The Ultimate Guide to Writing the BEST Blog Post Every Single Time
“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” - Stephen King
Hey, my lovely Mumma!
How are you doing today? I hope you’re well and ready for another post that’s going to really help you out…
Writing a blog post can and should be a really amazing and fun experience for you, so I wanted to write this post explaining all the moving parts, so that you can write the best posts, not once, not twice, but every single time!
This is the Ultimate Guide to writing the BEST blog post every single time…
Writing a post can be quite a scary thought and I know so many people that get completely freaked out by even the thought of sitting down to write one.
But honestly, you don’t need to get worked up over it, because with some simple planning and the tips I’m going to be sharing throughout this post, you’re going to become an amazing blog post writer 🙂 🙂 xx
Maybe your first blog post will take some time to put together and you’ll find yourself going back and forth (and being a bit all over the place) but you’ll get into the swing of things very quickly when you have some structure and guidance in place.
It’s like with anything new, it’s uncomfortable at first and you don’t know what you’re doing, but the more you do it, the easier it gets and the better you become.
Practise, practise and practise… Becoming better at writing blog posts comes from continuing to write and put posts out there.
Don’t ever let the fear of writing or thinking you can’t do it stop you!
You can do it – you just need to do these 4 things right now:
Sit down
Take a deep breath
Grab a coffee and water ☕
Read this first post with me and I’ll help you every step of the way.
What you’ll learn in the Ultimate Guide to writing the BEST blog post every time…
So by the end of this post, I’ll have shown you everything you need, so that you can sit down and start putting together your very first blog post 🙂 🙂
We’ll be looking at how to structure your blog posts to make it a simple and quick process, what needs to go into a post, all the little things you may not have thought about + everything you need to do before you even start writing the post itself…
There’s a ton of things I want to share with you so that you can write amazingly awesome blog posts every single time.
Everything I’m going to share will come under one of the 5 stages that I use to put a post together:
Pre-Planning Stage
Planning Stage
Writing Stage
Editing Stage
Post-Writing Stage
Each of the above stages plays a part in getting you from:
A) Starting from scratch
B) A fully-fledged, beautifully functioning blog post!
Then there’s then one extra section at the end that I wanted to include, which shares what NOT to do in your blog posts…
So let’s not waste any more time and get into it right away…
“This post may contain affiliate links throughout and if you make a purchase using one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you”
Pre-Planning of a Blog Post!
This very first part of this post shares all the things I wanted to talk about before you start planning your post.
The pre-planning stage has many important factors for you to look at and delve into!
Starting with knowing what a blog post is…
What is a Blog Post?
Before we get deep into this post, I wanted to first give the definition of what a blog post actually is.
“A blog post is an article or piece of content that is published on a blog”.
It can host multiple formats including text, images, photos, videos, audio etc…
Over time and if you continue to add blog posts consistently, your blog will hold a ton of articles and a library of information for your readers.
So now we know what a post is, we can move on to some things for you to think about before you start writing.
What makes a good blog post?
This is an interesting question huh!
But what makes a good blog post?
This can be a difficult question to ask as everyone has different tastes and sees things differently – so what may be a fab post for one person, may not be another person’s cup of tea…
You’re never going to be able to cater for everyone, it just isn’t possible, but you don’t need to worry about that, because all you need to concentrate on is writing for YOUR readers!
When you’re carrying out research (I’m going to be covering this shortly) you need to see what your target audience is asking…
What are their pain points?
What are their dreams and aspirations?
What do they need help with right now?
These are the things you need to find out so that you can write for your readers!
So what actually makes a good blog post?
Well, my take on a good blog post is having some or all of the following elements:
An intriguing headline which draws readers in
It needs to be educational and teach something
Interesting and Engaging
Answers questions to one problem or desire
Captivating
Informative + Useful
Gives Advice
Tells Stories
Has your voice and personality shining through
Has something a reader can take action on (Call To Action)
The length of the post is what it needs to be (not what you think it should be or you’ve been told it has to be)
Simple and Easy to read
Uses relevant and compelling images
Has links to your own related blog posts and any relevant outside posts
There’s many other things I’m sure that can make your blog post great, but I personally feel these are the things that I like to include as often as I can.
What kinds of blog posts can you write?
There are all kinds of blog posts you can write and by all means – you do not have to have all of them on your blog.
There are a few I would highly recommend and also some I think you most definitely should have.
I’m going to explain in a bit more detail the ones I think you definitely need to have and then I’ll list down all the others with a brief description of what they are and why they’re fab to have…
But remember, don’t panic and think you have to have all of these.
The first post I’m going to talk about below is a great place to start, as it’ll be one of the most-read posts on your blog (hopefully anyway)!
Pillar Posts (definitely should have)
Pillar posts are the cornerstone parts of your content.
They’re in-depth, valuable pieces of content that explain a lot of information on a specific topic and include lots of images, graphics, videos etc to bulk it out.
They’re also posts that can be referred back to again and again, can be added to, updated as and when needed and should have links to other posts which are related, to give even more help.
You ideally want to write about 3-4 posts that cover the most important areas of your topic.
The way I do this, is by thinking about the categories my blog has…
Currently, I have the following categories:
Start A Blog
Content Creation
Traffic
Email Marketing
Make Money
Productivity
Blog Tips
Now eventually, you’ll want to write a pillar post in all these categories, but for now, I would choose the most important ones and write a post under each of these.
So currently on my blog, I have 5 pillar posts and they fall under a few of the categories above.
Because my blog is about “blogging” I decided that I wanted to write pillar posts that would really help mums start their very own blog, with little or no experience!
I wanted to map out the first steps in detail, sharing how to start her blog, followed by how to write her first blog post, then sharing list building tips and simple ways to make her first £££ with it!
All these flowed nicely from one to the other, creating my perfect pillar posts selection.
So I have the first 4 posts on my blogging for mums homepage and they come under the following categories (as stated above):
How to Start a Successful Mummy Blog – Start A Blog
The Ultimate Guide to Writing the BEST blog Posts – Content Creation
Blog Traffic for Beginners- The Ultimate Guide + 11 Top FAQ’s Answered! – Traffic
10 Things you Should be Doing to Grow your Email List – Email Marketing
How To Make Money With Your Blog – Make Money
Take some time to think about the different categories you could have within your blog and the types of pillar posts you could write inside of these categories.
You’ll probably find you’ll have pillar post ideas flowing out of your ears.
How-To Post (definitely should have)
The “how-to” post is usually the one used for educational purposes. This post can be used in all niches as there is always something you can write a “how-to” on…
Baking Niche – How To Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies with Only 3 Ingredients
Parenting Niche – How To Remain Calm with your 5 Year Old when he’s driving you nuts!
Arts + Crafts Niche – How To make Halloween Pumpkins with your Kids
Blogging – How To Create a Fabulous Freebie
The examples above are in totally different niches, yet you can see there’s a how-to for each of them…
People often search the internet looking how to do something and this is why tutorial style posts work so well.
If you’re an expert and know what you’re talking about – a how-to post is an excellent way to really help your readers out.
You definitely want to have a few of these popping up around your blog…
List Post (highly recommended)
This next type of post is one I highly recommend you have, as it’s extremely popular and one of the easiest types of posts to write and read.
List posts are those written around a list of points and they’re often known as listicles or numbered list posts.
List posts are loved because:
They’re easy and fun to read
They’re scannable making them perfect for grabbing readers attention
They use numbers and readers tend to be drawn to numbers in titles
They have the potential to go viral
They allow your readers to find the information they want quickly
They’re extremely shareable
This list could go on and on as to why people love list posts, but I think you get the picture and having one in your blog post bank is a must in my book…
So if you have something great you could write about in a “list” format, then try out the list-style post.
