How to Write an Outstanding Blog Post in 2023: Rare Hints You Wouldn’t Want to Overlook
As is with any occupation that appears easy, blog writing is tricky. A decent piece takes time and dedication to complete, obviously. Making it great though? It takes certain secret techniques. Nevertheless, writing skills will prove helpful in several daily routines, making a resume or a greeting card, to name a few.
Before you start writing a blog post, create an outline and keep the main topic in mind; also, plant in a message that will tease a reader it's a tips from professional blog writers. A striking headline is crucial in determining if a potential reader will click on the post preview and proceed to read it. There are a lot of details we would like to share many details, so let’s get on with it.
Before You Start Writing Your Blog Post
So, how to start writing blog? Ironically, the key to good writing lies not so much in mastering writing itself. Rather, if you wonder how to write a blog, look for a valuable idea that will attract readers. It might be an analytical insight, a product of rich imagination, a passionate response to a certain problem, or, on the contrary, a well-earned praise.
The focal point
If you want to wrap a complex idea in words, you want to formulate the said idea in a proper sentence first. It won’t be enough just to communicate the said sentence to a reader, which is why you write a blog in the first place, and it gets increasingly harder as you need to convey interconnected ideas in blog writing.
To make a piece of writing convincing, you would want a reader to read between the lines and naturally come to the conclusion you started with.
The art of writing a headline
“Catchy,” “brief,” “informative,” “original.” It is not always possible to make a headline have all these characteristics, yet it is exactly what makes it perfect, no more and no less. Here are some specific tips for writing a blog headline.
- Do not exceed the limit of eleven words.
- Avoid stale, cliche words like “amazing” or “simple.”
- Do use adjectives and verbs where appropriate.
- Address the focal point, the main idea.
That last one is finicky because you don’t want to be too straightforward; put it all in the headline and then repeat yourself further when writing a blog post.
The first paragraph and its contents
The best blog writing is remarkable because it is engaging, and a reader can go through a fairly lengthy piece in one sitting. Place a hook in the opening statements of your writing.
As a rule, the hooks in writing are rhetorical questions, quotes, anecdotes, references to personal experience, or appeals to the reader’s imagination. You want to get your reader triggered in a good way.
Even as you are applying for a job, you would use the same technique to engage one specific person, a recruiter, fueling their interest in the job application and increasing your chance to land an interview and get employed.
The promise of a solution
Not every blog post is a problem-solution type, but blog writing for money often involves this format. So, right after you state a problem that resonates with a reader, promise a solution and foreshadow the key points before elaborating.
The blog writing tips to use are nothing extraordinary in this case: keep the focal point and the goals of your blog in mind, be specific, provide examples, use numbers (percentages, statistical data), reference your sources, and include images and infographics to illustrate the text.
How to Write a Blog Post
If you follow prominent writers on social media and casually write posts yourself, then you probably don’t need a fellow blog writer advice. Yet, you might find something of value on the ‘best blog writing tips’ list below to enrich your writing technique arsenal.
Address a compelling topic
It shouldn’t be a problem as you write about something you’re passionate about personally; just keep in touch with your audience.
Alternatively, choose a topic that is trending right now. So the audience finds it interesting, and you have something to say about it; it’s a win-win. There is a hot debate around the role of AI in the workplace, for instance, how it will impact the future of work in the 2020s.
Other topics, like youth advice, never get old.
Come up with a great post title
Here are some examples that implement our advice about writing a blog headline. Suppose that you have a simple idea: to write about cooking pasta. You definitely cannot go with the “How to cook pasta” headline because there might be a thousand similar headlines on the web, and yours will not stand out.
Make it funnier, more provocative, or more specific. How about, ”This pasta recipe blew my BF’s socks off.”
Outline your post
You might use the “weaver” technique when writing blog posts and create your piece without any plan, adding new points one by one just as they come.
Some writers and editors criticize story weaving and claim it’s a bad example of a blog writing approach: the post might get all fuzzy and obscure without a clear focal point.
Outlines are helpful when you want to limit the total post volume and have a rigid structure because you tend to digress.
Explain your connection to the topic
Sometimes you need to remind a reader how a certain topic of one of the subheadings connects to the headline and the main idea. It is okay to show readers non-obvious connections between the ideas you lay out across a lengthy post.
It is one of the most valuable blog writing tips because feeling compelled to insert a reminder might also indicate that you miss the point and lose focus.
Use a clear layout
We all know that writing blog post as a single paragraph is bad, right?
At a certain point, as your writing mastery goes up, you want your text to resemble poetry. That is, to arrange it in nice uniform blocks of approximately the same length. It applies to subheadings and paragraphs (chapters, too, if you jump into novel writing).
And the paragraph volume should not exceed 3-6 lines: it is not academic writing.
Be Sincere
Personal blog post writing is an openness test. It usually pays off in the long run if you are straightforward and open with the audience.
Writing blog post as a part of your professional qualification in the respective position is no different. Readers are sensitive to such things; they notice it when you beat around the bush, hide the truth, cast around tongue-in-cheek insults, etc. Honesty is the most basic quality a writer must have – at the very least, honesty with oneself. Even something simple, like writing a blog tips post, requires it as well.
Give a variety of solutions
This one is rather among commercial tips on writing a blog: you don’t want readers to visit your “competitors,” and this is why you spend time researching a problem and offering all possible solutions you found. This is especially important if you’re a B2B copywriter. The reader will be free to choose a solution that fits their situation – not only the one you considered the best while writing a blog.
Remember about search engine optimization
Writing blog posts without regard for SEO will result in frustration and low site traffic. Why so? Because your blog posts won’t be visible on the Internet search results page. A relevant person will never find it. Those who work in a writing business know that the stage of SEO optimization is obligatory for all website content. So why would you skip this step while writing blog post for a personal page?
Proofread
The key to effective proofreading is to resist the temptation of proofreading the blog on the go before it’s done. Don’t worry about typos and omissions; just write as fast as you comfortably can. Then, proofread the text from the start.
The alternative technique is to proofread each paragraph as soon as it’s finished, make sure that it is correct, and never return to double-check it. Anyways, it will be impossible to tell which technique was used in blog writing examples, so choose the one you like more.
Ask a Friend for an Editorial
Good blog writing, like the one you see on reputable sites, is often a result of the work of a whole content department: no wonder it turns out so good (they probably share tips on writing a blog between themselves, too).
The best part is that you might delegate editing to a friend or colleague you trust. Ask them to pay special attention to the structure and cohesiveness. Then, edit their posts to return the favor.
Self-promotion is important as well
Some freelancers who build their brand add a couple of lines like follows: “get in touch to order blog writing services.” And they leave their job contact, of course.
If the primary goal of blog writing is to attract more customers via one’s social media pages or blogging platforms like Medium, blog writing tips may seem unnecessary. It is easier to hire humans for the job. However, we believe that our great blog writing tips will still be particularly valuable to authors who are not professional writers.
Key Takeaways
It takes experience and talent to write long (like a CV) and short (like a thank-you letter) pieces of content, and posting a freelance job to let someone pick the task and do it for you is reasonable.
It is fairly hard to write a blog post on your own in one sitting because you’d have to stick to the structure, stay focused, and think about the readers’ needs and your own goals simultaneously.
If you can spare the time, we hope our great blog writing tips will be of good service, regardless of your writing goals. Good luck!