Does anyone really care about your blog? If you don’t know or can’t answer, chances are they don’t. If you look at blog writing as a chore or something you simply race through to publish before a deadline, don’t bother. The following tips can help minimize the pain and maximize the impact your blog content can have on your business & your website.
Blog better with these steps:
1. Stop writing posts one at a time
Skip writing the next post you have scheduled and take that time to stop & think. We find it helps to get out the office or away from your computer for this. Start writing down ideas or topics to write about and see what you come up with. A lot of times these might be related or similar topics you can group together when finished.
Take your list and group it together or edit into ideas for 3-4 different blog posts. This helps avoid the issue we all face of scrambling for topics each post. It also helps group similar content together that can be interlinked and easier to research.
2. Think about the messaging before you write anything
Without getting to philosophical – think about the purpose of each post. Do you want it to tell your readers something new, answer a question they might have, motivate them to take an action, solve a problem etc.? What do you want them to do when they’re done reading? This gets a bit messy and might not be easy, but at least push yourself to try and answer them before you write.
3. Make a simple outline with headings or sections for each post
A good post needs room to breathe. You should be able to scroll/scan down the page without reading a word and get an idea of what its about. Breaking the post down into sections with headings, using images and keeping paragraphs short helps with readability. We’ve all seen those long pages with nothing but text after text and we’ve all done the same thing – bailed to read something else.
Creating these outlines and headings doesn’t just help the reader, it helps you when writing and creating the post. When you know what pieces you need to make up the post, it’s easier to write or research it.
Semi-pro tip: Try to add lists, bold items, images, underlined items etc to keep your post flowing. Most times you can stand 10 feet back from a computer and have a person scroll down and you’ll know if that post structure looks interesting, readable and easy to scan. It shouldn’t look like a medical journal 🙂
4. Let someone else read it or take a few days off and re-read it
Sometimes in the heat of the writing moment (or deadline) your post sounds amazing. Chances are it isn’t and if it is you don’t need my advice. Take a few days off and revisit the post or have a co-worker or someone else read it and see what they say. Don’t be shy and demand brutal feedback from people – the internet is merciless and better to get feedback from someone first before publishing.
5. Consider next steps – if you have the resources
A compelling blog title really goes a long way. This is an art form in itself and even if you aren’t great at it spend some time thinking about what might compel a person to click through and read more.
Keyword research – this is a monster topic in itself so we won’t get into it, but long story short you’ll want to consider that there are people searching for the things you write about and how hard it is to rank or compete for it.
Write a few posts and schedule them. Sometimes the weekly pain of writing a post is easier condense and get over with. Consider writing 3-4 posts at once, scheduling them and forgetting about it for a few weeks.
Never publish something simply because you’re afraid to publish nothing. This is a complete waste of everybody’s time and should be avoided at all costs. Google hates it, nobody reads it, you waste your time and even if your boss likes it – try to avoid it.
Focus on publishing something interesting or valuable. Even if you know it isn’t amazing, it should never suck.