A few examples of a list post would be:
23 Delicious Chicken Recipes you can make Tonight For Under £5
7 Things successful Mummy Bloggers do to Manage their Time & Thrive
11 Simple Ab Exercises you can do Right Now (No Equipment needed)
How to create an Amazing Garden with these 6 Tools!
These are great examples where you could list down the points and explain them not only simply, but in a readable manner.
Just make sure the points flow and you’re not just adding numbers in for the sake of it (you don’t have to have a set number of points such as 10 top tips).
Another tip for you on list posts is to always keep the same style when you’re writing your list:
If you’re going to be using bullet points – stick to bullet points
If you’re going to be using numbers – stick to numbers
– If you’re using the same heading size – stick to the same heading size!
Whatever you decide to use, be consistent throughout the post, as list posts work best when there’s a formula and your readers know what’s coming.
My final word on list posts is to end them by asking your readers to comment on what they’d want to see added to the list…
This engages with them and you can actually add some of the answers in (with their permission of course) which shows your readers you listen and pay attention to what they say!
The “Ultimate Guide” Post (highly recommended)
Who doesn’t love an “Ultimate Guide” post!
I’ve read a lot of them in my time and they’re fab for getting down, deep and dirty with a particular topic.
An Ultimate Guide post is an in-depth piece of content, which is well thought out, full of value and is usually shared constantly because it’s so freakin’ awesome…
I’ve written an ultimate guide on how to use the Divi WordPress theme I have installed on my blog, plus this post is an overall Ultimate guide post too (although it is split into 3 parts)…
I tend to write a lot of in-depth posts because I always seem to have so much to share, but they’re only usually classed as ultimate if they’re upwards of 3000 words.
So, they’re the posts that I would definitely have and highly recommend, but as I said before, you don’t have to have all of them.
The more you blog and the more your audience grows, the more you’ll know what types of posts they love.
So, I’ll now just list down some other types of blog posts that are popular for you to check out (there are sooooo many and I couldn’t possibly list them all, but I’ve put down the ones that are widely used):
Guest Posts – writing a post for another blog or website.
Interview Q+A Posts – interviewing another blogger or someone in your niche, asking them questions and writing a post around this and their answers.
Case Study Posts – showing real life examples of your topic.
Latest News Posts – writing about recent events within your industry.
Longform Posts – long, in-depth posts, delving deep into a topic (3000+ words).
Shorter Posts – shorter, to the point posts not usually exceeding 1000 words.
Storytelling Posts – posts sharing information as a story, making it more personal and unique to you.
Resource Posts – Resource posts are great if you want to share all the equipment you use, for example, when creating your YouTube videos (camera, ring light, tripod, microphone etc…) People love to know your recommendations, so this is the perfect post type and you can add in affiliate links to the products you use and recommend!
Review Posts – Ever wanted to rave about a product or service you love (or hate) The review post is the place to do just that + it’s also a great way to earn affiliate commissions.
Expert Roundup Posts – these are fab for getting together influencers and experts within your industry to share their tips + hacks on something. They’re very popular and extremely shareable
Infographic + Video Posts – visual storytelling is super effective and readers love to watch videos and check out Infographics to break down facts + figures.
Mistakes + Lessons Learned Posts – people love nothing more than reading about the mistakes you’ve made (because they want to avoid them) and how they can learn to do things the right way. These are also very popular posts.
Fun Posts – Not all your posts have to be factual and business like! There’s nothing like a fun post to break the norm and show a fun experience you’ve had or some of the hobbies you love to do. People want to feel connected and a part of your life, so these posts are a great way of doing this.
Behind the Scenes Posts – Do you love watching bloopers and want to know what happens behind the scenes – me too! They’re exciting, real and show the blogger for who they really are. People love to connect with real people. In a world where everyone can hide behind screens , show your true, authentic self…
Giveaway Posts – If you’re like me, you love a giveaway and posts giving away something fab is an awesome way to get a lot of traction and eyes on a post. Just make sure what you’re giving away is related to your niche and worthwhile for your readers.
I could go on and mention so many more post types you could write, but I’d be here forever lol 🙂 so that’s the end of the list…
How to make your blog stand out from the crowd!
With over 600 million blog posts on the Internet right now, you need to be able to stand out from the crowd, otherwise, your blog’s going to get lost in oblivion!
There’s several things you need to do and think about in order to do this, but I’ve mentioned 8 of the most important things you can do below:
Create Unique, Epic Content – always write, sharing what you can do for your readers. This is what they care about! They want to read your content knowing it’s going to help them in some way. Become the best source of information you can for them, so they come back over and over again!
Have a fantastic blog design – make your posts (and blog in general) look enticing, interesting and beautiful. You also want to make sure it’s simple and easy to navigate around, otherwise you’ll lose people before they even get started. I use a gorgeous blog theme and have created my website to be pretty, simple and easy to find everything. I share here how to set my blog theme up.
Always research what your audience WANTS – and then give them what they want, not what you think they want! Send out surveys, ask them in your comments and keep an eye on what’s going on within your industry and niche.
Have amazing photos and images within your posts – blog posts are saturated with overused stock images these days. In order to stand out, the best thing you can do is include your own, unique photos. This is something I definitely need to start doing myself, as I’m not a fan of lots of stock images. Your images can go as far as your imagination!
Write in your own style - having a unique writing style is what will make you distinctive, so that people will know and recognize you. Your personality needs to ooze through and you can do this by sharing stories and experiences, and being transparent and authentic with the information you share.
Create click worthy headlines – headlines are soooooo important for making your blog posts stand out. You need to make sure they’re relevant, attractive and engaging, as this will make your readers click on it…
Up to Date + Trending Content – keeping your readers hooked is best done with the latest trends and up to date info! Carrying out keyword research is vital in keeping “on trend” with the content you’re going to write about and share.
Go against the grain – the final thing I want to mention is to go against the grain. Be controversial and put a different angle to the story than everyone else, or maybe go for the shock factor on a subject and you’ll most definitely stand out from the crowd, as it’s not what people expect!
13 Things to think about before you start writing your blog post…
Before we get into how to write a blog post and all it entails (in part 2 of the series), I wanted to let you in on some things to think about first to give you a great head start:
Keep your reader in the forefront of your mind at ALL times… You should always be writing for your readers and not for you. Their wants and needs are what you need to cater for so that they’ll read your content.
What is the main goal for your post? Having a goal for your post is something you need to think about. What do you want to get from the post?
Do you want to:
Get your readers to grab that awesome freebie you created
Comment and give their thoughts and ideas
Take a challenge you’ve set up
Whatever it is, make sure to have a goal for the post BEFORE you start writing it, so that you can keep it in mind.
Write your blog posts in some kind of word document first. I always use Google Docs to write my draft posts, but you can use anything you’re comfortable with. I write the whole thing in Google Docs and then copy and paste it into the actual WordPress post. This saves time and stress as I can just write free-flowing. Trying to write directly into WordPress off the bat can be very challenging with all the different Gutenberg blocks, so I recommend you don’t do this.
You can set up your Google Docs to match your blog’s fonts and sizes too, so it pulls across when you copy and paste into WordPress (another time saver)
Create a Folder on your desktop for any screenshots, graphics and images you’ll need for the post. I always do this before I start writing the draft of my posts and then as and when I need a screenshot or image, I’ll grab it or take the screenshot and then place it in the folder. This means I know where everything is when I come to add the post into WordPress.
