How To Write A Blog Post: Write Long, In-Depth Quality Content that Ranks Highly In Google

Do you want to know how to write a blog post so that you can communicate with your customers more effectively?

While blogging is essential for your business growth, it can be challenging to know exactly where to start.

The good news is that it’s easy to write solid blog posts if you have a good system in place, and that’s why we wrote this article.

In this comprehensive guide, we will show you step-by-step how to create blog posts that will rank highly in Google search and engage your audience.

Let’s jump right in.

What Is a Blog Post?

Before you can learn how to write a blog post, you need to know what a blog post is.

Blog posts are single pieces of content that are published on a website or blog.

The term “blog” is the shortened word for what used to be called a “weblog.”

Some blogs are stand-alone websites with nothing but blog posts as content.

In other cases, a blog is a section of a business site that typically publishes company information, industry news, or informational articles.

Usually, a blog post will include media such as images or videos.

However, the written content is key to blog posts.

YouTube channels aren’t blogs because they are only videos.

By the same token, an image feed such as an Instagram account also is not a blog.

Why Are Blog Posts Important for Bloggers?

Here are some of the main reasons your business can benefit from content marketing.

• Build credibility
• Brand awareness
• Relationship building
• Lead generation. According to Kapost, content marketing can produce up to three times more leads than you can gain with paid search.
• Demand generation

Here are some statistics that demonstrate the benefits of blogging.

• Content marketing is 62% less expensive than traditional methods of marketing. Because blogging is easy to do and so affordable, it’s a simple way to add value to your business.
• Blog posts influence about 6% of sales in e-commerce in an online store. When businesses blog regularly for a year, that number doubles to 12%.
• More than 89% of marketers say that content marketing is an essential marketing strategy.
• Americans spend three times more time reading blog content than they spend reading email content.
• When you have a blog on your business website, your chances of ranking higher in Google increase by 434%.
• After publishing 21-54 blog posts, you can experience as much as a 30% increase in traffic.

Are you convinced? Then let’s dive in and learn how to write a blog post.

What Makes a Good Blog Post?

It’s easy to learn how to write a blog post, and you can get a piece of content up in minutes.

But what makes a blog post exceptional enough that it stands out from the crowd (and ranks in Google)?

First, a good blog post should fill a need for your readers.

Is there a need or demand for the content you’re writing?

Second, your blog post should directly address a problem or concern that your reader is trying to solve.

A blog post should provide a comprehensive solution.

Last, keep your readers in mind when you’re writing.

If you were searching for a query on Google, what would you like to read?

Steps Needed to Write a Blog Post

Writing an effective blog post is simple when you break the process down into steps.

Below, we walk you step-by-step through the entire process of how to write a blog post from start to finish.

Step 1: Planning a Blog Post

Before you start writing your blog post, it’s essential to do some solid planning and research.

Topic

What topic should you write about?

The options for a blog post idea are endless, but what you write about depends on:

• Your expertise: What are you most qualified to write about? Which topic do you know better than anyone else?
• The market needs: What are your prospective readers looking for? What are the pain points of searchers?
• Your own interests: It’s important that you enjoy writing about the topic. If you don’t, the process will be miserable for you. If you’re determined to produce content about a topic you’re not passionate about, you can outsource the writing. We will discuss that more later.
• The niche: For example, if you have a cooking WordPress blog, we don’t recommend writing about unrelated topics such as technology. How your content fits into your overall website is something that Google takes into consideration.
• Search statistics: Doing some research to find out what is popular and frequently searched in Google can give you some topic ideas. For this research, you can look at your competitors or explore Google Trends.

Competitor Research

Now that you’ve identified a great blog post idea and are ready to learn more about how to write a blog post, the first thing you need to do is conduct some competitor research.

There are several great tools available that can streamline this process for you, but you can get started with a Google search for your topic.

Your competitors are the websites that are ranking on page one of a Google search for your topic.

Look at their posts, and carefully examine what they’re doing that has landed them at the top.

• How is their headline/title structured?
• What are the keywords in their headers (H2s and H3s)?
• Is there anything they didn’t cover that you can add to your own perfect blog post to be more comprehensive?
• What did they do extremely well in their post, and how can you improve upon it?
• How is their target audience engaging with the content? Here are some examples: social media and blog post comments.
• Is their site responsive for mobile?
• How much traffic are they getting for their post?

To determine the amount of traffic a blog article is receiving, there are some excellent tools that can help you.

• Ahrefs
• SimilarWeb
• SEMRush
• Ubersuggest
• Monster Insights
• Serpstat
• Sitechecker
• MarketMuse
• SpyFu
• Keysearch

Keyword Research

You’ve identified your topic and conducted your blog post planning. Now it’s time to find the keywords that will help you land on page one of Google.

Search Intent

Your content should focus on search intent. Search intent is the reason people are looking for information, and it is also what they expect to find.

Before you begin your keyword research, spend some time analyzing a potential reader’s search intent.

Here is what happens when you pay attention to search intent:

• Helps assess the competition
• Improves chances of ranking for primary keywords
• Satisfied your audience
• Builds credibility

There are four primary types of search intent.

