How to Write a Blog in 10 Steps

Blog writing is the best way to share your ideas, passions, and expertise with the world. So make it your platform to inspire, entertain, and educate people. And make money while you’re at it because blogging has monetization opportunities.

Writing a blog might seem overwhelming in the beginning. You have to weed your copy through millions of blog posts daily.

But how can you write a blog that readers will read and search engines will rank? You will find the answers to these questions in this article.

How to Write a Blog in 10 Steps

Take your blog’s humble beginnings into something your readers will find value in because, let’s be honest, you’ve skipped a few blog posts since it has needless information. So make sure your copy is worth the read.

An effective blog post has authority. And in blog writing, authority means a blog must contain original and helpful information so the audience won’t leave your website.

To lure loyal readers, here are 10 simple steps on how to write a blog:

Step 1. Identify Your Target Audience

The first step in writing blog posts is to ensure you know your intended audience or readers.

Your target audience is a specific group of people whom you want to reach with your blog posts. You can identify them through their behavior and demographics, like male solo travelers aged between 21-35. This helps you write quality blogs because you know who you want to engage with through your copy.

When you have a targeted blog site, you will have more traffic and engagement. Think about it. If you’re writing for everyone on the internet, your blogs won’t feel special to someone anymore. Thus, they won’t feel a genuine enough connection to share your articles, let alone read them.

Identifying your target audience helps you create a buyer persona.

A buyer persona is your ideal reader. They are a more detailed version of your target audience. For example, suppose your persona is an American male millennial wanting to solo travel Asia. In that case, you don’t need to give them details about the most luxurious hotels and resorts because they want to save as much as possible.

However, you can offer information about how to stretch their budget and visit more locations. Or the cheapest resorts in Nha Trang, Vietnam. And you may even give them advice on how to earn money while traveling. This tiny adjustment can help you publish content about the subjects your target persona needs to read before flying off to their destination.

Step 2. Determine Your Niche

There’s one thing you need to understand in creating a successful blog post; know and excel in your niche.

Niche is a blog marketing tactic for identifying your specific topic of choice. It will help you simplify the technical stuff when starting a blog. While you can write about broader topics on your website, finding your niche will make your blogs stick out.

For example, you can start blogging about traveling. But there are hundreds, if not thousands, of travel blogs on the internet. So find a specific angle you’re most knowledgeable about and focus on that. Perhaps luxury travel, traveling with kids, or budget-friendly backpacking. 

Determining your niche will separate your travel blog from the rest of the competition. So concentrate on that and become an expert on that topic.

Here are popular blog topics you can choose from:

• Food
• Lifestyle
• Travel
• Health and Fitness
• Fashion and Beauty
• Self-improvement
• Career Development
• Crafts and DIY
• Business
• Photography

There are unlimited subjects to choose from, but it’s crucial to select a specific topic of choice on your entire blog. Ask yourself these questions below to help you narrow down your niche:

What are your interests?

Think long-term. You’re more keen to write a blog if you’re genuinely interested in the topic. But if you choose a subject just because it’s trendy, you’ll eventually lose enjoyment. So stick to what you know best.

If you’re still unsure what to blog about, it’s alright. Sometimes the topics choose you, so give it some time. Think about the areas that get you excited when you hear about it. Or subjects you find yourself reading more, and take note of that. Sooner or later, you’ll discover your niche.

Does this topic go well with my target persona?

Your niche and target audience shouldn’t be far from each other. Instead, they should merge well. Hop on Google Trends to compare which niche is in-demand in a specific location. Because the more people search for a topic, the more demand it has—meaning the more traffic you may have on your blog site.

Is my niche profitable?

Even if you’re starting a blog as a hobby, it’s beneficial to see if you can earn from it. So think about the future scale of your blog if you want to become a full-time blogger. Or get out of your 9-5.

You can consider becoming an affiliate marketer. An affiliate means collaborating with a company to promote its products or services in your blog. You can earn commissions for any sale through your website. For instance, writing about “Best backpacks for traveling” or “What to pack in your backpack for South America” are the best ways to include an affiliate link to your favorite backpack and make money for each purchase from your blog.

