Osprey Hunting Island State Park South Carolina
(Updated 1/10/2023)
Researching how to write a blog post may seem to be a confusing endeavor.
Stop overwhelming yourself with information.
I have one blogging philosophy: start from simple and work from there.
Simple wins. One concept I stress through my eBooks, course and email list in general is: keep things simple to position yourself to succeed.
The split second you try to make blogging complex everything tends to fall apart. Complex fails. Complex blogging tactics – or a deviation from simple – usually poisons the mind of beginner bloggers.
Figuring out how to write a blog post feels intimidating to new bloggers. Various strategies create a confusing crosscurrent of blogging information. Should you write short or long blog posts? Do you need to format posts ruthlessly? How often do you need to publish blog posts?
For solid answers…..follow the pros.
Peep top bloggers in any niche. Pros know; simple wins. Smart beginners know; simple wins. You can understand simple. You can also use simple to your benefit. If you become skilled in writing blog posts that increase your blog traffic and profits, rest assured that said posts simply laid out a pressing solution to core problems in your niche.
I had no clue in hell how to write a blog post 14 years ago. I just wrote what I felt like writing. After a blogging shit show of struggle spanning a few years I found out how to write effective, inspired blog posts, geared toward a specific end, goading my blogging business to grow.
Experience taught me how to write an effective blog post but learning how to blog from pros sure did not hurt, either.
How to Write a Blog Post
Get clear. Writing effective posts is simple. Remove your head trash concerning blogging. Keep it simple. Succeed through simplicity.
Follow these tips to write a rocking blog post.
A1: Solve Your Reader’s Specific Problems
Before discussing the 8 tips I want to stress the essence of a blog post: blog post content is a solution to reader’s specific problems related fully to your blogging niche.
People follow blogs for solutions to their issues. A blogging tips niche blogger like myself listens to my reader’s blogging struggles and publishes only content to solve their intimate blogging difficulties.
Publish content solely to address your reader’s needs. Make this the basis of every blog post you publish.
Practical Tips
- ask your readers about their struggles via email and social media
- focus on your reader’s comments carefully to spot pain points
- be empathetic to easily spot reader problems
Listen closely to readers. Pay great attention to their issues. Move your ego to the side. Stop blogging about what’s on your mind. Begin blogging for other people by getting deeper into their minds.
Get specific. Be clear. Tune into reader pain points. Listen closely to their struggles. Being in their mind reveals a treasure trove of blog post ideas.
Listening to readers gives you ideas upon which to build a successful blog.
1: Begin with the End in Mind
Take this post; I intend to provide a simple solution for bloggers wanting to write effective blog posts.
Holding this intent, I find it easy to lay out specifically what you should do and how to do it for writing effective blog posts.
I see a satisfied blogger feasting on a powerful solution for writing rocking blog posts now. The ideas for creating that end flowed toward me. I write. Post completed.
What is the end game for your blog post? See that result. Allow the creative process to flow smoothly.
Seeing the blogging end allows you to lay out a clear path to reaching the end. Observe your next blog post title. See the end game clearly, vividly, in your mind. Laying out practical steps via your blog content positions you to write a dazzling blog post that hits the mark every time.
2: Stay on Topic
Cover the one topic you choose to cover with your blog.
Blogging tips bloggers would post about blogging tips.
Travel bloggers would post about traveling.
Personal development bloggers would blog about personal development.
Staying on topic adds clarity and power to your blog posts.
Straying off course to cover multiple niches confuses readers. How can you become a trusted authority if you attempt to cover too many niches? Experts do one thing well. Struggling bloggers often try to do 2, 5 or 10 things well, being afraid to release various niches to dial in on a single niche.
Being a master of one trade adds credibility to each blog post you publish. Readers seeing your name attached to the post instantly adds a more credible air to the post published.
Staying on topic demands you to remain focused. Dial in. Concentrate. Be in the moment. Do what you need to do now in order to increase your special skill set. Let go all else to establish your expertise in that one area.
3: Create an Appealing Title
Brainstorm simple topics dripping with value for your readers.
Peep the blog post title I used for this post; bloggers dig knowing how to write effective blog posts.
Add color or humor. Or go simple, bare bones and powerful. Both approaches work nicely.
Figuring out how to write a blog post gets easier if you craft a delectable title.
Give yourself 5 minutes to toy around with a blog post title. Engage in deep thought. Does the title clearly convey the message you intend to speak? Does the title clearly explain the content within the blog post? Get hyper clear on blog post titles to both draw in readers and to craft an appealing blog post.
Practical Tips
- scan top blogs in your niche; spot titles yielding the highest amount of traffic to model these on your blog (no word for word copying allowed)
- observe how titles perform on your blog; keep doing what works and stop doing what does not work
4: Intro-Body-Conclusion? Nah…..
Blogging From Paradise deviates once again. I am a bit of a blogging outsider in this regard. I am at peace with this role in the blogging world. Being on the outside looking-in via conventional terms seems to be my gig as a blogger.
Convention says; introduction-body-conclusion is the proper way to format a blog post. I say make your point and get the hell off of the stage.
