible. They are easier to read, making the work of your audience easier. Shorter sentences also reduce the likelihood of tangents. For example, I recently came across a sentence in an opinion piece in Wired that contained no fewer than seven subordinate clauses, an editorial sin of almost unimaginable size.
Paragraphs should also be short and sweet. The shorter the paragraph, the more likely your readers will continue. The "rules" of the paragraph structure have been bent a bit since web-based publishing became the norm, but try to keep individual ideas isolated to their own neat, short little paragraph.
Accept that your blog post will never be perfect
There is no such thing as a perfect post, and the sooner you agree with it, the better.
I am not advocating for sloppy work to be published, nor am I saying you shouldn't be obsessive about the details. However, I say that even the best blog posts can always be better, but the time is always against us. Again, unless you're Seth Godin, you probably need to publish more than one post a month, so struggling over every post will take away the desire to write and waste precious time - not to mention that you are likely to incur the ire of your editor or content manager.
Make every post the best you can, learn from the experience, and then move on.
Don't be afraid to cut back or adapt quickly. You
may have forgotten, but I originally included a section in the preview overview for this post that was about optimizing blog posts for SEO. I was all set to write this section, but watching my first draft take shape, I realized this was too substantial a topic to tackle in an already lengthy post. As a result, I have made the decision to delete this section from the post altogether. I have purposely left the outline intact to show that you need not be afraid to make such editorial decisions.
Unless there is something you absolutely MUST include (say, a section that your sales or management team expects in a message you want to deliver), your outline isn't set in stone. Remember, an outline is a guide, not an unchanging set of commandments. If something doesn't work, be it a sentence, a paragraph or even an entire section, don't hesitate to make the cut. Be ruthless with your work.
That's all she wrote ...
Blogging is one of those jobs that seem easy until you have to do it. Fortunately, it gets easier, and with time and practice, you'll be blogging like a pro in no time.
If there is any aspect of writing a blog post that I haven't covered, or if you have specific questions about my process or anything blog-related in general, let me know in the comments - I'll answer them as best I can.
Grab your pen now, get out there and blog like a badass.
You probably already know how integral the blogging process is to the success of your marketing efforts. Therefore, it is obviously extremely important to learn how to effectively start and run a blog in a way that supports your business.
Without a blog, you will find yourself experiencing some issues such as poor search engine optimization (SEO), lack of social media promotional content, little impact on your leads and customers, and fewer pages to share your leads generating calls. to-action (CTAs).
So why, oh why, do so many marketers I speak to still have a laundry list of excuses why they can't blog?
Maybe because, unless you like to write business blogging, it seems uninteresting, time consuming and difficult to write.
Well, the time for apologies is over and this guide is here to help you understand why. We discuss how to write and manage your company's blog and provide useful templates to simplify your blogging activities.
What is a blog post?
Blog posts allow you and your business to publish insights, thoughts, and stories on any topic on your website. They can help you increase traffic, brand awareness, credibility, conversions and revenue.
Today, people and organizations of all walks of life run blogs to share analysis, instructions, criticism, product information, industry findings and more. There are many popular blog formats, however, here are six of the most common:
The "How-To" Post
The List-Based Post
The "What Is" Post
The Pillar Page Post
The Newsjacking
Post The Infographic Post Save
Time And Download Six Blog Templates free.
So, how do you ensure that your blog post attracts the attention of your target audience, buyer characters and customers?
What makes a good blog post?
Before writing a blog, make sure you know the answers to questions like, "Why would anyone keep reading this whole blog post?" and "Why does our audience come back for more?"
To begin with, a good blog post is interesting and educational. Blogs should answer questions and help readers solve a challenge they are experiencing - and you should do it in an interesting way.
It's not enough to just answer someone's questions - you also need to provide actionable steps while you're involved. For example, your introduction should appeal to the reader and make them want to keep reading your message. Then use examples to keep your readers interested in what you have to say.
Remember that a good blog post is interesting to read and provides educational content to members of the audience.
