Anyone can create a blog these days, it can be easy and free, just try googling ‘create a free blog’. Whether you’re a casual blogger or someone who has a business blog, you may ask how do I actually write a blog or where should I start?
Here are some helpful hints and tips to get you started:
Plan
Planning is the key to any good piece of writing.
Firstly, actually have a good think about what you want to write about. Thinking about what you’re going to write is a great place to start as this will help you find a topic that interests you. If you’re not interested then why would your readers be?
Research
Now you have your topic you can head over to a search engine to research it. By undertaking research you can write a blog about anything (even if you knew nothing about the topic to begin with – hey you might learn something!). Try to stick with and identify credible sources, especially if you’re using facts or statistics.
Outline
Create a rough guide to help you start to write your blog post. Write down what you plan to cover, the order of your content and the main points for each section. This will help you stick to your topic and create a natural flow.
Write
Now that you have a plan and an outline you can begin writing!
Title
Your title is important as it is what draws your readers in. Make sure it’s attention grabbing! You can either create your title before you begin writing or have a working title. Try not to make your title too long as this can lose readers. Examples of titles may be a statement, how-to or a question. It is dependent on self-preference and your target audience.
Structure
When you begin writing your blog post ensure your outline follows an introduction, body and conclusion structure. Write in a particular tone or style to suit your target audience. Be yourself while writing. Honest, relatable posts are more likely to be read (e.g if you aren’t a maths genius, don’t write like one).
Sentence Structure
Short sentences and paragraphs keep readers interested. Would you want to read a single block of text? Create a format that suits your post. You might choose to divide your writing into sections or include dot points.
Images
Images can help expand your audience as they can help people understand different topics. For example, info graphs or diagrams can help engage a wider audience in a digital marketing blog post.
Links
Provide links for your audience to access further information or useful sites. This can increase your clicks and search engine ratings. Make sure you provide attribution to sources of information.
Edit
Read your post aloud to check the flow and formatting. Make sure your sentences are easy to read and there are no grammatical or spelling errors. Avoid repetition in your blog posts and have someone else read your work.
Editing your blog post is an important step in the process and should not be overlooked. This is when you can check over everything that has been created in the planning and writing steps.
These simple steps can help in the journey of becoming a blogger. Each step in the process is important to achieve a great end result and widen your audience.
I would like to acknowledge Dan Shewan from WordStream (http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/02/09/how-to-write-a-blog-post) and Susan Gunelius from Life Wire (https://www.lifewire.com/write-blog-in-5-steps-3476854) for their great articles on how to write a blog!
