You’ve decided you want to start a blog. That’s great! But now what? How to write a blog post that will be successful and get people to read it? It can be difficult to know where to start, or what steps to take in order to write a blog post that gets traction. I wrote this post to help you with that. In this 7 step guide, I’ll walk you through each step of the process so that you can write a blog post that is both informative and engaging.
1. Know Your Audience.
The first step in understanding how to write a blog post that engages your audience is to know who your audience is. You need to have a clear idea of who you are writing for, and what their needs and interests are. This can be done in a number of ways:
- Survey your readers. Use survey tools like Survey Monkey or Google Forms to ask your readers what they want to read about on your blog. This will give you valuable feedback on what topics they are interested in, and will help you tailor your content to their needs.
- Use social media. Take a look at which social media platforms your audience is most active on, and research the types of content that are popular on those platforms. For example, if your audience is active on Twitter, they might be interested in short, snappy posts with images and gifs.
- Read other blogs in your niche. When you’re trying to figure out what topics to write about, it can be helpful to read other blogs in your niche. This will give you an idea of the types of content that are popular, and it will help you learn what topics people are interested in.
Arguably when learning how to write a blog post, this is one of the most critical points. Don’t write posts nobody want to read.
2. Choose a topic.
After you have a good understanding of who your audience is, it’s time to choose a topic. This can be tricky, but there are a few things to keep in mind while understanding how to write a blog post:
Make sure the topic is relevant to your audience. The topic you choose should be something your readers will be interested in, and it should be relevant to your blog’s niche.
Think about what you’re experienced in, or otherwise have a lot of knowledge about about. When you’re writing about something you’re animated about, it’s easier to produce engaging content that will interest your readers.
Find a unique angle. When writing about a popular topic, try to find a unique angle that will make your post stand out from the rest.
3. Do Your Research.
When you have a topic for your blog post, do some research to learn more about it. That will help you understand how to write a blog post that’s useful, interesting, and people want to read. Try to find data or statistics that support your points, and be sure to cite your sources. This will add credibility to your blog post.
“Getting your facts straight” is an important aspect of how to write a blog post!
Some good examples of online research resources (for blog posts that fall into acedemic type topics) are:
- Google Scholar: A search engine that specializes in scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers and academic.
- GDELT: A project that scans global news broadcast, print, and web sources from almost every nation.
- JSTOR: An online library containing millions of academic articles, books, and primary sources.
- Gale: A research platform containing millions of full-text articles from a variety of sources.
There are a number of ways to research other types of facts for your blog post:
- Google search. This is a quick and easy way to find information on the internet. Be sure to use keywords that are relevant to your topic, and to use quotation marks around phrases if you’re looking for a specific phrase.
- Wikipedia. While Wikipedia should not be used as a source for academic papers, it can be a helpful resource for finding general information about a topic.
- Books. If you’re looking for in-depth information about a topic, try checking out the local library or searching for books online.
- Blogs. Review the most popular other blogs in your niche, they can provide you with a wealth of information that your blog post can link to. As you develop your post, you’ll be able to pull in supporting information and cite the source (which adds value to your post).
When you’re learning how to write a blog post nothing beats seeing how successful blogs do it! Look for content gaps.
When you look at other blogs in your niche, you can see what topics they have already written about. If you have a different opinion or a unique perspective on one of those topics, then you can write about it. But if the other blogs haven’t written about a topic, that might be something you want to write about.
Key strategy: As you review other popular blogs you will also get a sharp appreciation of how to write a blog post!
When you fill content gaps that other blogs have, you’re providing your readers with information they can’t find elsewhere. This makes your blog post valuable and interesting to them, which can help you attract more readers. In addition, by citing your sources, you’re adding credibility to your blog post.
A good resource that might help you learn how to write a blog post may be: Topics to Write a Blog About: 10 Powerful Ways You Stay Creative.
4. Create an Outline.
Creating an outline can help you organize your thoughts and ensure that your blog post is well-structured. A good outline will includes the following:
An Introduction.
This is where you introduce your topic and give some background information on it.
When you’re learning how to write a blog post, the introduction is the most important part of the article (after the title). It’s what grabs your reader’s attention and makes them want to keep reading. A good introduction should do the following:
- Introduce your topic: The first sentence of your introduction should introduce your topic and give some background information on it.
- Make a point: The second sentence of your introduction should make a point about the topic you’re writing about
- Set the tone for the rest of the article: The third sentence of your introduction should set the tone for the rest of the article and let readers know what to expect.
One good way to write an introduction is to use the PAS format, but as a personal anecdote.
PAS stands for Point, Agitate, and Solve. The PAS formula is a helpful tool for organizing your thoughts and ensuring that your blog post is well-structured.
The PAS formula goes like this:
- Point: Introduce your topic and give some background information on it.
- Agitate: Make a point about the topic you’re writing about.
