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Figuring out how to write quality content feels confusing.
Bloggers freely share how publishing quality content seems to be one fundamental of successful blogging. But what does “quality” mean?
Some prefer short form content as a quality offering. Other bloggers choose long form content to get their quality message across.
At the end of the day, publishing content solving reader problems lays the foundation for a quality blog post. However, keeping a few ideas in mind lets you expand upon this concept. Solving your reader’s problems is not enough. Drilling down to publish thorough, detailed, in-depth content makes up a big part of sharing a quality offering.
Even if you want to take a short cut there is no fast, easy way to publish valuable content. Quality bloggers spent years honing their online craft. No one succeeds overnight.
Listen closely to your reader’s problems to take the first step toward publishing a quality piece of content.
1: Solve Your Reader’s Problems
Pay attention to your reader’s problems. Publish content solving their specific issues.
Readers determine whether or not you publish quality content. Figuring out how to write quality content begins with the idea that your readers decide the quality of your blog posts.
Never wing it. Do not publish content based on ideas within your mind without vetting your readers. Even dazzling posts never hit the mark for readers with no interest in the topic.
Pepper your readers with questions via:
- your email newsletter
- your blog
Publish only content solving the needs of your readers as the first step to offering quality content.
2: Craft an Attractive Title
Readers judge packaging before fully opening your blog post gift.
Blogging From Paradise readers asked me how to write a quality blog post before I originally published this post. Observe the blog post title:
How to Write Quality Content
Does it get any clearer? Offer blog posts titled to address a pressing reader problem. Be as direct as possible.
Be concise.
A few blog post title ideas:
- how to posts
- steps
- tips
- use numbers to add order to blog post titles
- ask questions
- toss in colorful adjectives and power verbs
Ponder blog post titles that catch your attention. Craft similar titles to snag your reader’s attention span.
Build a blog post title watch list for a post. Whittle down selections to make your final choice.
3: Publish In-Depth Content
Publish 1200 to 1500 word posts to create quality content.
Readers generally agree that 1500 word posts – or in that neighborhood – makes content valuable, quality and long-form in nature.
Share practical tips. Jam-pack value into the blog post. Quality posts drip with value readers can digest, use and benefit from for their blogging campaign.
Create an outline to satiate the word count. Most bloggers struggle to write 1500 words without an outline; overwhelm often sets in.
Building a post outline offers you a solid volume of points to expound upon; this is the perfect starting point for publishing long-form content.
Video: Ryan Biddulph the Most Interesting Travel Blogger on the Internet
4: SEO Optimize Blog Posts
Exhibit A:
How to Go from Full Time Employee to Pro Blogger
This post ranks #1 on Google for its keyword.
SEO-optimizing posts:
- drives Google traffic
- builds credibility
- increases authority
Optimizing content carves out a place in your niche for your name. Ranking on Google impresses readers but folks who find such content organically through other channels become just as impressed.
Build posts around a low competition keyword queried by readers from your niche. Start there to lay a strong foundation for all posts on your blog.
Follow tip #3 incredibly closely. I ranked a few posts based solely on the long form nature of the content because at the time I added no SEO details to said posts. Google placed these Blogging From Paradise posts on page 1 because I added rich, practical details to a thorough post.
5: Format the Post for Easy Reading and Scanning
How you package content plays a strong role in publishing quality content.
Format blog posts for easy reading and scanning. Some followers read every word of blog posts. Some readers scan blog posts to extract content most beneficial to them. Keep both readers in mind to appeal to a wider audience.
Formatting blog posts requires practice. Bloggers usually write posts according to their preferences until leaving this newbie blogger habit behind.
Practical Tips
- use paragraphs early and often
- employ headers to add flow to posts
- add bullet point lists
- format some words with bold and italics
- short, snappy sentences do the trick
- add one featured image; eye candy pleases readers
Consider how you prefer to digest blog posts before formatting your blog.
Keep your preferences in mind.
Nobody enjoys reading run-on paragraphs.
Few prefer to feast on bloated sentences.
What appeals to you UX-wise likely pleases your readers.
Format carefully to publish quality blog posts.
6: Write!
I rewrote most of this blog post in roughly 20 minutes.
How?
Practicing my writing for 15 years allows the words to flow seamlessly.
Publish quality content by sharpening your #1 blogging skill: writing.
Write 500-1000 words daily offline in a Word document to gain confidence and clarity as a blogger. Put in private work to shine on a public stage.
Never skip writing practice. Publishing high quality content becomes impossible for bloggers who avoid putting in solid blogging legwork.
Let the words flow. Write your tail off to become a quality blog post creator.
7: Do Your Best to Avoid Mercilessly Judging Your Work
As a rule, my best blog posts feel like my worst blog posts.
I usually judge the living bejesus out of blog posts that seemingly take off.
I genuinely wish not to self-deprecate in Rodney Dangerfield fashion. He downed himself as part of his schtick. I tend to do it because some posts did not feel good to me the moment I tapped the “publish” button.
However, Blogging From Paradise readers come to the rescue.
You guys prop up my long form posts even if I judge ’em as not being quality offerings for whatever reason.
Avoid judging your work harshly. Do your best job. From there, allow your readers to deem quality versus less than quality.
Bloggers I speak to regularly share suffering from the same flaw. Each downs a number of specific posts which readers turn around and gobble up.
Do not trash what readers want you to keep. Never hide the post readers want revealed.
Do the best blogging job you can do.
Let readers be the judge of your blog content quality.
More than once or twice, one of your supposed stinkers will invariably impress your community.
Conclusion
Remember guys; readers determine the quality level of your blog content.
But following a few basic tips guarantees that you will wow their blogging socks off.
Practicing your writing is critically important.
How can you publish quality content by skipping the #1 blogging skill to develop?
At the end of the day, follow all of these steps carefully to publish quality blog posts.