TIP: I also add a little description within the post (in brackets) of what image/screenshot I’m using within that part of the post, as this makes it so much easier to find them when adding them into WordPress.
Write about what you’re passionate about. When starting a blog, you need to write about something you’re interested in and love talking about because if you don’t, you’ll find very quickly you run out of steam and interest to continue. Picking a niche you love will keep the love for your blog going, especially when the going gets tough (which it will on many occasions).
Find your writing zone. This is a big one as when it comes to writing your posts, you want to find a time when you’re at your best. I call it my “writing zone”… I’ve tried writing at all different times of the day – early morning, afternoon, late into the night and I’ve found my best content comes out when I write in the morning.
I take my boys to school, come back, make a cup of coffee and sit at my computer to write. I love writing at this time as it’s quiet (a rarity with two noisy boys running around the place) and I’m fresh and full of energy as it’s the first thing. I find trying to write when it’s the end of the day too tiring and I’m mummy frazzled!
It’s all about finding a time that suits you, your family and your lifestyle so test some different times out to see which time you’re most productive.
Find a place to write. Finding a place to write where you feel inspired is essential. This could be anywhere from your fave coffee shop, to a little nook in your living room…
I currently write on my dining room table as that’s the only room I have right now, but I make it a calm and inspirational space with quotes around my laptop, a vase of gorgeous flowers, my fave mug for my coffee and my water bottle so that I can keep hydrated and energised.
It doesn’t matter how small the space is, make it feel like a place you want to write in and settle down for some “you and your computer” time…
See what’s being shared. I love to look at what content is being shared within my niche. I check out Instagram and blog posts, so I can see how often things are being shared + blog comments to see how readers are responding and reacting to the content. This gives me ideas and lets me know what’s relevant and trending!
Let your voice come through. No matter what you’re saying, make sure you’re saying it as YOU! Don’t try and be something you’re not and definitely don’t try and be someone else. Of course it’s ok to see how other bloggers put themselves out there to get inspiration, but you’ll only succeed in blogging if you’re true to who you are plus if you’re acting like someone else, you’re not going to be able to keep it up and come across authentically. A big blogging failure…
Make your post the length it needs to be. Don’t look up how long your posts need to be because you’ll get a whole mix of info. Some research says shorter posts work best, whereas others state longform ones are better.
I follow one rule and that’s this – my posts are always the length they need to be to get all the information across I need to…
What day do you want to publish your posts? This is entirely up to you and maybe something you’ll change over time, when you start seeing what days your readers tend to check your posts out. The main thing is to pick a day that suits you and be consistent, as your readers will get to know when to expect your posts – whether this is once a week or once a month!
How often do you want to post? This is something you want to give some thought to. And – be realistic! You may want to post once a week, but this is actually quite hard, bearing in mind there’s a lot that goes into writing and putting together a post. Look at what time you have to dedicate to your blog and what you can reasonably do. Remember, blogging should be fun and the reason it’s such a fab way to do something for you and make money is because you can do it around your family and commitments, so don’t over commit yourself and it’s always best to write one amazing post every month, than 4 mediocre ones!
Keep a notebook on hand. I always, always have a notebook on hand (or my phone) so that whenever an idea pops into my head, I can write it down.
You’ll be surprised when ideas can suddenly emerge, like when you’re in the shower, out on a walk, or in bed lol 🙂 so having something nearby to take notes is wise, as you don’t want to miss out on any of those lightbulb moments!
Planning your Blog Post
We’re now going to get planning!
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln
I love the above quote as it shows that most of your time should always be spent in the planning stage.
If you plan everything out properly, physically writing your post will be a breeze!
I know the thought of planning it all out may seem daunting and even boring.
I know how much you want to just open up your laptop and start writing, but if you try and do this, you’ll sit there just staring at the screen, because you literally have no idea what to type.
Ok, you may manage to write off the cuff for a while, but your brainpower will soon fizzle out and you’ll be sat staring at a blank screen at some point.
But – if you spend the time planning out your topics, headings and subheadings etc, it makes it a much smoother process, that’s for sure.
So let’s look at what’s involved in the planning stage of your blog post…
The Structure of your Blog Post
Structuring your blog posts is extremely important, not only for readability purposes but because you want to maximise your posts potential every time you put one out there.
Having a good, solid structure means you can achieve that and it keeps things simple for you (the one who’s writing the posts).
Think of your posts like a story, they need a beginning, a middle and an end…
Beginning = Introduction
Middle = Blog Content
End = Conclusion
If you break it down into sections, it’s so much better for your mindset and keeps things simple.
If I didn’t take the time initially to think about all the things I want to include in each of my posts and have that mental outline in my brain, it would literally take me weeks to write and put anything together.
I need that clarity every time I sit down so that it doesn’t cause me to get overwhelmed and anxious.
I want to enjoy writing my posts and have fun with them and this is exactly what I do get because I’ve taken the time to put a structure in place.
I want to help you get that structure so you can enjoy the writing process and let your creative juices flow because having a blog means your focus is always the posts and the content you’re putting out to your audience.
How do you want your blog post to look?
So let’s start by thinking about how you want your posts to look…
What kinds of things do you want to include and what kinds of things do you need to include.
I started out by sitting down and writing on a piece of paper ALL the things I wanted to have in my posts…
I wanted to include:
Images to make my posts interesting and visual
A quote (as a fab quote is great for motivation)
Videos for tutorials and to show people how to do things
Social sharing buttons
Comments so people could share their thoughts and engage with my posts
To share the tools I couldn’t live and blog without…
I then looked at all the things I knew my posts would need…
I needed to include:
A catchy, interesting and enticing title
An Introduction to start the post off nicely
A Pin Image
The actual blog content broken down into headings and subheadings, bullet points and lists
An Email Opt-In opportunity
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
A Call to Action at the end of the post
So why don’t you take some time to sit down and think about all the things you want and need to have in your posts!
Most of the items will be similar to mine above, however, there may be other things you need or want to have, depending on your blog topic.
It doesn’t matter at this stage whether you’re going to include them all, just brain dump all the ideas you have.
Posts that work best tend to have the main topics you want to talk about in an H2 heading with subtopics in an H3 heading.
This breaks down the text, making it easier for your readers to consume, but also highlights specific and important information you want your readers to pick up on.
In a sea of text, your headers, images, bullet points and bold phrases are what will stand out, so make sure you have plenty for when people are skimming over your content, to get a gist of what it’s all about.
You’ll find that most people don’t actually read every single word of a post, they look over the text to pick out what interests them and this is why it’s super important to have the headings, subheadings, bullet points and bold phrases throughout your content.
Brainstorm Ideas for your Blog Post
So, when you’re in that first phase and you’re wondering where to start, brainstorming ideas is where to begin
You need to think about what you’re going to be writing about within the post.
Brainstorm ideas, mindmap them… put everything down on paper (or type in a word document).
This is the first step in putting a post together.
The ideas stage is integral to putting an awesome post together.
I keep an ideas file within my Google Drive, which I add to all the time!
Anytime I come across something or I’m having a “Research” afternoon (where I spend a few hours looking at blogs/Facebook Pages/Instagram Accounts etc in my niche seeing what’s being asked over and over and what’s trending) I add it to this document and have built up quite a bank of post ideas to pull from.
I also have them under my blog categories, and they’re colour coded too, to match the colours within my Editorial Calendar!
This makes it so much easier when I plan out my posts for the next few months or even the whole year ahead.
