person typing

Introduction to Blogging Tips

Blogging has become an integral part of our lives today. Blogs are a source of information, inspiration, entertainment and even knowledge. You might have seen blogs you admire and wondered, “How can I start writing a blog?” Or maybe you want to know how to write and post a blog.

Whatever the case may be, this article will help you know how to create a great blog post. From how to start off an article, to writing a blog format, up until the conclusion, there is a lot that goes into the making of a great blog post.

This article gives useful and insightful tips on the steps to writing a blog post that is exciting, aesthetic and engaging. You will also learn how to write SEO friendly blog posts so that your posts can rank well in search engines. This article covers tips from how to start a blog post to how to conclude it.

Table of Contents

1. Is your blog post topic irresistible?
2. Keyword research is indispensable.
3. What can you say about the topic?
4. An outline is vital to creating a good blog.
5. Table of contents is helpful for blog readers.
6. Draft, and redraft, and rewrite for a perfect blog.
7. Use headings, paragraphs and clear fonts to simplify reading.
8. Have an editor review your work.
9. Employ on-page SEO
10. Include interesting (maybe shocking) images that tell the story of your blog.
11. Wrap up the blog neatly.
Conclusion

1. Is Your Blog Post Topic Irresistible?

Topic Irresistible

Oftentimes, we wonder how to begin a blog post- this happens even to seasoned writers. When starting a blog, remember that the headline of your blog post is the first thing readers will see when they open your post. It is also what will determine whether or not they will want to read further.

As a blog writer, you are also a content marketer. Therefore, you should choose scintillating headlines or post titles that will pique readers’ interest and make them want to open your page. This is the first step in writing a perfect blog post.

In order to pick a headline or topic, you need to figure out what exactly it is you want to write about. Then, you can brainstorm possible topic ideas that will suit your blog post. Try to come up with as many topics as possible and then pick the one that is best suited to the subject matter of your blog.

2. Keyword Research is Indispensable

keyword research

Doing keyword research is very important if you want to write for a blog and rank well in Google. Keyword research involves researching the sentences or phrases that people use to ask search engines questions about their needs. These keywords are used for specific topics.

In order for you to write that perfect blog post, you must research these phrases or keywords related to your topic. For example, someone who wants to get into blogging might ask Google, “how to write for a blog” or “how to write a blog post”.

Part of keyword research is finding out the search volumes of keywords. Knowing how often a particular keyword is searched for in a particular location in a month can help you know which keywords to pick for your post and can give you more blog post ideas. Here’s a great article that goes into depth about this:

Keyword Selection for SEO

Keyword research is very important because it helps you know your target audience and what keywords they use to ask Google questions regarding your topic. It also helps you to know their search intent and what stage they are in the buyer’s journey. It is therefore a guide on what keywords to target so that you can rank well in Google.

3. What Can You Say About the Topic?

about topic

Just as keyword research is important, researching the topic you intend to write about is also very important as it gives you the command you need when writing and hooks the reader to your content.

Therefore, before you start writing, you must have a vast knowledge of the topic you intend to write about. When you have a great knowledge of the topic you’re writing about, you can write with confidence. If you’re wondering how to do research for a good blog post, you can follow these steps:

Enter a keyword related to your topic into Google.
Pick a minimum of five (5) blog posts from page one and go through them.
You can also watch Youtube videos to help you get a better understanding of the topic.
Take note of what the posts on page one did that you admire. Also note what areas you weren’t impressed with.
Try to replicate what they did right and improve on the areas they did not do well.

4. An Outline is Vital to Creating a Good Blog

outline

Preparing an outline is an important aspect of writing a great blog and is part of the preliminary aspect of the blog writing process. It can be described as the skeleton of your blog post, where your key points go.

An outline makes it easier for you to stay on topic and collect your thoughts more structurally and is a good way to avoid writer’s block. An outline also acts as a guide, preventing you from straying while writing.

Please note that it is not compulsory to follow the outline verbatim. While writing, you might realise you need to make some changes. That’s okay, as long as you don’t stray too far from your topic.

Another advantage of an outline is that it helps you to move forward quickly because you just need to add flesh to the skeleton of your outline.

5. A Table of Contents is Helpful for Blog Readers

table of content

A table of contents, while not compulsory, is a recommended aspect of effective blog writing. A table of contents lists out all the headings of the post. It is part of your job as a post writer to make your post skimmable so that readers can simply browse the table of contents to know the main points covered in the post.

Another important reason to add a table of contents is that it makes it easy for readers to navigate to the specific portion of the post that is of most interest to them.

6. Draft, Redraft and Re-write for a Perfect Blog

perfect-blog

This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of writing an effective blog post. We all want to write a perfect piece of content that is free of errors, but in reality that is just not possible in one go.

