How to Write a Blog Post – Explained in Simple Steps

If you have searched for a topic on Google or any search engine for that matter, you are aware of what a blog post is. Moreover, right now, you are actually reading a blog post on ‘How to write a blog post’. Interesting!

Blogging is not about plain writing but requires linguistic skills, proper knowledge about a particular topic and how well you understand the concept of content marketing. Companies nowadays focus more on blogs as a strategy for brand awareness and brand building, thus creating many career opportunities for content specialists. 

So, here is a guideline for beginners on how to write a blog article to reach the targeted audiences effectively.

1. Choose a Topic or Niche

   
   Finding a niche or topic that interests you is the first step towards writing a perfect blog post. Trust me when I say the writer needs to enjoy the subject to express it well. If you have no clue about the niche, you wouldn’t be able to deliver informative content to the audience. 
   
   Now, the problem is you also need to find out if there is a good search volume for the topic or niche you have chosen because there is no point in writing about something no one is curious about. So, you must come up with a niche that interests you and your targeted audience would absorb. 

2. Do Your Research

   
   After selecting the perfect niche, the next step is to do thorough research and accumulate all the relevant information required. Meanwhile, keep jotting down the points in a Notepad or Google Sheet so that you do not miss out on any crucial pointers. 
   
   Not limited to it, you also need to research the keywords that you must include in the blog post to help your content rank in the SERP organically. You can use any free or paid SEO tools available such as Google Search Console, Ahref, SEMrush, etc., to do your keyword research. 

3. Create an Outline 

   
   Before you start writing, it is necessary to decide the flow of the content. It assists you in conveying the information in a structured and efficient manner to your audience. 
   
   Drafting the outline of your content requires you to focus on writing catchy headlines that would convince the audience to keep reading your blog. Also, it is essential to make bullet points or to summarise the context for each heading. 
   
   Pro-tip for how to write headings:
   
   1. Include keywords in your H2s and H3s.
   2. Numbers in headings, how-tos, and questions are some of the best-proven heading strategies of all time. Examples:
   
   – How to get verified on Instagram?
   – Five strategies to increase Instagram followers in 2022
   – What is affiliate marketing?

4. Write the Blog 

   
   Once you have curated all the information and are confident about your content structure, you can start writing the actual blog. The time to complete a blog depends on how hefty the topic is and how well you have done your research. 
   
   While writing the blog, make sure the content is grammatically correct and plagiarism-free. You can use writing assistant tools, such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Textmetrics, etc., to make sure that your content is error-free. 
   
   Pro-tip for how to write a good blog: 
   
   1. Include the keywords in your content but do not overstuff.
   2. Maintain the keyword density of 1-2%.
   3. Ensure that the keywords are included at an interval of 7-8 words.
   4. Write small sentences and paragraphs.
   5. Most importantly, do not copy. 

5. Proofread and Edit 

   
   Editing might seem an easy task, but in reality, it is one of the most challenging steps in creating an excellent blog. Editing is not only about checking for grammatical errors but also improving the readability score of your content. 
   
   To edit efficiently, it is crucial to proofread your content and omit all the unnecessary or repetitive information. Sometimes you also might have to let go of the most appealing sentences just because it doesn’t sit well with the content as a whole. 
   
   Pro-tip to perfectly edit your blog:
   
   1. Check for repetitive or overused words and sentences.
   2. Check for long sentences and paragraphs. 
   3. Check for plagiarism.
   4. Lastly, check for factual and grammatical errors. 

6. Insert Media 

   
   Media plays a vital role in grabbing the audiences’ attention for a longer time. Hence, including relatable images, infographics, and embedded videos on your content reduces your blog posts or web pages’ bounce rate. (Bounce rate is the percentage of your website visitors  who exited from your website without surfing other pages of your website or performing any call-to-action.)
   
   Also, add an attractive featured image or OG (Open Graph) image to your blog to convince your audiences to click on your blog link when you share it on different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
   
   Pro-tip for inserting media on your blog post:
   
   1. Check for the image size and image resolution. The ideal image size would be 1024 pixels wide, and the perfect image resolution would be 1024px x 768px. Maintaining a proper resolution helps the images display correctly on various screen sizes. 
   
   2. Always use Alt tags for the images and infographics to rank them on the images result page. It also helps visually impaired audiences understand the context of the images and thus, increases the overall accessibility of your website.
   
   3. Do not upload videos directly to your CMS, as it hampers the loading speed of your site. Instead, add embedded videos links. 

7. Upload the Blog into Your CMS and Publish It 

   
   After editing and polishing your content, it is time to upload the blog on your CMS and Publish it. However, you can also keep it as a draft or schedule the post to publish it later. 
   
   Before publishing your article, proofread once more to ensure you have optimised the post properly. 
   
   Checklist for publishing your post:
   
   1. H2s and H3s follow the proper structure (H3 after H2 and not vice versa)
   2. Slug is short and with no spelling error.
   3. The SEO title is keyword optimised.
   4. Meta description has the focus keywords and a minimum of 160 characters.
   5. Interlinking to other web pages is done wherever possible.
   6. Relevant tags and categories are added.