Research Keywords + Topics for your Blog Post
Researching keywords in your niche is a MUST…
You need to know what people in your industry are searching for, what their wants, needs and passions are!
This is how you find your audience and you gotta give them what they want. They’re the people who are going to be passionate about your blog and become raving fans.
Whenever I’m writing, I always have my avatar in mind. She’s the person I’m writing to and helping with all the content I put out in the world, whether it be emails, blog posts or social media posts.
My avatar is Abigail… (the first name that came to my head when I made her up).
She’s a mum who wants to work, but she also wants to always be there for her children, to take them to school, pick them up if they’re sick and not miss out on anything they go through, all those important milestones in life!
She wants to help out financially, but not by going back to the daily 9-5 grind, she so hated before!
A blog is a perfect way for her to do this, as she can do it around her family, work at her own pace and build something which she can love, make money from and be super proud of.
I keep Abigail in my head all the time when I’m writing, to make sure I’m staying on track.
Have a go at picturing an avatar yourself and write down who he or she is. What does he/she want and need, what’s their biggest problem?
Stick it somewhere or make sure it’s easy to refer back to again and again.
Let’s get into some keyword research now and look at how I do this and what I use…
There’s many ways you can do keyword research and also many tools that can help you out…
The 3 I’ve listed below and will be talking about are FREE to use and also super helpful, as I use them myself:
Ubersuggest
People Also Ask
Pinterest
NOTE: It’s very easy to get hung up on all the different tools out there as there’s tons, so just pick one or two which you like, find them easy to use and work well for you and leave it at that.
Ubersuggest for Keyword Research
Ubersuggest – This is a really cool keyword research tool and super easy to use.
You get 3 free searches a day and then you have to pay either monthly (£29) or get lifetime access (£290) but 3 daily searches should be more than enough for you when starting out.
I’ve not gone onto a paid plan for this tool just yet either, but I really love it.
I used the search term “How to bake chocolate cookies” and entered this into the search bar.
Keyword Overview
You can see it comes up with a keyword overview to start with.
Some key information then comes up:
Search Volume – the number of searches that the keyword has had during the month.
SEO Difficulty – this comes up with a number between 1-10 and is the estimated competition in an organic search. The higher this number is, the higher the competition, so for the example above, it’s at 7, so although it’s showing as quite high, it’s showing as easy to rank for.
Paid Difficulty – this is the estimated competition in paid search and as with the SEO above, the higher the number, the higher the competition.
Cost Per Click – this is the average cost per click you’d have to pay Google if you wanted to be seen as an ad! If a higher CPC is being paid, this usually indicates the keyword is more valuable.
We then move on to further keyword information, which is the ideas section.
Keyword Ideas
You can see below the information which comes up under this section of the tool (some of which are the same as above and used in most keyword tools):
Keyword – this is the words that people are typing into Google.
Trend – the search volume of the keyword over the last 12 months (you can see from the chart that this search term was at its highest in June).
Volume – the same as above.
CPC – the same as above.
PD – the same as above.
SD – the same as above.
I did a quick video to show you how it looks in real-time and the different options you can click on.
If you click on “View All Keyword Ideas” underneath, it then comes up with lots more information on more searched keywords related to your initial keyword and you can even export to CSV and get a spreadsheet of more keywords.
It even goes as far as letting you know which websites have this keyword within their URL under another search which includes:
Google Serp – this is the top 100 URLs that are ranking for the keyword when searched on Google.
Estimated Visits – this is the estimated traffic that this web page gets from Google for this search term.
Links – this is how many incoming hyperlinks are from other websites to this domain.
DS – this is a search ranking score by Moz that predicts how likely the website is likely to rank on SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) A domain authority score is given between 1 and 100 and then this is used when comparing websites or tracking the strength of a website over time.
Social Shares – this is the total number of times this URL is shared on social networks.
This information can also be downloaded as a CSV file…
This awesome tool even gives you a Content Ideas section, because once you’ve found a keyword you then need to think up ideas to use this keyword in your content.
This tool shares articles which have been written in the past using the keyword either within their title or meta description you entered and you can click on the links to see them too…
It also has a Chrome extension you can install (I would do this as it’s great) which tells you how many monthly searches your keyword gets plus the cost per click for it too, as soon as you enter it in the Google search bar and press enter.
The extension also brings up all the other information, such as the domain authority the site has, the domain traffic and how many shares.
Overall I love this simple and easy to use keyword research tool and haven’t found anything better so far and like I said before, why would I go trying to find something else and boggle my mind, when this is perfectly fine and does all I need it to.
I highly recommend you check it out 🙂
People Also Ask…
The next place I go to carry out keyword research is the “People Also Ask” section on Google, as this also shows the search terms people are typing in.
You can click on the dropdown arrow and more ideas will appear of what people are typing in.
There’s not really much to say about this way of doing keyword research, it’s just a helpful way of seeing what people are searching the internet for.
The final way I carry out research for topics to write about is Pinterest.
If you start by typing in the keyword, you can see it brings up what people are searching for (the same as in Google).
Pinterest is a fab place to play around with ideas for blog posts and what I love about it, is the little tab bar that comes up underneath of all the things people are searching for within Pinterest.
I also love it because it’s all pretty, has beautiful images and super colourful. It’s just a wonderful platform to carry research out in!
You can see in the image below that I typed in “Chocolate Cookies” and then all kinds of things came up, such as:
Recipes
German
Peppermint
Flourless
Triple
And many more…
This is what people are wanting to find out about, so you can find so many ideas to write posts on, all of which are trending and what people want to get information on.
Using the examples below, you could write the following posts:
Recipes – 12 of the Best Chocolate Cookie Recipes in 2021
German – Simple Chocolate Cookies Made with the Best German Chocolate!
Peppermint – Double Dipped Peppermint Chocolate Cookies To Die For!
Flourless – Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies that are Super Delicious!
Triple – 3 Super Tasty Triple Chocolate Cookie Recipes You can make in Under 5 Minutes!
The great thing is, the more you click on the tabs, the more ideas come up. It’s like a maze of information and it’s all right there for you to use to get fantastic ideas to write your posts on.
So that’s it for the tools and resources I use for carrying out my keyword research.
They’re all easy to use and I never get flustered trying to work out how to use anything (which a lot of keyword research tools can). They’re just simple and get the job done!
BONUS Place to find Topics for your Blog Post
One other way you can find out what to write about is to check out your competition. Yep, that’s right – check out other blogs in your niche and see what they’re writing about.
Look at their comments and social media platforms and see what’s being asked over and over…
What are their audiences really interested in?
What questions are they asking and need answers for?
Look at what’s being shared the most!
Sign up for their email lists and see what they’re sending out!
You can do all these things alongside using the other tools for some additional inspiration and blog post ideas.
Always, always make sure you’re never copying what others are doing as this is plagiarizing and you can get into a lot of trouble for this.
Write A Blog Post Outline
I feel this is one of the most important steps when it comes to writing a blog post!
Having an outline of everything you want to put in the post will help you massively, as it will help it flow and will keep you focused.
For me personally, I can’t sit down and start writing freestyle, without knowing all the parts I’m going to be talking about.
That doesn’t mean it needs to be detailed, it just needs to be a basic idea of what the post is going to be about.
You have to have a good foundation. It’s like writing a story. You need to have a beginning, a middle and an end:
Introduction – Beginning
Content – Middle
Conclusion – End
I need to know the headings and subheadings. I need to know all the moving parts to get my post from start to finish!
If I don’t, my brain is just a mash of information that’s all over the place.
