The art of writing a blog post lies in storytelling. If you understand the power of storytelling, you will be able to attract readers by engaging them at the beginning of the post with a hook and make them read the rest of the post with the smooth flow of the content.
Readers want something valuable for the time they spent reading a blog post. It might be valuable information that you put together as a blog post, subscribing to a free newsletter, or access content that’s unlocked once they subscribe to an email list.
The Structure of a Blog Post
One question that often lingers on a writer’s mind is how to improve writing skills for a blog post. You can improve your writing skills in more than one way, but the quickest way to learn is to know about the structure of a blog post.
The process enables you to learn it the quick way and will help you if the end goal is to convert readers into customers or make them come back to read your blog.
The basic format of a blog post includes:
- A catchy headline with the primary keyword
- A hook to make the readers keep on reading
- A body with headings, subheadings containing secondary keywords, bullet points, and short paragraphs
- A conclusion
- A call to action
Choosing a Topic for the Blog Post
The first step in writing a blog post is to choose a topic. The topic can be something that you’re passionate about, or from a pure business perspective, it can be a topic that can convert readers into loyal customers.
The next step is to know about your target audience. The best way to learn about the target audience is to know what they’re searching for on the Internet.
People search for something they don’t know about, which can be in the form of a solution to a problem or a remedy to help relieve pain. What they type into the search engines is called a keyword.
Keyword Research and Competitor Analysis
With the help of keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Long Tail Pro, you can narrow down the list of keywords to write a blog post. The said keyword research tools will help you get keywords that are easy to rank. Always try to look out for low-hanging keywords, and after getting positive results, aim for medium to difficult keywords.
After completing the keyword research, create a headline with the primary keyword. Most popular headlines contain a solution to a problem, how-to guides, or a listicle. You can use the secondary keywords in the body and subheadings of the post.
You’ve to analyze your competitors’ websites to rank in search engines. By analyzing your competitors, you can outrank them and stand out as an authority in your niche or chosen topic. The way to do it is to do better than what your competitors have done with their websites.
Analyze your competitors on the first page of the search engine for the keyword you want to rank. Add the word count of the posts on the first page and divide it by 10. Now you get the average word count for your blog post. Do the same exercise with h2 tags, h3 tags, images, and embedded videos.
Now you’re fully equipped with an arsenal of information that you need to outrank your competitors.
After choosing a topic and doing keyword research and competitor analysis, the next step is to create an outline.
Creating an Outline
Even experienced writers make the mistake of writing a blog post without creating an outline. Writing an outline helps you write fast while maintaining the structure of the post.
For example, if you want to write a post on weight loss, you would create a headline, “How to Lose 10 Pounds in 14 Days.” Listed below is a structure of an outline with h1, h2, and h3 tags. In most cases, the h1 tag resembles the headline or title of the post, the h2 tag is for subheadings, and the h3 tag is for sub-subheadings.
- <h1> How to Lose 10 Pounds in 14 Days </h1>
- <h2> Eat Low Carbs for Weight Loss </h2>
- <h3> Eat Eggs </h3>
- <h3> Eat Broccoli </h3>
- <h3> Eat Fish </h3>
- <h2> Whole Foods for Weight Loss </h2>
- <h3> Eat Green Leafy Vegetables </h3>
- <h3> Eat Nuts and Seeds </h3>
- <h3> Eat Legumes </h3>
- <h2> Reduce Your Calorie Intake </h2>
- <h2> Lift Weights and Do High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) </h2>
- <h2> Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss </h2>
- <h2> Change Your Lifestyle </h2>
- <h2> Eat Low Carbs for Weight Loss </h2>
If you’re using a content management system (CMS) like WordPress for posting blogs, you don’t have to create a separate h1 tag as WordPress creates the tag when you write the blog post title. Sometimes a title and h1 tag may contain some of the same words as shown below.
- Title: Primary Keyword | Brand Name
- How to Gain Weight | John’s Fitness Centre
- H1 tag: Primary Keyword or Just a Heading
- How to Gain Weight or Are You Underweight?
The headline or title of the post is displayed on search engines and browser tabs. You can see the h1 tag as first headings in a structured post.
For h2 and h3 tags, write two or three-liner descriptions explaining what you should write in subheadings and sub-subheadings.
When writing blog posts, writers often have to deal with writer’s block. One benefit of creating an outline that is often overlooked is that it enables the writers to overcome writer’s block. With an outline, you won’t run out of ideas and can create original content quickly.
Want to Learn It the Free Way?
Not every writer can afford keyword research tools, domain, and hosting expenses, especially the beginners. The easy solution for this problem is to search for writing jobs on job boards. Once you land a writing job, you’ll gradually learn the ins and outs of writing a blog post, and you’ll get paid for the job.
Wrapping It Up
Writing a blog post doesn’t have to be an uphill task. If you put some effort into blogging, you can make the writing process simple. With blogging, you can build your brand, become an authority in your industry, attract qualified leads, and convert the leads into customers.
You can start writing blogs that resonate with your readers, solves their problems, and adds value in return for the time they spent reading your blogs.