What is a blog?
Having a strong digital presence has never been more important for brands. But beyond a standard website detailing products and services, what should that online footprint entail?
Enter blog post writing – a great skill that companies can use to gain vital traction and visibility among the right target audience, it can help to educate prospects, persuade potential clients and ultimately drive more sales.
In simple terms, a blog is a type of website or online platform that regularly publishes written articles (known as blog posts) to provide insights on specific topics.
Often used as a means of sharing knowledge, ideas or experiences with a specific audience, they are a vital piece of the marketing and communications puzzle that can provide brands with significant returns on investment:
- Businesses that blog average 55% more website visitors than those that don’t.
- Companies with blogs produce 67% more monthly leads on average than those that don’t.
Learning how to write a blog is essential for creating content that resonates with your target audience. In this guide, we’ll discuss the essentials of blog post writing, from planning right through to publishing.
What to consider before writing a blog
When it comes to blogging, planning is crucial. Before diving into blog post writing, it’s essential to align your blogging strategy with broader content marketing goals.
Ask yourself some key questions:
- Why do you want to start a blog?
- What do you hope to achieve?
- Who do you want to reach? Who is your ideal target audience?
- What kind of content will resonate with them?
- What value can you provide to them?
- What unique perspective, voice, knowledge or experience can I bring to the table?
- Do I have a clear understanding of my blog’s long-term potential?
It is important to ensure you have a clear idea of the purpose of your blog, the audience that you’re trying to reach, the value that you can provide, and the potential benefits of blogging before starting out.
If you’re able to answer these questions and are satisfied that blogging will be a worthwhile exercise, helping to deliver value to your audience and build your online presence and brand, then the next step is to go ahead and set up your blog.
How to set up a blog
It’s no good understanding how to write a blog if you don’t know how to set one up in the first place.
Here are two common scenarios:
#1: Adding a blog to an existing website
If you already have a website and want to create a blog within that, you will need to create a new section on your website dedicated to the blog. Here, you will usually need to add a tab to the top of the navigation menu (titled “Blog” or another suitable name) to make it easily accessible for visitors.
#2: Starting a blog as a standalone website
If you’re starting from scratch and intend for your blog to be its own website, you will need to:
- Choose a blogging platform: also known as a content management system (CMS). Examples include WordPress, Wix and Squarespace. This will help you to design and manage your blog.
- Choose a hosting platform: that will provide the infrastructure and services required to make your website accessible via the internet. Popular options include Bluehost, SiteGround or Google Cloud Hosting.
In these initial stages, you’ll need to decide on your blog’s name, the URL, and the look, feel and design. Once this is completed your blog will be set up and ready for you to begin writing.
5 key ingredients for successful blog post writing
At this point, you should revisit the purpose of your blog. Remind yourself of the overall focus, the kind of topics you want to cover, and the audience that you’re writing for.
Creating a content calendar can be highly useful – it will serve as a roadmap detailing a series of topics to write about and when each post should be published.
With these plans in place, you can turn your attention to writing your first blog post. Here’s what to consider so that it not only reads well but truly resonates with your audience:
#1: The writing style
How can you keep your audience engaged? Consider breaking content into shorter paragraphs for easier readability, as well as using a mix of short, snappy sentences alongside longer more detailed ones. Consider speeches: the most effective talks have logical changes in pace and emphasis – the same goes for written content.
#2: The structure
It’s also important that your blog post has a logical flow that makes it easy for readers to follow. Here, clear sections defined by headings and bullet points can be useful, helping to break up the text into more manageable chunks.
#3: The tone
Consider how you want to come across. For lawyers and finance professionals, it would make more sense to write in a more formal and professional manner. For more creative fields like marketing, meanwhile, it might make more sense to adopt a more relaxed and conversational tone. Consider what would make sense for your brand and resonate with your target audience.
#4: The language
Again, consider who you intend to read your blog post. If it’s designed to appeal to a broad audience, then it’d make sense to write in a clear, simple and concise way that is top-level. If it’s for more technically savvy audiences, however, then you may wish to include industry acronyms and assume a higher level of competence and understanding, diving deeper into the details.
#5: The hook
Finally, it’s important to think about how to grab the reader’s attention. Are there any relevant trending or topical discussions that you could comment on? Can you share any personal experiences or stories to add authenticity? Ask yourself if you would find your blog interesting. If the answer is no, then it’s unlikely someone else will.
5 tips for structuring an engaging blog post
Creating a well-structured blog post is essential to ensure your ideas are clearly communicated and easy for readers to follow.
To achieve this, it’s a good idea to start every blog post by putting together an outline, skeleton structure to organise your thoughts. Not only will this help you to see where each key point will be included, but it will also make sure the blog post flows in a logical way.
Here’s a list of five key tips that can be used to structure your blog effectively:
#1: An engaging headline
This will be the first thing that readers see, so it needs to be concise and attention grabbing. Think about how you can pique the readers curiosity – often, top-tips style headlines can work well for this:
- 7 examples of a good blog
- 10 tips for blog post writing
#2: An introduction
Start by setting the scene for your readers. Put together a short and simple summary of what your blog post will cover and the value they’ll gain by reading it. Again, keep it concise, clear and engaging to further draw them in.
#3: Subheadings
Make sure you break the main body of your content up into distinct sections, each with their own headings. This can dramatically improve the readability of your blog post, helping readers to quickly scan your content and find the information that they need without getting frustrated and clicking away.
#4: Bullet points and lists
Similarly, bullet points and numbered lists can be great for illustrating figures, summarising key points and breaking up dense sections of text, making it more digestible and visually appealing.
#5: Conclusion and call-to-action
End your blog post with a short, snappy summary of the main arguments and takeaways, and point them towards a specific next step such as:
- Signing up for your newsletter.
- Clicking a link to another article or resource.
- Purchasing a product or service.
This call-to-action (CTA) should be clear, actionable and aligned with the purpose of your post.
Other important considerations for successful blog post writing
Successful blog post writing techniques include structuring content logically, using engaging language and covering relevant topics.
However, there are several other tips and tricks which can help to elevate your content even further:
Check the competition: Look at what others in your industry or niche are writing. By doing so, you can get an idea of what works well, potentially identify gaps in their content that you can fill and differentiate your post so that it stands above the rest.
Use reputable sources: It’s also important to make sure any statistics or claims are backed by reputable sources. Always cite trusted publications and try to only use recently published statistics or information.
Add imagery: Using high-quality, relevant photos can help to enhance the visual appeal and reliability of your blog and each different post within it, making it more appealing to the reader.
Edit, edit, edit: Editing is vital to ensuring that your post reads smoothly and professionally. You’ll be able to identify and address clunky phrasing, awkward sentences, grammatical errors, and overall ensure that the flow feels natural and engaging.
Search engine optimisation (SEO): It’s also important to optimise your content for search engines, including relevant keywords naturally throughout your text. In doing so, it will rank higher in search engines and draw in a greater amount of traffic.
Ready to master blog post writing? Contact us today for expert advice on how to write a blog that works for your brand.