So, with that said, here is a brief outline of what I would include when I’m writing an outline for a post:
Purpose of your Blog Post
Think about what the purpose of your post is! WHY are you writing it?
Do you want to teach a lesson?
Do you want to inspire your readers?
Are you answering a burning question!
Your post needs to have a purpose and a goal for why you’re writing it.
Are you writing a post reviewing a product? therefore the goal is to receive an affiliate commission for the product you’re reviewing.
Are you writing a post raving about your latest freebie, therefore your goal is to get your readers to sign up and grab it…
If you’re just writing randomly and not aiming towards the bigger picture, you’ll find your posts will be all over the place, with no rhyme or reason to them, making it hard for your readers to follow.
All the posts you write should be working towards an overall goal, because blogging for a purpose is so important if you want to take it from hobby level to business, money-making level!
So once you’ve gone through all the above, you’re going to be fully prepared to start actually writing your blog post, which is the stage we’re going onto next…
Writing your Blog Post
Wow, you’ve done amazing so far lovely 🙂
Planning your post may not be the most exciting of tasks, but it really will make writing your posts a much easier and simple process – every single time!
Once you’ve planned it all out, all the guesswork is taken away so it’s a smooth process.
So when it comes to writing your posts, what do you need to think about?
Make Blog Posts Interesting, Engaging + Easy to Read
For starters, you want to make sure your posts are interesting and engaging for your readers…
It’s not just about the text itself.
You want your posts to look and feel good for your readers and it becomes about the post as a whole and the experience your reader will have when going through it.
This can be done in so many ways and I’ve mentioned all the ways below that can make your posts more interesting, readable and fun:
An Amazing Title is what will make readers click on your post in the first place, so you need it to be enticing, concise and clear as to what the post’s about.
Headings H2 & H3 – make sure you’re definitely using these headings within your content. They’re the best way to separate topics and make your post flow.
Use bullet points to break down information as huge blocks of text can become boring and tiresome. Bullet points just break up that text and look visually more enticing to read. I love, love, love using them in all my posts, as I feel listing things down makes things so much easier to read.
Bold Text You want to make important words, phrases and sentences stand out and you can do this by bolding the text. I do this a lot (as you can see) in all my posts. Your reader’s eye can easily be drawn to the attention of a bold text.
Add lots of relevant images because people love visual content. You can either find stock images that relate to your post (I use Canva for my images) or even better (something I still need to do myself) is take your own photos, making them unique to you and your blog! You can take awesome photos with your Smartphone nowadays, so you don’t need to go out and buy a fancy camera.
Include videos so that people can see & hear you, which is more personal. It’s also a more engaging way for your readers to absorb the info and learn from you. I include videos within most of my posts because I like to have that format for my readers to see me.
Add charts, graphs & tables to show stats and numerical information. Tables are fab for sharing data and giving research info.
Be True, Be You and let your personality shine through. A lot of times, the reason people become raving fans is because they like you and you make a big impression on them. Being honest and transparent with your readers will make a massive difference and will let them see the real you. They’ll then find it easier to relate to you and your brand!
Include Call to Actions within every single one of your posts. This can be anything from adding a sign up box to a freebie to asking them to leave a comment (or both). Whatever you do, don’t waste the opportunity of getting something from your reader before they leave.
People love to see examples of the things you’re talking about as this helps them to understand easier. It’s great to show real-life successes and for your readers to see how others have overcome challenges and have got from Point A to Point B. I always try to include examples where I can.
I love using icons and little graphics as they’re cool and different to just having a load of images throughout my posts. I again use Canva for all images, icons and vectors that I use on my blog.
Tell a Story as this will make your readers engage with you on a deeper level. As humans, we all love a good story as it’s interesting and allows people to get to know you more.
Don’t waffle on and bore your readers. Get to the point and say only what you need to say. That doesn’t mean your posts need to be really short. A lot of my own posts are fairly long because I have a lot of relevant and fab information I want to get out to you guys! Just stay on track, leave out the fluff and don’t go off on a tangent too much.
Different Font for your Headings. This may also be something that will help your headings stand out, but make sure your fonts are always easy to read.
Be Clear and Specific. It’s very important to always be clear and specific in your posts so that your readers understand what you’re talking about.
Make it Easy to Navigate around. I always have a Contents Page on my posts, so my readers can see what the post’s about at a glance and can skip to the sections they want to read about if they don’t have time to read the whole thing (something which can happen with my looooong posts).
Write using Simple Language + Words. As I said in the previous section, keep your language simple and don’t use words people haven’t heard of or are too complicated. I always say if there’s a simple word for it, use it!
The Length of your Paragraphs within your Content. It’s always best to have short sentences, around 4-5 sentences tops.
No Huge Text Blocks. This is another one I’ve mentioned in this post, but you really don’t want to have huge text blocks. Sometimes you may need them, but try and stay away from using them often.
Quotes. I also love using a quote! In fact, I have a quote at the beginning of all my posts as I love to give a bit of motivation before my readers even begin reading.
So that’s all the things I can think of for making your posts interesting, readable and fun – for now anyway 🙂
But if you think of any more, let me know as I’m always looking for new ways to spice my posts up.
The Benefits of Writing a Draft Blog Post (Always)
I always, always write a draft for ALL my blog posts…
I find it’s a necessary task and one I put a lot of time and effort into.
As I briefly mentioned in this post earlier, I never write freely inside of WordPress. I always write my drafts in Google Docs because it’s easy and simple to use.
It can be awkward and a bit clunky trying to shuffle things around and type directly into the Gutenberg Editor, whereas writing my post in an actual word processor is smooth sailing and I can just copy + paste it into WordPress either all in one go, or in sections as I go along!
The fab thing about using Google Docs or even Word, is you can set up default fonts and font sizes for your headings, to match your brand (and blog), so that every time you open a new document, it will use the ones you’ve set up.
This is great, as it transfers across into WordPress if you have the same fonts and sizes set up on both, which is a big time saver!
Writing a draft means you can use your outline, which is the skeleton of your post and pad out the details…
It means you can chop and change things, move things around and add to it as and when you need to.
It enables your ideas to flow and your content to become more organized.
I highly recommend you write a draft on all your posts, as you’ll feel a lot less pressure when you’re able to write freely.
Next up we’re talking about writing styles…
What is your writing style?
Your writing style may be something you’re unsure about to start with, but it won’t take long to get into the swing of what will be your own “writing style”.
The more you write, the more you’ll get to know who you are as a writer!
That being said, blogging isn’t about being a fantastic writer – we’re not authors after all…
Yes, you have to be able to make sense, get what you want to say out there, in a way your readers can relate to and enjoy, but you don’t have to worry about being J.R.R. Tolkien or Hemingway…
Blogging is all about enjoying writing and giving people the information they want to read, enjoy and take something from (whatever that may be).
I love to write on my blog because I love the process of writing.
It kinda comes naturally to me as I like to get my thoughts down onto paper a lot and always have done.
I was always good at English at school, but completely sucked at Maths, so that probably has something to do with the fact I enjoy it so much, plus I read a lot too, so I guess I like all things text.
My mind is more English than Mathematics in the way it works, that’s for sure…
If you check out other blogs, you’ll get a feel of how the writer talks within their posts.
You’ll see the language they use, the way they come across and how they engage with their readers.
A writing style is very distinct to each person, as we all speak differently, use different language to say things and portray ourselves in our own unique way.
It’s about being authentic and original to who you are and is just as much about “how things are said” as well as “what is said”.