You don’t need to plan your money-making scheme just yet. It’s just to help you visualize the opportunities you can get from blogging. So get your blog off the ground first.

Step 3. Find What’s Missing From the Existing Content

People read blogs for two reasons; they want to learn something new, or they’re looking for entertainment. So find a way to marry these two components into your blog posts.

When writing a blog, find out the gaps of other bloggers in your topic of choice. Maybe they’re missing vital information that you can fill in to add more value to the readers. But do it uniquely, and don’t forget to add your personal touch.

Your blog should solve problems rather than looping readers in redundant advice they see on other blog sites. Because readers always want to engage in new content, ensure you don’t duplicate what you see on other blogs.

One way to know what’s missing from existing content is to check their comment section or the “people also ask section” of Google. You may also go to online forums like Quora, where individuals ask and answer questions related to the topic. So maximize that for your blog.

Step 4. Plan Your Content Calendar

Successful blogging takes careful planning. To keep your blogging momentum going, plan your blog posts ahead of time. Write your topics at least a month in advance so you won’t cram trying to figure out what to write next.

Create an editorial calendar with a spreadsheet or an app. This helps you stay consistent and accountable as a blogger. Besides, search engines note how often you publish new content, which will help your blog rank in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

Allot time for a brainstorming session to come up with a handful of topics and ideas. Have at least ten topics to publish per month. As you think of topics to write on your blog, get into your reader’s shoes. So here are a few questions to guide you through this process:

• What’s the behavior of my target audience?
• What topics is my target audience into?
• What problems will I solve for my target audience?

These questions will let you develop a mind map when developing blog post ideas. A topic cluster will allow you to branch out into other subtopics from a broad subject. Here’s how to do it:

Let’s take traveling as an example again. Based on that broad topic, divide it into three subtopics: traveling in Europe, Asia, or Africa. Then, divide them into even smaller, specific subjects like backpacking in Amsterdam, luxury travel in Thailand, or traveling and volunteering in Africa.

Step 5. Pick a Blogging Platform

If you want to start a blog, find a blogging platform that can publish your content. Many sites available can suit any blogger’s topic of interest.

Some platforms are pretty simple, while others can be robust. So pick the one that’s ideal for your needs. In addition to its usability, it comes with basic features like free templates, design options, and analytics tools, which will be useful as you develop your readership.

WordPress free blogging platform, for example, offers many perks but having a domain name comes with a fee. On the other hand, Wix provides free website building and blog hosting.

Once you’ve chosen your blogging and web hosting plan, it’s time to formulate your blog domain name.

Your blog’s domain should have a personality that you want to reflect. It should be short and unique enough that people will remember it right away.

Step 6. Write Your First Blog Article

After creating your content calendar, it’s time to write your first blog post.

First, find the right keywords or phrases for your chosen topic. Repeating certain phrases and words in your article boosts the chances of your blog appearing on search result pages.

For example, you want to write a blog about backpacking in Amsterdam. Your target keywords will be:

• Backpacking Amsterdam
• Amsterdam on a budget
• How to backpack in Amsterdam

You may use free keyword research tools, but they don’t provide a detailed overview of your targeted keywords. Other tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs are more robust and accurate, but you have to pay a fee.

Second, decide on your blog post outline, so you have a better idea of how to write it. It can be a tourist destination recommendation or a how-to guide when traveling. Depending on your blog structure, break them up into headings and subheadings to keep your blogs organized.

Third, write a strong title. Although blog titles are brief, they are the deciding point of whether or not people should click on your article. So be clear and direct. And make sure it piques the readers’ curiosity. Use trigger words to elicit emotions.

You may start writing your titles at any phase of your blogging process because you can always edit them when you think of something clever.

Fourth, write your ideas about your topic. You’ll need an attention-grabbing introduction that contains a brief outlook of what your blog is about. Then, come up with the body of your article where you share your insights about the subject matter.

