How to write a blog post in 7 steps (with writing tips)

People use the internet more than any other medium to search for information. One way in which people can post information online is by blogging, which is a form of creative writing for an online audience on a blog or website. Writing a blog post can help you provide helpful information, contribute positively to society or promote a business. In this article, we define a blog post, highlight the various types, explain how to write a blog post and discuss valuable tips for writing a blog post.

What is a blog post?

A blog is an online collection of relatively short, discrete content in written form. Usually, blog posts display in reverse chronological order and follow a consistent structure. You can write a blog post for virtually any category of readers in any age group, vocation or geographic location.

Small and large businesses use blog posts to promote their products and services while generating passive revenue through increased readership. Besides the financial benefits, blogs enable individuals to provide the public with helpful information. Writing blogs can also help you become more organised and knowledgeable. Whether you're writing for a business, sports, health or entertainment audience, the typical blog post types include:

• How-tos: This blog post explains how to complete a particular action in steps, an example topic could be removing section breaks in a document.

• Lists: This type of post, or listicle, shares information the reader may find helpful, such as a list of ways to celebrate Earth Day.

• News: This provides details about a news story, such as a technology blog sharing news about security updates to a commonly used operating system.

• Reviews: In this blog post, a writer shares their honest impression of a product or service with their readers, such as a review of a local restaurant.

• Definitions: Bloggers may use this blog post format to define something, such as what a reputable source in academic writing is.

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How to write a blog post

Follow these steps to learn how to write a blog post that ranks well:

1. Make a plan

Start your blogging endeavours with a comprehensive plan that sets out how you intend to write and publish blog posts in the long term. You may start by defining your goals for writing a blog. Establish what you want to achieve with each post, such as raising awareness on societal issues or helping businesses generate leads. Your goals determine the blog's structure, layout and tone. In this planning phase, choose the word length, publishing frequency and blog design.

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2. Know your competition

There's hardly any entirely new blog content on the internet, which implies that there's likely to be similar content online. The sources of these blogs are your competitors, and it's useful to find out who your competitors are, how they operate and what they have done in the past. With this information, you can avoid plagiarism and make your blog unique. When you blog, aim to keep readers on your website rather than backlinking to a competitor. Knowing the competition and how they operate can also help you learn from them and develop better content.

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3. Choose the topic

The topic is perhaps the most significant part of an online write-up. It allows search engines to understand the text and direct the reader. You can get inspiration from your research or by checking your competitor's post for clues. Make sure that your topic gives the reader a hint of what to expect.

Besides topic relevance, title optimisation for search engines is also crucial. Add the major keywords to the post title and ensure they're not more than 70 characters long. You can test the search engine discovery potential of the headline with some writing software. If the potential to rank is high, you may use the headline.

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4. Create a structure for the post

Have a clear structure for the post, as this helps you organise your post more effectively and guides you as you write. You can start creating an outline while doing research. An outline helps you partition your post into multiple sections that are easy to read and understand. The first partition includes the three primary areas of a post: the introduction, the body and the conclusion.

Remember that you're targeting your keyword while writing for humans. Do your keyword research for the keywords or phrases that have the potential to rank. It's best to use low-volume keywords suitable for a new blog, as they allow your blog to rank.

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5. Write the post

When writing your post, prioritise quality and always aim to provide solutions to problems. Let your outline guide your writing. Develop each part of the subtopics with critical points to write your posts in the most informative and precise way possible. You may take short breaks while writing to regain focus and energy.

Ensure you properly format the write-up, using the appropriate font styles and sizes for the body and subheadings. Make sure you use relevant examples and current data to back up your claims. Keyword placement is a critical part of online writing, as it allows people to find your write-up on search engines. When adding keywords to a post, make sure they sound like a natural part of the text.

6. Edit and proofread the post

Your write-up is complete when you have edited it and proofread it to remove any errors and ensure it's relevant, clear and impactful. Always wait at least a few hours after saving your write-up to check for errors before publishing it. When editing, look for spelling, grammar, tense and formatting errors. It's best to use professional writing software since these tools employ artificial intelligence to spot writing mistakes quicker and more accurately than the human eye. Use these writing aids when proofreading to assess the post's structure, guideline compliance and proper keyword usage.

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7. Save or publish the post

After your post is complete, you can save or publish it. Saving your write-up makes sure that you secure your data regardless of a power loss or hardware malfunction. Look for the 'Save' icon at the top, bottom or side of your CMS to secure your work. When you publish the post, it becomes live on the internet.

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Tips for writing a blog post

Besides knowing the practical techniques for writing blog posts, here are some helpful tips to make this process easier and more efficient:

• Understand your audience. Once you have identified your readers, learn more about their needs, favourite topics and how they want you to address them. Write on relatable issues and use the most appropriate tone to convert new readers to followers.

• Pay attention to the client's tone. If you write a blog post for a client, ensure you understand what they want to achieve and how they want you to execute your duties. Always refer back to the guidelines to satisfy the client.

• Use authoritative links. While you write, link portions of your text to posts within your blog and other posts from outside sources. Only link externally to authoritative websites to make your post appear more credible to readers and avoid penalties from search engines.

• Proofread with editing software. After writing, edit out grammatical and typographical errors before proofreading the content for clarity with writing aids. These writing tools can help you find errors in your writing that you may not notice quickly.

• Write a meta description. A meta description is a brief description that appears below the blog title on search engines. Limit this summary to 160 characters and ensure it contains the main keywords.

• Write concise paragraphs. Write short paragraphs of no more than three or four sentences.

• Make your sentences less than 20 words long. Your readers can read your write-up more conveniently when it contains short sentences. Attempt to use fewer than 20 words per sentence and ensure that your total write-up does not have more than 25% of sentences over 20 words.

• Write more than 300 words of content. While writing for a human audience, you also want your post to rank highly on search engines. Writing experts recommend a minimum of 300 words per blog post to enable search engines to understand the content of your post.

• Arrange your write-up with H2 and H3 sections. Online readers prefer blog posts with adequate spacing and short paragraphs for easy readability. Use H2 and H3 heading styles to space your content appropriately to enhance readability.

• Spend time on research. Research is a crucial aspect of writing blogs, as it helps you develop content from authoritative sources. Spend at least a quarter of the writing time on research for excellent delivery.

• Write original posts. If you find inspiration for your topic from other sources, develop the topic further and write the post in your own words. When using an extract from another source, properly acknowledge the author or publication.