Your writing style definitely matters and has an impact on your blog. It helps to build trust and you need to keep your readers reading until the end.
It’s also where your personality is injected and your tone comes through.
Some things to think about when it comes to your style of writing are:
Be conversational as this keeps your reader engaged.
Always be present in your writing and talk to your reader like they’re right there in the room with you, having a conversation!
Don’t use big words that no one understands.
Think about your choice of words – don’t swear, curse, rant and rave or be abusive in any kind of way
Your tone – the tone is VERY important and there’s lots of tones in writing. The tone determines how you’re going to communicate and come across to your readers.
Let’s look at some of the different tones we come across:
Friendly
Formal
Informal
Educational
Funny
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Serious
Informative
Entertaining
When you think about the tone you want to take when writing, you don’t want to force it.
It should come naturally and flow as you write.
It should never feel forced or like you’re trying too hard!
If you’re not a naturally funny person, if you try to be funny when blogging, you’ll find you won’t be able to keep it up and this will show through to your readers.
It’s very easy to look at one of your favourite funny bloggers and say to yourself “I want to write like that”, but if it doesn’t come natural to you, then it’ll come across all wrong and uncomfortable for your audience – which ain’t good!
This also works the other way around though, in that if you want to come across as serious and this just isn’t in your nature, it will come through in your writing and feel unreal and fake!
Basically, however you are in real life, be like this on your blog. Write like you talk to your friends – your personality and the way you talk should reflect in your writing and it should feel natural.
Think about why people like you?
How would people describe you?
Who are you?
People are inspired by real people, so be a real person and you’ll be absolutely fine lovely 🙂
My final word on writing styles (as I’ve gone off on one a bit in this part) is that blogging is all about writing with purpose, connecting and resonating with your audience.
It’s about your readers feeling something when they read your posts (whatever it is you want them to feel – sad, happy, educated, motivated etc…)
Use your unique voice and your unique tone and say what you gotta say Mumma and don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect and get it right all the time!
Love and enjoy your blog the way you should 🙂
Don’t overthink and try to be perfect when writing your blog post
This is something I always do.
I always, always overthink my posts and think they’re not good enough to put out, but I’ve learnt now that it’s best to get something out into the world that’s imperfect, rather than not put anything out at all.
Publishing a post doesn’t mean you can’t go back and change things.
You can always change things, add things and sort out the grammar and vocabulary, so stop panicking and get some of your awesomeness out there!
People want and need to read it 🙂
Make the post valuable
Always make sure you’re giving value to your readers.
Don’t put anything on your blog which isn’t helpful, inspiring or entertaining AND don’t ever put content out just for the sake of putting content out.
Giving value comes in the form of writing content they want and can make use of!
Solve problems and questions your audience are asking for and give them something they can benefit from.
Get them to participate and join in.
You can do this by asking them to comment on the post and answer a question at the end.
You can also add in relevant links to other resources which will help your reader. This includes internal links to your own related posts and also external links to relevant posts as well.
Only link to external blogs and sites if the content is really awesome and adds extra value to your reader.
You don’t want to be linking to lots of outside sources constantly, as you’ll lose your readers to other people.
Adding in Anchor Text is also another fab way to give real value.
Anchor Text is where you create a clickable text link via a hyperlink and when it’s clicked on, it goes to another part of your post (if you want to refer back to something) or even to another post or section of a post completely!
All you have to do is find the post or the part of the post you want to link to.
This works great if you use the Gutenberg Editor and have a contents page, as you can find the section within the contents page you want to link to, click it so you go to that part of the page and then copy and paste the link that comes up in the search bar!
Share your opinions
Sharing your opinions is something you can definitely do on your blog.
At the end of the day, it’s your blog and you can put what you like on it (within reason of course and you should never, ever be abusive, unkind or bully others in anyway) but when sharing opinions, it becomes about how you share them…
Of course, you can agree and disagree, especially when you’re reviewing a product or talking about some latest news, but you don’t want to come across as really opinionated in the way you talk.
Exploding in anger isn’t the way to go, but sharing your thought process on why you disagree with something in an honest and kind way is fine, as people will expect you to give an opinion!
Your readers are on your blog because they want to know how you feel about the topic, or they wouldn’t be there in the first place.
End your Blog Post the right way!
So you’ve written an amazing post with all the bullet points, headings, images and charts and now you need to end it the right way!
First of all, add a Conclusion and summarise the main points you’ve talked about in the post.
Highlight the really important points, so that they’re at the forefront of your readers minds when they finish reading the post.
Ending your post should also include a Call to Action – ALWAYS!
Don’t let your readers leave without taking action on something as it is such a missed opportunity.
Add a signup box and get them to sign up for a freebie that’s relevant to the post or get them to answer a question, so they can share their comments and make their opinions known to you.
TIP: Reply to all the comments when you’re starting out as this helps to build trust and authority and shows you care and take an interest in what they have to say.
You can simply ask them to share the post with their friends too, as this is a great way for getting your post out into the world even more.
Editing your Blog Post
You’ve completed 3 of the 5 stages now and should be unbelievably proud of yourself.
I’m so, so proud of you for getting this far, persevering and sticking with me.
Just two more stages to go whoop whoop 🙂
You’ve carried out all of the hardest parts of writing your blog post and now it’s time for you to go over it, re-read and edit anything that needs editing!
I know it may seem overwhelming and a lot right now, but I promise you, the more you do this and the more posts you write – it will get simpler, easier and quicker.
You’ll be writing the best blog posts every single time before you know it!
My first posts weren’t great at all.
I felt awkward and extremely vulnerable putting myself and my content out there.
It took me a ton of time, because I was going back and forth, had no plan and didn’t know my butt from my elbow lol …
But after I’d written a few, got a feel for what I wanted to include and how I wanted the layout to be, I had more of a system in my head of the way I wanted to write my posts every time.
You have to remember that nothing ever happens overnight and it can take time to get to grips with writing, but keep practising and you’ll get more comfortable as time goes on.
So let’s look at the steps I take when it comes to editing my posts (another vital part of writing).
Step 1 – Check Spelling, Grammar + Punctuation
Spelling is something you want to be checking and the good thing is, you don’t have to go through it manually, because if you’re using a word doc, then you’ll have a spell checker built-in.
It’s not the “b all and end all” if you misspell something, but at least make sure you’re checking it, because once or twice is ok, but if you’re constantly spelling things wrong, people may start to think you don’t give a damn about the content you’re putting out there and it starts to look unprofessional.
Grammar and Punctuation is also something you want to check. Again, you can either get someone to check it for you, or you can use a fab tool like Grammarly, which has a free and paid version.
I use the free version and it does me just fine, as it checks for spelling and grammatical errors.
You can install it everywhere as well, so you can add it to all your devices so it can be used on the go… perfect for the bloggers lifestyle 🙂
You may want to turn it off when you’re actually writing your post initially, as any extensions can really slow things down, which gets super annoying.
When I’m writing my draft in Google Docs, I tend to have nothing else open and all the extensions temporarily turned off!
Step 2 – Proofread your Blog Post
You can’t beat a good proofread.
I would say check it over yourself first and see what you can pick up, but then let someone you trust read over it and see what they think.
See how it comes across to them and whether anything needs to be tweaked…
They could also help eliminate any unnecessary words or phrases and anything repetitive.
It’s very easy to miss things when you’re “in” the post all the time, which is why the proofreading stage is so important, to get fresh eyes to look at it from another perspective.
Giving it to someone you trust is very important as well, because you want to be given constructive criticism, feedback and suggestions, not someone saying “yeah it’s fine” or “it’s ok”… as this doesn’t help you at all!
