write blog articles

Do you feel that? That little tugging sensation on your heart? You’re not sure what, but something is pulling you to change. Not in a confess-your-sins-oh-ye-sinners way, but to shift directions, to embrace your calling, to finally do what you were put here to do: Write. You feel the ideas inside you. You sense them straining to escape. You know your job is to set them free, firing them like a cannon into a world in desperate need of them. But you’re afraid. You’re afraid of quitting your job and living without a safety net. You’re afraid of the concerned, disapproving looks your friends will give you when you tell them you’re giving it all up to write for a living. You’re afraid of not having enough money for food, of the power being cut off, of watching your family shivering and hungry, all because of your “selfishness”. And most of all? You’re afraid you’re wrong about yourself.

As writers, we all share the deep longing to embrace our calling and express our ideas, but we also share the fears that so often sabotage those longings — the fear that we don’t have what it takes, that we’ll crash and burn, and that our dreams are just that — dreams.

In his introduction, Jon addresses all those longings and fears and immediately makes you feel like he gets you so intimately, it’s almost creepy.

Creepy, but effective.

Introduction Rule #2. Get into Character

If you want to captivate readers, you must trigger their emotions.

So as you sit down to write, think of the feelings you want them to experience:

Fear, anger, sadness, hope, joy, disgust, shame, comfort, love, courage, and so on.

Then get into character and feel them yourself as you write, and your words will read with undeniable authenticity.

When Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the heartbreaking lyrics in Hamilton that have left tears on the faces of millions, it was his eyes that first shed tears as he put his pen to paper.

So play with your emotions. Map out the emotional journey you’re taking readers on, and infuse those feelings into your writing. Feel what you want your audience to feel and your words will exude those emotions.

This tip applies to your whole post, but in no place is triggering your audience’s emotions more important than your introduction.

You feel me? 🙂

I once wrote an emotional post about my two little girls which addressed how delicate their emotions are, as well as my own vulnerabilities and my longing to give them the patience, presence, and love they deserve.

Here’s a portion of it:

I told my three-year old daughter as we stood outside the car in her school parking lot, the rain pouring down on us as she sobbed breathlessly in my arms. She didn’t want to go in the car. She just wanted me to stand there, holding her. And I didn’t want to rush her, or tell her to stop crying. “I’ll hold you for as long as it takes.”

I felt that longing intensely and definitely shed some tears as I wrote the introduction. The feedback I got from readers was that they felt the same intensity, and even cried as well.

When we write, our feelings seep into our words.

Introduction Rule #3. Lure Readers Down the Page

Want readers to commit to your post?

Accelerate their experience. Lure them down the page.

The faster they get pulled down, the more committed they’ll feel.

Too many bumps in the road early on, and off track they go, never to return.

Here are three writing tips to use in your intros to lure readers down the page:

#1. Open With a Short Sentence or Question

Kind of like how I opened this section. 🙂

This is how all of Smart Blogger’s posts open, and for good reason. It’s a copywriting technique proven to pull readers in.

Start a post with a long clunky paragraph and they’ll feel exhausted just looking at it.

#2. Take a Knife to Your Words

Slash as many words as possible.

If the first draft of your introduction is 200 words, try cutting it down to 100. The more you practice this, the more efficient your blog writing process becomes.

And when you write efficiently, your words have power. That power will grab your readers.

#3. Set the Rhythm

All writing has a pace and rhythm.

You want your introduction’s pace and beat to be somewhat quick. You can slow things down later.

How do you achieve this?

The best writers, like the best music composers, take readers on a journey. Fast and slow, loud and soft, urgency and ease.

The more you pay attention to this, the more rhythm you’ll infuse into your words.

Shane Arthur sends readers’ eyes flying down the page by using crisp sentences and short paragraphs to create a fast rhythm:

You’re not stupid. You know what writing is truly about. It’s a never-ending battle for your readers’ attention. Every sentence is a link in a taut chain that connects your headline to your conclusion. And you are just one weak sentence away from losing your reader forever.

He then appropriately slows things down in the section that follows with longer sentences. A masterful composition!

Introduction Rule #4. Make Them Beg

Want readers begging for your solutions?

Add a little fear to your opening.

What are readers worried about? Do they know what will happen if they don’t solve the problem the post is addressing? What is the worst-case scenario?

Bring those fears to the surface. Expose them.

By doing so, not only will readers feel a camaraderie with you (because you understand their fears, so clearly you’ve tip-toed through the dark side yourself), but they’ll feel more eager than ever for the solution you present.

We all have fears. We think we need to hide them, but the more we give voice to them, the easier they are to set free.

Do that for your readers.

In his introduction, Glen Long brilliantly taps into the fear of failure all writers experience by addressing the dream of making a living as a writer and then quickly smothering that dream with the doubts that creep up at the mere thought of it:

So, who knows? Maybe the doubters are right. Maybe you are naive to think you could earn a living doing something you love, instead of something you just tolerate.

The fear of failure is painful, yes. But giving voice to it is validating and makes readers eager for the solutions that will set that fear free.

Introduction Rule #5. Hint at the Promised Land

Finally, as you wrap up your intro, hint at the promised land.

The place readers will get to when they master your methods. The destination your post promises to take them.

But whatever you do, do not give it all away. Just one sentence that says too much satisfies your readers enough to send them clicking away.

Why? Because readers bore easily. You must keep them on their toes. And the point of an introduction is not to give answers, it’s to set the stage for all the hearty advice your post will provide.

In the introduction to Meera Kothand’s post, she addressed a problem all new bloggers face: How do you get to know your audience when you don’t have one yet ?

She goes on to talk about the big mistake many of them make (making assumptions) and why that’s ineffective. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:

That kind of guessing is like throwing darts blindfolded and hoping you hit the bull’s eye. Sometimes it works. Usually, it doesn’t. Fortunately, there’s another way…

How could anyone not want to keep reading?

How to Write an Introduction: Bonus Tip

When writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions.

Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.

A word of caution:

No matter how eloquent your words…

No matter how powerful your prose…

If your introduction doesn’t satisfy search intent, readers will click the “back” button and never return.

What’s search intent?

It’s the purpose behind the Google search.

If someone searches for “how to lose weight” in Google, they’re expecting search results that will help them lose weight.

If they click a headline that reads “7 Easy Tips For Losing Weight Fast”, and the post begins with an amusing Nicolas Cage anecdote, there’s a good chance they will leave — never getting to read the rest of the post, which is filled with weight loss wisdom.

And when they leave, what they’re essentially telling Google is this:

“At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

And Google will respond by ranking your post lower in its search results.

Search intent is a big part of SEO (search engine optimization). When we do keyword research here at Smart Blogger, figuring out the keyword phrase’s intent is one of the first things we do. It shapes our headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more.

The ins and outs of mastering it would be an article all by itself, so we’ll simply say this:

Taking the time to analyze the results in Google so you have a solid handle on why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting is time well spent. Figure out the intent, and then make sure your intro matches it.

3. Deliver Advice That’s Easy to Consume and Impossible to Ignore

Okay, you’re doing great.

You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised.

If you want readers to love you and look forward to every good blog post you write, you’ll over-deliver.

If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver.

The choice is yours.

Use the guide below to deliver valuable and easy-to-consume advice:

Content Rule #1. Add Pitstops

Subheads — use them.

Why? Because readers are scanners.

They have no choice. There’s a behemoth amount of content at their fingertips, and not all of it is good.

And so they scan (as do you, I’m sure).

Subheadings are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave.

Blogging is a battle, remember?

Keep these four tips in mind when drafting your subheads:

#1. Add a Subhead Every Few Paragraphs

Sprinkle subheaders throughout your post.

Why? Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable.

And never forget, your blog posts are all about your readers’ experience.

If readers see too much text when they’re scanning without enough pit stops, they’ll feel overwhelmed. It’s like getting on a bus tour and being told there will be no bathroom breaks … oh, the anxiety!

Every single post on Smart Blogger.

That’s how important this is.

#2. Avoid the 3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers Bounce

Subheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and avoid the following common blunders :

Let’s say you’re writing a post about the impact sleep has on anxiety levels and you include the following subheads:

See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right?

The subheads below would do a better job at grabbing readers:

#3. Compare Each Subhead to Your Main Headline

Each subhead should clearly deliver on the overall headline of your post.

Again, if you’re viewing subheads as pit stops, they must all lead to the ultimate destination — what was promised by your headline.

If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused.

In that case, either the subheads need to change or the headline needs rethinking.

Say you’re writing a post called “How to Silence Your Nagging Inner Critic” and you include the following subheads:

The fourth subhead’s sudden twist in topic is jarring. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job.

Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that.

They will simply feel confused.

#4. Follow a Format

If you are listing various “ways,” “steps,” “methods,” “signs,” etc., to achieve what the headline of the post promises, keep the format consistent.

If you don’t, the post comes across as unpolished. Bloggers overlook this all the time, but it’s easy to fix once you’re aware of it.

If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course.

Say your post is called “12 Ways to Cure Insomnia” and you have a subhead for each of the 12 ways. You’ll want those subheads to follow a consistent format.

Let’s say your first few subheads read as follows:

Something there feel a little off?

The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length.

But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. It doesn’t start with a verb and it’s much longer than the others.

This inconsistency may seem fairly innocent, but it’s distracting to readers.

Content Rule #2. Unleash the Unexpected

Let’s face it, readers today are info-holics. We all are.

So tired old advice isn’t going to cut it. Your post must be unique, bold, and eye-opening.

My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. Something readers aren’t expecting.

What belief systems have you learned to challenge? What do you know that most people don’t? How can you shed new light on an old problem? What methods do you use that others won’t know about?

You don’t want to go overboard just for the sake of adding shock value. Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. But regurgitating old advice doesn’t challenge you as a writer, nor does it enlighten your audience.

So pour your readers a little espresso for their info-hangover by delivering the unexpected.

Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?!

Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about what it takes to make it as a blogger .

Content Rule #3. Follow a Formula

Notice how this post follows a pretty consistent formula?

Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example.

The more consistency you weave into your posts, the better the reader’s experience.

Let’s say you write a list post covering five steps to achieve something. If the first step is 500 words, the second and third steps are 100 words, the fourth step is 200 words and the fifth step is 400 words, it looks sloppy. As though you didn’t bother to proofread it before hitting publish.

Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience.

Want to go even more pro? Look at the beginning, middle, and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action.

The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art.

In his post on getting traffic from Twitter , Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic.

Readers know exactly what to expect from each section, making for a fluid reading experience.

Content Rule #4. Be Ridiculously Generous

Many bloggers worry about giving away too much in their posts. After all, they want readers to sign up for their paid coaching calls or products.

So they hold back, barely skimming the surface of their advice.

Truthfully, if you’re not generous with your readers in your posts, they won’t get a good impression of your paid products.

Don’t hold back on your readers. Fully work through the problem with them. Give them complete solutions and powerful advice. Wow them with your generosity and they will stick around as loyal readers and customers.

Want to learn everything there is to know about affiliate marketing ?

Holy smokes. At 10,000 words, that insanely generous post by Leanne Regalla is basically a textbook on the subject, and reader comments praise it as such. (Let’s all bookmark this one, yes?)

A post of this magnitude is quite an undertaking, but don’t let it scare you. You can also wow your audience with your generosity and thoughtfulness in a 1,000-word post.

Content Rule #5. Start and End Strong

Just as your introduction and conclusion should grab readers, you want the main body of your post to start and end strong as well.

Of course, every section should have great content , but if you’re offering five ways to achieve something, save your absolute best tips for the first and fifth ways. The first way will grab your readers’ attention, and the fifth way will leave them feeling fully satisfied.

On the other hand, if each tip successively decreases in value, readers will feel like your post is deflating. And their excitement will deflate with it.

Let’s leave readers feeling pumped when they finish your post.

Linda Formichelli gives ten crafty ways to write 1,000 words per hour .

While all ten ways are excellent, I’d argue that the first (about writing under the pressure of a full bladder) and last (about gambling with your reputation) are the most bold and attention-grabbing (bathroom break, anyone?).

Writing a Blog Post: Bonus Tip

Before writing the main sections of your post, flesh out an outline to nail your points down.

The clearer and more simplified your outline is, the more clarity and conviction your post will have.

4. Close with a Motivational Bang

We’re almost at the finish line! It’s time to close your post with a bang.

This is where you rally behind your readers. Show them that you believe in them.

Make them believe they can achieve the goal promised by your headline (because after reading your generous advice, they certainly can).

Follow these rules when crafting your motivational conclusion:

Conclusion Rule #1. Give Your Readers a Pep Talk

Motivate your readers.

Show them how far they’ve come, what they’re capable of, and what life will look like once they’ve implemented your advice.

Give them the pep talk you longed for when you were struggling with the topic your post presents.

Empower them by raising your expectations of them. They can’t just read your post and pretend it never happened — they must take action. Immediately.

Make them see that no matter what they’ve experienced or how hard they’ve struggled, their time is now.

In this post’s conclusion , Jon uses all he’s had to overcome in life to show readers that they have no excuses: no matter hard things get, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to.

He encourages readers by letting them know that he believes in them and then he raises his expectations of them by telling them they need to get started … “right freaking now.”

By the time you’re done reading the conclusion, you feel like you can conquer just about anything!

Conclusion Rule #2. Avoid New Information

A common mistake many bloggers make?

Suddenly inserting new information or tips in their conclusions.

It’s like reaching the last ten minutes of a spellbinding movie. You’re on pins and needles waiting to see how it ends, and suddenly a new character is introduced. What the … ?!

It’s jarring. Don’t do that to your readers.

In his conclusion, Robert van Tongeren motivates you to repurpose old blog posts by comparing them to epic musical classics; if they disappeared into obscurity simply because they’re old, we’d all be at a great loss.

Imagine if in the midst of such a conclusion, Robert quickly threw in one more way to repurpose content, or one small caveat to his post’s advice, or one more general tip to keep in mind?

It would throw the whole closing off and leave readers feeling ruffled instead of jamming to Bohemian Rhapsody.

How to Write a Conclusion: Bonus Tip

When writing your conclusion, put yourself back in the shoes of your readers.

What will their lives be like if they accomplish the advice in your post? How will they feel?

The more you can hone in on your readers’ point of view, the more you can motivate them to take action.

Too many bloggers put too little thought into their closings.

That’s a shame.

Let’s face it…

Most people don’t read 100% of our posts. Heck, most people don’t even read half .

So how do we reward the precious few who read and absorbed the words we poured our heart and soul into?

With a closing we whipped together in 20 seconds.

Someone who makes it to the end of your post is primed.

They trust you. They like you. They want you to tell them what to do next.

So tell them.

Don’t waste this opportunity.

5. Polish Your Post So It’s Smoother Than a Slip ‘n Slide

Phew! You’ve written your post . Next up?

Take a well-deserved break. Step away for a day or more so you can come back to it with fresh eyes.

Once you’re ready, it’s time to do some editing. I know, the mind reels that there’s more work to do!

But editing your post is essential. If your post doesn’t provide a smooth reading experience, your reader will lose attention and bail.

Use this checklist when you’re ready to edit your post:

How to Edit a Blog Post: Bonus Tip

A great way to self-edit your posts is to read them out loud.

Doing so will help you catch many of the issues listed above, particularly things like overly complicated wording, run-on sentences and choppy rhythm.

Win the Battle for Your Reader’s Attention

Blogging is a battle.

A war to get your ideas the attention they deserve.

Your enemy? The dizzying array of online distractions that devour your readers.

This battle is not for the faint of heart.

There are so many learning curves. Blogging platforms and plugins you’ll need to install. Social networks you’ll need to employ. Content marketing techniques you’ll need to try.

But none of that stuff matters if you’re drowning your ideas in amateur writing. You might as well lay your sword down in defeat. Readers don’t have time for amateurs.

So before you venture any further down the blogging rabbit hole, you better make sure you know how to write a blog post like a pro.

Skip that step, and nothing can save you. Your battle is lost.

The good news is, writing good blog posts is a skill you can learn. And it’s one you must learn.

You have powerful words and ideas that can transform readers’ lives. Those ideas are worth fighting for.

So when you’re ready to enter the arena, arm yourself with this ultimate guide and fight the good fight.

Your readers are counting on you.

Content Marketing

Liz Careathers

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Written by Liz Careathers

180 thoughts on “how to write a blog post in 2023: the ultimate guide”.

I must say, I am totally convinced to read the complete article. I have completed the step 1 but will complete the other soon. The main things most of the beginner bloggers think that topic is already covered by leaders, how i compete with them?

So this guide will help them to find the answer.

Good Read 🙂

Thanks Kuldeep, I’m glad you found this helpful!

Liz, I have benefitted from your blogging wisdom as your student. This is a wonderful summary of things you have taught me — things we need to be reminded of. Thanks to you and to Jon for this post.

Also, if you chose the photo of Ste. Chapelle as the background to your “over deliver” statement — it’s the perfect illustration — did you know that? The French King who built that chapel had those walls of light created to meet the greatest challenge of Gothic architecture — to construct the highest possible walls of stained glass that could be created without crumbling. It has no rivals on that score.

This is one of the best architectural illustrations of your point you could have chosen. Well written and well done!

Thank you so much, Kim! I learn so much from you as well!

The credit for that photo choice goes all to Heather on Jon’s team, she knows what she’s doing! 🙂

So glad to see your post on here. It turned out amazing. My favorite points are tied to the idea of stealing and being simple. The number one mistake I see writers make is trying to be original, witty, and intelligent. People who think they’re above having to learn first principles always fail.

Kudos on using lickety-split in your post too. haha.

Off to share!

Thank you so much, Ayo! You have me cracking up. Thank you for noticing I used lickety-split, I was quite proud of that word choice 🙂

Wow!! Amazing guide… Thank you for putting it together! I’ll be sure to follow all these steps every time start writing my articles!!

Off to share right away!

Thank you Nadeem, so glad you found it useful!

Fantastic post!

We have a website/blog and our way of motivating is by providing samples of Truth and Beauty. We do this through images, words, music, movies and wine! We blog every day so we try to keep it fairly succinct.

Although our structure is a little different, I find this post to be extremely helpful and look forward to future posts. Thank You!

–Shawn

Thanks, Shawn! So glad you found this useful

That was a great article. I will go back to it again. In fact, I’m going back to edit a post I thought was perfect…until I read yours. Glad I hadn’t published it quite yet. 🙂 Jan

Thanks, Jan! Glad you can refer to this when you write!

Some great stuff in here! I resonated a lot with Avoid New Information – I’m always doing that with my blog posts. Too many great statistics to pack in!

What made you decide to format this as a long-form document rather than separate posts? I would be concerned about people seeing the length of this bad boy and being put off!

Ha, yes, you might be right Jack! This bad boy was quite a writing project all on its own. But since it’s an “ultimate guide” I just couldn’t leave anything out 🙂

Thank you for this incredible guide! As a new blogger, I have learned so much in this generous post. And now I’m itching to write using the steps that you’ve outlined above! I have bookmarked this post and will be returning to this guide often.

Thanks so much, Kat! So glad this guide will be helpful to you as you write 🙂

You’re very welcome 🙂

Thank you Liz for this overwhelmingly important information. This is really called “ultimate” for a reason. 🙂

Thanks so much, Mikel 🙂

Hey Liz, wonderful to read your post again. This article is an awesome checklist and will save us the trouble of Checking out the Blog Launch Formula video where Glen gave a kick ass presentation on the same topic. This is also a great resource for training new writers. Bookmarking this.

Thanks Peter! I know you know most of these tricks already! I haven’t seen that video but everything I know I’ve learned from Glen 🙂

Hi, Liz. I´ve been reading Jon´s posts for a while now. Yep, he´s the master of empathy. Undoubtedly. And I found my courage from his articles to start blogging again.

But as a loyal follower I read all the Smartblogger´s blog posts and you know what I´ve noticed? Jon has an incredibly sharp eye to choose his co-writers. Cause´ they are as talented and skillful as he is.

In fact, your guide, Liz, has triggered me to write this comment. Which, by the way, is my first one not only here, but ever :).

I know well how much time and effort it took to put this guide together. It seems so smooth, playful and professional, but in reality there`s loads of work hidden under the playfulness.

So I simply say: thank you, Liz!

I now bo back to my blog posts and work harder to be worthy of this guide, some day 🙂

Cheers, Sigrid

Thank you so much for these kind words, Sigrid! I can see just from your comment that you are a talented writer 🙂 And you are right about the amount of work that underlies the playfulness! Your words are very much appreciated!

Ups, I left my photo behind, that´s fixed now 🙂

Hey Liz, what can I say except… Boom! You nailed it. Your post is an amazing and generous resource for bloggers. Every blogger should bookmark this goldmine of advice. I’ll stop there before Jon deletes it 😉

Thanks so much, Miranda! 🙂

Wow amazing post with tons of actionable advice that will help us become better writers. I definitely took away a lot of gold nuggets just from reading it.

I definitely need help crafting better headlines. This is something that I’ve been working on to get people to my blog. I’m going to check out the 52 Headline hacks to see what else I can learn.

Also, love the tip of closing with a motivational bang. Definitely, makes a lot of sense and will make your reader feel better.

Thanks again Liz for these useful tips. I’ve bookmarked this page so I can refer to it when I write my next blog post.

Have a great day!

– Susan

Thank you Susan! You will love Jon’s Headline Hacks!

Even as someone who has written 100’s of blog posts over the years I found the suggestion and tips here great. I know for sure my headlines leave room for improvement!

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Bradley! So glad this was helpful to you!

This is a very informative article. Great hints. Bookmarking it. Thanks for sharing this information.

You’re very welcome, John!

This much too long piece (especially in 2017) seems to be aimed at persons who have no writing experience. I have been a freelance and full-time journalist for more than 20 years. I have written/edited a wide variety of things, such as news stories, articles, newsletter copy, blog/web site copy, captions, subheads, and headlines. I have learned that conciseness, especially now, is very important since many persons now have very short attention spans. This piece needs a lot of editing. I probably could reduce the piece by at least 25%.

The people who are passionate about your topic (i.e. your ideal audience) will happily sit down and read an in-depth guide like this, as the other comments here demonstrate. This is not meant as a read-it-and-leave-it fluff piece. This is a resource for people to bookmark and use when they sit down to write their posts. The audience we’re targeting will appreciate it. But to each their own.

Hey Robert I agree with you. This is not just a short ordinary blog but an in-depth guide. Maybe Paris Wyome didn’t have her reading glasses on!

I think Liz has done an excellent job. All new and seasoned writers need constant reminders on best practices when it comes to blogging.

I’m a newbie to blogging so I’m lapping all the information up. You can never be complacent in life about anything. Learning news skills and picking up great information helps you move forward.

So many thanks to Liz for her time and expertise.

I have been a subscriber to Jon Morrow’s blog and there is no denying that he is treasure trove when it comes to blogging and I admire his writing style. He hs this flair to combine words into a sort of music. And he uses simple, easy to understand words.

But what confuses me is that, while you guys are always talking about the short attention spans of people, your articles practically guarantee that when a reader gets to the last sentence, I’ll be damned if he can remember the first.

They’re just way too long. Maybe you should not describe the flower too superfluously.

Great tips, whenever i need to find a topic i research it on buzzsumo to see which one has potential to go viral.

Thanks Tony. Yes, BuzzSumo is a great tool!

Just a few thoughts about post length.

Yep, it´s likely possible to cut down all the Smartblogger`s posts (including this one), let´s say, into bullet-pointed lists. Or shorten them in some other way. So that people can just quickly jump in, get an answer and jump out. Within seconds.

But I`ve got a question.

Have you noticed one single ordinary-length post here in Smartblogger? I certainly haven´t. Why? Cause´ these articles here are not meant for ordinary people. They are not meant for get-my-results-quick-and-easy kind of people.

They are meant for people who actually want to study, who are willing to put as much time and effort into reading these posts as the author put into creating. Moreover, they are meant for people who enjoy this particular writing style.

This article´s headline says Ultimate Guide. Headlines are supposed to deliver, right? And this one really does it by having a length of a mini course. Yet it´s not just the competition of who-can-write-longer-posts going on here, this is about actionable information. Yep, the competition is called who-can-write-most-actionable-and-thorough-posts.

That´s the reason I´m Smartblogger`s reader. Whatever question I might have about blogging, they provide me an answer. Thorough and actionable. With style 🙂

So I`ll take my time, make myself a nice cup of tea and start to read AND enjoy the posts.

Just like a good book.

So beautifully put, Sigrid! I cannot imagine a better description of Smart Blogger’s posts and audience. Thank you for sharing such an insightful and positive perspective!

Seriously..!! Unbelievable.. I never ever read this type of articles in my 3-year career. I m glad that I found this blog from online Junk. I started my profession as a writer but later I started online blogging. Now, I started my own blog as I recently quit my job. I purchased a Domain and WordPress hosting scottadlhochwriter.com and started making changes. I am really inspired by your blog @Liz and this blog is really helpful for me.

Thanks so much, Scott! And that’s very exciting, I wish you the absolute best with your new blog 🙂

I was wondering how to find and omit grammatical mistakes from articles. As a non-native English speaker, it’s hard to grab those bugs.

Grammarly and other proofreaders are ok but don’t give deep insights. So, the bugs remain.

Is there any alternative tool that does the job you know of? Or some guide you’ll like to suggest so I can brush up on my grammars?

I meant, the free version of those tools don’t give a deep insight. And I’m unable to get the paid version for some reason.

I personally only know of Grammarly and Hemingway App. But I did find this article which lists a couple of other options you could check out – thewritelife.com/automatic-editing-tools/. If you read the comments section, readers also mention additional options and insights.

I hope that helps!

Gotta say that this post delivers on what it says. “The Ultimate Guide to writing a blogpost”. Wow. I’ve only been blogging for ~4 months and the difference between the post I wrote after reading this and before is almost staggering. This is what I produced based off of this post. http://many-wounds.com/how-to-change-my-life/ and before this http://many-wounds.com/genetics-luck-propaganda-youve-systematically-brainwashed-helpless/ . Like I said, difference is staggering.

Wow, what a way to put things into action, Abhinav! And yes what a difference in the two posts! Excellent job.

Such a beauty! In a world where information is turning on us and has become toxic, it’s refreshing to read advice that offers clear, actionable steps.

Find out what your audience actually wants! Sounds obvious and yet so many of us just write about what we think is interesting.

Cheers Liz.

Thanks Drew! So glad you found the advice here to be clear and actionable.

So much so that I wrote an article yesterday and applied the points with a microscope. When it’s published I’ll share.

I think this is the best article i have come across for writing a blog post…you have really gave some useful tips to write some amazing blog post title…next time i am surely follow all these tips…thank you very very much Liz…this article has made my day..!!

So glad to hear that, Arvind!

The title is the most important phase of a post and should be powerful and clear enough to attract visitors and bring traffic.

Hi Liz, Thanks for the article. You are always informative to read. Always found something useful from your side since years.

I Appreciate you for this post. All These Five Steps in a Guide for writing a blog post helped me a lot to write an effective and unique content for posting. Keep Posting this type of informative blogs for learning.

Thanks David!