- Solve: Set the tone for the rest of the article and let readers know what to expect.
The PAS formula is a helpful tool for organizing your thoughts and ensuring that your blog post is well-structured. It’s easy to remember and it can help you write a clear and concise article.
A Main Body.
The main body of a post is where you develop your ideas and present your information. When you’re writing the main body, it’s important to remember the following:
- Topic statement: This statement is a sentence that outlines your position on a topic. It’s the main point of your post, and everything in the main body should support it.
- Structure: The structure of your blog post should be clear and easy to follow. Make sure that each paragraph supports your topic statement.
- Evidence: backing up your points with statistics, and quotes from other sources makes your topic more convincing, genuine, and useful to readers. Be sure to cite your sources properly.
A Conclusion.
The conclusion paragraph should summarize the main points of your blog post and leave readers with something to think about. It often includes a CTA (call to action).
In addition, you can even also include a recap of the striking points that you presented in your article, as well as a brief explanation of how it supports your topic statement.
To help enhance the quality of your posts, and better help you understand how to write a blog post, you may get extra value with: 10 Super Easy Ways to Make Your Blog Posts More Interesting.
5. Write Your Draft.
When you write your article draft, there are a few things you can do to be more efficient:
- Use a thesaurus. When you’re writing, it’s helpful to have a thesaurus nearby so you can find synonyms for words you’re using often. This will help make your writing more varied and interesting to read.
- Take breaks. It’s important to take breaks when you’re writing because it helps you stay focused and prevents you from getting overwhelmed. If you feel like you’ve been working on your post for a while and you’re not making any progress, take a break and come back to it later.
- Write in short bursts. Another way to be more efficient when writing is to write in short bursts. This means that instead of trying to write an entire blog post in one sitting, you break it up into smaller chunks and write a little bit at a time. This makes the process less daunting and helps you stay focused.
- Edit as you go. Editing as you go can also help make the writing process more efficient. This means that rather than waiting until you’ve finished writing the entire article to start editing, you edit each paragraph as you go. This makes the editing process easier and prevents you from having to go back and edit large chunks of text later on.
- Get feedback from others. Getting feedback from other people can also be helpful when you’re writing a draft. This could mean asking a friend to read your post and give their thoughts. Getting feedback from others can help you improve your blog post and make it more effective.
6. Edit and Revise Your Work.
In addition to editing as you go. After a longer break, it’s beneficial to come back with “fresh”, and start reading your blog post from the beginning.
When you’re editing and revising your blog post, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Make sure your grammar and spelling are correct. This is especially important when you’re publishing a blog post that’s going to be seen by other people in the general public.
- Check for consistency. Make sure that the tone of your article is consistent throughout and that all of your information is presented in a clear and concise manner.
- Cut out unnecessary cruft. When you’re editing your post, try to look for words that can be removed without affecting the meaning of your article. This will make your writing more concise and easy to read.
- Re-read your article. After you’ve made all of the changes to your post, take some time to re-read it and make sure that everything looks good.
- Ask for feedback from others again. Getting feedback from someone else can help you catch mistakes that you may have missed and improve the overall quality of your article.
When learning how to write a blog post, there are some caveats. If you’re a new blogger and want to avoid damaging your blog, you’ll likely benefit from: 10 Devastating Harmful Things You Should Never Do on Your Blog.
7. Publish and Promote Your Blog Post.
After you’ve finished writing, editing, and revising your blog post, you’re on the last step about how to write a blog post. It’s time to publish it!
There are a few different ways that you can publish your blog post:
- If you have your own blog, you can publish your article directly onto your site.
- If you don’t have your own blog, you can submit your article to sites like Medium or Tumblr.
- You can also share your article on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Once you’ve published your blog post, it’s important to promote it so people will actually see it. Here are a few ways to promote your blog post:
1. Share it on social media.
2. Email it to your friends and family.
3. Post it in forums or online communities related to your topic.
4. Reach out to bloggers or influencers in your niche and ask them to share your article.
5. Add a link to your blog post in your email signature.
By following these steps, you can write a great blog post that will be enjoyable to read and helpful to your readers. Happy writing!
Conclusion – How to Write a Blog Post.
Hopefully this post helped understanding how to write a blog post. Writing a blog post can be a daunting task, but if you follow these seven steps, you’ll be able to write an article that is both enjoyable to read and helpful to your readers. Always be sure you know what your audience is interested in, so that you can create an effective outline, before defining a topic and writing your draft.
When you write, be sure to get input as well as check the consistency and facts your presenting. Finally, don’t be afraid to promote your new blog post, so others can find it.
If you’re interested in starting your own blog, I provide the resources you need to get started on my “Start a Blog” page. I provide you the step-by-step instructions to help you get started.
You can learn much more about how to write a blog post, by visiting my Blogs and Blogging posts, as well as find answers to other questions.