Make sure it flows and you like and understand what you read.
Think about it from your readers point of view. Does it come across like you want it to?
If you’re teaching how to do something, go through the steps yourself and confirm they work and get you to the outcome you desire.
If you’re trying to reach someone emotionally, ensure you get the outcome of emotions you want your readers to reach.
Step 3 – The Layout of your Blog Post
So along with all the spelling, grammar and making sure it reads ok, you also need to have your posts looking nice and readable.
Now you’ve written the whole post, you want to ensure it’s all looking good with headers, images, bullet points etc…
Simple is always best in my eyes, as the information is the most important thing, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t make it look pretty and joyful for your readers.
Just don’t spend a ton of time on this as it’s better spent concentrating on the next awesome post you’re going to put out there…
There are other things you want to look at and tweak within the editing stage…
Relook at the title and make sure it’s catchy, intriguing and still resonates with the content of the post you’ve written. Would you click on it if you were scrolling through Google? The great thing is, at this stage, you can change the title before you hit the Publish button and a permalink/URL is generated. I mentioned before that you don’t want to be changing it once it’s published, as you run the risk of broken links, especially if you’ve added the link to your other posts.
Check there aren’t any broken links. There’s nothing worse than clicking on a link that doesn’t go anywhere and you get the “oops, this page no longer exists”… Always check and update links throughout your blog, if you do make any changes.
Are all your facts correct? If you’re using facts and stats, make sure they’re from a reliable source, correct and up to date! You want credible information to pass on to your readers.
Preview your posts and see what they look like. Do they look clear and readable and are they set out in a format that your readers can absorb the info properly, all the while enjoying it. Make sure there aren’t too many distractions either (ads, pop-ups etc).
Leave a bit of time between writing and editing your post. Take a breather and step back for a day or two once you’ve written your post. This gives you time to reset, so that you can edit from a fresh mindset.
Don’t get overly stressed out. Your post does not need to be perfect. It just needs to get done! I’m an absolute nightmare with this myself, as I’m such a perfectionist, but I’ve had to learn to be imperfect to move forward and actually get things done, otherwise I would be sat constantly trying to write and rewrite things over and over…
Finally – is your post engaging? If your readers can’t engage with it or get the point of your posts, you’ll lose them. Make it engaging by including different media, such as videos and audio and add it in relevant images too!
(I add all my media and images etc AFTER I’ve written and edited my post – which I talk about in the next section of this post)
So the rest of the post is going to be laid out in a list format style, because I want to share all the information, but I don’t want to go into great detail over them.
There’s 3 more areas I want to cover still:
Once the post is written
What “not” to do within your posts
Tips for a great blog post
These all come under the “post-writing” stage, so let’s get into it right away 🙂
What do you do after you’ve Written your Blog Post
The post writing stage is going to include all the things to look at AFTER you’ve written and edited the post.
Once the post is written and proofread!
After you’ve written and proofread your post, now’s the time to think about all the other things you need to add to your post, to bulk it out, make it interesting and turn it into a fully-fledged post…
I’ll now list down all the things I add into my posts:
Add in a comments section
You can get a plugin do this or, if you’re using the Gutenberg Editor, you can add in the “Comments” block.
If you’re using the Divi Theme, it has its own comments block you can use too.
You can create it once and save it as a template, so that you can use it over and over again!
Make sure your post is mobile optimised and responsive
Does it look fab on mobile, tablet and desktop? If not, tweak it, as Gutenberg offers the previews of mobile and tablets and you can change things on each of them.
Include Social Share Buttons
It’s always a good idea to have social sharing buttons and to make it easy, you can get plugins for this also.
A really awesome plugin you can use is Social Warfare (the FREE version as this is more than enough).
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
A super important part of blogging is Search Engine Optimisation.
You want to make sure you’re completing what you can on this.
Again, there’re many plugins around for this, but the one I’ve recently come across is Rank Math, which I’m testing and actually prefer to the one I have been using, Yoast.
It isn’t so complex and If I were to recommend one to you right now, I’d say Rank Math, but it’s entirely up to you which one you choose.
Go with what you’re more comfortable with, but at the end of the day, don’t get hung up on it as they both do exactly the same thing.
The aim with Rank Math is to try and aim to have the box in the top right hand corner green, with as near to a 100 score as possible.
Please do not worry though if you aren’t getting this straight away.
As long as your content reads well, is interesting, relates to your niche and is what your audience wants, then don’t go crazy trying to get it 100/100.
I only ever get it in the 80’s and I’m happy with that!
Preview Meta Description/Edit Snippet – this is where you can preview the snippet that will show up on Google when people are searching for information. It will automatically drag through some information from the post, but you can check the URL and description by clicking on the “Edit Snippet” button. You want to make sure this is enticing and clickable and gives a very brief explanation of what the post will be about. Enough to make people click to read more…
Focus Keyword – make sure this is your title or the Keyword you want to focus on for that post. I always use my post title for this, as I’ve already done my Keyword research to get the title in the first place.
Pillar Post – You can tick this box if your post is a pillar post (see earlier on in the post where I talk about pillar posts)
After the above has been completed, there’s also 4 sections which Rank Math considers important for the overall SEO ranking of your post.
Basic SEO
Additional
Title Readability
Content Readability
Rank Math will tell you whether there are errors within the post or whether it’s all good!
Within each of the 4 sections, there is a list of items which will come up with either a green tick when they’re ok or a red cross if they need improving…
You just need to go through and try and improve the ones with a red cross next to them.
Each item listed has a little question mark next to it, so you can click on it and see what it’s asking you to do, making it super easy to know what to do!
It may look complicated, but it isn’t and it won’t take you long to complete these sections after every post you write.
It will become a habit over time, the more you do it.
It’s important to fill them out though, as this will help you massively with your SEO and blog ranking, just don’t get obsessed with trying to get 100/100.
Just do your best and leave it at that and move on, so you don’t go completely insane lol 🙂
Make sure you have a good Permalink – you need to make sure your permalink/URL is related to your post and has your keyword(s) within it. As I’ve mentioned before, you really do not want to be changing your permalinks once you’ve published your posts, as any posts you’re linked to will be affected and will end up as broken links!
Are you including any Videos
If you’re adding in any videos to your post, now’s the time to add them!
I highly recommend you have videos where you can, as when it comes to teaching – seeing can sometimes be better than reading, because you can actually show your readers how to do it and they can follow along with you, pausing the video as they go.
Categorise your post
Make sure to have a few relevant categories on your blog, as this will help your readers to find things and it separates the topics for them as well.
You can then add your post to the relevant category when you’ve written it, by checking the box for the one you want!
Add photos, Images, Featured Image
Now is also the time to add in any photos and images you want to include.
If you do add images, make sure to add in the “Alt Text” description, which is important for people who can’t see the images, along with the browsers which block images and screen readers…
Having a Featured Image is also fab, because they can make your posts stand out on your blog, but it depends on your blog layout and whether it’s something you want to include (as you do not have to).
Add a Pin Image
Make sure you add in a Pin Image, as you’re missing out on an opportunity to a huge, creative and beautiful search engine if you don’t.
I always create at least 3 pin images for each blog post I write, as I can add one to my post and then add the others to Pinterest itself…
I always use Canva to create them as well, as they have an array of design templates you can use and customize, making it easy and quick to do!
