How to Write a Blog Post Like a Professional
Anyone can start a blog.
In fact, setting up your own blog is the easiest step to becoming a blogger. The challenging part is writing good blog posts that make your visitors want to read and share your content. Fortunately, building and promoting your website or blog with great content doesn’t require a degree in creative writing. In this post, I’ll show you how to write a blog post that readers love, and that rank in search engines like Google and Bing.
While the internet is riddled with tutorials and guides on how to write a blog post, from a technical tutorial level, the most important aspect of consistently producing the best blog posts is providing valuable and engaging content readers will either find useful or entertaining. And the best part is that you can duplicate the success of the best bloggers by following a basic formula for writing a blog.
This is because there is no secret content strategy or way to increase traffic. There are just certain elements all great blog posts have that make them widely visited, shared, and linked to.
Below, you will find tips on how to write a good blog post.
A word of caution:
Before we get into the details of writing lengthy content to increase your social and search engine rankings, let me clarify:
Don’t aim for 2000 words. Aim for quality. If you have some insights, cover them in a detailed way. Otherwise, writing lengthy posts just for the sake of filling words won’t add any value to your audience. So, pick an interesting topic that your readers care about and fill it with detailed information without any fuss.
Now, let us talk about how you can create in-depth high quality content without frustrating your readers:
- Spend time crafting an intriguing headline
Get visitors to click-through and read your content by starting with an interesting title.
Your headline can take advantage of a big number {e.g. 101 Ways To…}, promise results, use a shocking statistic, leverage a controversial or popular topic, or simply give the impression that your visitors absolutely need to read your blog post in order to be successful at something.
Any one of these psychological tactics will work. Just ask yourself before publishing ~ would you read an article with that headline?
- Hook your readers with a great introduction
You’re headline has gotten readers to click on the link, but now you have to convince them to continue reading. Your introduction needs to excite visitors by telling them what they will gain by reading your blog post.
You may promise to solve a personal or business problem, make a relatable statement, or ask a common question and then make visitors keep reading to get the answer. In the end, people just want to know they won’t be wasting their time reading your content, so make sure they are either educated or entertained via your post.
- Get straight to the point
Building a successful blog isn’t about record-breaking high word-counts; it’s about publishing content that offers value. Delete the fluff, don’t ramble and be direct. The sooner you start delivering on the promise you made in your title and intro, the more engaged you will keep your readers.
Along that same line, keep your paragraphs short and sweet. Online readers have short attention spans. The longer the paragraph, the more likely they’ll skip or skim it. Try to keep your paragraphs 5 to 7 sentences long, and use subheadings for better readability. That way you will make it easy for readers to absorb information.
- Write as you would speak
As I mentioned, it’s important to use an informal, conversational tone and writing style. So, simplify your sentences to avoid long, convoluted thoughts. Don’t try to impress people with your vocabulary. Break up complex ideas into easy-to-understand concepts. Use “I”, “you”, “we”, and “us” to form a personal connection with your readers. Write like you are having a conversation to avoid preaching or alienating your readers.
Additionally, a conclusion or closing paragraph sums up the purpose of the post and discusses key takeaways, emphasizing what readers should have learned and how it will help them grow.
- Appeal to human emotions
Research has shown that people like to share content that taps into their emotions, the strongest of which are humour, empathy, motivation, and faith. Try to uplift and inspire with your blog posts and don’t be afraid to seek empathy for a cause. But beware of exploiting your audience’s emotions or overdoing it. You may just end up being labelled “overly emotional”. To do that, keep the conversation light and easy-going, as viewers tend to browse the internet on their downtime as a way to relax and de-stress.
- Connect with your readers on a personal level
As a blogger, you have to share more than facts, numbers, and research. Be a story-teller and share professional experiences and personal stories. For example, opening up, sharing your life and letting your personality shine will help readers relate to you. Building a stronger connection with your audience will result in a loyal following and more social sharing. And remember, always demonstrate moral integrity by being open, honest, and respectful to your audience.
- Use visuals
Starting your blog post with an image can increase click-through rates, links, and shares. Consumers prefer visuals over text, so keep your readers engaged and on your blog with the use of images and videos. Embed videos, tweets, screenshots, block quotes, charts, graphs, memes, photos, or anything that will keep their attention. This can be especially practical when the visual is more effective in organizing information and relaying a message than text.
- Write evergreen (timeless) content
Writing about trending topics or breaking news is a great way to increase your blog’s exposure because trendy content lends itself to social sharing. Viewers are definitely more inclined to share socially-acceptable content when it is hot and popular.
However, breaking news and pop culture trends bring in short-term traffic spikes. For consistent long-term traffic and growth, bloggers must produce evergreen content targeting search terms with regularly monthly volumes.
- Proofread, fact-check, and use relevant social sharing buttons
To build and maintain credibility, your content needs to be pristine and error free. This means grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and unreliable sources/statements can destroy you and your blog’s online reputation.
Bloggers must also cater their social platforms to their audience, so make it easy for readers by having social buttons prominently displayed. Above, below and beside your blog posts are ideal. Blogs heavily dependent on visuals will need to be active on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
- Publish consistently
You don’t have to publish daily, but follow a consistent posting schedule. Publishing randomly will just confuse and frustrate your loyal readers. Ideally, you will want to write at least 3 to 4 times a month and schedule your posts to go live in the early mornings.
Final thoughts: If you are aiming to build a top quality blog, make sure to spend most of your time on researching and creating your content. And don’t forget to include the primary keywords you want to rank for in your headlines. After all, keywords in your headlines contain a lot of weightage while crawling your content by search crawlers.
Do you agree long form of content with more than 2000 words usually ranks well in search engines? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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