The most important thing is to get a first draft done. Draft, redraft and re-write. Do not stop to correct errors as this can slow you down and block the flow. The essence of the first draft is to get your thoughts written down, not to have a perfect piece of writing.

Write as much and as well as you can. Write everything that you can remember about the topic. You can edit the post later.

Remember to use your keywords as a guide when writing. The SEMRush writing assistant is a great tool to guide you in using your keywords. Try it now!

7. Use Headings, Paragraphs and Clear Fonts to Simplify Reading

headings

This is one of the often overlooked steps to writing a great blog post. It is very important to format your post. Use headings (h1, h2, etc) to make the most important points stand out.

Use readable fonts (fonts that do not have squiggly ends) to make the words easier to read and avoid confusion and ambiguity in writing. Fonts like Arial and Helvetica are a good choice of readable fonts.

Use paragraphs to separate the different sections and thought processes of your post. Paragraphs help keep your post organized and make it easier to find different sections.

Try to use short paragraphs as long paragraphs can get users confused or bored. While writing your paragraphs, also try to keep your sentences short as much as possible.

You can also use bullet points to further organize your post and make it stand out better to the eyes of readers.

Formatting is very important if one wants to write a successful blog post because it boosts the aesthetics of your page and makes it easier to read.

8. Have an Editor Review Your Blog

editor-review

After writing profusely and coming up with that wonderful blog content, it is time to edit your work. Now you can sit back and go through your post with a fine toothed comb. Look out for grammatical errors, incomplete sentences, and parts that should be removed altogether. Go through your post at least once and edit it. Then, when you are finished going through it, give it to someone else to edit it. This is because a neutral eye might catch errors which you might have overlooked.

Please note that the editing phase is not to be rushed. In fact, it is the direct opposite of the drafting phase- while you should draft quickly, do not edit too quickly, otherwise you might miss important errors.

9. Employ On-Page SEO

SEO

On-page SEO boosts your chance of ranking in Google. Creating high quality content is only one aspect of the blog writing process. On-page SEO is what gives your post the fighting chance to compete with the myriad of posts covering the same topic as you. Some aspects of on-page SEO you can apply are:

Image Optimization:

Optimize the images for your blog so that they are of very high quality but with a small File size. This helps the images load faster on your page.

Linking:

Use links in your blog posts. Link to other websites and webpages and also link to your own webpages. Employ link building strategies (like guest posting, responding to press release alerts) to get high quality links from websites with authority. This helps to boost your authority, trustworthiness and helps you rank better in Google.

Title Tag:

The title tag is an HTML code that allows you to give a title to a web page. This title shows up in the browser title bar and also in the search engine results pages (SERPS). Title tags are an important aspect of SEO because they help boost organic ranking.

Meta Description:

This is a short snippet of text that appears below a page title in a search engine results page. It gives a brief summary of what can be found in the page if you decide to visit it. The more convincing and alluring your meta description, the higher your chances of getting organic traffic.

Keywords:

Armed with keywords gotten from your keyword research, sprinkle target keywords throughout your post to help you rank in search engines. As much as possible, try to use long tail keywords as they are more specific, have low competition and a higher conversion rate.

URLs:

Optimize your URLs by using appropriate and descriptive URLs in your blog. This will help to increase organic traffic and aid linking.

Responsiveness:

Make sure your blog is responsive. Responsiveness has to do with designing your webpage in a way that adapts to different screen sizes. This ensures a smooth transition when switching between different screen sizes.

10. Include Interesting (Maybe Shocking) Images That Tell the Story of Your Blog

intresting

As you make plans to create a blog post, don’t forget to use strong visuals. Use images that are evocative, appealing and maybe even shocking. It is a good practice to always provide alt text for your images - this prevents ambiguity or confusion.

Images and videos will help keep the reader’s attention for longer. Think about the aspects of your post that will need visuals to better drive the message home.

Images help make the reader more engaged and when they are engaged, they are more likely to respond to calls to action and are more willing to purchase or subscribe to products or services.

This article by iBCScorp Social media Image sizes is a helpful resource in learning about image sizes.

Using interesting videos is also one of the best tips for writing a successful and SEO friendly blog post.

11. Wrap Up the Blog Neatly

wrap-up

You might be wondering how to conclude a blog after you have finished writing. Just like your opening statement, your conclusion should be powerful and drive home your central message. It can even include things like calls to action, advertising a product or service or linking to another useful resource.

The most important thing is to write a conclusion that will make the reader either pause for a little while before moving on to something else or that will make them want to respond to calls of action.

Conclusion

While learning how to write an SEO blog can seem daunting at first, it is not an impossible task. When you learn how to write blog articles that incorporate SEO, you can then write high quality content that ranks well in search engines. The tips covered in this article can help you begin on your journey to writing great blog content.

Learn about SEO vs SEM marketing differences strategies here.