Writing a blog is easy; anybody can do it. Writing a good blog takes a little more effort, but as long as you research your subject matter, it’s not particularly difficult. Most people are capable of writing about things that they know well, and when the author’s enthusiasm shows, readers get caught up in the author’s interest. Of course, the readers still have to find their content first!
If you want to write a blog that’s optimized for content marketing, that’s a little more tricky. The difficulty lies in taking into account a number of factors which will make your blog more engaging to search engine crawlers, as well as making it more interesting to human readers. In writing a blog specifically for marketing value, you may find yourself writing about a subject about which you know little – if anything. You will need to write plainly, and simply, for a base of readers who will be seeking valuable and useful information from your content.
We’ve put together a list of fifteen of the best tips for blog writing that we could find. Some of these are based on our own experience, others are from well-respected marketing and content development blogs.
Best Tips for Starting a Blog
- Use WordPress. There are lots of blogging platforms out there, but WordPress collectively dominates more than half of the market. They have the resources needed to continuously develop their product, and their network. WordPress is simple to set up, easy to use, and its knowledge base – at this point – is a marketable skill.
- Self-host. Pay to have your blog hosted, with your own domain name. This is more than simple vanity; it means you own your blog, and everything on it. With a free host, your brand will suffer. In addition, whoever is hosting you on their domain has the right to snuff your blog out of existence in an instant. In a very literal sense, you don’t own your own work.
- Choose a Marketable Niche. Online, everything is marketable. Your niche could be traveling around the world affixing googly eyes to graffiti. Pick something you want to write about – something you have an interest in. This makes it more likely that you will be able to write detailed, relevant blogs about the subject – and less likely that your interest will fade over time.
- Find Your Passion. You undoubtedly know enough about multiple subjects to actually run a decent blog about any one of them. What do you do for fun, when you still have energy and you just want to do something. What invariably entertains you in learning more about it? No niche is too small if it’s the right one for you.
- Find a Hole. Search for other blogs pertaining to your chosen niche. Based on your own interest – which it’s safe to assume is shared by at least a few million people out there – what is missing from the front page results on Google? Maybe there is a noticeable lack of blogs on how to get involved in your chosen pursuit in the first place, for example.
Best Tips for Writing a Post
- Keep Your Blog Organized. Make sure you have an extensive list of categories. There’s no penalty for having lots of categories, or for having categories without anything in them; they won’t help you, but they aren’t going to hold you back either, save that your blog might look a little underpopulated to your readers.
- Tag and Categorize. Make sure that, before you publish a post, it is appropriately tagged and categorized. This not only helps your readers with finding posts on the exact subject for which they are looking, it also ensures that your blog is optimized for search engine crawlers. Crawlers love existing organization; they’ll rank you more highly for it, as a result.
- Write for Longevity. This is a dual concern: you want your blog to lead as smoothly as possible from one post to the next. Both the overall succession of posts, and the succession within a category, need to be attended to. At the same time, you need to gauge the timelessness of a post. Based on what you know, will it still have some relevancy in a month – or in a year?
- Optimize. How well does your title relate to your subject matter, and does it have your money keyword in it? Is your keyword density respectable, while retaining a smooth and even flow of information? Your post should have at least three or four headings as well, which should likewise have keywords found within them.
- Use a Structured Introduction. The preferred format is the APP method. APP starts with “Agree,” in which you present an idea that the reader will likely agree with. Then, you “Promise” to resolve a problem, and finally “Preview” what it is that you want your readers to learn. Convince your reader to go out there and apply what you’ve shared with them.
- Reach a Conclusion. Your conclusion can assert a personal preference, or present the “final verdict” in a discussion of multiple different products, services, or points of view. It can also be used, in a valuable sense, to issue a call to action, extolling your users to take some action – or to look at a subject with a new level of understanding.
The Smart Way to Diversify Your Blog
- Use Additional Post Types. A blog post can be written in different formats. A typical blog post will be like an article, an essay, or a tutorial, but interviews – and Q&A posts – are another popular format. There are also multimedia posts, which focus upon an infographic or a video, and curated posts, which analyze and discuss a blog or an article from another site.
- Spread your Content Around. Link to your posts through your social media accounts. Use a slightly different introduction for each platform. Introduce your readers to the concepts you will be discussing in advance, so they have some idea of what to expect. Use this technique to emphasize the importance of your posts’ coverage of their subject matter.
- Expand Your Subject. We’ve discussed picking a subject about which you know a lot, then finding a niche within it which isn’t already thoroughly covered. Once you’ve become established, you can then extend a few feelers out into other areas of the same general subject matter. You can keep your original focus overall, but don’t be afraid to add to it.
- Keep a Clear Eye. The digital marketing profession is always changing, as are the ways in which various tools and techniques are used. That way, bloggers can take advantage of the latest trends at any given time. Stay on top of changes in blogging trends, and in how other enthusiasts of your chosen subject matter are covering it in their own writing.
Additional Resources for Bloggers
There are additional tools and resources available to bloggers. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of them, in the interests of advancing your own skills. Blogging, as with any other form of writing, is a learning process; there will be research involved, and refinement. At some point, you may find yourself cringing at some of the mistakes you made early on! The internet is designed to allow for the input of new and updated information, allowing you to clean up after any mistakes. Don’t be your own harshest critic. Instead, do what you can to ensure that you continue to refine your knowledge of blogging techniques, and that you stay on top of any changes in your subject matter.
Good luck, and happy blogging!
