Last Updated on November 28, 2017 by Anthony
Blogs are excellent online marketing tools for both businesses and non-profits alike. The power of the blog rests in its ability to engage readers and drive search engine results simultaneously. But in order to use blog posts effectively, you have to know how to write them. The purpose of this short guide is to give you a better understanding of how to write blogs. It is presented as a 6-step process.
1. Choose a Topic
You cannot write an effective blog post if you don’t have a topic to zero in on. So, the first step is to choose a topic that interests both you and your potential readers. The general rule of thumb among professionals is to choose topics you are passionate about. Why? Because you are more likely to put extra effort into something that stirs your heart and mind. Covering things that you are passionate about also leads to more creativity and better reader engagement.
2. Choose a Preliminary Title
The next step in how to write blogs is to choose a preliminary title. Your choice will be preliminary inasmuch as the last step of the process is to finalise the title. What you choose in this step will act as a general guide for the main body of your blog. It will not be your final title. That can only be determined after you finish writing.
When choosing a preliminary title, also choose a primary keyword or phrase. This keyword or phrase should appear in the title so as to give search engine algorithms a good idea of what your blog post is about.
3. Write Your Introduction
The introduction to your blog post is its first paragraph. Your chosen keyword or phrase should appear in this first paragraph at least once. If it appears more than once and in a natural way, that’s okay too. In terms of length, avoid an introductory paragraph any longer than three or four sentences. If you are looking at five sentences or more, you have too much information in your introduction.
4. Write the Body
The main body of your blog post follows the introductory paragraph. Keep your sentences short and simple without being patronising. Keep your paragraphs short as well. Two to four sentences per paragraph is about right. As you write, make every effort to present your ideas in a logical, easy to follow progression. Do not jump from point-to-point without connecting them in between.
If facts, figures, and references are relevant to the topic at hand, be sure to include them in the body. Also be sure to reference any sources of such data by either listing them at the bottom of your post or embedding links to your online sources.
5. Finish with a Conclusion
Every good blog post ends with a conclusion that summarises the main body of the post. The conclusion should be roughly the same length as the introduction. It can also include one instance of your chosen keyword.
6. Finalise Your Title
Now that your blog post is written, you can tweak your title. The reason for doing this is to guarantee that the title is relevant to the blog post. Relevance is everything to Google these days, so their algorithms put a lot of weight on whether titles and bodies match.
How to Write Blogs – Other Things to Note
There are other things to know when it comes to how to write blogs over and above the six steps listed here. First of all, search engine algorithms don’t want to see the same keyword or phrase repeated over and over. Algorithms are designed to recognise other related words and phrases as well. So choose a main keyword or phrase and then work on creating variants and finding similar words relating to your topic.
Next, search engine algorithms love long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are phrases of two or more words that appear in close proximity to one another. They add relevance and legitimacy.
Finally, your quest to learn how to write blogs will be much more fruitful if you write regularly. Unless you are being asked to write a single blog post for a one-time occasion, engaging readers means keeping them fed with regular content. If you are going to blog, don’t blog once in a while. Blog on a regular schedule. It can be once a week, twice-weekly, or every day.
Now you know how to write blogs. Get out there and give it a shot.