Blogging is a big part of online marketing. People share information through blogs every day, helping spread awareness about products and brands they’ve come to love.
Blogs are perfect for helping marketers find success in search engine optimization. Blogs make a website Google-friendly while offering tons of engagement for users.
If you want to write an excellent and professional blog, we have a guide for you. We’ve broken down the process into 6 simple steps that tell you exactly how to write a strong, effective blog post for online marketing.
Step 1: Brainstorm Topics
Your first step is generally the brainstorming stage. Begin by writing down a set of possible topics.
If you’re thinking of what topics to write about, ask yourself “what topics interest you?” It’s easier to write about things that are interesting to you and relevant to your life. More importantly, what topics are relevant to your readers? When brainstorming, you want to consider your audience and their interests as well.
Step 2: Choose a Working Title
What’s in a name? When it comes to blog posts, everything.
The title of your blog should tell the reader exactly what to expect. Readers likely clicked on your article based on the title. If the content of your article doesn’t meet the expectations set by the title, readers are unlikely to stick around and finish reading.
Successful blog titles are specific and engaging. It’s important to have a working, relevant title before you start writing in order to guide you as you further develop the topic. Don’t be afraid to change your title to better reflect your content when your article is finished.
Step 3: Pick a Format
Formats guide how your blog is written. Familiar formats make information more digestible. Some popular blog format ideas are:
- Listicles – List-based articles often have numbers in the title. Some example titles are “5 Reasons Why We Write Blogs” or “7 Popular Blog Formats”.
- Curated Collections – An opportunity for affiliate marketing, this format is a collection of recommended products or services.
- How-To Guides: How-to blogs teach readers how to do something using specific steps. You’re reading one now!
After you’ve chosen your format, it’s time to review your working title. Make sure your title fits the format of your article.
Step 4: Create an Outline
Outlining a blog post makes the writing process smoother. A good outline will break up your post into sections anyone can easily write. Likewise, outlined posts are easier to read.
Your readers will appreciate an organized post. In blog writing, the most digestible format is the inverted pyramid, sometimes called bottom-line upfront (or BLUF.) In short, this format divides your article in order of importance.
The most important, title-relevant information goes first, followed by important information, and lastly adding less-important information towards the bottom of the article. The inverted pyramid is a great way to get your article ranking well on SERPs.
Step 5: Write
After brainstorming, coming up with a working title, and creating an outline, it’s time to start writing.
When writing, it’s best to start with fleshing out the ideas you have a great deal of information about. The best articles come from experts and those that have had first-hand experience with the topic, so make sure to start with putting your best foot forward.
As you showcase research, you’ll want to credit your sources accordingly using backlinks–as an added bonus, backlinking also helps your SEO efforts as well.
While writing, make sure to keep your audience in mind as you establish a set tone for the article. You want to speak to your audience’s emotions, so consider if you want to keep your article upbeat or constructive.
Lastly, give yourself permission to write poorly. It’s more effective to write something that you can work with than to write nothing at all. Your first draft won’t always be polished, so have patience and work on laying out your ideas instead of focusing on grammar or sentence structure. You’ll have ample time to fix the mistakes in your article in the next section.
Step 6: Edit
Even the most experienced writers edit their work before publishing.
After drafting your article, take a break before coming back to edit. As you edit your article, be sure to read out loud–when you read your article out loud, you add an audible experience to editing that can help you catch sneaky mistakes you would have missed otherwise.
As the author, you’re less likely to catch your own mistakes. If you have access to an editor or colleague, ask them to look over your document and offer tips for improvement. Be sure to have a second person review your work at least once before you publish.
While professional editors are an invaluable resource for writers, anyone can offer insights on your article from the reader’s point of view
Why Do We Blog?
Marketers strongly suggest maintaining a blog on a company website because it positions your website as a relevant source of information. Blogs make your website rank better on Google and attract new readers.
What’s more, blogging is marketable in itself. Successful topic blogs sustain themselves through advertisements, promotions, and paid subscribers. Profitable blogs evolve into a sort of online magazine or newspaper, like Huffington Post or TechCrunch, and make millions of dollars each year. As one would expect, only the top-ranking blogs are open to this level of success.
Save This as a Writing Resource
If you want to write a strong, successful article, you’ll likely want to use our tips for help. Bookmark this page for later use as a blog writing guide.
