Scottsdale SEO: How to write a great blog post

We don’t have to tell you how valuable blogging can be for your website and your business. But even if you know blogging is the best thing you can do, knowing how to write a great blog post is a different thing altogether. If you aren’t sure how to create a great blog post or are looking for tips on how to improve your writing, this is the post for you.

A great blog post starts with a plan

No great blog post was ever written without a plan. It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are, a plan is essential for gathering your thoughts, writing clearly and effectively and making sure that you stay on topics. Your plan starts when you brainstorm topic ideas and it should include keyword research as well as topic research. Once you have completed all of your research, you’ll want to create a brief outline of your blog post that includes subheadings and briefly highlights what will be said in each section.

Think carefully about the headline

A lot of people will read a blog’s headline and nothing else. That’s because they use the headline to get an idea of what the blog is about and whether it will be interesting. Boring headlines turn off readers. That’s why you need to spend time creating a short, punchy and engaging headline that grabs readers’ attention and forces them to read the rest of the post. If you need help creating headlines, look at online news websites like Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post.

Write the post

This is the easy part. With your outline to hand, writing the post becomes very simple. You just need to build on the ideas that you already have. Make sure to keep your writing clear and simple. Use short words and short sentences. You should also use lots of subheadings to break your writing up and avoid long paragraphs as these can be a turn off for online readers.

Add images to your post

Images are an essential part of every great blog post. Not only do they break the post up even more and make it more visually appealing, they also add context to your writing and can be used to explain certain points. There are dozens of websites that you can use to find free pictures online. Just make sure to keep file sizes small and to add alt tags to every image that you use.

Edit carefully

Once you have finished writing your blog post it is best to take a break before heading. This will give you time to freshen up and take your mind off the post, therefore making it easier to spot errors you couldn’t see when writing. When it comes time to edit, make sure that you read your blog post slowly and out loud. This will make errors more obvious and help you check the flow of your writing. If you can, have someone else read your blog post, too.

That’s all there is to it. Writing a blog post doesn’t have to be a daunting process. If you break it down into smaller manageable chunks, anyone can write a great blog post.