Nice article, you have almost covered all the points that have to be considered while blogging. Thanks for sharing.

Thank for this post Liz, what an amazing resource!

It’s funny you mention giving too much away with this post that gives so much away – but it is so valuable, it only sparks my curiosity to read more from the site 🙂

Loved the part about making your subheads uniform with the theme of the post. Especially the part about not introducing new ideas in the conclusion. I’ve definitely been guilty of that.

So happy you feel that way, Blake! This site is a treasure trove of blogging wisdom 🙂

Great blog my friend 🙂

Awesome tips Liz! I have been a blogger for several years but I always have new things to learn! Lots of learning here in your article! I was wondering, how often should we publish new content?

Thanks Emmerey! Everyone has different opinions on how often to publish, I would suggest picking a schedule (whether weekly, monthly, etc.) and just trying to be consistent with that schedule so your audience knows what to expect.

Hi Liz! Thank you for responding and for the tips! 🙂

Oh, how I wish I found this blog post when I first started writing, haha! I spent so many hours trying (and failing) to create good blog posts – I’m sure this will help so many new bloggers. I found that the subhead of my posts made the biggest difference so I can definitely vouch for you on that one.

Great post 🙂

Thank you Elise!

I loved your comprehensive post, which would have come in handy when I started blogging in 2008.

Headlines and subheads are important, but I can get stuck in my head and over analyze them (use the headline analyzer from Advanced Marketing Institute) for emotional value. Oh well. I guess that’s the accountant in me. 🙂

Thanks again for the post! I always refer people to the website because of the value the writers provide. The courses are great, too.

Thanks Amandah! Yes Jon’s site and courses are amazing 🙂

Fantastic article, I’ve been writing my own articles for about two months now. Before that, I had zero experience in blogging and writing. I read blogs how to guides online and tried my best.

I’ve improved quite a lot, I still need more experience and reading your article has given me more confidence in my writing. Thank you.

So glad to hear that, Giovanni!

Great article! I’m working on an putting together an ultimate guide post, and this sparked some ideas.

We know very well, every post start with a powerful headline, it is the mainthing which have potential to engage audience for maximum time on post. Here you have shown amazing way to craft a powerful headline for a superb post.

These are really great points and need to implement before crafting a headline for post. A perfect headline needs lot of research to make it outstanding to crawl on internet. Eventually, thanks for sharing your valuable tips with us.

With best wishes,

Thank you for this article, this is what i needed and was searching for. I would like to start writing next summer and need tips like this. 🙂 Hope I will build a content that I will be later proud of.

This article is very amazing since i am a new blog writer it helped me a lot. Your article was a real learning exercise to me and also its giving me lot of boosts to write more.

Excellent read, your dedication shows in your content indeed. Great job! Quite a lot to take in, but most certainly worth applying. Learning to write high quality blog posts have a flip side to the coin, as online writing jobs become quite a favorite.

That’s a great point, Deon!

Nice read, it was a worth to read full article. It really represents the completeness of information that you have presented for every newbie blogger. Thanks for sharing such a nice topic.

Thanks for reading, Anveksha!

Writing a blog post that gets a real audience attention is a challenge, finding a mouth-watering topic is a real plus in writing a blog post. So I ‘ll give a +1 to the point choosing a good topic.

Hi Liz, great stuff, my favorite part of this post is selecting a mouth-watering topic, proper topic selection helps you to engage more traffic.We should alway provide unique information to the reader of which they haven’t heard about it ever before.

Agreed Bhavesh! Thanks for reading.

Hey Liz, you wrote an incredibly detailed post on a familiar topic in a splendid manner. I like the fact that you have offered plenty of advice that’s either new to me or breaks the norm. I agree with you that headlines that have numbers in them perform better than non-numeric headlines. I read a recent post by Neil Patel in a similar vein and he has tons of research that proves the same.

Additionally, the approach of making the benefit clear right at the outset is beneficial for the CTR. However further reading and engagement would depend on whether the author actually delivers the promised goods.

Thanks so much, Amanda!

Thanks for the article Liz, it will really help me to write down an article, although my english is not good and i am learning it through online portals and hopefully soon i will be able to write some good articles.

Hi Liz, This is the longest posting i ever read. Full of useful points i need to apply on my blog and certainly need a lot of practice to master it. I usually run out of ideas after 700 words, always stops around that number. Great post.

Glad you enjoyed it, Yunar!

I have been trying but no traffic so which is the main issue , what do you suggest to get traffic for free and organic not long term

This article is an awesome checklist and will save us the trouble of Checking out the Blog Launch Formula video where Glen gave a kick ass presentation on the same topic. This is also a great resource for training new writers. Bookmarking this.

I will keep in mind next time while i will write a blog.

Wonderful post, you are going to be the next Neil Patel. Have you written on ” Site traffic”. I mean I have awful traffic on my blog. How can that be improved. Anyways, I am going to implement your tips on writing from next time.

Thank you for this beautiful post. Your post will be helpful for us in writing an effective blog post on our site.

Great post Liz! Thank you for sharing these tips on how to write a good blog post.

I have a lot to learn creating blog posts. Hopefully the tips on this page will help me to create something I’m proud to post online. I have many posts I’ve started but never feel they are ready. I best dust them off (update them) and get them posted. 🙂

I really appreciate your way of expressing all the points. It will really help me to write an awesome blog post. So thank you so much for providing this gem to us. Keep posting these type of articles. Thanks.

This was a great article. I will definitely apply these methods in my blog posts. Still, have a long way to go. Thanks a lot!

You mentioned each and everything a writer should follow. I have read hundreds of post related to content writing, and this is one of the best instruction posts for writers. I appreciate your hard work. 🙂

Thank you very much for this informative post. Really comprehensive. I am going to use these step which you have mentioned.

Liz Longacre, one of the best articles I have read on blogging. This has covered all the basic tips and tells you not to write mediocre blogs. Catchy headlines and emotional connection are two major factors in a post that you have to practice. I like how you have meticulously discussed about blogging here. Amazing article and thanks a ton.

I love adding inspirational bits in the end. I agree that blogposts should be written to change people’s lives.

Always go back to edit. No one writes perfectly in one go. Don’t be afraid to edit.

Really appreciated how you walked us through the process of writing a great blog post. Loved point #3 about “engaging the senses” I am using this point to make a previously dry review about small business startups more engaging to my readers

Really great blog post. I’ve been an SEO for nearly 6 years now and I’m very good at keyword focus, coming up with topics, and writing and executing. That being said, design is one area that I find escapes me the most.

I really enjoy the boxes you use to break up the text in the post, with the “examples” sections. How do you achieve this effect? It reminds me a lot of other nice blogs I see like Brian Dean’s and how he uses on-page elements to keep people on.

I have really enjoyed this piece and others and look forward to using your tips to improve my own site and grow! Thanks

Fantastic article! So much great data!

Thanks so much, Chris!

What a great and very in-depth article to improve our blogs! The examples of decent headlines and sub-headings versus exceptional headlines and subs are very helpful. We can clearly see the huge difference side by side and using your tips can now create better headlines ourselves. Obviously, it will take a little practice and some revisits to these tips, but I am looking forward to writing better blog posts and website pages. Thanks for all the help and advice.

So glad you found it helpful DJ Emir!

Hi, Thanks for your fresh post. Here I have a question for you. If I am starting with blogger is there any problem with this? I am here that after sometime google will disable account? So which platform is better for me? Thanks

I personally wouldn’t recommend starting with Blogger. Jon actually has a great article on this topic: https://smartblogger.com/how-to-start-a-blog/

Best of luck!

Nice post on how to write blog 2019, You really nailed it. Am impressed. Keep it up!

Thanks so much, Charles!

Hey Liz, Thanks for the wonderful post. Few questions: 1) How important is the questionable headline (nowadays every other articles headlines with how/what..?) 2) How important is the length of the content, 1500 or more as most of the top bloggers suggest? 3) If anyone decides to write an article of 1500 or more words. Is it good to break it down into sub-headers or paragraphs will do the same as sub-headers? Would be curious to know your thoughts! Thanks,

Hi Kuldeep, I might experiment with different types of headlines to see what works best for your audience but as mentioned in this post, ‘how to’ headlines are a great one to start with. In depth articles are good for SEO and perceived value but you can experiment with shorter articles as well if you like. For posts over 1,500 words, yes I would recommend breaking things up with subheads. My best advice is the more you write, the more you learn what works best for your audience so just keep writing 🙂

Hi Liz, Thanks for your feedback. So its more about diving deep into your own data to see what works & action accordingly.

Hi Liz, Thank you for sharing this informative article. I learned new things from you. It helped me a lot and I hope that it will also help others. I appreciate your efforts. Have a good day ahead.

Thanks Vicky, so glad this was helpful to you.

Hi Liz, Thank you for sharing this informative article. I learned new things from you

You’ve very welcome, Mirza!

Great, great article! I’m a total beginner, in fact i still have to write my first full post. And I have been very nervous lately because I had no idea how to develop it. This guide helped me so much to point me in the right direction and cleared my thoughts. Thanks!!

So glad to hear it, Alberto! Congrats on your first post!

Very useful tips on how to make money from blogging. What a great post, the information is well organized and very comprehensive. I can imagine the effort you put into this and especially appreciate you sharing it.

Thanks so much Adam.

Hi Liz, I am so grateful to have found your article. I’m an artist, and have finally gotten to a place where I am able to concentrate more on my art and to have an actual web page, (thanks to the help of my daughter) and to begin blogging.( I know that it is essential in today’s world for artists.) I’ve done a lot of research, as well as have a background in writing. You’re article is clear and informative, and I can’t wait to get started. Thank you!

So glad to hear it, Susan! Best of luck with your blogging & artistic endeavors!

Hi Liz, I have read it four times. Every time I got something new from the same source. The is an example of evergreen content.

Following your guideline, I have published a post today. I myself understand it become better than Else more posts in my blog.

“Without a headline, they have no roadmap to follow. And so their post goes in multiple directions, leaving readers feeling dizzy, confused and disoriented.”

This quote helps me a lot. Thanks for your efforts and generosity to us.

So glad this was helpful to you, Hasan!

Got briefly explained within you post “How to Write a Blog Post in 2019: The Ultimate Guide” love it. I’ll try in my blog techrecur. Appreciate your work, Thank you.

You’re most welcome!

I’ve noticed a lot of the examples of blogs used in the advice of Smartblogger articles always assumes the writer intends to write a “How To” blog, especially so in this article, particularly the section about motivation and advice the person can’t ignore.

What if someone actually wants write a blog to entertain and enlighten people, or change minds, or share thoughts, or do something other than cater to the endless deluge of problems people have and their need for self-help? For example, I might like to write articles analyzing the philosophical themes or real world accuracy in fiction, or give my thoughts on controversial social issues, or some other kind of article focused purely on engaging discussion and analysis.

This article’s focus seems too narrow and ill-equipped to give advice on such article topics.

Hi Jonathan, this post is meant to be a guide for beginner writers but by no means is it meant to cage you in. Please feel free to be as creative in your writing as you like!

I agree with your thoughts as you said that catchy title is a necessity of a perfect article. It should be like this if someone read this then he/she should click on the title to read the article. I have work experience on Uc news with 30+ million impressions on my article. In the start, I used to write the simple title with all details in title due to this CTR was so much low but when I start using curiosity in my title then my CTR increase like 5times to 7 times.

That’s great, Aaron! Thanks for reading!

Great Post. It’s by far the best guide for blogs I have read. I really liked how you said all the things in a not so boring way. In total Agreement with the thought of the catchy title. Keep writing such amazing blogs.

Thanks so much for your kind words, Oshin! So glad this was helpful.

Thanks for sharing this helpful & wonderful post. i really appreciate your hard work. this is very useful & informative for me.

thanks for sharing with us. thanks a lot.

Regards FutureTricks

You’re most welcome & thanks for reading!

Liz this is truly fantastic. As someone who with a team of 14 blog writers I loved this. You took a huge topic and made it manageable. What I really loved was this was all about SEO, keywords, meta tags, blah, blah. It was about creating damn good writing. Take good care of your girls.

Hugh, I so appreciate this. Thank you so much for these kind words.

Hi there, thanks so much! As far as the design here goes, I’m not quite sure, Jon’s team actually took care of that.

I agree with Step #5. Gone are the days that we write with a very formal and serious tone. The goal of a blog post is to entertain and that’s what I’m doing with my blog right now. I’d like to entertain as well as educate my readers. Thanks for this comprehensive blog post.

Regards, Valerie

Thanks for reading, Valerie!

very useful tips on how to make money from blogging. What a great post, the information is well organized and very comprehensive

This is probably the most comprehensive guide to writing a blog post I’ve seen yet and I’ve read a lot of them. I’m a freelance writer in my real life so I thought writing amazing blog posts in my blogging life would be super easy — but not so much. I’m really struggling to create killer headlines that grab attention. That’s a great tip on comparing subheads to your headline to make sure they match, and that they don’t give too little or too much away.

Thanks so much, Rebecca! I can imagine how different it must feel to jump from freelance writing to blogging!

A Very Very Comprehensive article for copywriters like me for building content especially for small business blogs.Thanks for the Share Liz..

Thanks Prasad!

This is a really comprehensive and well-explained article. Great work !!!

Thanks for sharing this inspiring article which can help many to decide on the choices they make for a better blog writing experience.

Thank you Liz for this wonderful writeup. I’m not a very good writer but your article has helped improve my skills. Thanks for your help

Hey Liz Thanks a lot for your helpful article. I always try to write about somethin. But i can not write. Because i had not any writing skill and i do not khow how to write a proper article. After reading this helpful article, i think that i have learnt something and which help me to increase my writing skill. Thanks Liz

I learned so much! It was a lot of information but your format helped so much. It made note-taking so much easier! Thanks for a great article!

Hi, Liz, nice article. These tips will definitely improve anyones blogging skills. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Liz, What a masterpiece and an insightful guide! I wish I discovered this guide before I started my blog. Noted that I have been doing things wrongly, but I am glad that someone has opened my eyes. Thanks, Liz for this

hey Liz, I am to this, thats why i was confused how to start blogging. But after ready you guide, i found my lost confidence. Thanks a lot for sharing.

I was actually looking for the format of a blog but this is very helpful and I will keep this in mind.

Liz, I used to think I was good at writing until I started blogging. Now I realize how bad at this I am. Your guide is a great roadmap. Thanks

I totally agree with you that creating clear, concise and curiosity-invoking headlines makes a blog post more interesting!

Agreed with you Liz. Amazing information you have shared with us. Everyone should read this.

Well, like you said, give credit where its due. I believe this is one of the few articles that read from top to bottom. I was researching tips on how to write articles and blog posts that will engage your audience and I found your blog post. I already sent this article to my content team and advise them on reading through your article from top to bottom, because there is value to this. Thank you LIZ.

Liz – I just bookmarked this article (and I NEVER bookmark blog articles). My favourite is “quality over quantity”

Hi Liz, thanks for the article I must say I learnt something new today

Attention grabbing headlines and data driven posts are a way to go. You also want to include influencers in your post so as to help later when you start promoting. Thanks for sharing 🙂

Hello Liz Most of post that i read in past one thing is common that is user intent. It is the base of any article and post the intent is most useful thing. When you write something the basic information as writer is intent.Thanks for great work & good to know some more information Cheers !

Your step by step guide will help me to write well optimized the blog posts for my site. Thanks for sharing this with us.

A very good guide. Content is King and every blogger knows that. Writing a Quality blog post is very important in blogging. You have crafted some amazing tips to write a good blog post. Keep Going.

very informative guide on Writing a Blog Post, i will use your tips for my blog, i want to increase my user engagement by writing google quality article, now i know how to do this, thanks for sharing this guide

Dear Liz, I don’t know which words used to tell you that this guide is the richest complete article I have ever found on the web. I read this article for at least 4 hours line by line to make sure I didn’t miss even one line.

I congratulate you deeply. I love all the sincere advice you share in the article, especially when you say you have to be generous and leave advice that is hard to forget. Share everything with the reader, it’s like attracting him to register or buy services. Without lying to you, the character you talk about in the conclusion is me. ahahah.

I am the one who always concludes the articles and I throw a new tips or advice in the conclusions. I learned a lot. Sincerely, thank you and I would not hesitate to recommend this guide to other friends even if they are more French-speaking.

Most alluring articles I have read in recent days. The hardest part is to articulate the strategies that would understand people with ease. You are a girl boss in articulating strategies. I am going to work out this strategy in my upcoming articles. Keep posting interesting ones.

I have recently started writing blogs for a company that I work for called Job Vacancy Result. I am also planning to start with my own blog page. This content was surely insightful. Helped me understand the nitty-gritty of Blog writing. Thank you!

This is something perfect. I was looking for this guide for so long. finally! I would like to implement it on my blog as well. Thank you.

Hello Liz, thank you for the extensive instructions! That saved me some beginner mistakes. I only recently started my own blog (on finance and saving money) and have been on your side ever since when I want to know something about WordPress and the like.

Best regards, Fadila

Hey Liz, Thanks a lot for bringing this entire information in one post. This is really helpful. I would definitely get back with the results after implementing them.

Fantastic! Your step by step guide will help me to write well optimized the blog posts for my site. Thanks for sharing this with us.

This a fantastic post. Your subheading is so accurate and intriguing, which made me read the complete content. The checklist is definitely handy.

Thanks, Abhisek

Your blog is a great resource for me as I am building my own. I think I’m going to learn a lot from you.

Excellent post. Wanna thank you so much for bringing this such an informative article to us. It really gonna helps many of us.

Thankyou again Best Regards 🙂

Very good article. Thanks for sharing such an informative blog. 🙂

I always wonder, why my blog post doesn’t outrank my competitors. Then I Google it to find how to write a great blog post, thankfully I reached here. I got the answer and am ready to craft a blog post that fulfills users’ intent along with search engines. Thank you, Liz.

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USC American Language Institute

How to Write a Blog Article

By natalie grace sipula.

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

[6 minute read]

Writing is hard. From a pretty young age, I have greatly enjoyed expressing myself through creative writing, and as I got older, I started to enjoy academic writing as well. I would write poetry about things I observed in my day-to-day life, short stories or fragments of prose, and even entered a few essay-writing competitions. Something I noticed pretty early on about writing is that writing the things that come to your mind without method or intent is a lot easier than writing for an audience. I prefer writing while keeping the reader in mind more because writing only for myself lets me pick up bad writing habits, such as not carefully considering my word choice, as the only person interpreting the writing would be me. But writing creatively for a reader is pretty difficult, and academic-style writing for a reader can be exhausting because most college students already have to do that so much for their classes. A form of writing that I had not previously considered before coming to college, however, was blog writing. When I started working at the USC American Language Institute, I tried out writing for a blog for the very first time. One blog that I wrote about rereading Harry Potter with an older perspective challenged me to consider the perspective of both myself and my audience.

Writing for a blog is a great way to open your creative energy and write to a wider audience while also being able to maintain a level of informality and free expression to your writing. A blog article could be about anything–your daily routine, a hobby you love doing, your journey writing other things, or aspects of your social life. It is a happy medium between writing creatively or academically for others and dabbling in creative writing or journaling for yourself. This can be good because it allows you to practice writing with a sense of accountability, while also having fun. I have written a few blog articles since coming to college, and I found that I had a great time writing them and was actually proud of my work after the fact. I also realized that I was less judgmental of my own writing when writing a blog article, which made it easier for me to actually finish a writing project I started on. For me, the most difficult part of writing a blog article is narrowing down exactly what it is you want to write about.

What can you write about?

Have you ever had that feeling where you are inspired to write something and then as soon as you sit down in front of your journal or computer screen, your mind goes blank? Or when you know of a lot of things you think you might be interested in writing about, but aren’t sure where to start? This is a very common problem writers encounter, but with some consideration and time, it can be overcome. Some common blog topics to inspire you are: life advice about a specific situation or circumstance, a recipe or instructions on how to do/make something, a list of recommendations, a funny or shocking story and a lesson learned from it, hobbies or goals and how to accomplish them, and so much more.

Blogs can also take on a variety of different tones, and oftentimes the website layout of a blog reflects this. Some examples of blogs with different tones and audiences are The Financial Diet , which focuses on personal finances and life advice, Buzzfeed , which centers on pop culture, Spoon Fork Bacon , a food blog, Humans of New York , a blog detailing stranger’s personal stories, A Cup of Jo , a lifestyle blog, and Advice From a Twenty Something , which focuses on lifestyle and wellness for young women. For some publications a bit more close to a student’s interest, you can check out The Daily Trojan or even ALI’s own blog, the ALI Life and Times !

Some tips for writing a good blog

Include narrative details–tell a story!

Something that I notice more than anything else when reading blog articles is that sometimes people forget that even though blogs are a bit more conversational than other writing, they can be elevated by embedding creative detail in the article. If you are describing a funny incident at work that happened to you, don’t just recount the facts. Think of your writing in the same way you would tell a story about your life to a close friend; describe how you felt about the incident, include sensory details about what you heard, saw, or smelled during the incident, and how the incident played a role in your life and the wider message of the blog. Including these things in your article will make it infinitely more interesting for the reader, and also allow you to try out your creative writing skills in the process.

Write about something that you genuinely care about

Make sure to choose a topic for your blog that you love to talk about–it could be funny, sad, reflective, or passionate, but above all should be something you care about. When you write about topics or issues that you have a lot to say about, your message will come across more strongly to your readers, and it will be more enjoyable for you to write!

How can the ALI English Programs help you become an author?

Not sure how to get started writing? One of the easiest ways to learn what you like about writing and what writing styles you admire is to read a variety of authors, and to also practice your own writing! The American Language Institute offers two informal conversational programs to help you with this. In ALI Book Clubs , students read a new short story every week and come to discuss what they thought about it. In ALI Writing Labs , students can learn about various professional writing topics, such as writing cover letters, resumes, or professional emails. Students will also get advice on their own writing. If you think you would like to submit a blog article to the ALI Life and Times, we take submissions from non-native speaking students who would like to practice writing! We will work with you to edit your article if you have questions as well. For more information, email [email protected] .

Featured Image by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Natalie is a rising junior studying Philosophy, Politics, and Law and Spanish, and she plans to pursue a career in criminal or immigration law. She is originally from Cleveland, OH and is a Presidential Scholar studying in Thematic Option. Natalie is an active member of Phi Alpha Delta (Director of Professionalism), Trojan Scholars Society, USC Model UN, QuestBridge Scholars (University Relations Chair), Spanglish tutoring program, and Grupo Folklórico de USC. Growing up she was dedicated to theatre, including studying and performing at Cleveland Play House. She is a volunteer camp counselor with Mi Pueblo Culture Camp in Cleveland. Since arriving in Los Angeles she has enjoyed volunteering with Angel City Pit Bulls animal shelter and in her free time enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and learning to play the acoustic guitar!

Academic and Professional English Language Instruction

50+ Best Examples of Popular Blogs in 2023

We’ve created this article with a simple mission, to share with new bloggers some examples of successful and popular blogs on the web.

Hopefully, these niche blog examples will motivate you to start your own blog .

The best blogs share similar properties that make them successful:

However, the quality of the content itself is sometimes not enough, meaning that most popular blogs also pay attention to design.

If you’re looking for the best blog examples to inspire you, you’re on the right page. We have covered a wide variety of top personal blogs and sorted them by niches. Read on!

52 examples of the most popular personal blogs in different niches

We chose some of the most currently popular niches and selected several blog examples for each niche. We researched every blog to learn more about CMS’es and the themes that they’re using.

Finally, we included the sources of income for every blog, which can help you to understand how blogs make money .

This list should inspire you to create your own personal blog in a niche that you are passionate about. This is an opportunity to learn from the best in the online business .

If you feel like your blog deserves to be on this list, contact us .

Best lifestyle blog examples

Best mom blog examples, best health and fitness blog examples, best food blog examples, best fashion blog examples, best travel blog examples.

Best tech and gaming blog examples

Best eco and green blog examples

Best relationship blog examples, best education and career blog examples, best diy blog examples, best photography blog examples, best marketing and social media blog examples.

1. Apartment Therapy Apartment Therapy is a blog focusing on interior design. It was launched by Maxwell Ryan in 2001. Ryan is an interior designer who turned to blogging (using the moniker “the apartment therapist”). The blog has reached 20 million followers and has expanded into a full-scale media company.

Main topics covered: Lifestyle and interior design, design tips, DIY how-tos, shopping guides. Built with: Next.js The main source of income: product sales, affiliate links

2. Say Yes Say Yes is an award-winning blog created by Liz Stanley in 2006. Although it could be classified as a mom blog as well, since Liz is a mother of three, it goes beyond that, offering useful advice about other topics, including food, and travel.

Main topics covered: Family, travel, food, lifestyle, DIY Built with: WordPress – custom theme The main source of income: sponsored articles, affiliate links, social media

3. Bright Bazaar Bright Bazaar was created by Will Taylor, a journalist-turned-interior designer in 2009. Apart from wonderful home tours and design findings, Will shares other exciting details about his lifestyle, including his outfits, recipes, and life in New York City.

Main topics covered: Interior design, fashion, food, NYC life, travel Built with: CheerUp Child (WordPress theme) The main source of income: affiliate links, book sales

4. A Cup of Jo A weekend hobby for Joanna Goddard turned into a full-time job. She started A Cup of Jo in 2007 and became a superstar lifestyle blogger. In fact, the site is barely a personal blog anymore, as Jo now has a team of professional writers who share her interests, such as style, design, food, and motherhood.

Main topics covered: Style, design, food, motherhood, travel, relationships Built with: A Cup of Jo (custom WordPress theme designed for this site) The main source of income: product sales, affiliate links

5. Megan the Vegan Mom Megan, the founder of “Megan the Vegan Mom”, blogs about her daily life as a vegan mom. She is a strong advocate of veganism as a former veterinarian who shares an immense love for pets. Along with topics about motherhood, Megan likes to write about parties, lifestyle, and fashion.

Main topics covered: Vegan parenting, vegan recipes, restaurant reviews, lifestyle. Built with: Squarespace The main source of income: affiliate links, sponsorships

6. Rookie Moms Rookie Moms focuses on various products and activities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Like the name says, the site is aimed at new moms who don’t have much experience with parenthood.

Main topics covered: baby gear, pregnancy, babies, toddlers, mom life Built with: Pretty Lifestyle (WordPress theme) The main source of income: product sales

7. Tech Savvy Mama Tech Savvy Mama was founded in 2008 by former teacher and technology specialist Leticia Barr, who also happens to be a mother of two. She mostly focuses on aspects of parenting that are related to the digital age and technological development.

Main topics covered: technology, lifestyle, education, causes, gift guides Built with: Foodie Pro (WordPress theme) The main source of income: affiliate links, product sales

8. At Home With Natalie Natalie is a lifestyle blogger from North Carolina. More importantly, she is a mother of six, meaning that she has a lot of parenthood experience that she likes to share. Her blog is also an eCommerce site where you can shop for various Etsy products, courses, and books.

