The time has come. You figured out where to host your website. It looks great, except for one small problem, there are not any blog posts or any content on it! Have no fear, this is your ultimate guide on how to write a blog post, and create the best content going forward. After introducing you to the basics of writing a blog post, we will go into a detailed example.
There are two very important lessons to learn when it comes to how to write a blog pos:
- How to plan blog posts
- How to do basic SEO research for blog posts
After taking a look at how both of these are done, we are going to dive into an example that illustrates the process.
How to Write a Blog Post, Proper Planning
Sometimes, we feel particularly inspired to create a blog, and can just sit down and write it. It is great when this happens, but if you are looking to create a constant flow of content, you will find sometimes you need to write a blog and are staring at a blank screen. Proper planning is key, and important to make sure this does not happen!
I keep a running list of blog post ideas so that I always have something to write about. If I am particularly inspired, I will also outline some of the ideas for easy writing later. Every week, I take a look at the list and add to it if I am inspired. If not, I make sure to schedule time monthly with my list to add to it.
The next important thing is to do research on the topic you are going to write about. This research takes a few different forms:
- Research on the specifics of the topics if you are not very familiar with it
- SEO research on the topics to determine key words
- Research on your competitors and if they have written about the topic (like reading example blogs)
The first topic is easy, when we create a blog, we always want to make sure the information we are presenting is accurate, otherwise people will not bother reading our content! The next two parts can be a bit confusing if you are new to blogging. The good news is after you go through the process a few times, it becomes second nature!
How to Write a Blog Post, Doing Your SEO Research
The next topic to research is key words for SEO. This process is pretty straight forward believe it or not. It should not be scary to you at all!
First, make a list of things you think someone wanting to read your article would search for.
Next, use a tool like Niel Patel’s completely free Ubersuggest. Enter the term. Ubersuggest will tell you how easy it is to rank for that term. Ubersuggest will also give you a list of key words that are related. Be sure to write down any additional key words that you think your readers would be interested in.
You can also use Ubersuggest to do the next phase of research, which is to see what your competitors are up to. The SERP report will show you the results for the key word you have answered. Take a look at them, and make sure your content is better than what you are reading.
Now, sprinkle these key words you have come up with into your blog. Good places to put them are also your title, headings, and in your meta description. Nice descriptive headlines and titles are key for getting people to read your blog. The CoSchedule Headline Analyzer is a great tool to help you see how effective your headlines are, and will help you write better headlines and titles over time.
How to Write a Blog Post, The Ultimate Example
Now we are going to go through the thought process for writing a blog post, from start to finish. This is the ultimate blog post writing example including everything from brainstorming to SEO research.
How to Write a Blog Post, Your Ongoing List of Topics
For example, if let’s take the example of we used in our ultimate guide to launching a blog of selling an online bicycle repair training course. We are going to create a blog that focuses on things people who would buy our course are interested in. My list of topics may look something like this:
- Parts of a Bicycle
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- Part 1 – Frame
- What it does
- 2 or 3 common problems
- how to fix the problems
- Part 2 – Wheels
- What it does
- 2 or 3 common problems
- how to fix the problems
- Part 3 – Gears
-
- What they do
- 2 or 3 common problems
- how to fix the problems
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- Part 1 – Frame
-
- Bicycle Gear (clothes and accessories, not the bike part)
- Exercise tips for endurance
- Staying hydrated while exercising and biking
- Picking bike paths
There are is some great ideas content right here! As you can see, I have gone a little deeper into some of my ideas. I can re-visit this list and add things to it, or remove things as I write about them.
Now, let’s start with some of the ideas I have come up with a little bit of an outline for. In this example, we have some ideas for a series of blog posts that follow a similar formula. Once I create a blog about the bicycle frame, what it does, and 2 or 3 common problems with it, my next two posts will come much easier now that I have gone through the process. A great tip when it coms to how to write a blog post is to find a formula that works for you, and that you can apply to multiple ideas.
If you are still looking for ideas on what to write about be sure to take a look at these three example blog formats with examples and variations!
How to Write a Blog Post, SEO Research Example
Now, let’s focus on our first topic, which is parts of a bicycle. What do I think people will search for?
- Bike Parts
- Parts of a Bicycle
- Bike Frame
- Bicycle Frame
Uh oh! I have hit my first snafu. Do people usually use the term bike or bicycle? Whenever I am trying to decide between two terms, I heard on over to google trends, and enter them both, like this.
Looks like bike wins! I am going to use that term for now, but make sure I leave bicycle on my list, just in case I find out later people are searching for that term as well.
Now I am going to head over to Ubersuggest, and take a look, by entering bike into the search:
Wow! Looks like this is very competitive! That means I have a lot of work to do to make sure I have the bike content out there. I also have some great keyword suggestions that I did not even think about, like bike rack! I can download the complete list and also look for terms that are easier to rank for. I can do the same research on each of these terms to look at the SERP results.
Tip: Write Blog Posts That Are Easy to Read
Another note on writing your blog posts. Make sure they are easy to read! Let’s look at the beginning of this blog post presented in two different ways:
The content on the left is not formatted, and the content on the right is how it is formatted for this blog post. It is so much easier to read the content on the right! Make sure it is easy for your readers to consume your content. Use small paragraphs with generous spacing, descriptive headings, and do not be shy about using bulleted lists if you are listing a number of items.
Your Blog Post Can (and Should) Evolve
After I have created a blog, then published it, I like to take a look at Google Search Console to check in on how it is doing. You have set up Google Search Console, right? If you have not, make sure you do, and do not forget to look at the complete checklist for launching your blog.
From there you can see how you are doing with the key words you have initially chose, and if you are getting Google impressions on any other key words. At that point, I like to add these other key words I am getting impression on when they make sense. Neil Patel has a great guide to show you exactly how to do this here.
Writing a blog post may seem intimidating at first, but as you write more and more it will get easier and easier. The important thing to ask yourself when you are writing a blog post is “Would I read this?”. If the answer is yes, you are doing a great job! If the answer is no, you may want to re-work your blog until it is something you would enjoy reading and you think others would enjoy as well.
The Resources You Need To Write a Blog Post
This blog post is full of great resources to help you write a blog post and create the best content, so I want to put them in one easy place for you to refer to.
- A place to brainstorm post ideas (online or offline notebook). You can learn about some of my favorite tools for writing in this post on how to run a blog from your iPad.
- Google Trends for keyword comparison
- Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest for keyword research
- The CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
I hope this article, including examples on how to brainstorm great topics for your blog and getting started with SEO research were helpful. If you are still stuck on getting ideas on what to blog about, be sure to check Three Awesome and Easy to Use Example Blog Formats.