(To learn how to apply blogging and other forms of content marketing to your business? Check out HubSpot Academy's free content marketing training page.)
So, how do you actually write one of these compelling and informative pieces?
Write a blog post
Here are the steps to follow when writing a blog post.
1. Understand your audience.
Before you start writing your blog post, make sure you have a clear picture of your target audience.
Ask questions such as: What do they want to know? And what resonates with them?
This is where creating your buyer personas comes in handy. Think about what you know about your buyer personas and their interests as you come up with a topic for your blog post.
For example, if your readers are millennials looking to start a business, you probably don't need to provide them with information on how to get started on social media - most of them have already mastered that.
However, you can provide them with information on how to adapt their approach on social media (for example - from what could be an informal, personal approach to a more businesslike, network-oriented approach). That kind of customization helps you publish content on the topics your audience really wants (and needs).
Don't have buyer personas for your business? Here are a few resources to get you started:
Create For Your Business [Free Template]
Blog Post: How to Create Detailed For Your Business
Buyer PersonasBuyer Personas[Free Tool] Create My Persona: Buyer Persona Generator
2. Create your blog domain.
Next, you need a place to host this and every other blog post you write. This requires choosing a content management system (CMS) and a website domain hosting service .
Choose a CMS.
A CMS helps you create a website domain where you actually publish your blog. CMS platforms can manage domains (where you create your website) and subdomains (where you create a webpage that connects to an existing website).
HubSpot customers host web content through CMS Hub. Another popular option is a self-hosted WordPress website on WP Engine. Whether you create a domain or a subdomain to start your blog, you should choose a web hosting service after choosing a CMS.
Register a domain or subdomain with a website host.
Your blog's domain will look like this: www.yourblog.com. The name between the two dots is up to you, as long as this domain name does not yet exist on the Internet.
Do you want to create a subdomain for your blog? If you already have a cooking business at www.yourcompany.com, you can create a blog that looks like this: blog.yourcompany.com. In other words, your blog's subdomain will be in its own section of yourcompany.com.
Some CMSs offer subdomains as a free service, where your blog lives on the CMS instead of your company's website. For example, it could look like this: yourblog.contentmanagementsystem.com. However, if you want to create a subdomain that belongs to a company website, register the subdomain with a website host.
Most website hosting services charge very little to host an original domain - in fact, website costs can be as cheap as $ 3 per month.
Here are five popular web hosting services to choose from:
GoDaddy
HostGator
DreamHost
Bluehost
iPage
3. Customize the theme of your blog.
Once you've set up your domain name, you can customize the look of your blog to match the theme of the content you plan to create and your brand.
For example, if you're writing about sustainability and the environment, green might be a color to keep in mind when designing.
If you already run a website and are writing the first post for that existing website, make sure the article matches the website in appearance and subject matter. Two ways to do this are your:
Logo: This can be your company's name and / or logo - it reminds blog readers who is publishing the content. (However, how strongly you want to brand your blog is up to you.)
"About" page: You may already have an "About" blurb describing yourself or your business. The "About" section of your blog is an extension of this statement to a higher level. Think of it as your blog's mission statement, which serves to support your company's goals.
Identify the topic of your first blog post.
Choose a topic for your blog post before writing anything. The topic can be quite general at first. For example, if you're a company selling a small to large business CRM, your post may be about the importance of using one software to keep marketing, sales, and service aligned.
Pro tip: you may not want to jump into a "how-to" article for your first blog post.
If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs — or even sentences — of the introduction, they'll stop reading (even before they've given your post a fair shake). You can do this in a number of ways: tell a story or a joke, be empathetic, or grip the reader with an interesting fact or statistic.
Then, describe the purpose of your post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be experiencing. This will give the reader a reason to continue reading and offer a connection to how it will help them improve their work/lives.