Main topics covered: motherhood, party themes, DIY projects, recipes Built with: Redwood (WordPress theme) The main source of income: product sales, brand collaborations

9. My Fitness Pal My Fitness Pal is an online platform that helps people lose weight. The site also offers a great set of mobile apps that allow users to keep track of their weight, exercise regularly, and more. The site also has a lively blog section where users can learn more about all things related to fitness.

Main topics covered: weight loss, fitness, nutrition, recipes, inspiration Built with: WordPress, custom theme by Matthew Woodard The main source of income: product and subscription sales

10. Nerd Fitness This site targets “nerds, misfits and mutants,” and helps them to get in shape through home workouts and private coaching. Nerd Fitness has 25 team members led by Jim Bathurst, an award-winning personal trainer. The site also comes with an educational blog where you can learn more about working out.

Main topics covered: weight loss, working out Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: products and subscription sales

11. Love Sweat Fitness Created in 2014 by Katie Dunlop, LSF focuses on providing fitness services to women. The site also features an app with fitness plans, workout plans, and more. There’s also a blog section where you can read more about fitness, nutrition, and participate in the community of LSF members.

Main topics covered: lifestyle, fitness, nutrition, travel Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales, subscription sales

12. Fit Bottomed Girls Fit Bottomed Girls started as a blog in 2008, only to expand into other mediums, including a book, a podcast, and more. This blog nurtures body positivity, and it was founded by two certified fitness professionals — Jennipher Walters and Kristen Seymour.

Main topics covered: fitness, motherhood, food, philosophy Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: coaching, ads

13. Smitten Kitchen Smitten Kitchen is an award-winning blog by Deb Perelman. The blog revolves around one place — Deb’s kitchen, where she experiments and comes up with unique recipes that she shares with the world. Her site has a nice feature called “Surprise me!” where a random recipe is suggested. Great for people wondering what to eat!

Main topics covered: recipes, food, travel Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: ads, book sales

14. Rainbow Plant Life Nisha was a lawyer who wanted to focus on her other interests, so she decided to start a blog where she shares all kinds of vegan recipes. Apart from this successful blog, Nisha also boasts more than 400,000 followers on social media (including her YouTube channel).

Main topics covered: recipes, food, photography, lifestyle Built with: Squarespace The main source of income: ads, product sales

15. Our Food Stories Laura Muthesius and Nora Eisermann decided to start a blog after Laura discovered her food allergies. That’s why Our Food Stories features plenty of innovative recipes. The Berlin-based duo mixed their passions (food styling and photography) to make a successful and original food blog.

Main topics covered: recipes, travel, interior design Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: book sales, sponsorships, ads

16. Cookie and Kate Named after Kate’s dog Cookie, the popular food blog features vegetarian recipes. Kate decided to pursue her passion for food in 2010 when she started her blog. The recipes are divided into several categories, making her blog very intuitive. She also wrote a cookbook that you can purchase on her site!

Main topics covered: recipes Built with: Magazine Pro (WordPress theme) The main source of income: ads, book sales

17. Sincerely Jules Sincerely Jules was created in 2009 when Jules started writing inspirational posts, daily thoughts, and more. However, she became famous for sharing her fashion ideas, turning her blog into a top international fashion sensation. Jules is now one of the leading influencers in the fashion industry.

Main topics covered: fashion, lifestyle Built with: Sage Starter (WordPress theme) The main source of income: product sales

18. Color me Courtney Courtney Quinn is a fashion and makeup blogger from NYC. She shares her colorful world in her blog called Color Me Courtney, where you can also find various makeup tutorials, lifestyle posts, and more.

Main topics covered: fashion, makeup, lifestyle, travel Built with: WordPress (custom theme) Main source of income: product sales

19. Camila Coelho Camila Coelho is a Brazilian travel and fashion blogger (her blog is in English as well). She is the founder of Elaluz perfumes and the Camila Coelho collection.

Main topics covered: fashion, beauty, travel, wellness Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: affiliate links, product sales

20. Style and Error Style & Error is a men’s fashion blog by Thomas Stubbs, a famous stylist, editor, and writer. Apart from his blog, he also works as a Fashion Editor with British GQ and is an Editor at Large for The Rake magazine. Also, Stubbs is the main man behind the styles of many male celebrities.

Main topics covered: fashion for men Built with: Squarespace The main source of income: stylist for celebrities

21. PS I’m on my way Trisha is a Philippines-born blogger who shares her adventures from travels around the globe. Being a digital nomad, she always has an interesting story to tell or impressions to share about various places. Moreover, the blog has useful information for people who want to travel, including posts about visas, travel budgets, solo travel, and more.

Main topics covered: travel, living abroad, female wellness Built with: Wanderland (WordPress theme) Main source of income: travel coaching, travel courses, retreat sales

22. Travels of Adam Adam is a professional gay blogger who likes to share his travel stories. Many of them are useful for gay men wanting to travel to different places in the world. Apart from traveling, he also writes about a wide array of topics, including festivals, art, films, music, and books.

Main topics covered: travel, gay life, languages, festivals, books, films, music, fashion, op-eds, tech, art Built with: The Bootstrap (WordPress theme) The main source of income: ads, featured posts

23. Helen in Wonderlust Helen is a travel writer and adventurer. She is also a professional Yogi. Although she has traveled all over the world, Africa seems to be her favorite continent, and it’s the main focus of her writing. Helen also owns a tour company called Rock My Adventure.

Main topics covered: travels, travel tips Built with: 15Zine Child (WordPress theme) The main source of income: selling trips to Africa

24. Hand Luggage Only Hand Luggage Only was created in 2014 by UK duo Yaya and Lloyd during their college years at the University of Cambridge. They already had a lot of experience sharing their travel stories separately, so they decided to join forces and make a great blog about their adventures.

Main topics covered: photography, travel, food, life hacks Built with: Applique (WordPress theme) The main source of income: ads

Best gaming blog examples

25. Wolf’s gaming blog Scottish-born gamer Baden Ronnie shares his game reviews and opinions, focusing on Xbox One, PS4, PC, and VR games. He promises honest reviews with no “PR bulls**t.” Ronnie has been an active gamer since the age of seven and now uses his experience to help people choose what games to play.

Main topics covered: game reviews, interviews, gaming gear Built with: Chronicle (WordPress theme) The main source of income: donations

26. What’s Eric playing Eric is a software engineer who loves board games, and his blog mainly focuses on that type of entertainment. He mostly reviews board games and uses BGG’s rating system to share his opinion about the titles that he covers.

Main topics covered: board games, reviews Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: donations, contributions

27. Ask Dave Taylor Dave Taylor is your “tech guy.” Whenever you stumble upon an issue with your tech equipment (hardware or software), he is the one to ask. The site was started by Dave but now features an entire team. The blog section mainly focuses on providing useful pieces of advice for common tech problems.

Main topics covered: tech support Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: donations, book sales

28. Tech Crack Founded and managed by Romit Sharma, TechCrack covers all things related to technology, including gadgets, apps, gaming, business, news, and more. There’s even an attractive how-to section with useful advice for tech lovers. Romit has been an active blogger since 2012 when he started the TechCrack blog.

Main topics covered: tech, gaming, apps, gadgets, business Built with: Blogger The main source of income: ads, guest posts

29. Eartheasy Eartheasy is actually an online shop that sells various gardening products. However, it also comes with a fantastic blog section where you can learn more about the latest trends in gardening. The site was founded by Greg Seaman who is now accompanied by a team of professionals with one goal in mind – to improve quality of life with useful advice and products that offer sustainable living options.

Main topics covered: gardening, green home, food Built with: BigCommerce The main source of income: product sales

30. Going Zero Waste Going Zero Waste is an eco-friendly blog started by Kathryn Kellogg, an advocate for a plastic-free and sustainable lifestyle. She blogs about zero waste, and her site is a perfect place to start if you want to join this movement. The site also features a book called 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste.

Main topics covered: eco-friendly and sustainable living Built with: Gutentag (WordPress theme) The main source of income: product sales, affiliate marketing

31. My Plastic-Free Life Beth Terry started her blog after learning more about the terrible consequences of plastic pollution. She advocates plastic-free living and provides useful information on how to reduce plastic use in our lives. The blog also focuses on various eco-friendly services, such as restaurants, green businesses, and more.

Main topics covered: plastic-free lifestyle, eco-friendly products and services Built with: Twenty Twelve Child (WordPress theme) The main source of income: book sales

32. Tree Hugger Tree Hugger is the ultimate blog for an eco-friendly lifestyle. It offers advice and inspiration for green and sustainable life. The site was established in 2004 and has more than 20,000 articles on the topic, written by 100+ industry experts.

Main topics covered: eco-friendly & green lifestyle, home, garden, environment, business & policy, news Built with: from scratch (no CMS) The main source of income: ads through articles

33. The Gottman Institute The Gottman Institute was founded by John and Julie Gottman, a married couple and professional PhD’s with a successful marriage and 40+ years of research experience. The Gottman Institute is the ultimate blog for everyone seeking relationship advice. The site features a blog section where you can read more about relationships, parenting, dating, and more

Main topics covered: relationships, parenting, dating Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales, workshops, courses

34. Created With Love Tyler and Michelle are a married couple and founders of Created With Love. Every relationship experiences ups and downs, and the couple decided to share their experience and give advice by starting the blog in 2014.

Main topics covered: relationship tips, date night Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales, subscriptions

35. Love in 90 Days Dr. Diana Kirschner offers useful relationship advice on her site Love in 90 Days. She has helped thousands of couples find and establish great romantic relationships. The site features a free masterclass, coaching sessions with Dr. Kirscher, and a useful blog where you can get tips on dating, finding a soulmate, and dating advice for women.

Main topics covered: love, relationships, dating, online dating Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: coaching, book sales

36. Love and Life Toolbox Love and Life Toolbox is an ultimate blog/guide for people seeking useful advice about relationships and emotional health. The site was founded by Lisa Brookes Kift, a marriage, and family therapist. Lisa has significant experience in MFT and has contributed to popular media, including CNN, Men’s Health, Shape, and Huffington Post.

Main topics covered: relationships, emotional health Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: ebook and course sales

37. Teach Thought Teach Thought offers posts that focus on innovation in K-12 education. Teachers interested in growing and improving their skills can find useful pieces of advice in this blog. The blog was founded in 2012 by Terry Heick, an author and a former teacher interested in reshaping K-12 teaching.

Main topics covered: education, learning, critical thinking, technology Built with: JNews Child (WordPress theme) The main source of income: ads, workshops

38. Teach Junkie Teach Junkie is a blog founded by Leslie, who is the main author on the site. However, she allows content contributors, meaning her blog is actually a community of teachers who want to improve and learn new techniques. The blog is categorized into grades and different subjects, including science, languages, math, art, and more.

Main topics covered: education, teaching, DIY Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: guest posts

39. Corporette Corporette is actually a fashion and lifestyle blog, but it focuses on women with corporate career paths, such as bankers, lawyers, and consultants. The site was founded in 2008 by Kat Griffin, a professional litigator for a Wall Street law firm.

Main topics covered: fashion, career, lifestyle Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: affiliate links

40. Penelope Trunk Penelope Trunk is a founder of four start-ups and a writer. She uses her free time to write about career advice and her personal experiences as a part of every company she has worked for. Trunk also focuses on writing educational and op-ed pieces.

Main topics covered: career, education Built with: Enfold Child (WordPress theme) The main source of income: coaching, courses

41. Remodelaholic Cassity and her family are a creative bunch that doesn’t leave anything in their house untouched. She shares plenty of DIY projects that can help you to remodel your house and make it more stylish and comfortable.

Main topics covered: DIY, interior design, holidays, recipes Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: ads, product sales

42. Collective Gen Collective Gen is a blog founded in 2008 by the owner and Editor-in-Chief Geneva Vanderzeil. She is a photographer, maker, stylist, and, above all, an author sharing her thoughts and ideas regarding style, home, life, and travel. The blog also features plenty of DIY projects for creative minds!

Main topics covered: DIY, interior design, travel, life Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: book sales

43. Addicted 2 DIY The name says it all! Addicted 2 DIY is a blog that focuses on all kinds of do-it-yourself projects. Working on a small budget, ex paramedic/firefighter Katie decided to share her DIY work with the world. These days, her husband and kids also help her with all kinds of projects around the house. Apart from useful blogs, Katie also shares printable plans and writes reviews for all kinds of tools.

Main topics covered: DIY, tool reviews, recipes Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales, ads

44. Vintage Revivals Vintage Revivals was founded by Mandi, a creative soul with plenty of ideas to share. She focuses on filling entire spaces with DIY stuff, meaning her whole house is one big, innovative, and beautiful playground.

Main topics covered: DIY, interior design Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales

45. Joe McNally’s Blog Joe McNally is a superstar among photographers. This award-winning artist has worked in 70+ countries and is often considered the best of his generation. Moreover, he has worked with many popular companies, including ESPN, Adidas, Sony, and more. His blog mostly consists of various photographs and stories from his work. McNally covers different spheres, including fashion, portraits, sports, dance, healthcare, and industrial.

Main topics covered: photography Built with: PhotoShelter The main source of income: product sales

46. 1x 1x is a popular photography site featuring hundreds of contributors. What makes it stand out from the crowd is a great blog section that focuses on everything related to the industry. You can read about various photographers, techniques, and contests.

Main topics covered: photography Built with: from scratch (no CMS) The main source of income: book sales

47. Light Stalking Light Stalking is a site that focuses on photography. It has been proclaimed a top-10 photography blog by Wefollow, Klout, and Feedspot. The blog was founded by Rob Wood, who is currently the Main Editor and has a team of professional photographers/writers who share unique content with site visitors.

Main topics covered: photography, videography, gear Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: product sales

48. The Phoblographer The Phoblographer is an ultimate photography blog that contains everything amateurs and professionals need to know. The site features useful gear reviews, inspiration, educational articles, and more. It was established by Chris Gampat, an experienced photographer who has worked as a paparazzi, photojournalist, as well as a portrait and wedding photographer.

Main topics covered: photography gear reviews, tips, inspiration, education, news Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: ads, affiliate links

Best marketing and social media blog examples

49. Jon Loomer Loomer launched JonLoomer.com 11 days before he was laid off in 2011. At that time, he didn’t realize that he was building what would be one of the most successful social media marketing blogs in the world. His site focuses on training advanced Facebook marketers and showing various tips and tricks for running successful SMM campaigns.

Main topics covered: social media, marketing Built with: WordPress (custom theme) Main source of income: courses, membership fees

50. Awario Awario was created in 2015 with the goal of helping businesses and individuals improve their presence on social media. Awario is actually a tool that helps thousands of customers reach their SMM and analytics-related goals. The blog section offers a wide array of topics, including market research, marketing, competitor analysis, and SMM.

Main topics covered: marketing and analytics Built with: from scratch (no CMS) The main source of income: membership fees (for Awario services)

51. Mari Smith Mari Smith is an experienced marketer with a professional team around her. This team helps businesses grow using digital marketing techniques. The site also features a blog where Mari writes about Facebook and Instagram as marketing tools.

Main topics covered: marketing, Facebook, Instagram Built with: WordPress (custom theme) The main source of income: marketing services

52. Ask Aaron Lee Aaron Lee is a social media expert whose work has been featured on sites such as Inc, Forbes, Success.com, and The Huffington Post. This young entrepreneur from Malaysia wanted to share his knowledge via his blog for free. The blog currently has more than 60,000 subscribers.

Main topics covered: social media, marketing Built with: Wellness Pro (WordPress theme) The main source of income: marketing services

What makes a blog successful?

All of the blogs shared above have one thing in common — they are widely successful.

That’s because the majority of them follow the same formula. Moreover, they were able to adopt new trends and adapt to their readership.

So, what’s the secret formula to success? Here’s a short overview.

Having an engaged readership and an online community

Imagine having a very expensive car that runs on fuel but has no fuel tank.

That’s what a great blog would look like with no engaged readership. Your readers are the ones who drive the success of your blog by reading, commenting, sharing, and more.

Being active on social media

Connect your blog to social media and post engaging content to attract new followers and readers.

You don’t have to be active on all media. Instead, try using analytics tools to see where your potential readers could be the most active. For example, photographer bloggers will focus on platforms such as Instagram.

Properly selected niche

If you select a niche that’s not too broad or too narrow, you’ll be able to attract just the right amount of readers to whom you’ll be able to sell targeted products and services.

Publishing consistently

With tens of thousands of blog posts published daily, your blog can fall into oblivion if you don’t update it regularly with fresh content. In fact, consistency is often a stumbling block for many new bloggers who want immediate fame and fortune.

Having a good blog design

Unintuitive and cluttered design can become a real obstacle in attracting new visitors and readers. A strong design , on the other hand, will help you to gain trust as soon as someone lands on your blog.

Starting your personal blog

Starting a personal blog has never been easier. It’s actually a three-step procedure that you can complete even if you don’t have a single clue on how to set up a blog or make a website .

Choose a name for your blog

This will help you find a suitable domain name , which is pretty important for SEO . Keep in mind that you’ll be able to attract readers with an attractive name that targets your niche.

Think of your blog name as a business name .

Recommended quick domain search tool:

Open an account on a blogging platform.

There are plenty of blogging platforms out there that can help you to create your blog quickly and easily using various presets. The current leader is WordPress.org, which we recommend for first-time bloggers.

Find a web hosting provider

You’ll need a web hosting service for your blog, and we recommend that you use Bluehost as the safest and most popular option at the moment.

Bluehost offers a free domain for one year, as well as a free SSL certificate. Most importantly, there’s professional 24/7 customer support, which makes it very beginner-friendly. -> Learn more about Bluehost .

Feel free to write about anything that you are knowledgeable about. However, make sure that your niche is wide enough to attract a lot of visitors who share your interests.

There are several ways to monetize your blog , and the most popular are: 1. Offer coaching services. 2. Sell products related to your niche. 3. Sell online courses related to your niche. 4. Set up Google Ads to allow banners on your blog. 5. Write an ebook and sell it. 6. Use your blog for affiliate marketing and sponsorships.

Right now, the most profitable blog niches are technology, digital marketing, finance and investment, fashion, travel, movies & music, health, food, news, and personal development. However, even if you’re not interested in these niches, it doesn’t mean your blog is going to be a failure. You just have to be sure that your blog can reach and engage enough readers to be a success.

There’s no ultimate formula for choosing a name. However, there are several tricks that can help you to narrow down your decision, and we have covered them in our post dedicated to naming blogs .

Content planning plays an essential role in creating a successful blog. We’ve covered the entire process here , so make sure to check it out.

The 50+ blogs included in this article met all of our content and design standards. If your goal was to find inspiration for your new blog, we hope that our list helped you to achieve it.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember several key rules that’ll make you a successful blogger, so let’s review them:

The last rule is truly what matters when it comes to blogging. As long as you have a real desire to write about the things that you love, people will feel the energy you have invested in and appreciate your work!

24 comments on “50+ Best Examples of Popular Blogs in 2023”

Thanks for writing such an informative blog which will surely be a great help for the students.

Thank you John!

Thank you for such a detailed introduction.

You’re welcome Dawn!

Awesome stuff !

Thanks Sophie!

Thank you for the list and tips! I’m always trying to improve my newborn photography blog. It takes time and practice to produce more quality content people can connect with.

Thanks Isabel…all the best with your new blog!

Thanks for the information!

You’re welcome Rose!

Hello! That’s what we focus on, definitely niche marketing and we love writing blogs!

Glad to hear that Emma!

Wow, I really loved this page. As a beginner, it really empowered me a lot.

Glad you like it Cynthia. Thanks!

Hey! Thanks for this list. There are some amazing blogs. Btw. Thanks for your free guide on how to start a blog. I Will probably make a blog about cooking in the next week 🙂

Hey I’m so happy to hear that you find our blogging guide useful!!!

Cooking blog sounds great! We even have a guide specifically for those who want to start a food blog – check it out here . But also if you’re busy or simply don’t feel comfortable with a whole DIY thing, we can create a blog for you (see more here ) without any charges! If you’re interested in learning more about this free offer write to us at [email protected]

Thanks for sharing information, its going to help me a lot in Academic Blogging. I really appreciate it.

Love these tips on starting a niche blog. That’s what we focus on, definitely niche marketing and we love writing blogs!

Thanks, you have made a wonderful post. I love and appreciate your commitment.

This is such a cool list! I especially love Jeff Goins’ articles because his marketing ideas will surely help you become better in your niche. There’s so much to learn from him! 🙂

Thanks Mr. Black! Jeff does have some great marketing strategies which will come handy to any new blogger.

It’s great to see you guys mentioned Jasmine Star! I’ve been following her blog for the last two years – I particularly like her photography, and I dare to claim that her ideas influenced a lot the way I do my Instagram

Thanks Lory! Jasmine is one of our favorites too 🙂

yeah its great that you mentioned her

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Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference?

Blog-article convergence

Client confusion, how writers can earn more, some suggested steps:, writing an article vs. blog: what to charge, getting the win, previous post, related posts, a brand new opportunity for writers has finally arrived, best accounting software for freelancers: freshbooks vs quickbooks vs wave (& more), wordgigs review — is it worth it (2023).

There’s a lot of confusion out there in the freelance-writing world today about blog posts and articles. Also, about what each of those types of writing should pay.

Recently, I got a lot of response to my call for freelance writers to stop writing blog posts . Many writers were confused about just what the difference is.

So let’s discuss. Because things are changing. And understanding the differences between these two writing forms will help you earn more.

For years, blog posts and nonfiction articles were distinctly different:

Then something happened, and over the past couple of years, the lines started blurring.

Blog posts started to get more and more like articles. As a bazillion blogs crowded the Internet, the bar began to raise.

Blog posts began to have more interviews. They presented interesting data. Posts got longer as bloggers sought to stand out and deliver more value, until 1,000 words has become fairly standard, and 2,000-word posts are not uncommon. SEO keywords’ value lessened as Google cracked down on keyword-stuffed content. Also, as blogs got more professional, many hired editors.

On the article-writing side, there was also movement. Many print magazines began posting copies of their articles online. Suddenly, magazine headlines needed to drive traffic, just like blog-post headlines, and headline styles evolved. They published more opinion-driven pieces from thought leaders. Some also put up blogs where they let writers hit the ‘publish’ button on their own.

Wordcounts shortened for print, as ad revenue migrated online. Some magazines went online-only. Their style got breezier and more casual.

To sum up, the two types of writing began to merge into one. Definitions got squishy, and now there’s a lot of confusion.

Except about one thing: Blog posts tend to pay crap, and articles tend to pay better.

Uneducated clients who don’t really know these two forms have been busy muddying up the conversation about them for years. That’s made it hard for writers to define writing projects and bid them appropriately.

There are plenty of clients out there who call the 300-word quickie posts they want ‘articles,’ but still want to pay $5 for them.

There are also many clients who’d like you to write 1,000-word blog posts with two interviews and a research stat, but they’d like to pay $20 because “it’s a blog post.”

Your job as a freelance writer is to cut through the bull and get to what the assignment really is — then, talk about what that gig should really pay.

The fact is, clients are always going to try to get things cheap. It’s up to writers to educate clients about what they’re asking for, and what’s fair pay for what they want you to write.

The good news is, the convergence of blog posts and articles should offer writers better pay opportunities. Blog posts are growing up — they’re increasingly not the ugly stepsister of articles. So they ought to pay more like the articles they often are.

But it’s up to the writer to take the steps to capitalize on this change in the marketplace.

Where most writers are lucky to get $100 a post for blog posts — and I recommend you try to make that your floor for blog writing — article rates are usually much better. I’ve written many at $300-$500, and many more at $600-$2,000, depending on length and complexity.

Many smaller daily papers pay in the $75-$100 range for short articles, but have the advantage of giving you more impressive clips for your portfolio. You also get the bonus of learning to report a story, which lays the groundwork for getting better-paying articles in future, from businesses or magazines.

The fact is, articles and article-style blog posts convey more authority. They impress more of your client’s customers. The projects will be more successful, and those clients will be more likely to hire you back to write more. It’s a classic win-win — you can charge more at the start, and will likely end up getting more work from the client, too, because they’ll be happier with the results they get.

This all sets you up to go after better-paying magazine markets, too, if you have that goal in your 2021 to-do list.

If you’re daunted by the idea of writing article-style blog posts or full-blown articles, learn more about writing articles .

The idea of finding experts, doing interviews, or vetting research freaks out some writers, I know. But trust me, you can learn this stuff. I learned it all on the job, by trial and error.

Do you have advice on article writing vs. blog writing? Let’s discuss on Facebook .

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Can ChatGPT be your next Technology Writer?

In the second of a series of articles about how ChatGPT and other AI tools like DALL-E will change the way we work with words, code and images, we give ChatGPT a job … as a Technology Writer. And we invite the new Bing to the party as well.

The now infamous AI chatbot, ChatGPT, is grabbing headlines and prompting a lot of chatter about how it will change the way blog posts, press releases, short stories, novels and film scripts are written.

Ask it to write an article, a lyric, a haiku, a story, and it will. In seconds. So why employ a writer when ChatGPT can do it all for you? No need for salary or benefits, or lunch breaks, or pesky holidays. Sit ChatGPT in a corner and wait for it to create a ton of content for you, for free.

All of which prompts a big question for me personally: Is ChatGPT after my job?

I’m a Technology Writer. I sit in a corner, writing press releases, articles, white papers, and blog posts for Redgate. It’s like playing chess with words each day. It’s fun. Every game of chess is different.

But with ChatGPT and now Bing, ‘Your AI-powered answer engine’, walking through the door and glancing in my direction, are things about to change?

Let’s put them to the test.

“Write a press release for me while I have a nap.”

Part of my job at Redgate is to write press releases, so why not make my life a lot easier and have ChatGPT or Bing write them for me?

Sounds good. I fired up the PC and logged into ChatGPT. In the first article in this series , I anthropomorphized ChatGPT as Charlie. Seeing as Charlie now wants my job, let’s continue being friendly. I asked Charlie to write a press release about Redgate opening a new office on the East Coast of the US. Before I could even sit back and take that nap, Charlie had written the following draft:

Oh. And oh again. If I show Charlie’s work to our Chief Revenue Officer, Cassi Roper, or Prashant, our new VP of Americas Sales, I’ll be out of a job. Charlie has decided Redgate’s new office will be based in Boston MA, the four paragraphs repeat a broad general message about expansion and support without actually saying why we’re opening a new office, and the ‘About Redgate Software’ section reads like it’s been written by … a robot … and there are several inaccuracies in there.

More importantly, who on earth is ‘Nina Johnson’, the Public Relations Manager named at the end of the press release? I didn’t even know Redgate employed anyone called Nina Johnson, never mind someone who is a PR Manager. Where did Charlie find her? I also tried to call the number Charlie provided, and it doesn’t exist … like ‘Nina’.

Never mind. I’ve got a backup. Enter the new kid on the block, ‘the new Bing’. It’s powered by ChatGPT but it does things a little differently. It’s also called ‘Sydney’ by the Bing team, so let’s stick with tradition.

I turned to Sydney and asked the same question. Sydney took a little longer, because Sydney ponders for a while before it responds. But sure enough, I soon had another press release, hot off the press:

Oh, and oh again. This one could actually get me fired. Prashant previously worked for IBM, Oracle and Micro Focus? Simon Galbraith is still the CEO of Redgate?