Go intr0-body-conclusion if it feels fun to you. I prefer a little lead in, going heavy on practical tips then ending posts with a clear call to action.
Some basics:
- lead off with a general idea of why readers should gobble up your post
- include practical tips to reach that end
- wrap up the post with a clear cut call to action to buy your stuff or to hire you
Contrarian strategies stress crafting a hook to reel in readers. Trust your gut. Does leading with a strong hook feel good to you? If yes, take that route. At the end of the day, writing what feels good and attractive to readers is the way to lead off an effective blog post. Spend a little time playing around with varying blog post introductions. Observe what feels both fun and beneficial to readers to craft your blog post introduction delivery.
Do follow some basic framework to add order to your blog post. Avoid confusing readers with a choppy post poorly organized. Lead off with a pain point, add some meat via your practical tips and wrap things up before publishing a blog post.
The most important point to keep in mind while writing blog posts is to solve reader problems in clear fashion. Be thorough. But never over do it. Share as much content as necessary to solve a problem. End the post.
5: Add Pretty Pictures Please
Or add 1 pretty picture.
Images are eye candy. Pictures speak a bunch o’ words my little blogging sweet robbins. So…..insert at least 1 image in all blog posts.
Stay on topic or on brand. Insert images related to the blog post title. Or add images clearly aligned with your blogging brand, like how the Blogging From Paradise guy always adds pictures of travel spots where he visited and snapped some classics.
People think in terms of pictures. We see images in mind on reading content. Add pictures to your posts to do legwork for readers. Doing some legwork for readers makes your blog appealing.
Pixabay offers you a wide range of quality, free images.
6: Short and Punchy Rules
As a rule, I dig writing short, punchy sentences. Save 2 sentences prior (irony alert).
Keeping things short and clear gets the point across sans filler. Take advantage of this powerful way to connect with your audience.
Get to the point through each sentence you craft. See an individual blog post as a collection of brief sentences carefully created and joined together for making a great blogging impact.
Practical Tips
- write short and punchy sentences to make a strong impact
- edit your posts to develop the habit of writing with economy
- read skilled authors who say a bunch with a few words
Of course, feel free to publish long form content if said content feels fun to write and vibes with your readers. Some Blogging From Paradise readers love long form content here. Other bloggers prefer short posts. I mix up each to keep each crowd happy. Plus, if bloggers prefer long form content but want to really dive in to blogging tips in thorough fashion, they can shop from the eBook side via my blog sidebar.
7: Word Count?
What feels fun? Go with that.
600 to 800 words feels fun to me but I sometimes publish 2500 word blog posts. Words flow. I go with that. Sometimes the flow feels shorter. Sometimes the flow feels longer. I trust my gut and take it from there.
2,000 may feel fun to you. Go with that.
However, if you intend to drive Google traffic aim for 1500 to 2000 words or more. Studies indicate long-form content performs best on Google. Readers also tend to enjoy richer resources compared to shorter posts if you craft ambitious blog post titles. I promise to teach you how to write a blog post through this piece of content. Even a highly-skilled blogger cannot cover such a topic in 600-800 words in genuine fashion.
Ample details go into writing and publishing an effective blog post. Readers need at least 1000 to 1500 words of in-depth content to follow all steps necessary to publish a post successfully.
Practical Tips
- never box yourself in with a set word count for every post you write; fulfill your title-promise thoroughly to find your word count for blog posts
- 1500 to 2000 word or longer posts tend to perform best on Google
- pepper in short, sweet posts here and there to satiate titles resonant with a lower word count
Do not marry yourself to a specific word count. Resist urges to be rigid. Being fixed leads to robotic blogging.
Robotic blogging is lifeless blogging. Lifeless blogging never seems to take any blogger far in terms of growth.
Blog from your heart to find the ideal word count for each blog post. Trust your intuition. Publish long form content when your gut pulls you there. Publish short form content when your gut leads you in that direction.
8: Frequency
Aim for at least one blog post weekly if you hit 2000 words.
Publish 2-3 times weekly if you hit 600 words.
Be flexible. Listen to your blogging intuition. How does it guide you? Where does it guide you?
Again; whatever feels fun to you resonates the most with your audience. Add video and/or podcast posts to beef up post frequency and to give readers other options for consuming and digesting your content.
The frequency key is to stay in the stream. Publish often enough to be seen. Be a blogger by publishing blog posts frequently enough to responsibly own that title, or label.
Note; as you have observed recently, I am updating and republishing a steady volume of the 2000 plus blog posts on Blogging From Paradise. Bumping up blog post frequency does not only mean writing and publishing brand new content. Work with what you have. Re-purpose old blog content through a variety of channels to leverage your presence online.
Conclusion
Figuring out how to write a blog post does not need to be a titanic endeavor.
Most blog readers deem a 600-2000 word length as being a reasonable blog post if you publish details satisfying the blog post title.
Feel free to publish pillar-style content if you wish but understand how many readers would prefer you to self-publish the 5000 words of content in an eBook for easier reading via Kindle formatting. Scrolling down, down then down some more to read a 5000 word post formatted for a blog feels taxing for most people.
Solve your reader problems in helpful fashion before all else.
Write blog posts effectively by always keeping your readers in mind.
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