Here's an example of a post we think does a good job of attracting a reader's attention right away:
7. Organize your content in an outline.
Sometimes, blog posts can have an overwhelming amount of information — for the reader and the writer. The trick is to organize the info in a way so readers aren't intimidated by length or amount of content. This organization can take multiple forms — sections, lists, tips — whatever's most appropriate. But it must be organized!
Featured Resource: 6 Free Blog Post Templates
Let's take a look at the post, "How to Use Snapchat: A Detailed Look Into HubSpot's Snapchat Strategy." There's a lot of content in the piece, so it's broken up into a few sections using descriptive headers. The major sections are separated into subsections that go into more detail, making the content easier to read.
To complete this step, all you really need to do is outline your post. This way, before you start writing, you'll know which points you want to cover and the best order to do so in. And to make things even easier, you can download and use our free blog post templates, which are pre-organized for six of the most common blogs. Just fill in the blanks!
8. Write your blog post!
The next step — but not the last — is actually writing the content. We can't forget about that, of course.
Now that you have your outline/template, you're ready to fill in the blanks. Use your outline as a guide and expand on all points as needed. Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources.
(Need help finding accurate and compelling data to use in your post? Check out this roundup of sources for inspiration.)
If you're having trouble stringing sentences together, you're not alone. Finding your "flow" can be challenging for a lot of folks. Luckily, there are a ton of tools you can lean on to help you improve your writing. Here are a few to get you started:
Power Thesaurus: Stuck on a word? Power Thesaurus is a crowdsourced tool that provides users with a number of alternative word choices from a community of writers.
ZenPen: If you're having trouble staying focused, check out this distraction-free writing tool. ZenPen creates a minimalist "writing zone" designed to help you get words down without having to fuss with formatting right away.
Cliché Finder: Feeling like your writing might be coming off a little cheesy? Identify instances where you can be more specific using this handy cliché tool.
For a complete list of tools for improving your writing skills, check out this post. And if you're looking for more direction, the following resources are chock-full of valuable writing advice:
The Marketer's Pocket Guide to Writing Well [Free Ebook]
How to Write Compelling Copy: 7 Tips for Writing Content That Converts
How to Write With Clarity: 9 Tips for Simplifying Your Message
The Kurt Vonnegut Guide to Great Copywriting: 8 Rules That Apply to Anyone
Your Blog Posts Are Boring: 9 Tips for Making Your Writing More Interesting
The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Successful Blog in 2019
9. Proofread and edit your post.
You're not quite done yet, but you're close! The editing process is an important part of blogging — don't overlook it.
Ask a grammar-conscious co-worker to copy edit and proofread your post. You may also consider enlisting the help of The Ultimate Editing Checklist or using a free grammar checker like Grammarly.
If you're looking to brush up on your self-editing skills, turn to these helpful posts for some tips and tricks to get you started:
Confessions of a HubSpot Editor: 11 Editing Tips From the Trenches
How to Become a More Efficient Editor: 12 Ways to Speed Up the Editorial Process
10 Simple Edits That'll Instantly Improve Any Piece of Writing
When you're ready to check your formatting, keep the blog elements in mind ...
Featured Image
Choose a visually appealing and relevant image for your post. As social networks treat content with images more prominently, visuals are more responsible than ever for the success of your blog content.
In fact, it's been shown that content with relevant images receives 94% more views than content without relevant images. For help selecting an image for your post, read "How to Select the Perfect Image for Your Next Blog Post" and pay close attention to the section about copyright law.
Visual Appearance
No one likes an unattractive blog post. And it's not just pictures that make a post visually appealing — it's the formatting and organization of the post, too.
In a well-formatted and visually-appealing blog post, you'll notice that header and sub-headers are used to break up large blocks of text — and those headers are styled consistently.
Here's an example of what that looks like:
Screenshots should always have a similar, defined border so they don't appear as if they're floating in space — that style should stay consistent from post to post.
Maintaining this consistency makes your content look more professional and easier on the eyes.
Topics and Tags
Tags are specific, public-facing keywords that describe a post. They also allow readers to browse for more content in the same category on your blog. Refrain from adding a laundry list of tags to each post. Instead, put some thought into a blog tagging strategy.