Just to be clear here. Prashant didn’t work for IBM, Oracle or Micro Focus. And while Simon was the Co-Founder of Redgate, he’s now a director and the CEO is Jakub Lamik.

I decided not to follow the advice of Charlie or Sydney. Instead, a press release with the title The Great Return Prompts Redgate Software to Open East Coast Office was issued through our newswire service.

“Find out the business benefits of database DevOps for me while I have a nap.”

Okay, so Charlie and Sydney are rubbish at writing press releases. I decided to make things a little easier by presuming I’d been asked to write an article about the business benefits of database DevOps. I still wanted that nap I was promised, so I asked Charlie and Sydney to find out what the benefits are.

I turned to my old friend Charlie first and, sure enough, I get the business benefits of database DevOps in seconds:

Not great, but not the car crash we saw with Charlie earlier. It was enough to get the ball rolling.

I brought in Sydney and asked the same question:

A slightly different response but better, and I liked the reference sources it provided. Redgate’s in there because we write a lot about database DevOps, by the way. What’s really interesting are the buttons on the bottom right of the screen, so you can dig a little deeper.

So both ChatGPT and Bing can be used to answer general business questions. What about deeper technology stuff? Could they help me there as well?

“Research how to stop a SQL injection attack while I have a nap.”

I’ll be honest here. I don’t know much about SQL injection attacks, but if I was asked to write an article or blog post about how to stop one, I’d do it. The old-fashioned way. You do the research, then you do some more research, then you confirm the research. And then you let the research tell the story.

But hang on – wouldn’t it be nice to get someone else to do all that heavy lifting of the research for me?

I asked Charlie how to stop a SQL injection attack:

I was pretty pleased with Charlie. I didn’t understand it all at first read, but I had something I could base an article on. That is, until I asked Redgate’s Security Lead to check it for me.

He wasn’t happy:

I would argue that #4, #5 and #7 are not valid ways to stop injection attacks at all: #4: While this limits the damage, it doesn’t do anything to stop the attack itself, and in most systems, even a least-privileged account would be able to cause extensive damage in most cases where an unmitigated SQL injection vulnerability existed. #5: Does almost nothing to help. If you can inject arbitrary SQL, you can most likely bypass most validation done in sprocs. You might get a slight win by being able to avoid granting INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE permissions on the data but wow, it’s a thin case at best. #7: Might help you detect it after the fact, but it does nothing to stop it happening – and in most cases, the damage is done…

Never mind. He didn’t know I had an ace up my sleeve. I brought in Sydney:

Once again, Sydney provided a shorter response, but with references and focused options to find out more. With those references, I was pretty sure Redgate’s Security Lead would be a lot happier.

The first two bullets are valid, and the fourth is potentially an option but error prone.

So not much use either. A start, perhaps, but it still left me in the dark about the correct way to stop a SQL injection attack.

Where does that leave us?

Like many people, I’ve been down the rabbit hole of finding out what ChatGPT and its cousin, Bing, can and can’t do. I like this Tweet from Mike Solomon on 14 February 2023, which summarizes it perfectly:

There’s good reason for that, which is the dataset ChatGPT, Bing and Bard, the upcoming new entrant on the scene from Google, all use. It’s not the world’s biggest library, The Library of Congress, where 1,350 kilometers of bookshelves hold more than 173 million items including books, manuscripts, sheet music, recordings, photographs and maps. And where thousands of new items are added each working day. Wow – imagine having access to that as a dataset.

Instead, rather than using a curated collection of edited and published material from reputable sources, the new chatbots just scraped the internet. The good bits, the average bits, the bad bits, all of the bits.

So we can’t blame Charlie for inventing Nina Johnson, a PR Manager at Redgate who doesn’t exist, or Sydney for making up a CV and not knowing who the CEO of Redgate is. They’re searching through a mass of data points, some true, some not, and computing answers based on probability and, as other commentators have observed, ‘hallucinating’ sometimes. Or, in more prosaic and honest language: ‘They make sh** up’.

So what do we do with ChatGPT and Bing?

It turns out that Charlie and Sydney aren’t the rock stars the headlines are making them out to be. Hold onto your horses, though, and don’t dismiss them. I actually like Charlie and Sydney because they both live up to the Microsoft promise of being ‘Your AI-powered answer engine’ and they can help you in a couple of neat ways:

If you want to research something, use them

Both Charlie and Sydney have a lot of knowledge under the hood that can be accessed quickly and easily, in seconds. So if you want to research a topic you’re unfamiliar with, they’re a good starting point. If you were researching the business benefits of database DevOps, for example, we’ve already seen how easy it is to find them.

This does come with a caveat, however, because the results are an amalgamation of what’s already been written. They don’t add anything new to the conversation, or provide unique insights. It gives you a baseline of what’s out there and levels the playing field for you. They’re also unreliable and you will need to fact-check everything so that you don’t repeat something they made up. Go technical, as we’ve also seen, and the unreliability of the results increases the deeper you dive.

If you find writing difficult, use them

I love writing, but some people find it difficult. If that’s you, get Charlie or Sydney to do the legwork for you. Rather than simply asking what the business benefits of database DevOps are, for example, you can ask for them to be provided in the form of an article by changing the question to something like: Write an article, with a headline, about the business benefits of database DevOps .

Enter that request into ChatGPT or Bing and you’ll have an article covering broadly the same points they produced to the previous request. The caveat about the results still applies, however. You will have an article, but it will be database-DevOps-word-soup, created from what’s been written before, and there will likely be some factual errors in there. It will also be the same bland content anyone can produce (and probably will).

It will miss out, for example, how database DevOps enables and improves the speed, quality and security of remote working. Along with how it helps to retain and attract staff because developers love DevOps. And the big one: it won’t mention how it standardizes workflows across multiple database types, whether on-premises or in the cloud.

It will score a C- at best, and C- doesn’t cut it because it doesn’t enlighten anyone. It simply adds to the mountain of click-bait clutter already out there. So use it as your starting point to provide a structure and the basis for a story, and then add to it, revise it, update it, improve it.

Finally, have fun

Do use Charlie and Sydney, but verify and fact-check what they produce. I know I’m repeating myself here, but I can’t repeat it enough. Treat them like unruly and often mischievous interns who don’t actually care whether what they provide is accurate or not.

Both are great at searching through the mass of content from the internet they’ve been given and providing a summary of what you’re looking for. But, like the internet, not all of the content they find is true or accurate and they deliver an algorithm-driven response based on the preponderance of data points they find. They don’t think, they compute, and compute doesn’t recognize the truth from an untruth.

They are, however, fun to work with. They make you think, they inspire ideas, and they’re a handy springboard to help with research and writing. They can also make you smile.

I asked Charlie one day to explain what database DevOps is. I write about it all the time, and I thought it would be interesting to find out the broad consensus view from all that Charlie could find in its vast database:

That’s actually not bad.

Then I asked it to explain what database DevOps is in the style of Alistair Cooke, the last true gentleman of BBC radio. He hosted the longest ever running radio program, Letter from America on the BBC World Service from 1946 to 2004. It was beautiful radio. A weekly fifteen-minute wry and perceptive insight into what was happening in US politics, media, sport and society, told with grace, humor, and style.

So let’s end with the way Charlie gives us the same explanation of database DevOps, in the style of the great man himself:

If you’d like to learn more about ChatGPT, read the first post in this series: How a Viking Princess defeated ChatGPT .

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23 February 2023

The business value of frequent deployments: Faster time to market

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SEO Writing: 12 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Rank on Google

Updated: May 31, 2022

Published: March 24, 2021

If you've ever written a blog post before, you know how much time it can take.

From topic selection and gathering research to writing the post and pressing "Publish," the process often demands hours. That's why, if your post doesn't earn the traffic you expected, it can be a major letdown.

→ Download Now: SEO Starter Pack [Free Kit]

Fortunately, there's a way to combat low traffic: search engine optimization . As marketers, we're always aiming to write content that'll rank highly on Google, and SEO is the bridge that'll help you get there. That begs the question: How do you incorporate that into your content?

Don't worry — we've got you covered. In this post, we're going to dive into 12 ways to master SEO writing.

What is SEO writing?

SEO writing is the process of writing content to rank on the first page of search engines like Google. This involves researching keywords, writing high-quality content that matches user intent, and optimizing your headers for easy page crawling.

A 2020 Search Engine Journal study found that the clickthrough rate for websites in position one on the search engine results page (SERP)is 25%. This number drops drastically to 15% for websites in position two and then down to 2.5% for websites in position 10. When you get to page two of Google, that number gets even lower.

This means that if your website is not on the first page, there’s a small chance consumers will find your website organically. Fewer visits to your site mean fewer opportunities to generate leads, and ultimately, revenue.

Your next best option is investing in advertising to get those users to your site. But that costs money, and if you’re on a tight budget, why not invest time in SEO writing? It’s free and will likely bring you traffic for much longer than a campaign would.

12 Tips on How To Incorporate SEO in Your Writing

1. use headings to your benefit..

Headers help Google’s web crawlers understand your blog post and the sections within it.

Think of the crawlers as readers who are skimming your blog. They want an overview of what your article will cover, that’s your H1. Then your H2s, H3s, H4s break down the subtopics within the piece.

So, your subheaders should reflect the content in the body and include high-intent keywords . When you use the right keywords, meaning the ones your target audience is using, you have a much higher chance of ranking on the SERP.

2. Optimize your content for featured snippets.

Featured snippets on Google are the most direct answers to search queries. For instance, if I were to search, "How do you write a blog post?" Google might use a featured snippet to show the best answer.

Once you’ve done that, be sure to include part of the question in your answer. Using the example above, you would start the paragraph with the following: "To take a screenshot on your MacBook, here are the steps…"

Additionally, start each sentence with an actionable verb, like "click" and "select."

If the keyword for which you want to capture the featured snippet requires a definition, write an answer that’s no more than 58 words.

3. Write for humans, not search engines.

With all these SEO guidelines, it can be easy to forget that when a user searches on Google, they are looking for an answer. The best way for you to improve your chances of ranking is by writing high-quality blog posts.

What does that look like? Thorough answers, scannable sections, organized subheaders, and visual aids.

Keep your buyer personas, their motivations, challenges, and interests in mind. It’s also important to choose topics that will resonate with your potential customers and address their pain points. While some SEO tools can help on the technical side of your site, you can also opt to use content writing SEO tools to help you to write correct, concise, and human-friendly content that will rank well and engage readers. Different tools also measure content engagement, allowing you to see how long people are spending on a page, whether or not they're visiting multiple pages, or how far people are scrolling down your site.

4. Include keywords in your meta description.

Are you adding meta descriptions to your post? If your answer is "no," then you're probably not giving your post the most exposure possible. Let's get into why they're important.

By now, we've talked about a couple of the ways a blog post can communicate with Google: subheaders, keywords, and snippets. However, that's not an exhaustive list.

Meta descriptions are another area Google crawls to determine search rankings. Meta descriptions are the one- to three-sentence descriptions, you'll find underneath the title of a result.

Meta description example for the HubSpot Marketing Blog

This sentence is descriptive and includes the main keyword "virtual event." So, even if the reality is that this is a stock image, you can create a narrative that aligns with your blog post.

6. Start with keyword research.

It’s estimated that Google processes over 70,000 search queries a second. Staggering, right?

If you want to cut through SERP clutter and outrank your competitors, you need to target the specific keywords and phrases your potential customers are searching for. Otherwise, how else will they find your content and website?

Start with a keyword research tool . Sites like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner give you details on what users are searching for and how popular those queries are. For an inside look into how Ahrefs can aid you in your SEO keyword research and beyond, check out our case study and exclusive interview here.

Google Trends can also give you a feel for what keywords are popular at any given time. If you see searches are steadily declining over time for a specific keyword, you know that’s probably not the right keyword to target for your marketing. The opposite is true for rising trends.

If you’re ever running low on keyword ideas, get inspiration from your competition. Use competitive intelligence tools to see what keywords their domains currently rank for. If these keywords are relevant to your business, consider using them too.

However, keep in mind that the most obvious keywords don’t always align with your strategy. Additionally, your focus keywords will evolve over time as trends shift, terminology changes or your product/service line grows.

Be sure to conduct keyword research periodically to ensure you’re still focusing on the right keywords for your target audience and not missing out on vital ranking opportunities.

7. Resist the urge to keyword stuff.

The goal is to make your page fully optimized, not overbearing. Find natural fits for keyword additions, but don't force them to the point where your content is illegible.

For example, if your keywords are "account-based marketing," "startups," and "sales," avoid a meta description like this: "Sales for account-based marketing startups."

Instead, try focusing on one or two keywords to make the description more natural: "Are you looking for killer strategies to boost your account-based marketing game? Discover our research-backed techniques in this post."

With this approach, you're still using keywords, but you're not oversaturating the post. Remember, your goal is to solve for your audience. If your users have a poor reading experience, that will signal to Google that your post may not be meeting their needs.

8. Link to high-authority websites.

As you build out your blog post, don’t be afraid to link externally.

Linking to reputable websites not only offers blog readers additional reading material to expand their knowledge, but it also shows search engines that you’ve done your research.

Nothing strengthens a blog post like research-backed statistics from influential websites. Compelling stats help you build a more convincing and concrete argument that will help you gain trust from your readers.

9. Aim for scannable, longer posts.

In an age of short attention spans, you would think shorter blog posts are the way to go. But in fact, search engines like Google actually prefer longer, in-depth blog posts.

Think about it: the more content on the page, the more clues search engines have to figure out what your blog is about. At HubSpot, we’ve found that the ideal length is between 2,100 and 2,400 words.

The downside to longer blogs is that they may overwhelm your readers. One way to combat that is by breaking down your content into bite-size, scannable chunks.

Turn a long-winded sentence into two and keep your paragraphs to three sentences or less.

Don’t forget about bullet points – they’re great attention grabbers and easily digestible, especially on mobile devices.

10. Link to other posts on your site.

Linking to other pages or blog posts on your website helps search engines create an accurate sitemap. It also helps your audience discover more of your content and get to know you as a trustworthy, credible source of information.

On the user side, Internal links to other valuable content keep readers on your site longer, reducing bounce rate and increasing your potential for a conversion. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

When linking to any pages on your website, or even outside sources, use natural language for your anchor text. Avoid using spammy or generic calls to action, such as "top-rated cheap laptops" or "click here."

Instead, use descriptive keywords that give readers a sense of what they will find when they click on the hyperlink, like "Download your SEO guide."

Never force-feed links to your top webpages, featured products, or discounted items. Include links that enhance the points made in your posts and naturally tie in with the subject matter.

11. Compress images for fast page load speed.

Google rewards pages with fast loading speeds , as it improves the user experience.

One of the leading culprits of page lag is large, heavy images. If you have several images in your post and each one is over 100KB, that can drastically impact your page speed.

Luckily, there are free apps, like Squoosh.app , that compress images without sacrificing quality.

If you suspect that your low ranking is due to slow page speeds, head over to Google’s PageSpeed site for a free analysis and recommendations.

12. Design a link-building strategy.

Link building is crucial to your search ranking.

Why? Think of search results like a competition where the winners get the most votes. Each webpage that links back to you is considered a vote for your website, which makes your content more trustworthy in the eyes of Google. In turn, this will make you rise further up in ranking.

So, it's good to write posts that other websites or publications will want to hyperlink within their own posts. To make your website's blog post more linkable , include high-value assets in your posts, such as original data and thought leadership.

Conducting interviews with experts is another effective way of leading traffic back to your website.

How to Title Blog Posts for SEO

Even with a great, SEO-friendly post body, a bad headline could hurt you in the SERP.

To title your post with SEO in mind, write something compelling that also incorporates your main keyword. Here are a few tips:

Incorporate numbers. E.g.: "5 Ways to Rock a Matte Lipstick."
Include your offer in the title. E.g.: "How to Write a Cover Letter [+ Free Template]"
Add a teaser. E.g.: "We Tried the New [Insert App Name] App: Here's What Happened"

You know how to write content audiences will love. Now, it's time to include elements that Google will love too. It can sound tricky at first, with these SEO tips, you’ll be on the first page of Google in no time.

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May 24, 2021
11 min read

How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide

This post was last updated on May 24, 2021.

When you create a blog , you have the opportunity to dive deep into your favorite topics, highlight your expertise, and build a community of readers interested in your work. Whether you want to start a blog from scratch or make blogging part of your business strategy, publishing content online is an effective way to share your knowledge and ideas with the world.

That said, composing a winning entry takes practice. In this A to Z guide, you’ll learn how to write the perfect blog post - from choosing the right blog topics and picking the proper format for your articles, to selecting strategic images that generate interest and engagement. By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll have a clear idea of how to create strong blog content that effectively communicates your ideas and stands out from other articles on the web.

Ready to get blogging? Get started with Wix today.

How to write a blog post

Brainstorm blog topics

Refine your topic with keyword research

Define your audience

Create an organized outline

Write engaging content

Craft an irresistible headline

Choose a blog template

Select a blog domain name

Pick relevant images

Implement calls-to-action

Optimize for SEO

Edit and publish your blog post

Promote the final article

01. Brainstorm blog topics

When writing a blog post, whether you're guest posting for someone else or writing for your own blog, you’ll want to cover topics that bring value to your readers and fall in line with their interests, as well as your own. Rather than trying to find the perfect topic right away, start by jotting down different ideas that come to mind.

There are several places you can look to spark new topic ideas:

Browse other blogs within your niche. If you’re starting a travel blog , for example, simply Google “travel blog” to see what your competitors are writing about.

Use Google Trends to find out which topics are trending.

Look for current events and recent news stories related to your field.

Find out what people enjoy learning about by browsing online courses on Udemy , Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning .

Once you find some interesting ideas online, think about the unique ways you can approach those topics. Consider the various ways you can play around with topic ideas to come up with something that isn’t only trendy and relevant, but that’s also original and fresh.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to write about chocolate chip cookies. There are a few different angles you might consider taking here:

A how-to post that instructs readers how to do something with clearly ordered steps (e.g., “How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch”)

A curated list that offers a set of recommendations for your readers (e.g., “The Top Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes”)

A tips and advice post that provides expert guidance and resources. (e.g., “Tips for Making Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies Extra Gooey”)

A definition-based blog post that helps explain the meaning of a term or topic (e.g., “What Are No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies”)

A top trends article that highlights what’s currently popular (e.g. “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes From This Year”)

A personal or business update that lets you unveil something fresh or recently unknown (e.g., “My New Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Revealed”)

Get brainstorming with these best blog ideas , and check out our professional guide on how to start a blog for more helpful tips.

How to write a blog: define your web audience

02. Refine your topic with keyword research

Part of writing a blog post involves keyword research. This crucial SEO practice is used as a marker to see which terms you can potentially rank high for in certain online searches.

Once you’ve chosen a direction for your blog post, you’ll need to figure out the chances of its success on search engine result pages - which ultimately means getting more eyes on your content. In order to succeed, conduct keyword research to find the most relevant queries for your topic.

You can find keywords for your own articles by using various keyword research tools. If you’re new to blogging, you’ll probably want to start with free tools such as Answer the Public , Ubersuggest , and Google Keyword Planner . Afterwards, you may want to upgrade to more advanced tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs .

While conducting keyword research, keep in mind that the more specific the phrase, the more closely it will match your audience’s intent. On the other hand, broader keywords tend to have higher search volumes - meaning more people are searching for them each month.

Think about the benefits of opting for a broader phrase, like “chocolate chip cookies,” over a more precise phrase, like “how to make chocolate chip cookies.” Choosing the right keywords means striking a balance between high search volume and high intent.

Once you’ve selected your keywords, you can use them to shape the structure of your content. Google those phrases to find out which articles have successfully targeted those same keywords, and spend some time browsing their content. This will give you inspiration for your own article in terms of what to include and how to structure it.

03. Define your audience

Now that you know what you’ll be writing about , you need to find out who you’re writing for . Anticipating the kinds of people who will be reading your posts will help you create content that is interesting, engaging and shareable.

Of course, your audience largely depends on your type of blog . If you run a baking blog, you’ll probably be writing for an audience of people who love baking and are seeking recipe inspiration. Even more specifically, if you run a healthy baking blog, you’ll be writing for people who similarly love baking but who want to make their culinary creations healthier. It’s important to keep these nuances in mind when crafting your content, since your goal is to write articles that resonate strongly with readers.

So, how do you figure out your audience in the first place? Start by taking another look at the other blogs in your field. Consider who they seem to be writing for, and the kinds of assumptions they’re making about their readers’ interests and lifestyles. For example, you might find that most of the blogs address a particular gender or age group.

You can also use online forums to find the main questions asked by your audience, or visit Facebook groups to read what topics they like or talk about. This will help you create content that piques their interest, sparks their curiosity and answers their questions.

Whether you're starting a book blog , a fashion blog, travel blog or something else - defining your audience should come first.

04. Create an organized outline

The key to learning how to write a blog post is doing thorough research and planning before you create the article itself. After deciding on the topic and blog format , you’ll need to build the mold for your content. Creating an outline is critical, as it ensures your article will have a strong foundation that you can build on as you write your blog post.

Start by creating subheaders, which are the backbone of an organized outline. These small but mighty pieces of content help you break down your article into bite-sized sections - making it easier for you to write and more digestible for people to read.

If it’s a step-by-step guide or a list of tips, start building your outline by listing out all the main points clearly, as in the example below:

Outline: How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch

1. Gather your ingredients

2. Mix and knead the dough

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

4. Scoop mounds of dough onto baking sheet

5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Add bulleted notes within your introduction and under each of your subheaders. This will help you formulate your main points.

If you find yourself getting stuck, use one of these blog post templates to guide you through the outline process.

05. Write engaging content

Now that you’ve sketched out the blog post, you can begin typing away. Keep in mind that blog posts, like many other types of writing, typically include three main elements: an introduction, the body text, and a conclusion.

Let’s start with the introduction. In the first few sentences of your article, you should already grab your readers’ attention. Begin with a relevant quote or statistic, tell a short story, or share an interesting fact. Then, set the tone for the article by sharing a brief summary of what you’re going to talk about in the body text. This gives your readers a reason to keep going.

Next, fill in the body text. In your outline, these are the bullet points beneath each subheader. This is the meat of your blog post, so it should be clear and compelling. Avoid fluff and repetition, and instead offer deep value by sharing your knowledge, research, and insights.

A concluding section isn’t always necessary - in fact, our blog rarely uses one - but it can be useful in the case of storytelling or when wrapping up a very extensive article. You can tie your main points together using a short bulleted list, or by sharing some closing thoughts in a few sentences. No matter the case, you’ll want to end on an engaging note.

06. Craft an irresistible headline

When writing a blog post, you don’t only need strong content; you’ll also want a powerful headline . A great headline entices readers and enhances your blog design , ensuring that they actually click on your article in the first place.

Learning how to write a catchy blog title doesn’t have to be hard. All you need to do is keep the following points in mind: clarity, specificity and offering an answer or solution.

Writing a good headline also depends on how well you put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Use the title to promise readers that your blog post will provide valuable insight that will benefit them in some way, whether by satisfying their intellectual curiosity, teaching them something new, or helping them solve a problem. This will increase the chances that they’ll click on your article and read it.

Here are some examples of headlines that we are quite proud of, to give you a general idea for your own content:

Create a Powerful Free Landing Page in Under an Hour

20 Best Time Management Apps to Organize Your Life

How to Design an A+ School Website (With Examples)

Make a Change: Using Photography as a Tool to Raise Awareness

If you're looking for inspiration to get started, try out this free title generator .

07. Choose a blog template

Writing your blog post may be your first priority, but you’ll also want to package it in an appealing way. Having an article with strong visual appeal is crucial for striking the right chord with your readers. The best way to customize your blog's design is by starting with a free blog template .

Professional designers have created all these blog layouts, and they're fully customizable to reflect your blog's messaging and tone. For inspiration, check out these blog examples to see how others have transformed these templates into beautiful, content-rich powerhouses.

If you’re writing a blog about organic ingredients, for instance, using a natural color palette on your site will set the right tone for the type of topics you’ll be writing about. This same color palette should also be used for your blog logo , as well as on your social media platforms.

08. Select a blog domain name

You should host your well-crafted blog on your domain site address in order for readers to discover it. When it comes to naming your blog , you can gather ideas from a blog name generator and see if the domain name is available.

Spend time thinking about how your blog and domain name fit in with the blog post topics you will cover. Make sure that your name reflects your blog’s persona, topic and niche.

Once you have finalized your name, choose your domain name (also referred to as a URL, for example, www.wix.com). Typically, your domain name will be the same as, or at least similar to the name of your blog.

09. Pick relevant images

Likewise, you should also enhance your blog post with a few great images that illustrate your main points. It’s important that your pictures add value to the subject, rather than serving as placeholders. Pay extra attention to your featured image - this will be the main visual below your blog’s title, and it’s what readers will see when they browse your articles from your blog’s homepage.

With Wix, you can add a professional photo gallery to individual posts and embed your own pictures within your articles. You can also choose from an array of media content from Wix, Shutterstock, and Unsplash directly within your site’s editor.

10. Implement calls-to-action

In the same way a blog is meant to inform people about specific topics, it can also be used as an important tool that motivates readers to take a certain action. This includes everything from subscribing to your blog to making a purchase.

This element is referred to as CTA, or call-to-action, and is presented as an embedded link or button that states your objective in an alluring manner. Some of the most common call-to-action examples for blogs include “Subscribe,” “Download our e-book” or “Sign up.”

Using CTAs can help you transform your website traffic into engagement and, eventually, profit. While your immediate goal is to get more readers, you may eventually want to monetize your blog further down the road.

11. Optimize for SEO

When it comes to SEO for bloggers , a strong SEO plan involves optimizing your content both before and after writing the blog post. Not only does this include doing keyword research prior to the outline phase (mentioned in step 3), but it also includes using those keywords to polish your final piece.

This begins with sprinkling relevant keywords throughout your article. Let’s say you’ve chosen to target the keyword “business strategies.” Use this exact phrase in your headline, throughout the body text, and 1-2 subheaders if it’s a natural fit.

Next, include this keyword in your metadata. This is the preview text you’ll see for every article on Google, and it includes a title (known as the meta title) and short description (the meta description). You’ll also want to add the keywords to the URL of your article, as well as in the alt text of your blog post’s images. Use these SEO features to give your blog an overall performance boost. Lastly, and make sure you know exactly how long a blog post should be to best rank your post.

12. Edit and publish your blog post

With so many common blogging mistakes out there, you’ll need to thoroughly check your article for grammatical errors, repetition and any other unprofessional content. Furthermore, make sure your ideas flow coherently throughout each section, signaling a clear and purposeful message to readers. You can read about other essential aspects of blogging in this comprehensive blog post checklist .

We recommend asking a friend or colleague to give your blog article a once over before it goes live. Direct them to look for any discrepancies or ambiguity. It’s also important to emphasize quality over quantity in order to keep your readers interested. Then, once you’re happy with your written work, it’s time to hit publish.

