The Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Blog Post – What You Need to Know to Become a Blogging Rockstar

An excellent writer and an engaging blog writer are entirely different qualities. Your writing prowess can only take you so far if you do not know how to optimize your blog posts for both readers and search engines.

On the other hand, a writing a blog post that is set up for SEO success can only fail miserably if it doesn’t offer enough relevant content and information.

In this detailed beginner’s guide to blog writing, we will not only take you through the basics of constructing a meaningful blog, but also explain how your article can reach the first page of search engine results pages (SERPS).

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, it’s important to understand exactly what a blog post is and what makes a good blog post.

So, let’s get started!

Any informational content posted in a website’s blog section is called a blog post. A blog post is informative in nature, and one would find that it answers specific relevant questions surrounding a niche subject.

While there is no set limit on how long a blog post should be, it almost always includes one or more kinds of supporting material like infographics, interactive charts, images, or even videos.

Writing blog posts can improve the visibility of a business online. In fact, data shows that companies with blogs get 67% more leads monthly (on average) than those that don’t blog.

Through blog posts, you can update your readers about your brand, products, ideas, plans, and almost anything you would like to share. Well-written SEO blogs can increase the chances of converting readers to customers and, eventually, revenue.

Now that we know the value of a robust blog on your website, let’s understand the types of blogs and how you can write a high-ranking blog post to drive traffic to your website.

While there are several kinds of blogs on the world wide web, most have a similar goal directed towards the reader; specifically to get the readers to return to the website again. To understand what type of blog you would like to start, you must first understand the different types of blog posts you can run. Here are some typically found blog types:

How-To

As the name suggests, a how-to blog post describes how to do something. How-to blog posts contain a set of instructions that teach the reader to carry out a particular task in a coordinated and uniform manner. The benefit of how-to blog posts is that they are written in concise points and break down projects into small, manageable tasks. We usually find how-to blog posts in places where the goal is to do something specific, like how to bake chicken, how to crotchet a sweater, or even how to replace your car tire.

Listicles

Listicles are blog posts that list out several items of one category. Each item appears as a subheading; below it are some details about the item. The title for these listicles can be something like “Top 10 Best Smartphones of 2022” or “10 Essential Elements of a High-Ranking Blog Post”. Listicles or List-based blog posts inform readers about several options simultaneously and may even compare them.

News Article

Can news articles be blog posts? Yes, only if they are on a blogging platform. A news blog post can talk about a particular news topic, giving more details and possibly an opinion. News article posts look like regular news, with exciting headlines and detailed information below.

Personal Blog Posts

When it comes to personal blogs, there are no set rules or guidelines that one must follow. It all depends on personal taste and style. While some personal blog posts share details about shopping, food, and local attractions, other personal bloggers like to give a glimpse into their parenting methods, homeschooling journey, or even home decor ideas. Personal blog posts are more like online journals and are made attractive with plenty of high-quality images, product recommendations, and giveaways.

Review posts

if you’ve looked online for reviews before buying a particular product, you have almost certainly read through a review blog post. Review blogs are detailed articles that talk about a product or a service, how they work, and how they fare in comparison to other similar items. Review blog posts usually end with a conclusive opinion on whether investing in the product is a good idea.

Check out our article, Blog Post Ideas for Beginners, to help you pinpoint the best types of posts for your niche.

An exceptional blog post stands out from regular blog posts in several aspects. Regardless of the topic, ensure that your blog post excels in performance by incorporating the following elements:

You may be an upcoming business trying to spread the word about your brand through your blog, or you wish to be the next best home chef; whatever your reason for blogging, before you get to writing, you need to have a working blog set up.

A few things are essential when it comes to starting and maintaining a blog, and we’ll go over those now so you can get to writing PRONTO.

This step is relatively simple. Make a list of all the probable topics you would like to cover or are relevant to your field. Where do you draw your inspiration from? What do you want to talk about and share with the world? Is there a particular blog you really like? Although there are no limits to what you can blog about, it’s probably good to bounce a few ideas around till you can zero in on the ones you feel are best for you!

Get a Sense of Other Bloggers in Your Field. Look around and scan the top performers in your field. Read other blogs that post similar subjects to what you’d like to post. It helps with inspiration and gives you an idea of what works and doesn’t.

In order to attract the crowd to your blog, you must have a baseline understanding of what they like and are looking for. Read through other bloggers’ comment sections, forums, and other internet spaces specific to your topic to get a good idea of what will hook readers to your topic. Once you start posting, you’ll be able to experiment more and learn what readers prefer in terms of tone, language, and humor.