Think of tags as "topics" or "categories," and choose 10-20 tags that represent all the main topics you want to cover on your blog. Then stick to those.
10. Insert a CTA.
At the end of every blog post, insert a CTA that indicates what you want the reader to do next — subscribe to your blog, download an ebook, register for a webinar or event, read a related article, etc.
Your visitors read your blog post, they click on the CTA, and eventually you generate a lead. But the CTA is also a valuable resource for the person reading your content — use your CTAs to offer more content similar to the subject of the post they just finished reading.
In the blog post, "What to Post on Instagram: 18 Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration," for instance, readers are given actionable ideas for creating valuable Instagram content. At the end of the post is a CTA referring readers to download a comprehensive guide on how to use Instagram for business:
See how that's a win-win for everyone? Readers who want to learn more have the opportunity to do so, and the business receives a lead they can nurture ... who may even become a customer!
11. Optimize for on-page SEO.
After you finish writing, go back and search engines optimize your post.
Don't obsess over how many keywords to include. If there are opportunities to incorporate keywords you're targeting, and it won't impact reader experience, do it. If you can make your URL shorter and more keyword-friendly, go for it. But don't cram keywords or shoot for some arbitrary keyword density — Google's smarter than that!
Here's a little blog SEO reminder about what you should review and optimize:
Meta Description
Meta descriptions are the descriptions below the post's page title on Google's search results pages. They provide searchers with a short summary of the post before clicking into it. They are ideally between 150-160 characters and start with a verb, such as "Learn," "Read," or "Discover."
While meta descriptions no longer factor into Google's keyword ranking algorithm, they give searchers a snapshot of what they'll get from reading the post and help improve your clickthrough rate from search.
Page Title and Headers
Most blogging software uses your post title as your page title, which is the most important on-page SEO element at your disposal. But if you've followed our formula so far, you should already have a working title that will naturally include keywords and/ or phrases your target audience is interested in.
Don't over-complicate your title by trying to fit in keywords where they don't naturally belong. With that said, if there are clear opportunities to add keywords you're targeting to your post title and headers, feel free to take them. Also, try to keep your headlines short — ideally, under 65 characters — so they don't get truncated in the search engine results.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the word or words that link to another page — either on your website or on another website. Carefully select which keywords you want to link to other pages on your site because search engines take that into consideration when ranking your page for certain keywords.
It's also important to consider which pages you link to. Consider linking pages that you want to rank for a specific keyword. You could end up getting it to rank on Google's first page of results instead of its second page — and that ain't small potatoes.
Mobile Optimization
With mobile devices accounting for nearly two-of-three minutes spent online, having a website with a responsive design is critical. In addition to making sure your website's visitors (including your blog's visitors) have the best experience possible, optimizing for mobile will score your website some SEO points.
To make sure your site is getting the maximum SEO benefit possible, check out this free guide: How to Make a Mobile-Friendly Website: SEO Tips for a Post-"Mobilegeddon" World.
12. Pick a catchy title.
Last but not least, it's time to spruce up that working title of yours. Luckily, we have a simple formula for writing catchy titles that will grab the attention of your reader. Here's what to consider:
Start with your working title.
As you start to edit your title, keep in mind that it's important to keep the title accurate and clear.
Then, work on making your title sexy — whether it's through strong language, alliteration, or another literary tactic.
If you can, optimize for SEO by sneaking some keywords in there (only if it's natural, though!).
Finally, see if you can shorten it at all. No one likes a long, overwhelming title — remember, Google prefers 65 characters or fewer before it truncates it on its search engine results pages.
If you've mastered the steps above, learn about some ways to take your blog posts to the next level. Want some real examples of blog posts? See what your first blog post can look like, below, based on the topic you choose and the audience you're targeting.