Add Internal and External Links
Most of your posts will have links in, either for other posts (yours or outside posts and articles) tools, resources or affiliate links…
I tend to add these in as I go along within the Google Docs draft mode, because they do pull through when I copy and paste into WordPress, but you can also go back through after and add them in – whatever works for you!
Add a Footer
Your footer is a prime location for adding in some affiliate product links, links to important legal pages, social sharing buttons and a freebie etc…
Some blog themes allow you to create a footer and add it to every page and post on your blog, others you can have it on certain pages and posts…
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to utilise the footer as it really is a great place to have important things you want (and need) to share with your readers.
Offer an Opt-In/Content Upgrade (freebie)
Adding an opt-in freebie or a content upgrade is a great thing to do on EVERY blog post.
I like to try and create a unique, individual freebie for every post, if I can and have this either at the end of the post or within the post somewhere.
Make sure posts are up to date
Keeping your posts up to date and relevant is super important.
The great thing with blogging is, posts can always be revisited, updated and changed whenever you want and need to…
You can just go back in and amend them (in draft mode) and then republish it.
Going back through and re-reading your posts every so often makes sure you’re keeping things fresh and giving your readers the right and updated information.
You never know whether you’re going to have a new perspective or something new to add in too, making it even more awesome for your readers!
Plus, as you write more posts, you’ll want to go back and add links to these within your older and relevant posts.
Don't write and forget your posts
A lot of people make the mistake of writing a post, publishing it and then that’s it!
You don’t want to be writing and forgetting your posts at all…
You want to be promoting them on social media, talking about them within your newsletters to your email subscribers and re-pin your pin images on Pinterest to bring a new lease of life to it.
Schedule/Publish your blog post
Once your post’s written, edited and you’ve added in all the extras you want above, it’s time to either schedule it for a specific date and time or hit that “Publish” button!
I know you may be feeling scared or nervous to do this, but after you’ve done it the first time, it gets easier and more comfortable…
People want to hear what you have to say, so you need to get it out there lovely 🙂
Also, don’t worry about people who may want to be negative towards you or your content.
They don’t matter…
You’ll never appeal to everyone, but you don’t need to concentrate on them, you just need to concentrate on the people who do love you and what you have to say!
They’re your audience and your raving fans, so do all you can to look after them and give them what they want and need.
What NOT to do in your posts (and blog overall…)
Now, I want to delve into what NOT to do within your posts and well… your whole blog in fact!
I hope that what I share here will really help you out so that your blog can be the most amazing experience for you and your readers!
I’m just going to go ahead and list them all down for you to read and take note!
NEVER EVER bash people in your blog posts or anywhere on your blog. It’s unethical, unkind and inhuman so don’t do it. Even if you get angry with someone’s negative comments, or don’t agree with what someone is saying, leave it alone and remove the comments. Don’t respond…
Don’t put ads everywhere as this can be really off putting and can clutter up your blog and posts.
Don’t forget to link to older/other posts of yours. Don’t waste an opportunity to get your readers to check out more of your fab content.
Don’t limit your word count. I mentioned this earlier on in this post, but your post will be the length it needs to be to get what you want and need to say out there. Just don’t waffle on and on…
Don’t write negatively, even if it’s on a negative topic. You can share your thoughts and points of view with your audience on something which may not be the happiest or easiest of things to write about, but it doesn’t mean it has to be conveyed in a negative manner. You can still put a positive spin on things.
Don’t write super, duper long paragraphs. Keep them short and sweet, making the text easier to absorb and the reader experience enjoyable! Huge blocks of text aren’t fun for anyone.
Don’t lose focus… Don’t lose focus of your “Why” for blogging in the first place. This keeps you motivated, consistent and always moving forward to push yourself to achieve your goals.
Don’t get egotistical. As you grow and become more well known in your space and niche, don’t let it go to your head! Stay grounded and remind yourself constantly that you want to help as many people as you can with your content. Yes, you may start earning a decent amount of money after a while (if you put in the time and effort) but make sure you’re not only doing it for the money. People will see through you…
Don’t write for anyone other than your target audience. You can’t and shouldn’t cater for everyone. There’s millions of blogs out there and in order for yours to even have a chance to stand out, it needs to be niched and even niched, niched down, with awesomely, fantastic content.
If you’re using images, photos and data, check whether any attributions are needed. If you use other people’s work, you need to check whether they’re happy for you to use them and if so, whether they want to be mentioned for doing so. You don’t want to be infringing any copyright laws.
Always ask readers for their comments and interaction. Your readers want to be involved and feel part of a community. You’re doing yourself and them a disservice if you don’t ask them for anything when they visit your blog and read your posts.
Think about how you want to format your posts. You want to make sure they’re laid out in a way that your content flows smoothly and stands out (with headings, bullet points and bold phrases etc), is easy to read and isn’t cluttered with too much stuff, such as ads and irrelevant information.
Don’t copy other people’s blog posts. This seems like common sense, but it’s amazing how many posts I’ve seen online which are literally copied word for word to another. I don’t know how they get away with it and sleep at night, knowing they’ve stolen someone else’s work. Make sure your content is original and written by you!
Don’t stuff your posts with Keywords. Keywords should be placed naturally throughout your blog posts and although you may think that it will improve your SEO, it’ll actually kill it! It’s really important to include them, but your writing will be out of context and all over the place if you’re concentrating more on getting your keywords in there, than writing something which makes sense and is worth your readers time.
Don’t Publish your post without checking it through. Read, read and read your posts again to make sure they flow, make sense and are something you’d really want to read if you were a new reader coming to your blog for the first time.
So that’s it, we’ve gone through everything you need to know to help you write the BEST blog post every single time!
We’ve covered:
Pre-Planning – what makes a good blog post and the kinds of posts you can write + the 13 things to think about BEFORE you start writing.
Planning – how to structure your post, keyword research, the purpose of your post and getting an outline together.
Writing – how to make posts interesting to read, the benefits of writing a draft and your writing style.
Editing – checking spelling and grammar, layouts and what to tweak.
After the Post is Written – adding in all the other things to complete your blog post once it’s written.
That's all the elements needed to get you from nothing to an amazing, beautiful blog post.
These are all important and vital parts for me to consistently write the best blog posts I can, each and every time.
I go through this process every time I sit down to write a new post and yes – it takes a while, but I feel calm and unflustered because I have a plan and process to follow.
Just make sure your main points stand out with headings and bullet points, so that if people do skim, they can pick out the important info!
Being specific and having a clear topic for each of your posts is also a must. Don’t go off on a tangent on a million different things.
You can write separate posts for each topic, so it’s not too broad, plus this makes for more posts on your blog too.
Always plan and draft an outline without fail. I love the following quote because it’s just so true…
It takes more time initially but saves a ton of time when it comes to the actual writing stage.
Another thing I wanted to touch upon is knowing your audience, because this will really help you write your posts.
Find out what they want and give it to them.
If you haven’t launched your blog yet, have a few posts written first, so that when you do go live – you’ve a handful of posts in draft mode to hit “publish” on every week while you get underway with blogging!
I cannot recommend this enough. Even if your blogs already live and you have multiple posts published, you can still write a few to place in draft mode, ready to showcase!
My final word on writing blog posts is this – don't obsess over trying to be perfect...
Perfect does not exist and getting something out there into the world is much better than sitting obsessing over something which in your eyes, will never be perfect.
We’re all our own worst critics!
Write it to your best ability and then hit that “Publish” button.
It’s not like you can’t go back and change it or add something you may have forgotten.
That’s the beauty of blogging 🙂 xx
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the Ultimate Guide to writing the BEST blog post every time as I’ve covered everything I can think of to help you…