13. Promote the final article

Once you’ve written and published the blog post, take the necessary steps to make sure it gets read. Two of the most effective ways to promote your blog post and get readers are email marketing and social media marketing.

Email remains one of the most reliable platforms for marketing, as it allows for a direct communication channel between you and your audience. This highly effective digital marketing strategy involves sending out customized emails to prospective users with the aim of converting them into loyal fans. If you’re interested in getting started, this powerful email marketing service can help you send custom newsletters for your blog.

Beyond emails, sharing your article on social media can also go a long way. For example, if you want to accrue a wide audience, promote your blog on Facebook or Instagram, which have one of the largest and most diverse user bases.

Whichever channels you choose, make sure to actively engage with followers on a day-to-day basis. This will ensure that you not only write a great blog post, but that you get people reading your article, too.

Looking to really get your blog off the ground? Take a look at our Build Your Own Blog online course to get you started.

By Rebecca Strehlow

Marketing Expert & Blogger

By Cecilia Lazzaro Blasbalg Small Business Expert & Writer

Promote Your Site

This Blog was created with Wix Blog

Article Writer

Use writecream's a.i to generate blog articles.

Not a writer? Want to write long-form content, marketing content, and AI-generated content? No worries! Writecream makes it possible for everyone to write original content. Create 1,000+ word articles in 30 minutes. No credit card is required. We have solutions to write professional papers, student papers, fresh article, magazine article, journal articles and any type of content. We also help you to write accurate citations and citation style for professional papers, student papers with original content.

Free forever, upgrade as your business grows!

STEP 1- Select the tool

Select ‘Article Writer’ from Writecream’s dahsboard.

STEP 2- Enter the Topic

Firstly, enter the topic on which your article is based. Adding a longer topic that describes your product/brand is advised for better results.

Click on Generate Ideas

Now, click on the ‘Generate ideas’ button and you will see a list of ideas generated on the right side. Choose one among them and proceed to the next step.

STEP 3- Select among the variety of ideas

You will be provided with a number of ideas once you hit the generate ideas button. choose one among those and click on the ‘next step’ button.

STEP 4- Click on 'Generate Intros'

Choose among the displayed outputs and move to the next step.

STEP 5- Click on 'Generate Outlines'

Now, click on the generate outline button to generate section headings. Choose one among the many outputs displayed and move to the next step.

STEP 6- Click on 'write the article'

Lastly, click on write the article button to see the final output.

And ta-da, you will get your AI-generated accurate content in seconds!

Choose one of the generated content types or list of titles or keep generating till you get the quality content you like and no further human intervention is required. We provide citation examples, accurate references, book citation and blog ideas to solve your AI-generated articles needs. It’s that easy!

We will now show you a short example article that we generated using Writecream's Article writer below

Writecream: ai article writer and content generator - how to use it for a blog post.

Introduction: Creating content for the Internet is an art and a science. You’ll need to have the right tools, to be able to generate anything from original content to blog posts. One tool that can make your life easier is AI-powered text and content generator. This tool can help you generate text and content, in a quick and easy way.

How does it work?: This text generator is powered by artificial intelligence. It uses machine learning to generate unique articles and texts, with a focus on quality and user engagement.

How does it generate content?: The text generator is able to comprehend and understand the content, so it can generate the perfect article, text, or blog post at the perfect time.

Conclusion: When writing content for your website, blog or newsletter, it can be challenging to come up with the perfect words to describe your products and services. AI-powered text and content generator makes this process easy by creating words, phrases and sentences that will help you to describe your product or service without having to write out each individual word. It’s like having a personal assistant who will write content for you.

You can write the whole article using the artificial intelligence-based copywriting software and other writing tools present there in one place and choose the type of content you require.

Generate long-form content like blog articles and video scripts in minutes. Writing a 1,000+ word article takes less than 30 minutes

Never stare at a blank screen with the help of our copywriting tools based on Before-After-Bridge and Pain-Agitate-Solution

Language is not a barrier for content creation with Writecream. Choose from over 75 languages for text, image and audio outputs

Generate 1,000+ word blog articles in under 30 minutes

Content creation for a blog post is hard to be at the top of search engines: you need to come up with a content piece, then think of an outline (outline refers to the different sections a blog post is divided into), add powerful features for SEO performance and finally elaborate on the outline. Amidst all of that, you have to ensure the writing is compelling and free of grammatical errors so that you can be free from human writers. What if an online tool (a bot, perhaps) could do all this for you?

Our artificial intelligence technology-based content generator and article generator tool can do all of that and display your marketing ideas perfectly. From brainstorming content ideas to writing a plagiarism-free, grammatically-perfect article, Writecream can help! After completing the blog article, you can convert it to a podcast or a voice-over for a YouTube video like real-life content marketers and content writers.

Enter product description

Start by entering a sentence or two about your product or service or social media post to assist the copywriting tool.

Generate content ideas

Once you enter the input for context, our A.I. will begin the content writing process and suggest some content ideas.

Generate a long blog article

Pick any idea or citation formats and use it to write an article (there is no word limit)

You can click on the chat button to have a word with our support team. If you prefer email, drop us a line at [email protected] .

Yes, we have a bunch of them on our YouTube channel! We have videos for almost every feature and issue, and questions people may face.

Yes, you have the rights to the generated content. You are free to use it however you want.

Of course! Here is a 1,300+ word article written using Writecream: https://bit.ly/writecream-ai-blog

Including parenthetical citations when writing your research papers is an important part of doing good research. If you include citations, you are being a responsible researcher. Our citation generator will solve your problems and provide the source by title with author names. You've shown readers that you found valuable, high-quality content elsewhere, placed it appropriately within your own project, created an amazing piece and acknowledged the original author(s) and their work.

Yes, we have multi-lingual support. Writecream supports over 75 languages. The complete list is given below. Multi-lingual support is available across all our tools, including long-form editor (A.I Article Writer), cold email icebreakers, LinkedIn icebreakers, image icebreakers, audio icebreakers, voice-over, and more. List of supported languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Catalan, Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, French Canadian, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Mongolian, Norwegian, Farsi (Persian), Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Spanish Mexican, Swahili, Swedish, Filipino Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh

Yes, the outputs are free of plagiarism. Our A.I. generates a unique piece of SEO content for every input.

Yes! You can avail a no-questions-asked refund within 30 days after subscribing to one of our plans even after your days of trial period finishes. Please use the chat option in the bottom right corner to raise a refund request or write to us at [email protected] .

No, a credit card isn’t required.

Create content in minutes, not weeks.

Wait! Before you go...

Our 8-Step Guide for How to Write a Pro Blog Post

If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you’re undoubtedly familiar with blog posts. After all, you’re reading one right now. Blog posts are the individual entries that comprise a blog, like episodes of a TV show or entries in a journal.

Blogging can serve multiple purposes. For one, it’s a great way to establish yourself as an authority on your area of expertise. It can also be an effective way to drive traffic to your website and educate people about the topics you’re passionate about. Additionally, a blog is the perfect place to showcase your writing .

Write with confidence Grammarly helps your blog posts shine Write with Grammarly

What is a blog post?

A blog post is a single piece of content published on a blog, a shortened form of the now-archaic term weblog , which is an online platform for publishing written content . A blog can be a section of a website or a standalone website of its own. The blog you’re currently reading is an example of the former, while The Pioneer Woman is an example of the latter. Both are composed of blog posts, pieces of content that each cover a single topic and may (but don’t have to!) include images and videos alongside the written content.

Written content is a key component of a blog post. A YouTube channel isn’t a blog because it’s purely video—it can be considered a vlog , short for video log . Similarly, a feed of purely still images, like an Instagram account, isn’t a blog.

In the earlier days of social media, when platforms like MySpace and Live Journal dominated the scene, blogging and social media were much more entwined than they are today. Now, they’re largely separate, though many bloggers promote and cross-post their work on their social media accounts to drive traffic to their blogs and promote their personal brand.

Types of blog posts

Blog posts can be standalone pieces or parts of a longer series. They also come in a variety of formats:

In a how-to blog post, the blogger explains the steps the reader needs to take to complete a task. Recipe blog posts are a popular example of a how-to blog post.

Also known as a “listicle,” a portmanteau of list and article, a list-based blog post is one that’s organized as a list of related entries. This could be a list of products, historical events, quotes, images, or unusual and intriguing facts, the kind of listicle Cracked.com made famous. You’ll find list-based posts on lots of blogs, like BuzzFeed , Bored Panda , and right here on the Grammarly blog.

News article

A news article blog post links to a trending news article and provides the blogger’s thoughts on that news article. It isn’t just a repost of the news article; it includes insights that build upon, speculate about, agree, or disagree with the information covered in the news article.

In this kind of post, the blogger introduces a person they’ve interviewed and provides some background information about the interviewee and their work. Following this is a transcript of the interview, sometimes interspersed with additional information written by the blogger. You can find interviews on many different blogs, such as Rotten Tomatoes’ blog .

In a review post, the blogger reviews a movie, video game, TV show, book, product . . . anything, really. What’s Good at Trader Joes? is a well-known example of a blog that focuses on product review posts. A review post can focus on one product or piece of media or it can be structured like a list-based post. You can find examples of the latter on 99designs , where they often review design software and website platforms.

A personal blog post, like a personal essay , is where the author discusses their personal experiences, thoughts, and/or opinions. Usually, you’ll find these kinds of posts on personal blogs rather than corporate or professional blogs. However, a blogger who usually publishes other kinds of blog posts might publish personal blog posts from time to time to build a more personal connection with readers.

An explainer blog post is similar to a how-to blog post in that it provides a thorough, objective explanation of its topic. The difference is that this kind of blog post isn’t necessarily presented in a linear, step-by-step format and doesn’t necessarily explain how to complete a task.

This type of blog post might explain the social and economic trends that led to a specific historical event or the basics of a given topic. Coinbase’s blog contains lots of explainer posts, such as a piece on how to keep your cryptocurrency secure.

Sometimes, blogs publish lengthy explainer posts that aim to provide comprehensive overviews of their topics. These blog posts are often labeled “ultimate guide” or something similar.

Image-based

As the name implies, an image-based blog post is a post that focuses on images. The post could be an infographic or it could be a post consisting of multiple images. No matter which it is, it contains at least some copy to give the reader some context for the images—that’s what makes it a blog post and not an image gallery.

How to write a blog post

Ready to start blogging ? Follow these steps to write a great post and effectively reach your target audience.

Set up your blog

Before you can write a blog post, you need to actually have a blog. If you already have a website, find out if you can create a blog on the platform you’re using. Many of the templates available on widely used website platforms like Squarespace and Joomla make it easy for you to start blogging right on your website.

If you aren’t able to create a blog through your web hosting/design platform—or if you don’t have a website—you’ll need to build your blog from scratch. There are lots of ways to do this, some involving more technical skills than others. You can opt for an out-of-the-box platform like Wix or Squarespace, or you can go with a more DIY option like WordPress.

Setting up your blog means determining a budget for your blog. You’ll need to pay for the following:

The domain name
Design services (unless you opt to design the blog yourself)
Blog writing and/or editing (unless you plan to do all of this work yourself)

Running a blog can be free, but keep in mind this generally means you can’t use a custom domain name and you’ll probably have ads on your site. For a low-budget personalized blog, expect to spend about a hundred dollars to set everything up and cover a year’s worth of hosting. In some cases, blogs cost thousands of dollars to build and operate—these are usually high-traffic blogs with custom-designed templates requiring a large amount of bandwidth.

As your blog grows, you can offset costs by selling ad space on your blog. Another strategy some bloggers use to reduce costs is affiliate marketing, which is where you link to an affiliate partner’s online product listings in your content; you receive a cut of the revenue they make through your placement of their link(s).

Blogging without your own website

Instead of setting up their own blogs, some bloggers opt to publish on large, public platforms instead. One of these platforms is Medium. Another is Tumblr, which hearkens to the early days of social media by combining social and blogging features in one platform.

If you stick with blogging and make a name for yourself, you can also explore guest blogging on larger, established blogs. Many of these blogs publish mostly, or even only, posts by guest bloggers. And you can get paid for doing it!

Choose your topic

Once you’ve got your blog up and running, it’s time to choose the topic for your first post.

What can you easily and passionately write about? If your blog is affiliated with your business, brainstorm ideas for blog posts that provide value to your target audience while promoting your brand. For example, let’s say you run a dog-walking business. Think about the kinds of things your clients would want to read about—the titles they’d click on, read, and ideally share with others. You might come up with a few different topics:

Choosing a pet-safe ice melt for your sidewalk this winter
How many calories does my dog burn on an average walk?
Are pack walks safe? How many dogs are too many for one handler?
How to get your dog acclimated to a new harness in no time

Ask your clients about the kinds of topics they’d like to read about on your blog. You might be surprised by what they suggest! Another great way to come up with topics to cover on your blog is to take a look at the kind of content others in your industry are publishing. That doesn’t mean you should steal ideas or plagiarize their work; find ways to take inspiration from competitors’ blog posts and cover similar topics from a different angle and in your own unique voice.

Write an outline

With any writing project, following the writing process enables you to craft a thoughtful, well-developed piece. Blog posts are no exception. After you’ve determined a topic for your first blog post, create an outline . List your working title and the key points you want to hit in your post. These key points will likely become separate sections, each with its own header and subheaders.

An easy way to write an outline for your blog post is to follow a similar structure to an essay . Your blog post starts with an introduction , which is then followed by body sections and then finally, the conclusion . But unlike an essay, a blog post’s conclusion includes a call to action. (We’ll talk more about that in a bit.)

Once your outline is complete, it’s time to start writing! There are lots of great, free apps you can use to write a blog post , like Google Docs and WriteRoom.

Hook your reader and keep them scrolling to the end

In any kind of writing, the hook is one of the most important parts. This sentence or paragraph is the part that grabs the reader’s attention and promises that their curiosity will be satisfied if they keep reading.

There are lots of ways to hook your readers’ attention , and the ideal way for each blog post depends on the audience and the subject the post is covering. One popular type of hook is to present a startling fact. To go back to our example titles for the dog walker, an effective hook for the post on pet-safe ice melts might be about how toxic many standard ice melts are to pets’ paws. Another effective way to hook readers is to directly address one or more of their pain points . For the example title about acclimating a dog to a new harness, this kind of hook might acknowledge a few things: how frustrating it is to get a dog to let you put a new harness on them; how this wastes precious walking time; and how you could waste money on harnesses your dog refuses to wear.

Give your readers a solid call to action

A call to action is a short phrase that asks the reader to do something. In a blog post, this might be to leave a comment, make a purchase, subscribe to your newsletter, or simply to read a related post next. Calls to action generally make use of direct-response copywriting principles, like making very specific requests and creating a sense of urgency. Here are a few examples of calls to action:

Like what you see? Head over to my shop and order your custom print now.
Want to learn more about reading tarot cards like a pro? Check out my post on the major arcana’s astrological associations.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and tell me whether you agree or disagree and why.

Don’t forget to edit and proofread!

Read through the draft carefully and take note of any spots where your writing feels awkward, choppy, or even excessively wordy. Editing resources like Grammarly, various writing books, and even your own network of fellow writers can help you become a stronger editor by making you more attuned to issues in your work.

Enhance your blog post with engaging, relevant images

Why do kids like picture books? Because the illustrations bring the story to life.

The same thing happens when you include images in your blog posts. Images break up the text and give your readers short breaks as they work through your content. In explainer and how-to blog posts, they can also help readers visualize the points you’re making in your text—and even help them avoid making mistakes by demonstrating what their project should look like as they complete it step by step.

Use SEO strategies to reach a wider audience

SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is a category of strategies bloggers and other website operators use to increase their websites’ visibility. The better your SEO strategy, the higher your website ranks, or shows up, in search engine results. The goal is to have your blog be the first listing that comes up when people search for specific keywords.

Keywords are just one component of SEO. Here are other ways to improve your blog’s SEO:

Your website platform might include analytics tools you can use to see how well your blog and individual posts are performing. By “performing,” we mean how many people visit your website and how long they spend on the website, both indicators of your content being effective.

Tips for writing a great blog post

Keep it conversational.

A blog post is a relatively informal, often fun piece of writing. Although there are plenty of technical blogs on the web, you’ll notice that even these tend to maintain a fairly conversational tone when explaining niche and complex topics.

Notice how most blog posts use the second person and speak directly to the reader. You would never do that in a piece of academic or professional writing. Also notice how plenty of blog posts, on topics ranging from how to finish highly technical projects to completely subjective movie character hairstyle rankings, give you a sense of the author’s personality by including short asides, personal opinions, and sometimes even broken grammar rules to mimic speech patterns.

Keep in mind that breaking grammar rules to achieve specific effects and working your personal voice into your blog post is not the same thing as writing and publishing an unedited post that simply ignores grammar rules. If you’re going to break the rules, you need to do it carefully and with a clear stylistic reason for doing so. For example, you might opt for sentence fragments, rather than whole paragraphs, in certain sections of your blog post because this magnifies your words’ impact. Take a look at this to see what we mean:

I’d applied to 10 colleges in total. Five of them, I knew I was a shoo-in. Four of them, I thought I had somewhere between an OK and a pretty good shot at getting in. And the last one, my holy grail of higher ed, I was all-but-certain they’d never accept me.

Then the envelopes started coming in. Thick ones, thin ones, glossy colorful ones, and nondescript white ones that could easily be mistaken for junk mail.

And then it arrived.

The letter I’d been waiting for since seventh grade.

My acceptance letter from my dream university.

See how this blog post emphasizes key sentences by making them stand-alone paragraphs? That’s one way bloggers make their posts sound and feel like in-person conversations. Also notice how this excerpt includes informal language like “shoo-in” and literary devices like a synecdoche (referring to acceptance and rejection letters as “envelopes.”)

Research trending keywords

As we mentioned above, using SEO strategies in your blog post will help it reach a wider audience. If you don’t care about reaching a wide audience and just want to write your blog for yourself or to share with close friends and loved ones, don’t worry about this tip.

But if you do want to reach a wider audience by having your blog post rank higher on search engines, take the time to research relevant keywords for your post. Soovle , keywordtool.io , Google Search Console , and Google Keyword Planner are all useful tools you can use not only to test out how well a specific keyword ranks, but also to find related keywords you can include in your blog post. With these tools, you can also find inspiration for future blog posts through other keywords related to your initial search.

Cut down walls of text

Nobody wants to read a wall of text, but sometimes they’re necessary in academic pieces like research papers.

They’re never necessary in blog posts.

A wall of text is generally defined as a paragraph that takes up several lines. They’re intimidating to readers and when they see them, a lot of people scroll past or even stop reading the blog post completely.

When you find a wall of text in your writing, break it down into two or more paragraphs . By doing this, you’re improving your blog post’s readability score, which doesn’t just make it more appealing to readers; it increases your SEO ranking.

Basically, a good blog post is scannable. As you read your first draft, take note of any spots where you feel slowed down or otherwise like you can’t easily scan the information. Those are the spots to break into smaller sections.

Whatever you write, do it with confidence

Correct grammar and a consistent tone are the keys to not only maintaining reader attention, but also to effectively communicating the points you make in your blog post. After you’ve edited and proofread your post, have Grammarly give it one last look to catch any mistakes or inconsistency in tone so that your blog post reads exactly how you want it to sound.

This article was originally written by Karen Hertzberg in 2017. It’s been updated to include new information.

SEO | 11 min read

How to Write Blog Articles for SEO

Are you writing blog posts that aren’t getting anywhere on search engines? An effective blog can pull tons of traffic – if done correctly. However, you can’t simply write an essay on any topic and expect traffic to pour in. Writing the perfect blog post for SEO requires strategy, planning, and skill.

Search engines and readers look for certain things when browsing the internet for content. It’s up to you to hit all those marks with your blogs.

In this article, we’ll be showing you how to write the perfect SEO-friendly blog. Let’s get started.

How can blog posts improve your site’s SEO?

Blog posts are heavy hitters in the marketing space. They can accomplish a lot for your website, helping your inbound marketing and content marketing efforts. By writing a blog that’s optimized for search engines, you’re elevating your chances to rank high on your target SERPs (search engine result pages).

Here are just a few ways that blogs can culminate in SEO improvements:

Best Blog Post Types for Boosting SEO Rankings

Certain blog posts reliably perform well when working towards a high search engine ranking. Let’s dive into what those SEO-friendly blog posts may look like.

Listicles & Ranked Articles

List-based articles, usually referred to as “listicles,” are blogs that list items on a specific topic. These list items could be solutions, tips, ideas, products, or anything else that can be listed. Typically, these articles will either rank the list items or simply showcase a selection of the “best” in the given category.

Listicles are one of the easiest types of blogs to write, making them one of the most popular. However, don’t be mistaken – they still provide value in many ways.

For each list item, you may be linking to a third-party solution. This can end up establishing a relationship between you and that third-party website. In return, that initial link may result in an earned link on their own site.

Ranked articles and listicles are also perfect opportunities for targeting high-intent keywords. When users are looking to commit to a solution, one of the final steps before conversion is usually searching for the “best” fit for them.

Here’s an example. When you search for the term “best motor oil for hot weather” on Google, the top result is a rich snippet to a blog with several solutions. Through a listicle, this website has earned the top spot on a high-intent SERP.

Instructional “How To” Articles

Whether it’s instructions on how to use a product, or a blog about how to perform an action, “how-to” articles are highly sought after – and beneficial for SEO. A “how-to” blog can directly instruct readers on how to use your product or be on a topic that’s relevant to your industry and audience’s needs as a whole.

In fact, this blog is a “how-to” style blog! While Shift4Shop is an eCommerce platform, our readers find value in topics related to websites – especially SEO tips.

Your instructional article should target a long-tail keyword that asks a question, such as “how to change your car’s oil.” Your blog should answer that question in detail.

By targeting that keyword, your website will appear when users search for that question. If you can provide users with the solution to their problem, your website (and brand) may stick in their minds as a valuable resource.

If you’re an eCommerce website and you sell products requiring instructions, this type of article can be extremely useful as well. Rather than intimidate customers with a complicated new product, you can guide them through what it is and how to use it. This approach should dissuade any worries along the way for your customers.

Industry News & Current Events

When you report on news or current events happening within your industry, you’re working to establish authority. This type of blog frames your business as one that keeps up to date with what’s going on in your industry. It also turns your website into a reliable resource for your target audience.

News articles can also help your content marketing strategy. By reporting on new happenings in your industry, you can set a foundation for a new product you may be introducing that relates to that news. This helps prove that your business is constantly staying on top of evolutions within your field.

Research-Based Articles & Case Studies

A blog article can be extremely valuable if the content and data within it are entirely unique. Doing extensive research on a topic that may not be covered widely can insert your website into SERPs with low competition.

Also, as a primary source for your research or case study, you can earn links on other sites that may want to reference the results of your findings. This can be a huge help with link building , boosting your site’s authority (and SERP ranks) as a result.

Visual Blogs & Infographics

An infographic is a type of graphic that uses visuals to interpret data. With the increasing preference for visuals on the internet, infographics and dynamic visuals are a must. Readers gravitate to content with visuals – walls of text aren’t the best at keeping a reader’s attention for long.

Visuals like infographics can be useful for instructional style posts, illustrating a process and helping readers better understand and absorb content. They’re also highly sharable, which makes them versatile and usable on platforms like social media.

Like research-based articles or case studies, blogs with visuals like infographics can also be great opportunities to earn high-quality links. Other sites are also looking for visuals to supplement their blogs, so creating your own infographics can be a quick route to link placement.

8 Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts

With a foundation in place, you can now begin writing your SEO-friendly blog article. Let’s go through some tips you should keep in mind as you write.

1. Establish target keywords first.

Before you start writing, create a goal for your blog. When it comes to SEO-focused blogs, it’s key that you establish what keywords you want to target with your content.

Focus your main efforts on relevant, long-tail keywords that you have a chance to rank for. These keywords should, ideally, have low competition and high search volume. Research related keywords and target those as well, as these can be helpful as you write.

Keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Moz can help you find the best keywords to target.

2. Outline with the right heading structure.

With your keywords in mind, you’ll next want to create the basic skeleton of your blog. In addition to the primary question you’re answering, answer all of the secondary questions that relate – this is where relevant keywords come in.

Your blog should follow this basic structure:

As you outline and write your blog, you also want to correctly utilize heading tags. This doesn’t mean using a larger font and bold type for each heading. It means using H1, H2, H3, etc. tags when formatting your blog.

Your H1 should be the title of your blog. This can differ from the page’s title tag, but it shouldn’t be completely different. The blog’s H2 tags should be used for subheadings within the blog’s content. Nested subheadings within those sections should use H3 tags. If necessary, follow that pattern with descending heading tags.

Proper use of heading tags helps search engines better understand what your blog is about. This is crucial in determining your website’s rank on SERPs. Headings also help readers to find the information they’re looking for – especially for users using screen readers. Accessibility is necessary for better ease of use, which search engines take into consideration as well.

3. Write in an easy-to-read style.

Even if your blog contains really valuable content, it won’t perform well if it’s hard to read. Users faced with walls of text will quickly lose interest and bounce to another site. To avoid this, there are a few tactics you can use when writing your blog:

Before you publish your blog, check how it looks on both desktop and mobile. A blog that may seem easy to read on a laptop may be a huge wall of text on a smartphone, so format your blog to avoid that. Remember: mobile users come first for search engines, so optimize with them in mind.

You can also use a tool like Hemingway Editor to see how easy it is to read your blog. Cut down on sentences that are hard to read and simplify complicated terms and phrases.

4. Utilize keywords without stuffing.

While you do want to effectively target your keywords, you want to avoid keyword stuffing.

What is keyword stuffing? It’s an outdated SEO tactic that involves inserting the same keyword repeatedly into a page – usually without consideration for relevance or readability. Here’s an example of keyword stuffing:

When you write a blog, you want to avoid this at all costs. Search engines like Google actually penalize sites that use keyword stuffing. In Google’s own words, “Filling pages with keywords or number results in negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking.”

Instead of keyword stuffing, stay mindful of when and how you use your target keyword. Space out mentions and use it when it makes sense. Rather than repeat the same keyword phrase over and over, use variations or related keywords. This will help your blog to sound much less like spam and more like it was written for a human reader.

5. Make sure that your blog is the right length.

According to HubSpot’s research , the ideal length of a blog article is between 2,100 and 2,400 words. However, even HubSpot states that not every blog should be this long. Some may benefit from short word counts, while others could benefit from higher ones.

As a general rule, longer blogs perform better. One major benefit of a longer word count is the opportunity for more optimization. To find your website’s ideal blog post length , do some research into competing articles for your target keywords. How long are the top-performing blogs in your industry? Would they do better if they were longer or shorter?

6. Add relevant internal and external links.

Blogs are the perfect opportunity for link building . This goes for both links within your own website and outside of it.

By linking to other blogs that your site has published, you can help guide readers to other relevant content on your site – keeping them with you for longer. Internal linking can also help you spread the success of one blog to others on your site, improving their rankings in the process. Search engines, in general, appreciate internal linking as well, due to it helping their bots crawl and index your site quicker and easier.