Blog Post Examples
List-Based Post
Thought Leadership Post
Curated Collection Post
Slideshare Presentation
Newsjacking Post
Infographic Post
How-to Post
Guest Post
1. List-Based Blog Post
List-Based Post Example: 10 Fresh Ways to Get Better Results From Your Blog Posts
List-based posts are sometimes called "listicles," a mix of the words "list" and "article." These are articles that deliver information in the form of a list. A listicle uses sub-headers to break down the blog post into individual pieces, helping readers skim and digest your content more easily. According to Clear Voice, listicles are among the most shared types of content on social media across 14 industries.
As you can see in the example from our blog, above, listicles can offer various tips and methods for solving a problem.
2. Thought Leadership Post
Example: What I Wish I Had Known Before Writing My First Book
Thought leadership posts allow you to indulge in your expertise on a particular subject matter and share firsthand knowledge with your readers.
These pieces — which can be written in the first person, like the post by Joanna Penn, shown above — help you build trust with your audience so people take your blog seriously as you continue to write for it.
3. Curated Collection Post
Example: 8 Examples of Evolution in Action
Curated collections are a special type of listicle blog post. Rather than sharing tips or methods for doing something, this type of blog post shares a list of real examples that all have something in common in order to prove a larger point.
In the example post above, Listverse shares eight real examples of evolution in action among eight different animals — starting with the peppered moth.
4. Slideshare Presentation
Example: The HubSpot Culture Code
Slideshare is a presentation tool owned by the social network, LinkedIn, that helps publishers package a lot of information into easily shareable slides. Think of it like a PowerPoint, but for the web. With this in mind, Slideshare blog posts help you promote your Slideshare so that it can generate a steady stream of visitors.
Unlike blogs, Slideshare decks don't often rank well on search engines, so they need a platform for getting their message out there to the people who are looking for it. By embedding and summarizing your Slideshare on a blog post, you can share a great deal of information and give it a chance to rank on Google at the same time.
Need some Slideshare ideas? In the example above, we turned our company's "Culture Code" into a Slideshare presentation that anyone can look through and take lessons from, and then promoted it in a blog post.
5. Newsjacking Post
Example: Ivy Goes Mobile With New App for Designers
"Newsjacking" is a nickname for "hijacking" your blog to break important news related to your industry. Therefore, the newsjack post is a type of article whose sole purpose is to garner consumers' attention and, while offering them timeless professional advice, also prove your blog to be a trusted resource for learning about the big things that happen in your industry.
The news jack example above was published by Houzz, a home decor merchant and interior design resource, about a new mobile app that launched just for interior designers. Houzz didn't launch the app, but the news of its launching is no less important to Houzz's audience.
6. Infographic Post
Example: The Key Benefits of Studying Online [Infographic]
The infographic post serves a similar purpose as the Slideshare post — the fourth example, explained above — in that it conveys information for which plain blog copy might not be the best format.
For example, when you're looking to share a lot of statistical information (without boring or confusing your readers), building this data into a well-designed, even fun-looking infographic can help keep your readers engaged with your content. It also helps readers remember the information long after they leave your website.
7. How-to Post
Example: How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide
For this example, you need not look any further than the blog post you're reading right now! How-to guides like this one help solve a problem for your readers. They're like a cookbook for your industry, walking your audience through a project step by step to improve their literacy on the subject.
The more posts like this you create, the more equipped your readers will be to work with you and invest in the services you offer.
8. Guest Post
Example: Your Bookmarkable Guide to Social Media Image Sizes in 2020 [Infographic]
Guest posts are a type of blog post that you can use to include other voices on your blog. For example, if you want to get an outside expert's opinion on a topic, a guest post is perfect for that.
Additionally, these posts give your blog variety in topic and viewpoint. If your customer has a problem you can't solve, a guest post is a great way to solve that problem.
If you begin accepting guest posts, set up editorial guidelines to ensure they're up to the same standards as your posts.
Ready to blog?
Blogging can help you build brand awareness, become a thought-leader and expert in your industry, attract qualified leads, and boost conversions. Follow the steps and tips we covered above to begin publishing and enhancing your blog today.
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