A Quick Guide on How to Write a Blog
The world of blogging has many participants. So much so, that at present, there are as many as 152 million blogs on the internet today. However, only a few among them are famous. While blog writing is something that anyone can start, maintaining it such that it has a dedicated readership requires more tact. This is a step-by-step guide sharing the blog writing tips that enable you to write blog content that is not only compelling but also captures readers’ attention.
1. Decide What You Want to Blog About
Before starting a blog, it is important to be clear about its intent. What are you going to write about? How is it helping your readers? For instance, if you’re part of a business, company, or organisation, then your blog could be related to a particular product or service that you provide. If you’re an individual, then you could have more flexibility in choosing your desired topic. You could start a tech blog, a blog about a particular skill (painting, photography, designing). However, it would always be helpful if you blog about a niche in which you can establish yourself as an authority. You might not be the first person to blog about your topic, but you can come up with a fresh perspective that has never been explored before.
Neil Patel, for instance, writes blogs that hold authority over everything related to digital marketing. It serves a defined set of the crowd, and at the end of the day, is what anyone would refer to when it comes to digital marketing. At the end of the day, the goal of any blog is to become the go-to authority in its niche, if your idea can serve that purpose, then all you need to do is go ahead and write.
2. Choose a Blogging Platform
Once you’ve decided on the topic that your blog would talk about, the next step comes in identifying a blogging platform that would best serve your needs. Not only does a blogging platform give you the necessary tools to portray your content to your readers, but it also gives you a variety of options to present your content in a better format to the audience. While you can choose from a variety of blogging platforms, like WordPress, Squarespace, Blogger, Medium, etc., each has its own pros and cons. So, it is best to choose one that is better aligned with your needs and one which hosts a greater majority of your target audience.
3. Modify Your Blog to Define Your Style
Once you have settled on your blogging platform, the next step is to tweak your blog in a manner that reflects your style. When writing online, not only is it important to align your content with your user requirements, but it is also important to display your content in a manner that reflects the audience you are catering to. For example, a tech blog can have a theme that has lots of graphics and widgets that appeal to a tech-savvy audience. Similarly, a blog that talks about photography can include a lot of high-quality visual images that attract photography enthusiasts.
4. Select the Best Plugins for Your Blog
Incorporating web plugins in your blog can help you in deriving more value from your work. Some famous plugins like Yoast SEO and Google Analytics for WordPress can give you the necessary insights about your blog’s performance and how well your readers are reacting to your posts.
5. Write your About Page
Your ‘About page‘ is one of the most important parts of your website. It is the first page your visitors are likely to visit to decide whether or not your blog is worth their time. Hence, writing an “About” page that succinctly describes the purpose of your blog is essential. Your visitors would be interested in knowing what your blogs can offer them. Therefore, make sure that your About page clearly answers the question: What value-add does this blog provide to its readers, and what would someone gain from reading it?
The next part of your About Page should give your readers a brief intro on the kind of posts on your blog. You can provide a link to other pages of your blog. For example, you can choose some of your best and most popular posts and incorporate them smoothly in a conversational tone in your About page. By giving your readers more opportunity to explore your blog, you give them more incentive into reading through your website.
6. Start Building Content
One all the preliminary requirements are done with, the next step is to start building your content. But remember, your blog must add value to its readers’ lives. This is the only way you will get Great Quality Readers to your site (and keep them coming back). Adding value is the only way to get your readers’ loyalty in the long run. Once you start building content, be sure to post regularly in a manner that keeps the audience engaged.
There are many reasons why people choose to start writing a blog. However, once you’ve learned how to start a blog, you’ll learn that blogging takes a lot of time, but the investment in time definitely pays off in the long run. Over time, bloggers discover their niche and their writing tends to develop a certain aesthetic tone, and one that appeals to their readers.