You’ll also want to build links with other sites relevant to your industry. Link to resources that you used to write your blog, cite statistics when you include them, and add links to resources that can supplement your own offering. When you add trustworthy, high-quality site links to your blog, you can effectively improve your site’s credibility.

Be aware, however, that low-quality sites can actually be detrimental to your rank. Look into the websites that you’re linking to before you hit publish. If you’re unsure of a website’s reputation, you can add a “no-follow” tag to the link.

7. Optimize the blog’s metadata.

Underneath the face-value content of your blog is its skeleton – the metadata. This data can be just as valuable to search engines as the content on the page itself.

When finalizing your blog, you want to optimize any metadata involved with its page. Be sure to take care of the following:

Optimized metadata can help search engines properly rank your site and improve the look of your search result. If your meta description is too long, for example, your result on a SERP may look like this:

8. Update your posts when necessary.

Even though your blog post is relevant and accurate when you post it, there’s no guarantee that it’ll stay that way. To keep your website’s content up to date, regularly go back to old content and update it. This could be simply correcting outdated information or giving sections a facelift.

Updating your posts is necessary if you plan on using your blog post as evergreen content, which is content that is meant to stay fresh and relevant for a long period of time.

Some readers may even skip over blogs that have a date too old for their preference. If they’re looking for the best new smartphones on the market, they won’t want to read a blog from three years past. Keeping content updated and refreshing that publish date helps readers trust your content is accurate and useful.

Like any SEO strategy, writing blogs that rank well requires several things to be done correctly. The blog needs to target the right keywords without stuffing too many in at once. It needs to be easy to read for any user with accessibility in mind. Word count, metadata, links, and content need to all be ideal and up-to-date.

Above all, one thing remains true when writing blogs for SEO: user experience is paramount. Search engines are consistently putting user experience first, meaning you need to step up to that plate. If readers are able to go to your blog for valuable and accessible content, search engines will reward you appropriately.

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9 Amazing Blog Topics and Ideas to Be Successful in 2023

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It used to be that you could just vomit out your thoughts to paper (or keyboard) and people cared about you (or your thoughts) enough to read it. Those were blogging pioneers and those days are over…

Social media and the mass consumption of information online in our society today has changed everything.

It’s probably a good thing because while some people vomit out some great thoughts, a lot more people don’t…

Now, if you want people to read what you have to say, you have to create your content with a purpose . One way to do this is through keyword research — aka creating content centered around keywords that people are actively searching for.

But that’s not the kind of content we’re talking about in this article. Today, we’re going to talk about the other 20%.

The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule is something that we made up but we very much believe in its importance based on our own experiences as professional bloggers.

80% of the content that you write should be based on keyword research and searchable content. The remaining 20% should be created with the sole purpose of connecting with your audience.

Why is it skewed so much?

Well, the majority of your content should be focused on keyword research because that’s what brings in your initial visitors. It’s what drives the traffic in because it’s what helps your content get found on search platforms.

But the 20%… The content that connects… That’s what turns your readers into subscribers. And subscribers into buyers.

It’s what makes your audience connect with you and trust you and hang on your every word. And maybe you’re thinking… Well, why can’t all of my content be like that?

It’s great if you can create perfectly keyworded content that also connects and some of the blog ideas that we provide below may be able to be used in that way.

But it doesn’t always work out that way.

In order for content to be found in search, it often has to be written in a certain way with a pretty specific set of secondary keywords and topics. It becomes a little technical.

The 20% is where you have more freedom to write it exactly the way that you want it — however that will best serve your readers.

And we’re going to give you our best blog ideas and topics for the 20% in this article. Below, we’ve given examples of these blog post ideas and topics from our blog as well as our first health and wellness blog.

1. How-To Guides

One of our favorite types of content to create is how-to guides.

These are usually very instructional in nature and can come in the following forms:

These posts can also be related to the following topics or ideas:

The best place to get these blog post ideas is straight from your audience.

What kind of problems are they struggling with? What kind of goals are they looking to achieve? These are perfect topics for how-to guides.

One of the best examples of a how-to post that is also more like an ultimate guide is our post on how to make money blogging .

2. Experiences And Stories

This one is my personal favorite.

Personal experiences and stories are by far the best way you can connect with your audience because they serve as evidence that whatever problems your audience is dealing with, they CAN be overcome.

They are also what help your audience to see that you’re a normal person and not just some big influencer persona on the internet that just “got lucky.”

Following people on the internet is a little like watching people on TV. We tend to feel like they aren’t “normal” people with “normal” problems.

Sometimes you need to remind your audience that you were once living in their shoes. You KNOW how they feel because YOU have felt it before.

And then you tell them exactly how you overcame your struggle. Or achieved a goal. Or whatever else it is that you are writing about. Just remember to highlight the feelings that you believe they are experiencing right now (or have felt at some point).

THIS is what will begin to make them feel like you understand them and how you can begin building a relationship with your reader (one built on trust).

One of our most popular posts that falls into this category is our post on the phases of blogging success .

3. Trending Topics And News

These are great because there is always some new fad or craze in the headlines every month, week, etc.

This gives you new and “fresh” ideas to share with your audience while also giving you the opportunity to weigh in on the topic. Your audience wants to know your opinion!

If you’re talking about the hottest new topic in your blog niche, it will catch your readers’ attention because fewer people are talking about it.

Rather than giving straight facts or a general overview of a particular topic, consider being a little more polarizing if you have a strong opinion. Your audience wants (and deserves) your honesty!

Here are some examples from various blog topics:

You get the idea!

This isn’t an area that we post often in but here’s an example of a blog post idea in which we provide a rather polarizing opinion on the topic of Google Adsense .

4. Lists And Round-Ups

Numbered lists are great because they give your content some organization and people love lists!

There seems to be something about knowing that there is some defined ending to your content. Something psychological there…

There has been a lot of testing on clickthrough rates of headlines and lists are without a doubt super popular and often more likely to get you clicks!

You can put anything you want into a list, including some of the types of content we are discussing in these articles.

Here are some popular types of lists for blog post ideas:

You can also do round-up posts in a list format.

A round-up post is a list that you put together of other resources (i.e. recipes, websites, products, etc.). You feature other people’s content with a link to the resource.

Our article on successful bloggers is a good example of a round-up post that is formatted as a list. This post on healthy dinner recipes is another great example of a round-up post.

5. Product Reviews

Product/service review articles are great because they serve two purposes:

You can earn a commission from certain products and services that you recommend on your blog when people click on your links to purchase that product or service.

This is called affiliate marketing , and it’s a major way that many bloggers monetize their content.

BUT remember that you are still essentially asking for a sale here…

In order for product reviews to be successful in creating a connection with your audience, you really need to include personal experiences with the product you’re discussing.

Linking products with descriptions isn’t generally enough to get people to buy your product.

Any article on the internet can do that much. You need to form that connection with them by discussing your personal experience with the product.

THAT is what will make them want to learn more about the product or service.

And remember that it isn’t just about making a sale. You need to provide the right kind of information that helps them make a decision about the product.

For example, we recommend ConvertKit as the best email service for our new bloggers. But a lot of them aren’t sure and want to try a free service first.

So, we created an entire review on ConvertKit with our experiences to help them make a decision about what is right in their business.

A couple of other examples:

6. Interviews And Testimonials

Interviews and testimonial posts are great because it gives your audience a chance to hear from someone else, which can further add credibility to what you are teaching.

This type of post can be structured in a variety of ways, including…

Interviews and testimonials can be written, in video format, or in podcast format.

When you are interviewing someone or asking for a testimonial for your blog, these are some helpful questions to consider:

If their story is transformational in nature (i.e. reached a big goal), remember the points we discussed above in the blog post idea of personal experiences and stories.

Our best example is from one of our blogging students, Ramona. She took our blogging courses and explains how she started her fitness blog and made money in the first few months.

Her story provides inspiration for our audience while also providing proof that our courses work. We also allow her to add a link back to her blog, which helps her out as well.

It’s a win-win for everyone.

7. Guest Posts

Guest posts can be similar to interviews and testimonials, but the main difference is that someone else is generally writing the entire guest post for you.

People generally offer to write guest posts for the following reasons:

The point is that people who write guest posts for you generally only take the time to do so because there is some type of gain in it for them.

But there should also be some benefit(s) in it for you, which could include:

The best relationship you can hope for here is one in which both parties benefit from the exchange.

A great example is a guest post written by one of our blogging students, Amira Law, on how to protect your blog with legal pages .

In this post, Amira first provides a ton of helpful information on WHY bloggers need legal pages on their blogs, including what types are needed and where you can get them.

Then, at the end of the article, she briefly discusses the legal page templates that she sells. We are an affiliate for the templates, so we receive a commission if our readers purchase them from the article.

It provides helpful information for our audience, potential revenue for both of us, and a backlink to her blog and her products. Win-win-win.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Wouldn’t it be great if you could write the EXACT content you knew your audience was the most interested in?

Well, you can! You just need to LISTEN.

What are the most frequently discussed topics you hear from your readers?

Are there any common questions that get asked more often than others?

There are a few ways that you can get blog post ideas from the questions your audience is answering, including:

The other thing you can do to get ideas is to simply ASK your audience what they want to hear more about!

You can end your articles or emails with a question that will help get the conversation started. Some of our favorite questions to ask include:

When you answer your audience’s most important questions, it helps to build more trust in your relationship with them and make them more likely to purchase something from you.

An example of this in our business is the article that we wrote comparing two email marketing services: MailChimp and ConvertKit

A lot of our new bloggers on a budget are curious about MailChimp because it’s a free service and we get that question a LOT in our support groups for our courses.

So, we wrote an entire article to direct them to when we get the question.

It also helps to have a resource like this to direct your readers to so that you don’t have to answer the same question over and over again!

On our health and wellness blog, one question that we got asked a LOT related to our weight loss program was about how to lose weight with hypothyroidism.

So, we wrote an article about it to help our readers that face that problem. And it also helped to well our weight loss program!

Last up on our list of blog post ideas is busting through the top myths surrounding some of the most common topics you are writing about.

People are skeptical of information and products online because they don’t generally know or trust you.

Busting common myths and misconceptions can help educate your audience and sell your products!

These posts can also provide a “shock” factor to your audience because you’re delivering information that is generally contrary to their belief.

The best example that we have on this blog about busting through myths is our article on how much bloggers make .

There is a common misconception that bloggers don’t make much… Or a common perception that they don’t make enough to earn a full-time income. A lot of people believe that bloggers are just running their blog as a side project or hobby rather than as a full-time business.

Another great example is this article on health and fitness myths.

Okay, that’s it for our article on blog post ideas and topics!

We hope that creating this kind of content helps you better connect with your audience and build a more loyal and engaged list of fans and subscribers!

Which one was your favorite? Are you already using any of the above that you feel work really well?

We’d love to hear from you in the comment section below! We’re also here to answer any questions you might have!

How to Write an Article (the Complete Guide)

Did you just launch your new website and want to fill it with content? Or would you like to work as an article writer and you’re asking yourself, how do I write an article that actually gets results?

In both cases, you want to know how to write an article.

This is a step-by-step guide that shows you how to come up with article ideas, get started with writing, and edit after writing. The guide is intended for online articles, but most points also apply to offline, print articles. Also, note that the difference between an article and a blog post is marginal, so most recommendations also apply to blog posts.

Because it’s crucial that your article ranks in Google, we also cover some basics about search engine optimization (SEO). For more detailed information, I recommend you reading our 25 Point Blog Post Checklist for SEO .

1. Come up with a topic and a focus keyword

Before you start writing, you have to decide what you want to write about. That should be obvious. But what makes a good idea for an article?

Writing an article takes a lot of time and effort. Your articles should help you to generate traffic to your website. One of the most important factors that decide how much traffic you get is Google ranking.

Ideally, you want your article to rank for a high volume keyword. If 10.000 people per month type a specific keyword into Google and your article is the first to come up, many people will click on it and thereby land on your website.

When it comes to ranking, you should not only consider the search volume but also how difficult it is to rank for this keyword. A huge search volume is useless when your article appears on page number 256 of the search results.

It’s best to use a keyword research tool to find out the keyword difficulty (KD). We recommend Ahrefs because it provides you with accurate keyword data and many other functions that help you rank in Google.

There are two main ways to come up with article ideas:

The focus keyword reflects the topic of your article. It can consist of one or two words or multiple words. As an example, the focus keyword of this article is “how to write an article.”

If you struggle to find good ideas, I recommend you read my article about how to find blog topics .

2. Find the search intent behind the keyword

When typing keywords into Google, you have a problem that you want to solve. You might want to learn more about a particular topic, you have a specific question, or you are looking for products to buy. The content of your article has to match the user’s search intent behind the keyword.

“How to” keywords make it easy: They phrase a question, and your article should answer this question. When someone searches for “best Italian restaurant in town,” the person doesn’t want to know what an Italian restaurant is, but how to find the best one.

Google knows this and will display local Italian restaurants with the best reviews. Also, rating websites like Tripadvisor make it to the top search results because they deliver the information the user is looking for: A short review about the best Italian restaurants, explaining why they are the best ones.

Because Google has, in most cases, a good idea about the search intent behind keywords, googling the keyword you want to rank for is always a good idea.

3. Find out how long your article needs to be

How long your article should be, depends on the topic and the competition. Some topics can be covered comprehensively in a short article. There is always the possibility to write more, but more is not always better. Again, keep the search intent in mind.

If the keywords indicate that the user looks for a simple, short answer, it’s better to keep it short. A long, detailed article would instead repel those readers. Take as an example: “How many strings does a guitar have.” This is a very basic question, and the person typing this into Google expects a short, simple answer. He or she doesn’t want to read a 1000-word article to find out.

But many topics are worth covering in detail. Someone who searches for “How to find the best electric bass guitar” would be thankful for a long, comprehensive article that answers all his questions. For these kinds of topics, you need to find out how long your article should at least be to have a realistic chance to rank for it. Googling your focus keyword is the easiest way to find out. Just check how long the top-ranking articles are and write one that is at least that long.

When you notice that your article is getting much longer than planned, decide if the added points are that important. If they truly add value, keep them. Check if they are highly related to the topic. If not, you can always cover them in a separate article.

4. Read competing articles

Take a close look at the articles that rank for your focus keyword. See if you can find good ideas in there and take some notes. This is not about copying your competition. It’s about getting inspired to make your article better.

5. Research the topic

Do deep research about the topic you want to write about. And simply googling your focus keyword and reading the top-ranking articles does not count as research. Ideally, you should already be knowledgeable about the topic.

The less you know, the more research you have to do. But even if you already know the subject in and out, check if there is new information available. For instance, when you write about CBD oil for anxiety, you may already know that CBD oil can help with anxiety and why. But there may still be a new study that you don’t know about. Covering the latest research that your competition hasn’t written about gives you a leading edge.

6. Brainstorm information to include

Once you know what you want to write about and gathered all the important information, you should do some brainstorming about what you want to cover in the article. There may be many points, likely, you won’t keep all of them. But writing them all down helps you to make sure that you don’t forget any vital information.

7. Come up with unique ideas

When you’re done with brainstorming, make sure that you have ideas with unique content that you cannot find anywhere else. If your article summarizes the top 5 ranking articles, you’re not providing value to your readers.

There are many ways to make a text unique, and it depends on the kind of article. If you’re an expert on the topic, you can give an expert opinion with unique insights. When it’s an informational article, try to find information you cannot find anywhere else.

And even if there’s no additional information, you can still provide value. For instance, by explaining a complex problem better than anyone else does. Or by illustrating a point with a story. There are many ways, be creative!

8. Write an outline

Before you start writing, write an outline to give the article some structure. It is not set in stone, and you can change it while writing. But it makes the writing process much more manageable.

No matter what kind of article you write, it should always have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

Further, each article should answer three questions in the following order:

Answering these three questions gives your article a logical flow.

First, you have to let your readers know what the article is about. When you write about something that not everybody is familiar with, you’ll also have to explain what it is and give background information. For instance, when you write an article about magnesium, you should first mention that it is an essential mineral and review its role in the body.

The next step is then to explain why it’s important and why people should care. You would mention how common a magnesium deficiency is and what symptoms it causes.

In the last step, you would address the how and tell your readers how they can prevent a magnesium deficiency.

In how much detail you answer each of these questions is very individual and depends on the kind of article you write. When you write a “How to …” article, like the one you are currently reading, answering the “How” is the main part. Readers looking for “How to do something” already know what it is and why it’s important. So you can briefly answer the first two questions in the introduction and then spend the rest of the article answering the “How.”

But you can also have articles focusing on the “Why.” After briefly answering the “What,” you explain in detail why it is important. The “How” can then be a simple call to action, leading the reader to an article addressing the “How” or to a product that is solving the problem.

If you wrote about the detrimental health consequences of eating too much sugar, this would answer the question, “Why too much sugar is bad for you.” After your readers are convinced that too much sugar is very unhealthy, you can end the article with a call to action to your article about how to eat less sugar.

The What, Why and How questions can serve as a template that you can apply to any article.

9. Follow the rule of one

Following the rule of one is probably the most important advice when writing an article, and most writers don’t follow it. Yet, articles that fulfill this rule are the most successful ones. So when you apply it, you write better articles than most others.

The rule sounds simple but is not easy to follow. It means that you should dedicate the content to one single topic and don’t deviate from it. For instance, in the article you are currently reading, I stick to advice about how to write an article. I don’t tell you how to write an ebook .

You might think that many people who write articles also write ebooks, and this information might be of interest to them. This might be true. But it’s also true that people who don’t know how to get started with an article are probably not ready to write an ebook yet. That’s why I don’t include any advice about ebook writing and instead would link to an article about how to write an ebook.

You have to put yourself into the shoes of your readers. Keep the search intent of your focus keyword in mind. Someone who types these words into Google is looking for specific information. By deviating from it, you risk boring your readers and losing them.

That’s the last thing you want. And the good thing when writing online articles is that linking to other articles is very easy. So if you are not 100% sure if the information is of interest to all article readers, leave it out and simply link to the content with further information.

10. Avoid the curse of knowledge

It’s good to write about something you’re knowledgeable about. In the end, you have something to tell and to teach.

But when you write about a topic that you are very familiar with, you quickly fall into the trap of the curse of knowledge.

This can have two negative consequences, and you should avoid both like the plague.

You tell your readers everything you know about the topic, or even worth, everything that is even loosely related to it

You don’t write in a way that your audience easily understands

The second danger is that you are using words your audience isn’t familiar with and assume your readers know something they don’t. Simply because you know so much about a certain topic, you cannot imagine how it is not knowing it. As an author, this problem can be very hard to spot. This is why editing is so important (see point 20)

But you’re losing people that way. Your readers might think that you’re smart, but they will nevertheless stop reading your content because they either find it not interesting or because they don’t understand it.

11. Include references from reliable sources

You should try to provide sources for the information you include. This makes you look credible and also gives your readers the chance to find out more. How many references you have to provide largely depends on the kind of article and the topic.

When you write about a personal experience, you won’t have to provide many sources, and even not mentioning any might be fine. When you write about how CBD oil can help with anxiety, you certainly want to link to some scientific studies proving your point.

12. Link to further information

No matter how long your article is, there is always more information about this topic. An easy way to provide value to your reader is to link to useful information. This can be to another article on your website or an external source.

Linking internally to other articles is also a valuable tool to stick to the point. When you catch yourself covering something that is not directly related to the topic, write a separate article about it and link to it.

Here’s an example of a link from one article to another.

13. Make it “snackable”

People who read online are often looking for quick information. They don’t sit down for three hours to read about a specific topic as they might do with a book. When they click on a Google search result, they skim through the article to see if it provides the information they are looking for. And even if they decide that the article is worth reading, they don’t want to read large text blocks.

For these reasons, you should

14. Make it an easy read

This point is related to the advice to make the content “snackable.” Furthermore, you should use uncomplicated language. Try to keep your sentences short and simple. Write in an active voice.

And avoid technical terms unless you’re 100% sure that your audience is familiar with them.

How “easy” the content is, depends, of course, on your audience’s background knowledge. To be precise, it should be an easy read for your audience, not necessarily for everyone.

15. Use the language of your audience

When you write an article for medical doctors, your tone and language differ from when you write for laypeople. Always keep your audience in mind and try to adopt their language. This way, your content relates to them, and it is easier to connect to them and build trust.

16. Write a compelling introduction

The introduction should explain why the article is relevant and how it solves the reader’s problems. You should keep it short and come straight to the point. The intro helps readers decide whether the article answers their question and it’s worth reading or whether they should look further.

For this reason, your introduction should raise the reader’s interest, but it should also reflect the content of the article. If you make false promises in your intro, you’ll disappoint your readers, and you risk that they won’t read your content in the future.

Mentioning a statistic, a quote, or an interesting, relevant fact is also an excellent way to start an article.

I personally prefer to write the introduction after writing the body of the article. I may write some notes before writing the article and then write it out later. Once the article is written, you have a clearer picture of the article’s content and how to lead into it.

17. End with a strong conclusion

It is a good idea to write the conclusion last. But when writing the article, you should already know what the conclusion is so that you can build up to it. As for the introduction, you can write down the points you want to mention and write them out later.

There are many different ways to write the conclusion. In many cases, it’s a good idea to summarize the article and emphasize the main takeaway. A call to action is also an excellent way to end an article.

I n the end, your article has a purpose, and you want your readers to do something after reading it.

You can guide them to further content, your products or ask them to sign-up for your newsletter, enquire about a product, service, or read an article. These are just a few examples; there are many more!

Here’s an example of a clear call to action for ketogenic meal plans.

18. Remove non-important and redundant information

Some people say that they try to shorten their text by one third once they are done writing. How much you have to shorten your text depends on your writing style. If you tend to write very wordy, include non-relevant information, and even repeat information, you’ll have to shorten a lot. When you already write concisely, removing a little bit here and there will be enough. But in general, shortening your text during the editing process will make your article a better read.

This doesn’t mean that you cannot write long articles. But they should be packed with information. That means that to fill a long article, you need a lot of information. Take this article as an example. It’s 3,500 words +, but it provides 21 useful tips, and every single one is valuable. So, your article should have substance. The worst thing is reading an article that says nothing. It’s a waste of time for your readers (and also a waste of time writing it).

19. Edit, edit, edit

Once you’re done writing, the editing starts. Editing can take as long as the writing itself or even longer. You often find the advice not to edit while writing because writing and editing are two separate processes. I don’t think this applies to everyone and largely depends on your writing style.

When you try to get everything perfect in the first draft, writing takes much longer, but you save time editing. When you write everything down as fast as possible, you’re done writing in no time, but editing will probably take longer than writing.

20. Ask someone for feedback

Having someone to edit your article and to provide feedback will always improve your article. This person will likely notice a few language flaws, even if you are a native speaker and your grammar and writing is very good.

The person can also tell you if the article’s structure makes sense and if the transitions are easy to follow. Most importantly, the editor can tell you whether everything is easy to understand. For this reason, it can be an advantage to have a non-expert. This is especially important when writing for lay people.

21. Make a final grammar check

Once the article went through some rounds of editing, you should do a final grammar check. Grammarly is a popular choice that detects most grammar flaws, suggests synonyms, and also checks punctuation. This is especially important when you’re not a native English speaker. But even if you’re native, a grammar checking program can make the text better.

The bottom line

Writing an article may seem simple, but it involves many steps. It’s not only about the writing; it’s also about finding ideas, doing research, and editing the article. Altogether, they can take more time and effort than the writing itself.

Outsourcing articles can save you a lot of time and lets you focus on other parts of your business. Writing Studio has expert writers who can take care of all these steps. They know how to write articles that rank in Google and drive high-value traffic to your website.

Don’t forget to share this article!

Writing a blog post is a little like driving; you can study the highway code (or read articles telling you how to write a blog post) for months, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing like getting behind the wheel and hitting the open road. Or something.

How to write a blog post student driving

“Wait for it… wait for it… BASS DROP.”

Now that I’m done thoroughly mangling that vague metaphor, let’s get down to business. You know you need to start blogging to grow your business, but you don’t know how. In this post, I’ll show you how to write a great blog post in five simple steps that people will actually want to read. Ready? Let’s get started.

P.S: Great news for you:

>> 9 Free Blog Post Templates

You’re welcome.

How to Write a Blog Post in Five Easy Steps [Summary]:

Now let’s review each step in more detail.

How to Write a Blog Post, Step 1: Planning

First, a disclaimer – the entire process of writing a blog post often takes more than a couple of hours, even if you can type eighty words per minute and your writing skills are sharp. From the seed of the blog post idea to finally hitting “Publish,” you might spend several days or maybe even a week “writing” a blog post, but it’s important to spend those vital hours planning your post and even thinking about your post (yes, thinking counts as working if you’re a blogger) before you actually write it.

Does your blog post have enough circles and crosses?

Long before you sit down to put digital pen to paper, you need to make sure you have everything you need to sit down and write. Many new bloggers overlook the planning process, and while you might be able to get away with skipping the planning stage, doing your homework will actually save you time further down the road and help you develop good blogging habits.

📗 Learn how to write better ad copy with our free guide: 10 Tricks to Get the Click

Choose a Topic That Interests YOU

There’s an old maxim that states, “No fun for the writer, no fun for the reader.” No matter what industry you’re working in, as a blogger, you should live and die by this statement.

Before you do any of the following steps, be sure to pick a topic that actually interests you. Nothing – and I mean NOTHING – will kill a blog post more effectively than a lack of enthusiasm from the writer. You can tell when a writer is bored by their subject, and it’s so cringe-worthy it’s a little embarrassing.

Don’t go there.

I can hear your objections already. “But Dan, I have to blog for a cardboard box manufacturing company.” I feel your pain, I really do. During the course of my career, I’ve written content for dozens of clients in some less-than-thrilling industries (such as financial regulatory compliance and corporate housing), but the hallmark of a professional blogger is the ability to write well about any topic, no matter how dry it may be. Blogging is a lot easier, however, if you can muster at least a little enthusiasm for the topic at hand.

You also need to be able to accept that not every post is going to get your motor running. Some posts will feel like a chore, but if you have editorial control over what you write about, then choose topics you’d want to read – even if they relate to niche industries. The more excited you can be about your topic, the more excited your readers will be when they’re reading it.

If you’re really desperate for inspiration, check out our list of eight blog topic generators to get you going, or these eight tricks to come up with unique blog ideas .

Write an Outline For Your Post

Great blog posts don’t just happen. Even the best bloggers need a rough idea to keep them on-track. This is where outlines come in.

An outline doesn’t need to be lengthy, or even detailed – it’s just a rough guide to make sure you don’t ramble on and on about something tangential to your topic.

For example, this is the outline for this post that I sent to my editor before getting to work:

Introduction

[Quick summary explaining what the blog post will cover]

Section 1 – Planning a Blog Post

– Things bloggers should do before putting pen to paper – outlining, research etc.

Section 2 – Writing a Blog Post

– Tips on how to focus on writing, productivity tips for bloggers

Section 3 – Rewriting/Editing a Blog Post

– Self-editing techniques, things to watch out for, common blogging mistakes

Section 4 – Optimizing a Blog Post

– How to optimize a blog post for on-page SEO, social shares/engagement, etc.

