People are discovering the power of blogging. More and more individuals are using blogs as a way to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions with the world. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, then this article is for you! Here are some handy tips on how to write an online blog post that will make your colleagues, friends, and family proud to read your work.
Know Your Audience
When you’re first starting out, it’s critical to know who you’re writing for. Broadly speaking, you have three kinds of people reading your blog posts:
- Your Colleagues: These are your friends, family, and other individuals you’re close to. Typically, you’ll want to write in a way that will appeal to this group. You can also use this group to help you figure out what content you should be creating. If you want, you can also ask them for feedback on your blog posts – providing them with valuable input that could help improve your work.
- Your Peers: These are other bloggers, reporters, and journalists who you think are on a similar level to yourself. You can use this group to get a sense of what content is popular and whether or not you should be writing about topics similar to what they are covering. It’s also a great way to learn from experts.
- The Reader: This is everyone else. Yes, even you. This includes complete strangers and individuals you’ve never met who are simply passing by your blog post. Your goal as a writer is to capture their attention and keep it. To do this, you must write concisely and use simple language. Remember: You are not writing for an expert audience. You are writing for the masses – including those who are not familiar with or interested in your subject matter. So, take a simpler approach and speak to your audience like they’re peers.
Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list. You should also be aware of any other groups of people you identify with or are interested in targeting. For example, if you’re a fashion blogger, you may want to write for fashion enthusiasts or people who are interested in style. Similarly, if you’re a food blogger, you may want to write for people who love to cook or those who are simply interested in delicious food.
Plan Your Content
Creating content isn’t easy. It requires a lot of work. There are so many moving pieces to consider, such as finding the right location for your blog (e.g., cyberspace, real world), picking the right name, designing a logo, and so much more.
When you’re starting out, it’s hard to know what content you should be creating. However, once you start getting a sense of what works and what doesn’t, you’ll find content ideas flowing to you.
To start, brainstorm ideas for blog posts. Look at what’s working currently and try to figure out what you can improve on. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and be creative. The blogosphere is a big place. You’re sure to find something that will stick. Once you’ve found something that feels right, map out a plan for how you’re going to approach the content. This plan should include things like the topics you’ll be covering, the frequency of your posts, and the style in which you’ll be presenting your material.
Create a Routine
It’s important to create and maintain a routine when blogging. Like with any other important facet of your life, you’ll want to make sure you keep track of your blog posts. This will help you ensure you always stay consistent with the content you plan on posting. It’ll also help you figure out what’s working and what needs to be improved on. If you want, you can use an app like WordPress to easily keep track of all your blog posts. If you find this a bit much, you can also simply use a blog calendar or a Google calendar to keep track of all your posts. Whatever system you choose, be sure to commit to and follow through with it.
Make Sure You Practice
Blogs are a lot like stories. The more you write, the more you’ll get improved at writing. So, make sure you practice as often as possible. Fortunately, this can be a fun exercise. You can either write something fictional or use a resource like Memrise to practice writing. Memrise is a free learning platform that allows you to create personalized learning plans for yourself or your child. This tool can be incredibly helpful for kids who need to practice their writing. As a parent or teacher, you can also use this tool to create personalized learning plans for your child. For example, you can have them practice their writing with fun, educational quests that will encourage them to practice reading and using key words.
Post On A Regular Basis
Consistency is an important thing when blogging. You don’t want to suddenly jump from covering fashion to cooking to fitness in one post. Instead, create a blog schedule and stick to it as much as possible. This will help ensure you always provide content when your readers need it. Ideally, you’ll want to have a post published at least once per week.
If you want to create content that is highly engaging and draws in your target audience, then consider creating a schedule and following it. For example, if you want to create a blog focused on lifestyle and fashion, then it may be a good idea to post on Mondays and Thursdays. Why? Well, those are the days most individuals in your target audience are most active on social media. So, by posting on those days, you’re sure to reach the most people possible. Be sure to check out the blog posts of other prominent fashion bloggers to see what times they use to post on and how often they post.
Provide Links To More Information
When writing an online blog post, it’s important to provide your audience with additional resources. Whether you’re providing additional information on the topic or simply mentioning other websites and blogs that you think are relevant or helpful, make sure you provide these links in your blog post. If possible, you can also consider creating a small segment in your post called a mini-segment. This is essentially a short bit of additional content within your post that takes the form of a link or a short quote. This is a great way to add substance to your post while maintaining a brief amount of content.
Include Keywords In Your Content
When someone is searching for something, they typically use keywords to find what they’re looking for. This is because when someone types in a search term, the search engine will try to match the words that they’re typing with content on the site. For example, if someone searches for “fashion blogs,” your site may appear in the search results because you have content that matches what they’re searching for. So, make sure you include the keywords from the query in your content. This will raise your site’s organic search score and make your content more discoverable.
To create content that is more easily discoverable, make sure you include keywords in your content. To test this out, type in a few phrases in the search bar on Google – adding quotation marks as needed. Then, click the search button. You’ll see a list of results from the search engine. Take a look at the top few results. Do you see content that matches what you were searching for? If so, great! Include these keywords in your content. Remember: The more you add, the more you’ll achieve. So, don’t be afraid to take advantage of this.
Avoid Overspecialization
While it’s important to specialize in your field, it’s also important to avoid becoming too specialized. If you’re a food blogger who is only posting about food, you may find that your audience doesn’t have much interest in what you have to say. On the other hand, if you’re a fashion blogger who only posts about fashion, you may find that your audience has no interest in what you have to say about food. Therefore, it’s important to diversify your blog posts as much as possible. This will create a more engaging experience for your audience and give them content that is applicable to a range of topics. In other words, don’t limit yourself to one subject matter.