Be sure to avoid unnecessary details and keywords just to satisfy search engines. Write for readers instead. Include meaningful information with actionable steps to encourage your audience to keep reading your article.

Finally, end your blog post with a concluding statement summarizing your article’s key takeaways.

Writing a great blog post is a long process. So don’t rush into it. Set aside time to free-write your draft so you won’t get stuck with writer’s block. You can always proofread them later.

And remember to insert high-quality images related to the topic to boost the reader experience.

Step 7. Optimize For On-Page SEO

Optimizing your article for on-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a vital step in blog writing. It’ll allow your readers to see your copy on the first pages when they search for a topic.

So below are some best post-publishing practices to do it:

Check your keywords

Ensure that your keywords are also in your blog title, headings, and subheadings, not only in the texts. Use a keyword research tool to help you. But do away with keyword stuffing because it’s a bad SEO practice. It’ll only make your blog sound unnatural. And it’ll hurt your reputation.

Use alt text in your images

Google doesn’t see images, so most bloggers place keyword descriptions on their pictures for search engines to understand them. But make sure to compress them to improve load speed.

Make your blog mobile-friendly

Most people use their phones to read blog articles. So offer them the best experience by making your blogs desktop and mobile responsive.

Add a meta-description

Write a short narrative that includes your keywords under your meta title before publishing your blog. Not only will it help with SEO, but it’ll inform your readers what your article’s key points are.

Insert internal and external links

If you have more than just one blog post, linking them to related keywords in your article improves its SEO. And it encourages audiences to read through your other posts, while external linking to relevant blogs will tell search engines that you have quality blog content. However, don’t overdo it.

Step 8. Proofread Your Blog

A blogger’s best practice; Proofreading. Rereading your blog lets you dodge any grammatical errors you might overlook when writing a draft. So it’s best to have a fresh set of eyes to review it. It’s optional to use online tools to help you edit out any mistakes.

Step 9. Publish and Promote Your Blog

When you feel your first blog post is ready, it’s time to publish it on your blogging platform. But it’s not yet over. You still have to promote it if you want readers to discover it organically.

You may spread the word about your blog on various platforms like:

Social media

There are millions of people on social media. That’s why it’s one of the best places to advertise your blog. Whether you’re using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or all of them, it’s the best way to find new readers.

Newsletters

Newsletter signups are an excellent strategy for marketing your blog because it lets you keep a sustainable fan base. To get blog subscribers, add a popup Subscribe button on your blog page. Or opt to place it on the header or footer of your site, as some readers might not like popups.

Other websites

Solidify your influence as a reader and a thought leader by collaborating with other sites. Guest blogging is one of the go-to for most bloggers.

Community forums

Facebook groups, Quora, and Reddit, are some ideal places to engage with people about certain topics. So chime in on discussions if your blog answers some of the queries. But have a helpful tone instead of a promotional one.

Step 10. Track Your Blog’s Performance

After publishing your blog online, it’ll take some time to climb up the search ladder. Blogging is a long-term investment so give it at least 3-6 months to see significant traffic results to your blog.

Keep your eyes peeled for these SEO KPIs and metrics when tracking your blog’s performance:

• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate 
• Organic traffic
• Bounce rate
• Load time
• Pageviews
• Domain authority
• Keyword rankings
• Number of backlinks
• Average session duration

When tracking the performance of your blog, think about your purpose and goal. If you see some content isn’t doing well, create a different strategy for those copies. And always keep up with Google’s algorithm updates so you can make some adjustments on your end.

Blogging Creates Opportunities

Blogging can be your big break because it can be profitable. But it may take time for new bloggers to wrap their heads around the technical part of writing a blog.

If you want to make a career off of writing blogs, here are some critical details that you shouldn’t forget:

• Read a lot.
• Write about what you love.
• Always proofread your copy.
• Get into your reader’s shoes.
• Share read-worthy content and make it special.
• Stay consistent and make writing a daily habit.
• Be creative and informative.
• Have an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Stay on track with the latest SEO updates.

These 9 habits will make you a successful blogger in no time. So write well and keep opening new doors because it can lead you to endless opportunities.

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