Section 5 – Conclusion

– Wrap-up

The purpose of this outline is to make sure I know what I plan to cover, in what order the various sections will appear, and some bare-bones details of what each section will include.

Outlines keep you honest. They stop you from indulging in poorly thought-out metaphors about driving and keep you focused on the overall structure of your post. Sometimes I’ll write a more thorough outline (and sometimes I won’t bother with one at all), but most of the time, something like the outline above is perfectly acceptable.

Whether you write your outline in your word processor, on a piece of paper, or even scribbled on a bar napkin, do whatever works for you to keep you focused.

Do Your Research

One of the biggest secrets professional bloggers (myself included) don’t want you to know is that we don’t actually know everything. Truth be told, sometimes we don’t know anything about a topic before we sit down to write about it.

Pro tip: you don’t actually need a passport to write a travel marketing post.

This doesn’t mean that all bloggers are insincere fakers. On the contrary, many bloggers’ natural curiosity is what makes them great at what they do. If you blog for a living, you have to be comfortable jumping from one topic to the next, even if you don’t know anything about it. What allows us to do this, and to write authoritatively about subject areas that are new to us, is knowing how to properly research a blog post.

It almost goes without saying, but relying solely on Wikipedia as a primary source is almost always a bad idea. Yes, Wikipedia does have thousands of excellently researched articles, but it’s not infallible, and erroneous facts do make their way into articles without site editors noticing. Plus, every verifiable fact on the site is cited from links elsewhere on the web, so why cite the middleman?

Lou Diamond Phillips was a total beast in ‘La Bamba.’

If you’re relying on third-party information to write your blog post, choose authoritative sources. Official associations, government websites, heavily cited research papers, and preeminent industry experts are all good examples. Nobody is right all the time, though, so approach every source with a the practiced skepticism of a journalist and question everything until you’re positive your information is solid.

Check Your Facts

A few years ago, I edited a piece written by a colleague focusing on the highlights of a major technology conference. The writer, under a seriously tight deadline, had done a bang-up job of writing great copy in virtually no time, but he failed to properly check his facts. He cited an article from Forbes in which the writer claimed Steve Jobs was using PowerPoint on stage – something that never happened. It was lazy journalism on the part of the Forbes writer, and an easy mistake to make on my colleague’s part, but the result was the same; one poorly researched article directly impacted another because both writers failed to do their due diligence.

How to write a blog post Steve Jobs PowerPoint quote

All it takes to tank your credibility is one glaring error. Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s crucial to avoid gaffes like this. If you’re just starting out, your credibility and authority will take a major hit if you publish inaccurate information, and even if you have a blog with millions of loyal readers, your regulars will be all too eager to jump all over your mistake – just take a look in the comment sections of publications such as Wired or TechCrunch to see how quickly this can happen.

In the event that you fall prey to a well-executed hoax, repeat widely circulated misinformation, or simply make a mistake, own up to it right away and be transparent about your edits. If you try to slip something past your readers, you can bet that they’ll call you out on it, further compounding the damage. Be honest, be accountable, and fix it – fast.

How to Write a Blog Post, Step 2: Writing a Great Headline

Everyone and their grandmother has an opinion about headlines . Some say you should be as specific as possible (to avoid misleading your readers and manage their expectations), while others recommend taking a more abstract approach. Vague headlines might work just fine if you’re Seth Godin, but for most of us, being specific is better.

How to write a blog post funny headline example

Some headlines practically write themselves.

There are two main approaches you can take to writing blog post headlines. You can either decide on your final headline before you write the rest of your post (and use your headline to structure your outline), or you can write your blog post with a working title and see what fits when you’re done.

Personally, I don’t adhere to a rigid strategy one way or the other. Sometimes I’ll come up with a strong headline from the outset and stick with it, whereas other posts will take a lot more work. Although sites such as Upworthy arguably ruined internet writing with their clickbait headlines, the process behind the site’s headlines has merit, as it forces you to really think about your post and how to grab your audience’s attention.

How to write a blog post Upworthy headline rules

Your approach to headlines should also vary depending on your audience. For example, let’s look at these super-specific headlines from around the web:

The exact figures presented in these headlines are all framed within a context of providing actionable advice to other marketers and startups. “Case study” blog posts like this often perform well, due to their transparent nature (which pulls the curtain back from successful growing businesses and the people who run them) and the “how-to” angle (which attracts people who want to accomplish the same thing by following real-world examples).

How to write a blog post funny how-to article

People LOVE how-to articles.

That’s all well and good if that’s what you’re looking for – which, in my case, is rare. I didn’t read any of these posts, simply because it seems that at least half of the blog posts in my RSS feed are structured in this fashion (including this one). They’re great for the sake of example, but I glossed right over them because they’re so similar to the dozens of other posts I see every day telling me three hacks to grow my startup by X percent in Y months.

Another common technique is posing a question in your headline. Done well, this can be extraordinarily effective, as it is in these examples:

However, this technique is also growing tiresome, and fewer publications are utilizing it these days (thankfully alongside the always-irksome “You won’t believe…” headline). If you opt for asking questions in your headlines, be sure it’s a question your audience will be genuinely interested in.

Writing headlines for blog posts is as much an art as it is a science, and probably warrants its own post, but for now, all I’d advise is experimenting with what works for your audience. If your readers want hyper-specific case studies on how to do stuff, by all means let ‘em have it. Don’t, however, do something just because someone else is, especially if it’s not resonating with your audience.

How to Write a Blog Post, Step 3: The Writing Part

So, you’ve done your research, settled on a headline (or at least a working title), and now you’re ready to actually write a blog post. So get to it.

Be sure to actually turn your computer on before you start writing.

However, I’d recommend getting as much done in one session as possible. This makes it easier to stay focused on the topic, minimizes the chance that you’ll forget crucial points, and also lets you get the damned thing out of your hair faster.

Even if you work more effectively in short bursts, try to maximize the amount of writing you get done in those sessions. The more times you have to revisit a draft, the more tempting it is to add a little here, and a little there, and before you know it, you’ve gone wildly off-topic. Get as much done as you can in a single sitting even if you prefer to draft a blog post over three or four writing sessions.

Like most skills, writing becomes easier and more natural the more you do it. When you first start, you might find that it takes a week (or longer) to write a post, but with practice, you’ll be knocking out great posts in hours. Unfortunately, there are no “hacks” or shortcuts when it comes to writing – you have to put in the time at the coalface.

NOTE: A lot of people struggle with writing introductions. A great strategy is to write the introduction last. Just get into the meat of the blog post, and worry about the introduction later. Here are five easy ways to write a great introduction .

How to Write a Blog Post, Step 4: Using Images Effectively

Writing for the web is an entirely different animal than writing for print. Oftentimes, people simply don’t have the time, will, or ability to focus on lengthy blog posts without some visual stimulation. Even a well-formatted blog post consisting solely of text is likely to send your reader screaming back to Reddit or Twitter within minutes, which is why it’s so important to include images in your posts.

Images Help Your Blog Post Flow More Effectively

One of the most important reasons to include images in your blog posts is to break up the text. Many people scan blog posts rather than pore over every word, and interspersing images throughout the copy will make your post seem less intimidating and more visually appealing.

Images Make Great Visual Punchlines

Everyone likes a good laugh, and a well-chosen image can help lighten the tone of your posts and inject some much-needed humor into a piece. This can be particularly effective if you’re writing about a dry (or flat-out boring) topic.

How to write a blog post funny picture example

This image has nothing to do with blogging.

Images Make Complex Topics More Easily Understandable

Let’s face it – sometimes, digital marketing (and hundreds of other niche topics) isn’t the most accessible subject to newcomers. That’s why images are an essential part of your blogging toolkit if you’re hoping to expand your audience. Diagrams, charts, infographics , tables, and any other visual assets can help your readers understand abstract or complex topics and grasp the points you’re trying to make.

📗 Free guide >> The 120 Best Words & Phrases for Marketing With Emotion

How to Write a Blog Post, Step 5: The Editing Part

Actually writing a blog post is hard. Editing a blog post is harder . First and foremost, in addition to just traditional spell check, run your blog post through a grammar checker like Grammarly to fix any contextual mistakes.

But it by no means ends there. Many people mistakenly assume that editing is simply striking through sentences that don’t work or fixing grammatical errors. Although sentence structure and grammar are both very important, editing is about seeing the piece as a whole and, sometimes, being willing to sacrifice words (and the hours it took to write them) for the sake of cohesion.

So here are some self-editing tips and suggestions on how to tighten up your writing so that it packs a punch and keeps your readers scrolling.

Avoid Repetition

Few things are more jarring to read than repetition of certain words or phrases. Once you’re done with the first draft of your blog post, read through it and check for words that can be replaced to avoid repeating yourself.

Repetition – avoid it.

BONUS: Every writer has a “crutch” word or phrase. This is a word that, no matter how carefully they might try, the writer simply cannot help themselves from including in their work. Identify what your crutch word is, be vigilant, and make sure it doesn’t appear more often than it needs to.

Read Your Post Aloud to Check Flow

This is a trick that many writers learn in workshops. If a piece reads awkwardly out loud, it will probably read awkwardly in your reader’s mind. It might seem a bit weird, but force yourself to read your post aloud to check for wordy bottlenecks or contrived sentences. Find yourself struggling with the flow of a sentence? Rework it until it rolls off your tongue.

Have Someone Else Read Your Work

This is crucial for inexperienced or casual bloggers. Asking a friend or colleague to check your work isn’t an admission of weakness or a sign of failure – it’s a commitment to making your work as strong as it possibly can be.

Consider asking someone else to read your work.

Ideally, ask someone with editing experience to proof your work. Also, be sure that they understand you’re not looking for help spotting typos or grammatical errors (but if they do, great), but that you want to hear their thoughts on the flow of the piece and whether it makes sense structurally. Do your points come across well? Is your position on a contentious topic clear? Does the piece prompt the reader to think or challenge an existing belief? Is the advice you’re offering worth following? These are all questions that having another set of eyes read your work can help answer.

Keep Sentences Short and Paragraphs Shorter

Nothing will intimidate or outright anger a reader faster than huge walls of text. It’s a common mistake for inexperienced bloggers to make, and one I see far too often in a lot of online articles.

Sentences should be as short as possible. They’re easier to read, making your audience’s job easier. Shorter sentences also reduce the likelihood of going off on tangents. For example, I recently came across a sentence in an opinion piece in Wired that had no fewer than seven subordinate clauses, an editorial sin of almost unimaginable magnitude.

Paragraphs should also be short and sweet. The shorter the paragraph, the more likely your readers are to keep going. The “rules” of paragraph structure have been bent a little since web-based publishing became the norm, but try to keep individual ideas isolated to their own neat, short little paragraph.

Accept That Your Blog Post Will Never Be Perfect

There’s no such thing as a perfect post, and the sooner you come to terms with this, the better.

I’m not advocating for publishing sloppy work, nor am I saying you shouldn’t be obsessive about the details. I am saying, however, that even the best blog posts could always be better, but time is always against us. Again, unless you’re Seth Godin, you probably need to publish more than one post a month, so agonizing over every post will sap you of the desire to write and waste precious time – not to mention likely to incur the wrath of your editor or content manager.

Make every post as good as it can be, learn from the experience, then move on.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Cuts or Adapt on the Fly

You may have forgotten, but I originally included a section in the example outline for this post that dealt with optimizing blog posts for SEO. I fully intended to write this section, but when I looked at how my first draft was shaping up, I realized this was too substantial a topic to tackle in an already lengthy post. As a result, I made the decision to cut this section from the post altogether. I purposefully left the outline intact to demonstrate that you shouldn’t be afraid to make editorial decisions like this.

Unless there’s something you absolutely MUST include (say, a section that your sales or managerial team is expecting in a post that you agreed to deliver), your outline is not carved in stone. Remember – an outline is a guide, not an immutable series of commandments. If something doesn’t work, whether it be a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole section, don’t hesitate to make the cut. Be ruthless with your work.

That’s All She Wrote…

Blogging is one of those jobs that seems easy until you have to do it. Fortunately, it does get easier, and with time and practice, you’ll be blogging like a pro in no time.

If there’s an aspect of writing a blog post that I didn’t cover, or you have specific questions about my process or anything generally blog-related, let me know in the comments – I’ll answer them as best I can.

Now take up thy pen, go forth, and blog like a badass.

Meet The Author

Originally from the U.K., Dan Shewan is a journalist and web content specialist who now lives and writes in New England. Dan’s work has appeared in a wide range of publications in print and online, including The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Pacific Standard magazine, The Independent, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and many other outlets.

See other posts by Dan Shewan

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What’s our secret? Consistency.

We’ve been using the same SEO strategy for the past six years, and it works well.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

Although there are many ways to drive traffic to a blog, search engine traffic tends to be the most stable and consistent. If you can rank for the keywords that people are searching for and maintain those rankings, your posts will attract consistent targeted traffic from Google.

Many other traffic sources tend to result in an initial spike in traffic, but it’s quickly followed by a sharp decline.

It’s important to understand that you can’t just create any old blog post and expect your post to attract thousands of visits from Google. It doesn’t work like that. To stand the best chance of ranking, you need to do your research and craft your blog posts for SEO.

Here’s how to do that in five steps

1. Find a keyword

Each blog post you write should be optimized for one main keyword, and that keyword should be something that people are actually searching for month after month. After all, it’s impossible to get search traffic to a blog post about a topic that nobody is searching for.

How do you find keywords? Use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer .

Enter a few broad ‘seed’ words or phrases related to your blog’s topic, then check the Phrase Match keyword ideas report.

For example, if you have a food blog, you might use ‘seed’ keywords like:

Keywords Explorer finds over 14 million keywords containing one or more of these phrases, but it won’t make sense to write blog posts about them all. You need to skim the list for topics that make sense for you.

For example, it would make complete sense for a food blogger to write a post about “chicken tikka masala” but not “chicken pox.”

If your blog is quite new, you might want to set the Keyword Difficulty (KD) filter to something low to focus on low-difficulty ideas.

2. Check search intent

Ranking high in Google is the secret to getting consistent search traffic to your blog posts, but unless people are actually looking for blog posts when they search for your keyword, your chances of ranking are slim to none.

That’s why it’s important to understand whether most searchers are looking for a blog post or something else. This is known as assessing search intent .

To do this, type your keyword into Google and look at the search results. Because the entire point of Google is to deliver relevant results to searchers, its search results are a great way to identify search intent.

For example, take a keyword like “pasta maker.”

You might assume that it wouldn’t make sense to write a blog post about this because people are undoubtedly looking to buy pasta makers. Yet if you look at the search results, most of them are blog posts reviewing the best pasta makers.

3. Choose a winning format and angle

Even if searchers are looking for blog posts, you can’t just write any old post and rank in pole position because searchers are often looking for something specific. You need to figure out what this is to develop a winning format and angle for your post.

Choosing a winning format

Most blog posts are written in one of these formats:

How do you know what format searchers are looking for? Look for the dominant format in the search results.

For example, most of the results for “dinner ideas” are listicles:

Yet most results for “ribs on the grill” are how-to guides:

Are things always this straightforward and obvious? Of course not. Sometimes there will be an even mix of multiple content formats in the results, as is the case for “beef ribs.”

In these cases, you have a few options:

Choosing a winning angle

It’s harder to quantify angle than format , but it’s effectively the main selling point of your content.

How do you figure out a winning angle?

You guessed it: look at the SERPs.

For example, people searching for “flank steak” clearly want a recipe that includes a marinade. If you want to rank, it’s probably worth giving people what they want instead of just telling them to season with salt and pepper and throw it in a pan.

Here are a few common content angles to look for in the search results:

Personal experience → 21 Best Online Marketing Tools That We Use At Ahrefs Best → 6 Best Marketing Podcasts Expert commentary → 33 Expert-Backed Decluttering Tips For beginners → 17 Blogging Tips For Beginners Specific outcome → 12 Quick SEO Tips to Increase Organic Traffic Tried and tested → 26 Best Free Chrome Extensions for SEOs (Tried & Tested) Freshness→ Content Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide For 2021

Of course, there are plenty of SERPs where you won’t see a dominant content angle. In that case, make your best guess.

4. Craft a data-driven outline

Having some idea of what to include in your blog posts will make them much easier to write. But while you could come up with an outline based on gut feeling, it’s always better to take a data-driven approach to understand what search engine users are actually looking for.

Let’s look at a few ways to do this.

Look for common subheadings

Subheadings often align with subtopics. If you see common subheadings across multiple top-ranking posts for your keyword, it’s probably something that searchers want to know.

For example, three of the top-ranking pages for “flank steak” have a “what is flank steak?” subheading.

It would probably be worth including a similar section in any post targeting this keyword.

If you want to speed up the process of looking at subheadings, you can use the free on-page SEO report in Ahrefs SEO toolbar to see all subheadings in a post.

Look for common keywords

Most of the pages that rank on the first page of Google for one keyword also rank in the top 10 for hundreds of other keywords . And some of these keywords will represent subtopics that you might want to include in your blog post.

How do you find these keywords?

Just plug a few top-ranking pages into Ahrefs’ Content Gap Tool , set the mode to URL, and leave the bottom field blank.

Hit “Show keywords” to see all the keywords that one or more of these pages ranks for.

Because there will often be a lot of keywords and noise here, it’s worth using the intersections filter to find keywords that two or more of the pages rank for.

In this case, many of the keywords are just different ways of searching for our main keyword. But there are a few that map to subtopics like “what is flank steak,” “flank steak marinade,” and “how long to grill flank steak.”

Check the “also talk about” report

Plug your main keyword into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer , then check the Also talk about report to see frequently-mentioned keywords on the top-ranking pages.

If we do this for “flank steak,” we see keywords like:

This pretty much tells us exactly what searchers are likely looking for and even gives us some ideas for the kind of marinade they’re after.

5. Write the post

It’s finally time to start tapping away on your keyboard to write your first draft. The good news is that because you’ve already created a data-driven outline, there’s no need to concern yourself with “sprinkling in keywords” or anything like that. Just write and fill the gaps.

Most of the hard optimization work is already done by aligning your blog post with search intent and taking a data-driven approach to the content itself. But it’s worth making a few more optimizations to give your post the best shot at ranking in Google.

Here’s a quick SEO checklist you can follow for each post you publish to put the icing on the cake:

Include your keyword in the title

Keep your title tag short, use an evergreen url, craft a compelling meta description, optimize images.

Add schema markup

Add internal links.

Most blogging platforms like WordPress will wrap your page title in an H1 header , which is probably why including your keyword in your title is SEO 101 .

If you’ve read any of our posts before, you’ve probably noticed that we include the keyword in most titles.

Is this going to make or break your rankings?

Definitely not. But every little helps.

Just be aware that it doesn’t always make sense to include your keyword exactly as it’s written in your title. Sometimes it’s better to use a variation for improved readability.

For example, our keyword for this post is “how to get more youtube subscribers,” but we didn’t use that exact phrase in our title because it’s a listicle.

Title tags are important because they show up in the search results:

Most blogging platforms like WordPress will set your post title as your title tag. That’s usually fine, but if your title is particularly long, it might get truncated in the search results.

Is this always a bad thing? Not really, but it’s often wise to nip it in the bud.

You can do that by creating a shorter version of your post title to use for the title tag.

That’s what we did with this post:

Have you ever seen a search result like this?

The title says the post was published in 2021, but the URL says 2017. So which is it?

If we plug that URL into Ahrefs’ Content Explorer , we get our answer: the post was originally published in 2017 but updated in 2021.

Because the author failed to use an evergreen URL when they originally published the post, the updated version looks old because “2017” remains in the URL.

That’s why it’s important to use evergreen URLs that don’t go out of date, and the easiest way to do this is to set your post URL slug to your target keyword. This also has the added benefit of keeping your URLs short and sweet to reduce truncation in the SERPs.

Meta descriptions often show up as the descriptive snippet in the SERP.

By crafting a compelling meta description, you can entice more searchers to click on your blog post in the search results. That leads to more organic traffic.

How do you craft a compelling meta description?

Look for commonalities among the descriptive snippets of top-ranking posts.

For example, all of the results for “steak tacos” talk about the best cuts of steak for the job, with Google even bolding terms like “flank steak” and “beef.” So these are things you would also probably want to mention in your meta description.

For “flank steak,” all of the snippets are definitions—so that’s what you’d want to write here.

You should optimize your blog post images for accessibility and to help them rank in Google Images—which can send more traffic your way.

For example, here’s our blog traffic from Google Images for the past 3 months:

Here’s how to optimize your images:

Add a table of contents

A table of contents links to important subsections of your post and helps visitors find the information they’re looking for.

Here’s an example from this very post:

Ours is custom coded, but free plugins like Easy Table of Contents make it easy to add a table of contents to pretty much any post.

Besides the UX benefits, a table of contents can also help trigger sitelinks on posts in the SERPs—which can potentially help you win even more organic clicks.

Here’s an example from our guide to 301 redirects :

These are sections listed in our table of contents:

Include ‘linkable snippets’

Linkable snippets are pieces of information that entice people to link to your blog posts.

Getting more links is important because they’re a known ranking factor . Google has told us this on many occasions, and we also found a clear correlation between backlinks and organic traffic in our study of over one billion pages .

But how do you know what constitutes a ‘linkable snippet’ for your topic?

Here’s a simple method:

If we do this for one of the top-ranking posts for “ SEO techniques ,” we see many people linking due to statistics.

We can probably entice more people to link to our post on the topic by including similar statistics.

If we do this for one of the top posts about SEO copywriting, we see many people linking because of two unique concepts:

If we wanted to get more backlinks to our post about SEO copywriting , we should probably include a couple of our own unique ideas in the post.

Schema markup is code that helps search engines to better understand and showcase your content in the search results.

For blog posts, the main use of schema markup is to win rich snippets like this:

Rich snippets can increase clicks and lead to more organic traffic to your blog posts.

So how do you know if you should add schema markup to your post?

Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

Internal links are links from one page or post on the same domain to another. They’re important because they boost the ‘authority’ of pages and help Google to understand what a page is about.

This is why it makes sense to add relevant internal links to every blog post you publish.

You can find relevant opportunities with Google. Just search for:

site:yourwebsite.com "main keyword for your post"

For example, if your blog post is about flank steak, then you would search for:

site:yourwebsite.com "flank steak"

This will return the pages on your site mentioning your post’s target keyword:

It’s then simply a case of linking these words and phrases to your new blog post where relevant.

You can also find internal linking opportunities for free using Site Audit in Ahrefs Webmaster Tools . Just go to the Link Opportunities report and add your target page:

Blog SEO isn’t a one-time thing. You can’t just write and optimize a post and call it a day. Getting your blog posts to rank high in Google and maintaining those rankings over time is an ongoing process.

Let’s look at a few tactics you can use to improve and maintain blog post rankings.

Update your posts regularly

Optimize for featured snippets, create content hubs, build more links.

If you’ve been following the Ahrefs Blog for a while, you’ll know that we update and republish our blog posts almost as often as we write new ones.

In fact, according to Content Explorer , we’ve republished around ¼ of our posts.

The reason we do this is that rankings rarely last forever. Our posts often grow stale and outdated over time, which leads to a drop in rankings and organic traffic.

That’s precisely what happened to our post about the top Google searches :

How did we solve this problem?

By updating and republishing the post.

You can tell when we did this as there’s a big traffic spike on the graph:

We also often rewrite and republish posts where we misjudged search intent.

For example, we published an on-page SEO study in 2016 but it never ranked particularly high or got much organic traffic because searchers didn’t want a study. So, in 2018, we rewrote the post as a guide and republished it under the same URL.

This resulted in a huge and consistent spike in organic traffic.

Featured snippets are short pieces of information that appear at the top of some search results. They’re usually pulled from one of the pages in the top 10 and aim to provide a succinct answer to the searcher’s question.

By optimizing your blog post for the featured snippet, you can sometimes shortcut your way to the top position.

Here’s the simplest way to find featured snippet opportunities for your posts:

Then it’s just a case of adding or reformatting the information needed to be eligible for the snippet to your blog post.

Content hubs are interlinked collections of blog posts about a particular topic.

They consist of these three parts:

Many SEO professionals believe that creating a content hub from blog posts will improve rankings for all posts in the hub. There are a few reasons for this, but the main theory is that it helps Google see your site as an authoritative source of information about a topic.

In terms of creating a content hub, you can either create one from scratch or create them from blog posts you’ve already written around a similar topic.

Because there’s a clear correlation between backlinks and rankings, you’ll probably struggle to outrank posts with significantly more high-quality links than yours.

How do you know how many links competing pages have?

Check the SERP overview for your target keyword in Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer :

You can then dig deeper into their link profiles to check the quality of their links and get a better sense of true ranking difficulty.

Final thoughts

Blog SEO is all about consistency. You need to write, optimize and update search-focused blog posts consistently. It takes time and rankings won’t appear overnight, but it’s pretty much the only way to drive consistent search traffic to your blog

If your blog is new and you lack ‘authority,’ it may also be worth starting with low-competition keywords that are easier to rank for.

Learn more about how to start and grow your blog to 100K monthly visitors and beyond in our free blogging for business course .

Got questions? Ping me on Twitter .

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5 Blog Post Templates to Help You Write Great Content

Connor Lahey

A good blog post template helps you brainstorm, focus your planning and research, and write effective SEO content quicker and easier. Below are five free blog post templates for you to use, plus details about using them effectively. Feel free to download them, bookmark them, and adapt them to your audience’s (and your writers’) needs.

Listicle Content Template

A listicle (a portmanteau of “list-article”) is a blog post or article formatted like a list. Typically, each point on the list gets its own numbered header, supported by images and other content. (If you were on the internet in the mid-2000s, think back to all those Buzzfeed articles you probably read.)

Benefits of listicles:

If you’re unsure if your blog post topic is list-friendly, try describing it in one sentence.

For example, this article is about five different blog post templates useful for content marketers. It’s clear from that description (five different things that all support one central message or idea) that this topic could become a listicle.

Listicle Title

The perfect listicle title is attention-grabbing but NOT clickbait. A title is clickbait if it is overly emotional or shocking in a way that doesn’t reflect the content. To avoid this, make sure you only use titles that accurately reflect your article as a whole.

Listicles are often satisfying to read because they deliver on an implicit promise made in the title.

Consider, for example, this TechRadar article :

This title is effective because it tells you how long the list is, why you’d want to read it, and it targets a super-relevant, high-volume keyword. Use a similar strategy when coming up with your title.

Tips for choosing your listicle title:

Listicle Introduction

A practical listicle introduction should do two things:

Readers love listicles in part because they’re easy to read quickly (or they feel that way). Your introduction should feel the same way. Give your readers the essential information, and then move on.

Listicle Body Copy

Before you write your body copy, start by listing each item you want to include. This list should:

Once you’re happy with your list, each item can become an <H2>. Ideally, you’ll number each header. Numbers help readers keep track of their progress through the article and entices them to finish reading.

Bonus tip: Headers aren’t the only way you can recycle your outline. Once it’s polished, you can also use it to create a super shareable infographic to promote your post.

