7 Steps to Blog Writing Success

Looking for insight into blog writing success? We have scoured the internet, and are reporting our findings to you here in today’s article.

When you sit down to write a blog for your website it’s best to have a plan in place for your most important blogs.  If you would like to welcome your visitors the old adage is true; tell them what you are going to tell them (intro,) tell them (body of the blog,) and tell them what you have already told them (conclusion.)

If you follow these 7 steps for your blog writing,  you will see increased success, more visitor engagement, additional time spent on your site, and more traffic. Successful blogs include a high level of research, content provided in an organized manner which is easy to read, thoroughly edited and reviewed, and shared in a way that gets the most bang for your buck.  

It’s fairly simple if you follow the rules to blogging success.

 

In this blog you will learn:

• The 7 recommended phases of blog writing
• How to avoid formatting mistakes
• How to avoid “the curse of knowledge”
• The power of Google Translate
• + More

 

Research, Research, Research

Take your blog to the next level and provide an in-depth explanation surrounding your topic. Be sure your content is unique and do some initial keyword research.

• Does your topic answer a question your site visitors would like to have answered?
• Does your topic provide specific information for your target audience?
• How unique will the information be that you are planning to provide? Remember, although Google likes fresh content, you will be better rewarded by originality.
• Have you researched to find the influencers in your industry?
• Does your blog provide some insight the others haven’t covered? Now open up your web browser, and start researching!
• What information already exists on your topic?
• What holes are there, or opportunities are there for you to add value? Open another tab, click on another, and let your research flow. Now you are on the right track!

 

Plan Your Blog

Your information is now incredible, and you have something extremely valuable to say, in a way no one else has said it (major points for uniqueness!) Congratulations! Now consider that in order for this information to be fully understood, it needs to be organized, and it also needs to be explained in a way that doesn’t speak to an expert on this topic.  Here is where you need to know your target audience. You have valuable unique information to share, you know your topic inside and out. It’s important to bridge the gap here, you are a knowledge expert in this space; your readers are not.

• Brainstorm new ways of explaining your information (consider infographics, telling images, photos, etc.)
• Next step, organize it all in an amazing and compelling way.
• When writing, your thoughts do not come across in an organized fashion on the first try; this is why we recommend, creating an outline highlighting the main points of your topic.

 

Blog Content

Beware of the curse of “knowledge” What does this mean? According to Steven Pinker, a Cognitive Scientist & Linguist from Harvard University, it means you need to explain your topic to someone without your level of knowledge.  This is against human nature, once we know something it can be very difficult to forget just how much we have learned; and explain it in simple terms.  The best way to get around this is to share your blog with someone who is not familiar with the topic you are covering.  For more amazing writing tips, jump over to motto.Time.com 

A few others tips for developing strong content:

• Make sure it’s unique. Provide a piece of information that cannot be found on the internet, or provide it in a totally different perspective.
• Every blog post should have at least one image/photo/video.
  • Choose great images/ photos, and be sure that these images are your own
  • Limit stock photography whenever possible.
• Be simple, be concise, and don’t include industry jargon.
• Now you are off!

 

SEO

This may be one of the most overlooked aspects of blog writing and it’s critical to your success. The main point is to write the content for the site visitors, never write for search engines. Be sure your content flows, and your topic is interesting; include keywords where appropriate.

• Keywords (remember that step from the research section above?) Build your content around the terms you have decided to target.  Try: Google Keyword Planner
• Include a meta description or a brief summary of your blog. This helps to tell the search engine what your blog topic includes.
• Save your images with a search-friendly term (i.e. do not include an image with a file name, “img_24” instead of title your image to coincide with your blog title. )
• Linking, only link when it benefits your site visitor, do NOT link just for the sake of linking. Google hates that, and frankly so do your readers.
  • External linking (linking to websites other than your own)
    • Link to valuable resources.
    • If you are including information from other sites, include them, link to them, and let them know!
  • Internal linking (linking to your own website, or other blogs you have written that relate to your intended target audience)
  • Link your images back to your blog. 

 

Blog Formatting

This section can get lengthy, so we are writing an entirely separate post to cover everything. However, as a highlight, be sure your font choice is easy to read and a size of at least 16. Also, be sure to keep your paragraphs short, and your images amazing.

• Include bullets
• People love bullets
• Bullets make it easier to scan and find the information visitors are seeking.

 

Edit & Review

We cannot stress this portion enough. Although spelling is important and so is grammar, the main edit and review goal should be for strong content and flow.  Site visitors can be forgiving for a misspelling or a missing comma, but if your content doesn’t flow or is inaccurate, your trust will be lost. Check your sources, check your facts, check your blog with your friends. 

• Have you thought about using Google Translate to proofread your blog? Nothing helps you edit the flow more than having the search engine read it back to you!
• Also, check for readability.

 

Share Your Blog

Ladies and gentlemen start your engines, you have written an amazing blog. Congratulations! Great blogs can be lost if not shared appropriately. So find influencers in your topic area, and share your information with them for feedback, ask for suggestions, or even give them an opportunity to be quoted in your blog. Get your social media scheduler ready and blast out some shares; including Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  Also, ask other businesses to share your blog if it is information their visitors may also find useful.

 

You did it!

Now sit back, relax, and take an Office Brain Break! What others tips would you recommend adding to our list of 7 Tips for Blog Writing Success?  What is your favorite tip? Please share it with us below. Your feedback is welcome.