The name of your blog determines the type of readers it draws in. An attractive blog name will inspire visitors to click on the website and stay on, exploring. Once again, browsing other blogs will give you an insight into what you eventually would like to name your blog.

Ideally, your blog name should probably have something to do with the general topic of your blog so people know what they’re getting into and can find it easily if they’re looking for that kind of content.

Creating your blog domain is crucial as it defines your identity online. It is what people will type in to reach your website. If you already have a business website, it is easy to add a blog to it, especially if you are using a platform like WordPress.

Next, choose a content management system (CMS) that essentially lets you run a website even if you do not know how to code. Luckily today, there are plenty of excellent CMS options like WordPress, Joomla, and Magento etc. that you can choose for your brand. If you need help setting up your website, reach out to a trusted website design company for help.

Once your blog domain, website, and blog section is set up, you can move on to prettying up the appearance of your blog. Customize it the way you would like it and, at the same time, incorporate elements that make it unique and worth clicking on. Opt for images, colors, and fonts that would best represent your blog.

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s get to the fun part. Let’s write your first blog post! Read on for the crucial steps you should take to knock it out of the park.

Focus on a convincing topic.

The best-performing posts focus on one convincing topic that appeals to the target audience. So find a topic that suits your goal best. Once you’ve decided on a topic that fits your blog’s area of focus, it’s time to put your writing skills to work.

Find an excellent blog post title.

Titles are essential in attracting traffic and views. Even wonderfully-written blog posts can fail miserably if your title isn’t catchy enough to be clicked on. So go ahead and put that thinking cap on and come up with unique and innovative blog post titles.

Create an outline.

Before you start writing, it’s important to create an outline for your blog post. The good thing about blogs is that they give you the freedom to play around with structure and format. The blog structure or outline is basically how it will appear to the reader as they read through it. Remember that there is no right or wrong way to create a blog outline, although a clean,  gradual, and step-by-step outline is always recommended.

Give it the personal touch.

Irrespective of what you write about, adding a personal touch to your blog can be a great way to connect with your audience. It could be a nostalgic moment from your life or an outdoor activity that you enjoy daily, it could even be the way you make your breakfast; letting the readers know about the human side of you makes the blog post relatable and, therefore, more engaging.

Stay away from blocks of text.

Nobody likes to scour through pages and pages of text. Instead, make sure to break down your blog post with bullet points, lists, and images wherever you can. A visually clear and easy-to-follow blog post has more chances of retaining readers.

Give solutions.

Wrapping up your blog post ambiguously without giving clear-cut advice will leave readers confused and unclear about what you are asking of them. Walk readers through the issue you want to discuss in a well-informed manner. Provide fact-backed information and propose logical solutions for them to act on.

Proofread before you publish.

Once you have an initial draft of your blog post, read through it to spot typos, and cut out sentences that don’t add value to the article. You may even get an editor to check for proofreading. But, no matter how you choose to do it, do not skip this part in a bid to publish your blog post. There is nothing more disappointing than finding basic spelling errors when reading through an article.

Search Engine Optimization is a must.

The way you incorporate SEO tactics in your webpage and blog will determine how internet search engines will rank your content. This will, in turn hugely influence how many people will be able to see your blog at all. Knowing how to search engine optimize your blog content can make all the difference when it comes to online visibility. Some SEO winners that should always be present in your blog article are:

• High-ranking keywords
• H2 and H3 heading tags
• Center-oriented images
• Alt text for images and videos
• Keyword-rich metadata

Consider hiring a professional SEO expert to ensure your web page and blog articles are optimized for SEO.

Promote your blog posts.

Once you have enough articles on your blog section, you can move on to the networking part. Marketing your blog is especially important if your business is connected to the blog. Some ways you can promote your work online are:

• Appear on a podcast
• Send out emails
• Talk about it on Social Media platforms
• Collaborate with other influencers in the same field

Writing a blog is a fantastic way to connect with the world and share your interests. While there are some steps that you need to take if you want your blog to be successful, the bottom line is that writing a blog should always be exciting.

Blogging consistently can greatly increase traffic to your website, which will translate into more leads for your business. If you are interested in blogging, but need help getting your blog set up or writing attention-grabbing blog posts, we’re here for you! Our web designers and expert copywriters can help you grow your business with an attractive, engaging website blog. Contact us today to get a free quote or to learn more about our services.