How To Write a Blog Article or Post: 13 Tips
What's the best way to go about writing a blog article or post? I do best when I methodically plan out my article before sitting at my keyboard contemplating a blank screen.
In case it's the same for you, I share with you my...
13 Tips on How To Write a Blog Article or Post
1. Determine what your article is about. This blog post you are reading is about how to write a blog post or article. You'll notice that I've included my topic [or keyword search term] in my title, and in a section header. It will also show up in the URL of this post once the article is published. Be specific and focused with your topic.
2. I find it just about impossible to write without including in my blog article a relevant image or photo. Flickr is a tremendous resource especially when you search for photos shared with Creative Commons licenses. For this blog post, I'm using the logo I created for my How Do I social media marketing series.
3. A blog article should be approximately 300 words in length [or between 200 to 400 words]. You can go shorter or longer on occasion; just realize that 300 is particularly effective for readers. Make sure your content is both interesting and relevant to your readers [think about creating delicious, memorable, remarkable content...].
4. Make sure you include links in your blog article: links to outside resources for more in-depth or corroborating resources as well as to your own website content.
5. Include a conversation generator [aka call to action] to invite comments and engagement from your readers.
6. Consider including a stronger call to action related to a specific offer you would like readers to take [e.g., subscribe to my monthly newsletter or download a relevant piece of content].
7. Aerate your content. Organize it logically, in a way that makes sense to your readers. Break it into pieces so it can be easily digested.
8. Include tags or categories so readers can easily find related blog articles.
9. Be prepared to publish your blog articles regularly and consistently, and at least once per week. I recommend two to three times per week. This means that you need to determine ahead of time what your content strategy will be and how it cascades into a monthly, weekly and daily plan.
10. When you think about how to write a blog article, be sure to have your customer in mind. This is not about you! Rather it's about your customers and their issues and how you provide solutions. You're trying to capture readers' attention so they spend time reading your content and getting to know you better [think trust building].
11. Don't ever duplicate your content!
12. Don't stuff your blog articles with keywords. Write for people!
13. Although it will take you a while to figure out your true blogging 'voice', be conversational when you write. Envision sitting across a table from someone and talking to him or her: you probably wouldn't speak about yourself in the 3rd person or in passive voice, right? Same goes for writing blog articles.
What would you add to this list?
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For marvelous blog article templates, you might enjoy visiting my friend Jay Baer's Convince and Convert site where he offers free social media tools.
