Start researching a topic, and write about that. Write about your journey while trying to give as much value as possible to your readers while wasting as little of their time as possible.
Have you never written a Blog Post or are you looking to start your writing career? In this blog I’ll explain why I started, why you should too and how to write your first blog post.
Why I started writing blogs and why you should too?
You might be thinking, what would writing blogs be good for? I already have so many things on my mind and responsibilities to take care of… How on earth will writing blogs help me?
Let’s look at some benefits:
- You Learn a Lot This is because if you want to write valuable articles, you need to do your best to give the best information possible to your audience. This also means if you have been in the industry for a while, you also sharpen and master your craft.
- You Learn to Write Learning to write is extremely important. Not only is writing a way of thinking and feeling, it is also a way to communicate your ideas and knowledge en masse. This means you learn a lot about communication which is one of the most (if not the most) important skill to develop. Your whole life you communicate with others, and being better at it only will exponentially help you in life. The earlier you get better at communicating, the more value you can get out of it throughout your life.
- Business Benefits There are also many benefits business-wise with starting to write articles and blogging. Blogging in business, positions you as an authority, thought leader, improves SEO, develops your clients (so they work more efficiently & effectively with you making sure both you and the client get better results), it even can develop your team further (as you might explain and remind them on topics that are important to their function), and much more.
- Financial Reasons You can make quite a lot of money writing. On average, globally, people get paid $3000-5000 per month writing blogs and copywriting (no, not the weird “©” ****copyrights that get you into legal trouble if you copy other peoples work or ideas). An entry position starts at around $1500 per month.
All of these reasons motivated me to start blogging, and I hope it will do the same for you too.
Now let’s get to the actual sauce of this article going in to how you would actually write your first post.
How do you actually write your first post?
Before you write your first blog post, you first need to know what your blog will be about and who your target audience will be (Please comment if you want more help on that specifically as I will then make a separate blog for that).
The Articles Main Content
We recommend leaving the headline, introduction and conclusion for later. This helps keeping them accurate as it might change frequently while writing your post.
Then, there are a couple of principles you will want to follow while writing your blog post:
- Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
- Don’t make paragraphs too long (respect your reader’s time, don’t waste their time)
- Make sure every sentence adds value (meaning, avoid fluff)
- Add Images, GIFs, bullet points and other engaging/interactive elements to improve reader experience
- Write clear & concise sentences (avoid being vague like it’s the plague)
“Okay, but we’ve gotten some principles now, but how do I actually write my blog post?”
Where do I start, I want to write my post!
Before we start, we recommend writing the introduction, conclusion, and main headline last. This makes sure they are accurate and reflect the body of your article. Now onto writing:
First of all, we need to create an outline. This helps you plan your content to make it more valuable & clear for the reader while making it more efficient and pleasant to write for yourself.
Research the topic, and scan through articles, podcasts and other resources for inspiration & ideas. This ensures you are more accurate & knowledgeable in translating your ideas into words while writing.
Creating an outline looks something like this
For help planning different types of blog posts (such as how-to guides and listicles), check out our blog post templates. You can also get inspiration from our blog post examples.
Once you’ve got the topic & your target audience and the structure of your post in mind, we will go into the next step: the Body.
Writing the Main Body
First, optimize the section’s subheading:
- Make it clear what the section will cover
- Incorporate target keywords where appropriate
- Use the appropriate header HTML tags in your blog (H1, H2, H3)
Next, use the BLUF standard (Bottom Line Up Front). This goes back to the principle of not wasting your reader’s time and mentioning what they came for straight away. This is even a military communications acronym, and it’s made as concise and clear as possible — as life-or-death decisions could be made by using the information mentioned.
Here is an example of both an effective, and ineffective way of BLUF writing:
Effective BLUF Example for a Yachting Guide Blog: “Before purchasing a yacht, consider key factors: initial costs averaging $500,000, ongoing expenses like $20,000/year for docking, and necessary skills such as basic seamanship and navigation.”
Ineffective BLUF Example for a Yachting Guide Blog: “Embark on a magical, transcendent journey into the world of yachting, where every wave and gust of wind sings a story of adventure and luxury. Imagine the endless possibilities as you traverse the globe in a vessel that is not just a boat, but a floating palace, a guardian of your deepest sea dreams. But beware, for this path is lined with intricate, almost mystical challenges, from deciphering the ancient art of sailing to unraveling the complex tapestry of yacht ownership costs and commitments.”
And follow these tips for writing high-quality content:
- Write with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation (for help, use tools like Grammarly)
- Make sure every sentence adds value (i.e., avoid fluff)
- Incorporate target keywords where natural
- Write clear and concise sentences
- Add internal links to relevant pages
- Keep paragraphs short to improve readability
- Use bullet points, images, etc., to display information more effectively
- Make content actionable using examples and workflows
We have gone through the outline and the main body. Up next is the Headline
Creating the Headline(s)
The headline is the first text your reader will see, and based on it your reader will choose to click through or to keep scrolling.
A couple of quick tips on writing better headlines:
- Make it relevant to the article
- Make it search-worthy
- Make it catchy & have it grab the attention of your reader
- Start with an action verb
- Give a personal angle
- Make it sound catchy
- Use Numbers
- Try wordplay
- Create urgency
- Keep them shorter and direct (avoid being vague, like it’s the plague!)
Now that we’ve covered the structure, main body and headlines, let’s go to the introduction and conclusion.
The Outer Ends: Introduction & Conclusion
The introduction should be made with the BLUF principle in mind. Your readers should know exactly what they will be reading about. Remember, time is valuable. Don’t be vague and avoid fluff.
The conclusion to your article is like a call to action. You tell them what they should do next after reading your article. For your first post, you can ask them to comment, share or follow you on social media. Otherwise, you can forward them to other articles as well.
You can also use the conclusion as a perfect way to convert readers into buyers. Be cautious, you probably don’t want to come over as salesy.
Last Steps
Now I would suggest waiting 1-3 days and re-reading it. Make sure you know what you wrote and fix all the mistakes & errors you have. You can also send it to a friend for proof-reading.
After you have made sure you are satisfied with the article, publish it.
Make sure you schedule your next blog post. Making this a habit is easiest if you do it one at a time and you want it to be a habit so you genuinely improve at writing. If you are really committed, you can make a content calendar as well.
Additional Steps
Before going live, make sure your blog post is formatted correctly. (Things can go wrong during the upload process.)
And add relevant metadata, including:
- URL Slug (the unique part of the URL)
- Title Tag (Similar to page title, this is the title in search engines)
- Meta Description (short page description, helps with SEO)
- Alt Text (image descriptions used by search engines, they also improve page accessibility)
If you use WordPress, you can use plug-ins like All-in-One SEO or YoastSEO. You can use them for free and do a basic SEO setup for your pages.
Another step you can take would be promoting & sharing your blog post. Here are a couple of examples on how you can promote your post:
- Social Media
- Email Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- PPC Marketing (Online Ads)
- Content Syndication (republishing your posts on other platforms like medium)
What will your first blog post be about? Let me know in the comments!