Once you’ve laid out your list headers, build out each section with:

Include all the best, most relevant, and most exciting information for each section, but make sure each section of your list is only as long as it needs to be, not longer.

Listicle Conclusion

Use your conclusion to highlight the reader’s main takeaway from this list. Try to include a relevant call to action (CTA) here as well. You could promote a related product or service, encourage readers to download additional content, or link to other related articles.

How-To Blog Post Template

How-to blog posts are instructional articles that guide the reader through a specific process or workflow. Because you’ll also number these processes, how-to posts can look similar to listicles. They can help you establish authority in your specialty area and build trust with readers, so the more helpful and reliable you are, the better.

To determine if your blog topic should be a how-to article, ask yourself these questions:

If the answer to any of those questions is “no,” then reconsider whether you should be writing a list post instead.

How-To Blog Post Title

For how-to articles, the best titles are straightforward. For inspiration, think about the types of search terms you use when trying to solve a problem. You probably open Google and enter a phrase like “how to recover deleted files on a PC.”

Tips for writing a how-to article title:

For more title inspiration, use a tool like Keyword Magic, which allows you to filter on question words like “how” and even displays featured snippet opportunities.

You have a few options when concluding your how-to post. For example, you could suggest a few next steps for your reader. You could also tell them where to learn more, especially if they might have additional material (such as another how-to post). If you have a relevant product or service, consider mentioning it here as your call to action.

Comparison Article Template

Often used to compare similar products or services, comparison articles help readers to differentiate between products or ideas and — more importantly — help them settle on a decision. In other words, they’re perfect for targeting readers who are reaching the end of their buyer’s journey and are almost ready to make a purchase.

An effective comparison article:

Comparison Blog Post Title

When you’re ready to title your blog post, start with a keyword research tool like Keyword Magic . Enter a keyword that aligns with your comparison article topic (e.g., Subject A. vs. Subject B) and use the strongest version in your H1. If you’re comparing more than two things, adapt your title accordingly.

Once you’ve identified the right keyword to target, you can flesh it out with additional details or even add a supporting keyword if it makes sense.

Comparison Blog Post Introduction

When you’re writing your introduction, think about the specific reader you’re targeting. If they’re looking to compare two products, they most likely already have basic knowledge about the topic. So you don’t need to waste your time (or theirs) defining basic terms or providing background information they already know.

Instead, focus on establishing what you’re comparing, why, and other essential details that could impact your analysis.

Comparison Post Body

Before you start writing your body copy, it’s critical to decide how you will structure it. How you organize your comparison post can enormously impact your readers’ and search engines’ understanding of the content.

Make sure your comparison post is:

Here’s one example of how to structure a comparison article:

In this example, the reader can understand one subject entirely before moving on to the next. Note that both sections are organized similarly, making it easy for the reader to understand and choose.

Here’s another structure you can use:

In this case, the article emphasizes the features over the actual subjects. As a result, the reader gets a more direct side-by-side comparison.

Either of these structures could be effective for you. Choose the one that feels more natural for you and aligns with the message you want to send, the information you have, the keywords you want to target.

Comparison Blog Post Conclusion

Wrapping up a comparison article generally involves coming to some kind of conclusion. Which subject reigns superior — or how can the reader make that choice for themselves? Here, you can quickly sum up each choice’s significant advantages and disadvantages and help guide the reader to a good decision.

The Expert Roundup Template

Need to boost your brand with influencers, encourage social shares, and write great blog content that requires comparatively less writing? Consider the Expert Roundup.

The Expert roundup is a hybrid of an interview and a listicle, designed to offer readers a ton of information from various sources. And best of all, those sources you interview might share your post with their followers, increasing your visibility.

Before You Write

Expert roundup posts require more prep and outreach before writing, so make sure you give yourself extra time. Consider how much time you’ll need if you plan to work with external thought-leaders and influencers in your space instead of sources within your organization.

You’ll also need to prepare your questions in advance. How many you’ll need depends on a few factors, such as:

To be safe, consider over-preparing with a few additional questions. That way, you can extend your interview or swap a few questions out as needed.

Expert Roundup Article Title

An ideal title for your expert roundup blog post needs to tell the reader three things:

Consider this example from Influencive , posted in January 2021:

UGWO8QdkL39XL9BFaWJ9Sb3mefa7I0LLPIIVMsKOEmJWRQBrnHtrm_jH991cRkLlOuu8T3x9YP_X70yWEx9n4Ax9926CbWvQ08-_Mxfh8CkEn8UDOntKDgiF5wjoZWQkfpDBv-vO=s0

Before reading the rest of the article, we already know what to expect: 17 people with marketing expertise will tell us what they think the marketing landscape will look like in 2021. Readers can anticipate that this post probably discusses marketing trends to watch out for or potential challenges marketers can expect in the upcoming months.

Expert Roundup Introduction

In your introduction, expand on the essential information you shared in your title. Specifically, make sure you communicate to the reader:

If your roundup post is lengthy, consider adding an index here so that readers can skip straight to the questions they’re most interested in reading.

Expert Roundup Post Body

Once you conduct and transcribe your interview, most of the writing is complete. The next step is to lay it all out. It should look something like this:

Feel free to lean into your creativity with the design. You can use block quotes, text boxes, and other design elements to make your post more visually engaging while still being easily readable.

For example, you might display the interviewee’s photo beside each answer or color code the text boxes by individual. You can also include information like their Twitter handle or their title, if appropriate.

You could even add click-to-share buttons, making it easier for readers to post their favorite quotes from your roundup on social media.

Expert Roundup Blog Post Conclusion

Wrap your interview up with a short recap of the most important takeaways. Or ask each interviewee for closing remarks, and allow each expert one final moment to shine.

Either way, don’t forget to include a call to action. If you’ve collaborated with these experts in the past for other interviews, ebooks, or webinars, it might be a good idea to call those out here.

The Pillar Post Template

A pillar post, sometimes called a content hub or a hub page, acts as a central overview of a broad topic, with links to more detailed and specific content.

Pillar posts help you establish authority in a specific area and help readers find more of the content they’re looking for on your website. Read this post on the Semrush blog for more examples of particular types of pillar pages if you want to learn more.

Here, we’ll go over a fundamental pillar post structure, which you can adapt and change according to your needs.

Pillar Blog Post Title

Pillar pages are broad by nature. As such, their titles usually have language that tells the reader how comprehensive they are.

For example, you could use phrases like “Ultimate Guide,” “Comprehensive Guide,” or “Everything You Need To Know About [Your Topic].” Your target keyword should also be reasonably broad because it needs to cover all of the more specific sub-topics you’ll be including.

Pillar Post Introduction

In your intro, provide a basic overview of the broadest version of your page topic. For example, if you’re writing a pillar post about SEO, you might want to explain on an elementary level what SEO is.

Because this is likely to be quite a long page and one likely to grow over time, consider creating an index here with anchor links to each subtopic you’ll be covering.

Pillar Post Body

First, create an <H2> for each sub-topic. For example, if your pillar page is about SEO, you might have a section for technical SEO, content writing and management, paid search, and competitive analysis.

Each section should include a basic overview of that sub-topic and what kind of content you have to offer.

Then create your internal links. How you do this depends on how your site is structured. One idea is to create a small index in each section, linking directly to the specific pieces of content you want to highlight. If you already have other pillar pages for each subtopic, you could also link to those.

Pillar Post Conclusion

As with your introduction, you can keep your conclusion short and sweet. If you have a product or service that this pillar page supports or relevant downloadable content, you can direct the reader to it with a call to action.

Create Great Content Without Headaches

Whichever template you choose, you first need to identify the basic message you want to send. (If you’re not sure where to start, try entering one of your target keywords into the Topic Research tool to get some ideas.) Your overall message should be something that:

Content creation doesn’t have to be a headache. Using the right tools and a well-crafted blog article template, you can quickly hone your writing process and create more compelling content.

An old black-and-white photo shows a traditional rural setting, where an African couple walks hand-in-hand in formal western wedding attire, past villagers in more traditional attire.

Sex, intimacy and black middle-class Christianity in South Africa - a difficult history

Professor of History, University of Johannesburg

Disclosure statement

Natasha Erlank received funding from the National Research Foundation and the British Council.

University of Johannesburg provides support as an endorsing partner of The Conversation AFRICA.

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A new book, Convening Black Intimacy , explores the history of Christianity, gender and precolonial marriage and sex traditions in South Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. To conduct her study, historian Natasha Erlank drew on court records of cases of seduction, church records, anthropological texts, and many sources from black authors, including black newspapers and novels as well as songs sung by black women. What is clear is that black South Africans had loving, intimate relationships that they fought hard to maintain under the destruction brought about by colonialism and apartheid. We asked her more about her fascinating book.

How were views of intimacy shaped before colonialism?

Before colonialism in the 1700s, black South Africans viewed sex and its relationship to morality very differently than it’s viewed today. Views of intimacy were largely shaped by the expectations of the extended family. When a young man married, his family transferred ilobolo (bridewealth) to a young woman’s family as an acknowledgement of the joining of families. Ilobolo cemented families together and introduced a bride not only into her husband’s extended family or lineage, but also to his family’s ancestors.

Sexual or intimate relationships were governed by the importance of strengthening this lineage.

A book cover showing blue layout and a black and white photo of a traditional African rural scene with a couple marrying in formal western attire.

Historical sources tell us that even unmarried young men and women regularly engaged in a range of sex acts. Ukumetsha or ukusoma (the isiXhosa and isiZulu language words for thigh sex) were regarded as a good way for young people to have healthy sexual relationships without falling pregnant. Sexual behaviour like this was socially acceptable. Potential moral wrongdoing lay in a pregnancy not recognised by the ancestors, not in the sex itself. Even married women and men might have affairs, as long as they were discreet, because any child born of an affair still belonged to the husband’s lineage.

What changed with colonialism?

Under colonialism , Africans found their intimate practices considerably changed. Colonial rule introduced laws and policies that taxed polygamous men more than men who had only one wife. The colonial legal system viewed Africans as immoral because of practices like polygamy and ilobolo.

Africans found it less and less easy to conduct love affairs and marriages in the way they had before. Black intimate relationships became a “problem”, an issue of “black hypersexuality” or immorality, for white South Africans, who seldom considered that black relationships could be loving and supportive.

How did Christianity introduce a new moral code?

Christianity spread rapidly in southern Africa after the start of the 1800s. European mission societies established mission stations beyond the borders of the Cape Colony . The real work of conversion, however, was undertaken by black evangelists who learnt about the gospel from the missionaries, translated it into local languages, and spread it. In some parts of southern Africa, a royal family might convert first, and a kingdom’s subjects then follow their leader. In the Eastern Cape province, women were generally the first in their families to convert – this helps to explain why, today, women make up over 50% of African church membership.

European mission families imported their own ideas about sex and sexuality to South Africa, ideas that viewed premarital sex, polygamy and ilobolo as sinful. Africans who converted found that they had to adopt moral codes, especially around sex, that had no historical precedent in their own societies.

The stage was set for a clash between following a so-called Christian code of behaviour with respect to sex and respecting indigenous practices around marriage and sex.

What is the result of this today?

My research covered the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historical evidence in the form of testimony given in court cases around seduction shows that African women disproportionately shouldered the moral burden of Christianity and its teachings about sex. When young women fell pregnant outside marriage, they bore the brunt of any shame, as church records and letters from the period show. Their male partners largely got off free of consequence. At the same time, men away on labour contracts at South Africa’s urban centres found it difficult to marry with ilobolo, because they earned too little to fund the cattle needed to marry. Or because their fathers in the rural areas were unable to supply the cattle needed.

Both these factors – men separated from family responsibilities and marriages without the support of ilobolo – had negative impacts. The period after 1948, the start of apartheid white minority rule, saw a decline in the rate of African marriages and a rise in the number of female-headed households surviving without male earnings. Paradoxically, Christianity should have supported family life, but it also promoted male authority within the family. Control over wives and female family members, especially their sexuality, was no doubt one way in which black men could compensate for a lack of power and authority outside the family.

Today, African intimate relationships bear the imprint of this complicated and conflictual history, which includes the slow erosion of stable relationships and the rise of the notion that sex can be free of consequence for men but not for women.

There isn’t space to summarise my findings here. However, one reason (among many) for current levels of domestic and gender-based violence can be found in a history that made it difficult for black South Africans to pursue trouble-free intimate lives.

The book is available from Wits University Press

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Patrick Dunleavy

March 7th, 2023, is writing a book chapter still a waste of time.

1 comment | 5 shares

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

How has digital open access transformed academic communication for the better? LSE Press’s Editor in Chief, Patrick Dunleavy , explores the impact of chapters in edited books. Once the Cinderella of academic publishing, doomed to obscurity under paywall books’ formal and de facto access restrictions, chapters in books are, thanks to digital open access, once again rivalling journal articles in their visibility to academic communities, their usefulness as teaching resources, and in their ability to tackle innovative and state of-the-art topics.

Ten years ago, the distinguished Oxford psychologist Dorothy Bishop looked carefully at the level of citations she had garnered for those chapters she had written in edited books (all print volumes with paywall access) compared with articles that she had published in journals. She found no competition in their relative visibility, bluntly concluding : ‘Quite simply, if you write a chapter for an edited book, you might as well write the paper and then bury it in a hole in the ground’. This damning judgement was always focused most specifically on psychology, and in fact book chapters are well cited in more qualitative social sciences, as well as in many humanities. In 2013 chapters in books accounted for more than one in eight citations in five disciplines (sociology, media studies, history, geography and law) and nearly a quarter of citations in philosophy.

In 2013 chapters in books accounted for more than one in eight citations in five disciplines

Yet there were also strong across-the-board reasons for Bishop’s assessment, particularly for publishing models that relied on print, given the high prices of academic books put them beyond the reach of most people (and many institutions). Chapters in print (plus paywall access to digital books) were incredibly hard to find out about, before they were published and even afterwards. Many legacy publishers did not even list the chapter contents or authors in their flyers, emails or enduring catalogue entries for edited books, concentrating only on the book blurb and editors. So, unless you chanced to find the book while browsing the publisher’s bookstall at a conference, or in a top-of-the-range academic bookstore, you would never know that a particular chapter even existed. (And good book shops are now few and far between – but see the great LSE Review of Books city guides.) Edited books from legacy publishers also lagged behind all their other books in moving from paper-only to digital publishing.

As legacy publishers put their edited books online, the invisibility of book chapters slowly and only partially decreased. Whereas around 70% of journal articles are now open access (less in the social sciences and humanities still), most chapters in books can only be made available in pre-final typescript forms on the author’s own websites, and perhaps institutional repository – both hard to find. Even this is mostly feasible only after multi-year embargo periods, making it impossible for authors to publicise their own work in timely ways. So, multiple restrictions remain on authors’ abilities to promote their own chapters via social media because the text is just not open access (apart from occasional sample chapters or brief time-limit-after-publication open access used by publishers in short-lived efforts to publicise their volumes). Many nominally digitally available chapters for paywalled books are also only available within whole-book PDFs or in library ebooks, where digital rights management prevents downloads.

Figure 1: How digital open access transforms the visibility of chapters in edited books

However, with digital open access publishing chapters in books are every bit as individually visible and useable for academic and other readers as are ‘gold’ open access journal articles, as Figure 1 details. Any good digital open access press will implement a full communications plan for each edited book, and the best sites will make every chapter permanently available on its own separate page (e.g. see this example ). Authors can then easily tweet, use social media, blog, email and otherwise disseminate links to their chapter’s full text out to everyone interested, and they can keep on doing so regularly thereafter. Being individually downloadable also means that digital OA chapters are just as useable in Moodle, Blackboard or other open educational resources as journal articles. Academics can easily add them to any reading list, and students can access them in one click without having to navigate any intermediate or library pages.

Of course, just as with journals, much depends on how coherently the chapters in an edited book fit together, who the editors are, how good peer review is for the book, and how intensively chapters are edited to fit together and achieve good style. These factors can all help create a ready-made and specific online community for edited book chapters, replicating many of the community-circulation benefits previously confined to journals. And whereas journal publication takes years in many disciplines, so that final articles often become ‘tombstone’ markers for where the focus of debate was four years ago, digital open access publishing can cut these delays and allow timely publications on new topics and academic approaches. These features have enhanced the already well-known capacity for edited book chapters to tackle just-emerging topics and radically innovative methods earlier than journals.

To explore the issues here in more detail, see Patrick Dunleavy and Jane Tinkler, Maximizing the Impacts of Academic Research (London: Bloomsbury Press, 2021), Chapter 5. This post first appeared on the LSE Press blog as Open access publishing dramatically improves the visibility and value of chapters in edited books .

The content generated on this blog is for information purposes only. This Article gives the views and opinions of the authors and does not reflect the views and opinions of the Impact of Social Science blog (the blog), nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Please review our comments policy if you have any concerns on posting a comment below.

Image Credit: Chiara F via Unsplash.

About the author

Patrick Dunleavy is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the London School of Economics, and the Editor in Chief at LSE Press. With Helen Porter (LSE) and CIVICA colleagues, he leads a workgroup that is compiling an open science handbook for both the quantitative and qualitative social sciences. His most recent book is Maximizing the Impacts of Academic Research (Bloomsbury Press, 2020 (originally Palgrave), co-authored with Jane Tinkler.

The author’s book, ‘Maximizing the Impacts of Academic Research’, does not appear to be Open Access! Unbelievable.

How to bury your academic writing

August 29th, 2012.

Writing for edited collections represents a model for a creative academic community unfairly rejected by the modern academy

June 12th, 2020.

Are you a recently qualified data analyst? If so, you’ve made a good choice. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data analytics roles will grow by 23% between 2021 and 2031. For context, this is much faster than the national average for all occupations, which is just 5%.

However, to get your foot in the door for any data analytics role means making a good impression. And that’s where a strong data analyst cover letter comes in.

A well-crafted data analyst cover letter will showcase your skills and get your resume noticed. In this article, we provide tips on how to write a data analyst cover letter, along with examples and a template to get you started. Whether you’re an entry-level analyst or a seasoned professional, you’ll soon be ready to produce a cover letter that pops!

Read on, or use the clickable menu to jump to the topic of your choice:

Ready? Then let’s get started!

1. Why do you need a data analyst cover letter?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of writing your cover letter, it’s helpful to understand why you need one in the first place.

Besides being a front piece for any job application, the main benefit of a well-written cover letter is that it showcases your qualifications, skills, and experience in a way your resume cannot. You can introduce yourself and your skillset to an employer in a pithy paragraph or two.

Here’s a list of the benefits of sending a well-honed cover letter with your data analytics resume and portfolio:

Now that you know why a data analyst cover letter is an essential part of your job search, let’s explore how to write one.

2. How to write a data analyst cover letter (step-by-step)

A data analyst cover letter shouldn’t typically include anything you haven’t mentioned elsewhere in your resume or portfolio. However, it’s an opportunity to zero in on the most salient aspects of your application, placing them front and center.

In this section, we offer a step-by-step guide to writing your data analyst cover letter, exploring the basics of professional letter writing and the nuances of a letter for this specific role.

Let’s take a look.

Step 1: Layout your letter correctly

First up, structure! Don’t make your data analyst cover letter too wild or creative—save that for your portfolio. Instead, stick to the following standard professional letter format:

[Your contact details]

[A link to your portfolio/professional website]

Top Left (below the date)

[Name of recipient]

[Their job title]

[Their contact address]

[Reference, e.g. ‘Re: Application for role X’]

Next, begin your letter with a professional greeting, using the hiring manager’s name if you know it. If you don’t know their name, simply write ‘Dear Hiring Manager’.

Step 2: Open with a strong introduction

The opening sentence or two of your data analyst cover letter should, in effect, be a punchy summary of what the letter will then cover. This means ticking a few standard boxes while also making a good impression:

Beyond that, what exactly makes an introduction ‘strong’? The strongest intros typically use confident, evocative, yet concise language and include specific details about the role to demonstrate that you’ve researched the company.

You might also want to include a ‘hook’ that captures the reader’s attention, such as an intriguing element of your data analysis expertise that others might not have. For example, maybe you have skills using specific data tools or have experience in a relevant industry.

Step 3: Explain why you’re interested in the role

In the second section/paragraph of your data analyst cover letter, hone in on why you’re the ideal candidate for the role. To show that you’re genuinely interested in the company, aim to mention any specific aspects of the position mentioned in the job description that you find attractive or intriguing.

For example, perhaps you’re particularly excited at the prospect of using your data analysis skills to work on the organization’s flagship project. Or maybe you’re passionate about the company’s mission or potential for career growth. This can be a sentence or two—you don’t need to go wild.

Step 4: Showcase your skills, experience, and qualification

The third section of your data analyst cover letter is typically the longest. It’s your chance to show that you have the skills and abilities to excel and is the place to highlight why you’re uniquely qualified for the job.

While you should avoid listing every skill or qualification, don’t be afraid to get specific—list relevant data analysis techniques that you’re proficient in, for example, or qualifications and experience with certain types of software. Perhaps you’ve worked on a project that closely mirrors the work described in the job description. If so, mention it.

This is also the place to namedrop any professional achievements or awards you’ve achieved. Always keep them relevant to the role, though. Nobody needs to know that you won the pie-eating award at the local town fair. Employee of the month, however, is a different matter.

Step 4: End with a strong closing statement and sign off

In the final sentence or two of your data analyst cover letter, wrap up your application and thank the reader for their time. Include a call to action, such as asking for a meeting or a phone call, if appropriate. If in doubt, just say that you look forward to having an opportunity to discuss the position in person (this sounds confident without being too self-assured).

Finally, include a professional sign-off. Traditionally, if a letter’s recipient is unnamed (e.g. ‘Hiring Manager’) you’ll use ‘Faithfully yours’ as a sign-off. Meanwhile, if you know the person’s name, ‘Sincerely yours’ is better. However, if you find these terms old-fashioned, that’s OK. Just stick with something like ‘Kind regards’ or ‘Warm wishes’, and you won’t go too far wrong. The main thing is to avoid being too casual.

In this section, we’ll get more specific, looking at how you might want to write each section of your data analyst cover letter. We’ve included a good example and a bad example for each of the points covered in section 2, before explaining why one is better than the other.

Example 1: Opening

Good example:

Dear Ellen,

I am writing to apply for the Business Intelligence Analyst role at Weyland-Yutani Corporation, as advertised on the Big Space Data Jobs Board. With 2 years of experience analyzing customer and business data, I have the necessary skills and qualifications to thrive in this role. I believe I would be a valuable asset to your insights team.

Bad example:

To Sir/Madam,

I am applying for the Data Analyst role at your company. I’m sure I’d be a great fit for this job, as I have a lot of experience in the field.

The first example is strong. It shows that the candidate has done their research (mentioning the job title, organization, and even the board where they found the role) and is confident in their skills and qualifications. It also shows respect to the recipient by addressing them by name.

Meanwhile, the second example is too generic. It doesn’t demonstrate any research or knowledge of the role. And while it’s not always possible to know the manager’s name, don’t open with ‘Dear sir/madam’ which presumes the recipient’s gender. It’s not worth offending the person that you want to give you a job!

Example 2: Explaining why you’re interested

I am especially excited about the prospect of using my data analysis skills to assist with Weyland-Yutani’s flagship project, which I know explores the potential product applications of new biological discoveries. As a lifelong advocate of xenobiology, I am particularly interested in how this area of study can potentially intersect with the customer experience.

I have a great deal of experience in data analysis and I’m sure that I would be a great asset to your team. In addition, I’m interested in this role because it pays a lot of money.

The good example here offers more than just generic platitudes; it provides a real insight into the candidate’s motivations for applying for the role while demonstrating their knowledge and enthusiasm for the company’s work. Obviously, we’ve used an imaginary example here, but it highlights the point.

Once again, the bad example is too generic. It shows no real knowledge or understanding of the company and it lacks enthusiasm. And while there’s nothing wrong with being money-driven, think about what the reader will want to see. It’s much more appealing to the hiring manager to hear about your ambition (which benefits them!) rather than your desire to get paid well (which benefits you!)

Example 3: Showcasing your skills, experience, and qualifications

My experience and qualifications make me an ideal candidate for this role. As a Business Intelligence Analyst at Hyperdyne Systems, I developed expertise in predictive analytics and machine learning, which I used to draw insights from large datasets about current product trends. I also lead a project to improve the accuracy of customer segmentation models, resulting in a 5% increase in marketing ROI.

As a data analyst, I have experience in data analysis, machine learning, predictive analytics, and working with large datasets. I am confident that I have the skills and experience necessary for this role.

The good example provides specific examples of the candidate’s accomplishments, demonstrating their expertise and passion for data analytics. This is much more effective than listing generic skills.

The bad example, on the other hand, gives no information about the candidate’s accomplishments or achievements. And while it is OK to list skills in your resume, it’s a waste of your data analytics cover letter not to dig deeper to showcase how you used these skills.

Example 4: Closing

I look forward to discussing my experience and qualifications further and learning more about the opportunity on offer. I would welcome an invitation to discuss the position further.

I hope to hear from you soon.

The good example provides a strong closing statement. It’s polite and respectful, yet confident. It also shows that the candidate has done their research and is genuinely interested in the role.

The bad example is bland, lacks any genuine passion, and does nothing to demonstrate any knowledge of the role or company. Which one would you invite to an interview?

4. Data analyst cover letter template

Now that you’ve seen some examples of how to write a data analyst cover letter, here’s a template you can use to get started with your cover letter. This is, of course, a very generic template, and you should do more than simply fill in the gaps and send it off!

Instead, use the template as a guideline, using the prompts provided to expand on the topics. Tailor the letter to each role you are applying for.

[Link to your portfolio]

[Contact address]

Dear [Name of recipient],

I am writing to apply for the [name of the job] role at [name of company], as advertised on [name of job board]. With [number of months/years] experience analyzing [type of data], I feel confident that I have the necessary skills and qualifications to become a valuable asset to your [team/department].

I am especially excited at the prospect of using my data analysis skills to [outline a specific task or project that the role involves]. As a [describe a personal/professional trait], I believe that this project has the potential to [outline a specific benefit that you think the project will bring].

My experience and qualifications make me an ideal candidate for this role. During my time as a [previous role] at [company], I developed expertise in [list relevant skills], which I used to [outline a project/task you’ve been involved in]. I was also able to [outline an accomplishment], resulting in a [describe the outcome].

I look forward to discussing my experience and qualifications further and hearing more about the opportunity that you’re offering.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

So there you have it, everything you need to know when writing a job-winning data analyst cover letter. Now that we’ve discussed how to write one, here’s a quick recap:

Following this simple advice, you’ll soon have a data analyst cover letter that stands out. Before you know it, you’ll be preparing for that all-important interview!

To learn more about what a career in data analytics might involve, sign up for this free, 5-day data analytics short course . Prefer to read some more? Then check out the following beginner’s guides:

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How to Write a Data Analyst Cover Letter
Step 2: Open with a strong introduction. The opening sentence or two of your data analyst cover letter should, in effect, be a punchy summary of what the letter will then cover. This means ticking a few standard boxes while also making a good impression: Include the title of the job you're applying for.