1. Informational intent: The reader is looking for information and knowledge. They may be seeking a quick answer to a question or more in-depth knowledge about their search query.
2. Transactional intent: The searcher is looking for a place to buy an item.
3. Navigational intent: The user knows where they want to go and is looking for how to get there.
4. Commercial intent: The customer knows they want to buy a product or service, but they’re researching brands, product types, or searching for special offers. A whopping 71% of buyers read blog content along the path of their buyer journey.

Keyword Research Tools

Let’s summarize four of the most popular keyword research tools:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends
• Surfer SEO
• Ahrefs

1. Google Keyword Planner

When it comes to classic keyword tools, the Google Keyword Planner is the O.G. (original gangster).

While Google’s tool is a bit clunky, the information it gives you comes directly from Google so you know it’s completely legit.

Google Keyword Planner is also free to use, so that’s a huge bonus.

Here is a comprehensive Google Keyword Planner tutorial.

2. Google Trends

Another great tool from Google, Google Trends finds search trends and new keyword ideas.

1. The first thing to do is search for specific keywords.
2. Look at the section titled “related queries.”
3. Use the chart to see if the keyword has shown growth in popularity.

Also, you can use Google Trends to conduct a YouTube keyword search.

3. Surfer SEO

Priced at just $49 per month, Surfer SEO is an affordable user-friendly tool for bloggers with a smaller budget.

How does Surfer SEO work?

The tool analyzes and compares 500 different factors of your blog post’s content with your top 10 ranking competitors.

Here are some of the factors Surfer SEO examines:

• Number of headers
• Page speed
• Length of the text
• Keyword density
• Domains and URLs referring to the content
• Number of images
• Structure of meta tags

4. Ahrefs

The Ahrefs Keywords Explorer gives in-depth info on each keyword.

You get the standard data such as search volume, but you also get a comprehensive breakdown of your top competition.

Additionally, the Ahrefs Keywords Explorer shows you the keyword difficulty and the number of backlinks you need for ranking on page one of Google.

Here is a video that explains how to use Ahrefs for competitor research and SEO.

Other SEO Tools

In addition to these four tools, your keyword research can be done using some of the same tools we mentioned earlier.

• SEMRush
• Ubersuggest
• Serpstat
• Sitechecker
• MarketMuse
• SpyFu
• Keysearch
• Frase.io
• Jaaxy
• Soovle
• KeywordTool.io
• Keywords Everywhere
• Moz Keyword Explorer
• RankIQ
• Keyword Surfer
• LSIGraph

Long-Tail Keywords

Because the key to how to write a blog post that ranks lies in keywords, I want to mention one last thing about keywords.

Whenever possible, include long-tail keywords in your blog post.

A long-tail keyword is a keyword phrase that typically contains four or more words.

A Brafton study found that half of all search queries are at least four words or longer.

What does this tell us? When people search, they tend to be searching for something specific.

When you identify long-tail keywords for your content, you can increase sales and search traffic.

• Long-tail keywords are usually easier to rank for in Google.
• When you use long-tail keywords, you can create awareness about your services, content, or products

Choose long-tail keywords with competition between 100 and 2000.

Target Audience

One of the best tips we’ve seen for creating a blog post is this: Identify your target audience and write as if you are directing your content directly to them.

Then, do some research so that you can know everything you can about your tribe and their demographics, including:

• Residence or country where they live
• Name, if possible
• Education level
• Age group
• Engagement level
• Employment type

Using this information, you can start building the profile or description of your average reader.

Once you know who you’re writing for, identify the pain points of your audience.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What problem do they need you to help them resolve?
• Do I have information that my audience will find valuable?
• How can I most concisely and effectively present content that will help my tribe?

Type of Post

There are countless types of blog posts, and you can get as creative as you like when you’re learning how to write a blog post.

In this section, we will go over a few of the most popular types of posts.

1. General Information Posts

A general information blog post can cover any topic under the sun.

Most of what we read online are general information blog posts.

General information articles can also be how-to articles.

How-to articles are the most popular types of content.

2. Ultimate Guides

When someone wants to go in-depth to learn something new, they look for an ultimate guide blog post.

What is an ultimate guide post?

These posts are lengthy guides (such as the article you’re reading right now about how to write a blog post) that have these things in common:

• Ultimate guides go in-depth on a broad topic.
• An ultimate guide will contain several different chapters or sections that cover a topic from several different angles.
• Ultimate guides are written by an industry expert, thought leader, researcher, or authority in the niche.

3. Product Review Posts

A product review post introduced and explains briefly a service or product.

Usually, if you do a product review, you will need to have actual experience using the product.

If you don’t, you risk losing credibility with your readers.

In most cases, a product review post will provide points for and against (pros and cons).

Then, the post is closed out with a recommendation or two.

Product review posts can also review several items.

For example, you could create a blog post reviewing five (or more) online training courses you like.

4. List Posts

People enjoy reading list posts because they’re highly scannable.

By their nature, list posts are made up of short pieces of information and arranged in a way that makes them easy to read.

You can create list posts that are either long or short.

For best results, use numbered subheadings, then a couple of paragraphs underneath the subheadings.

5. Roundup Posts

A round-up blog post is similar to a list post (also called a listicle), and these types of posts are an excellent way to create concise, punchy content that will attract readers.

Round-up posts are easy ways to structure a blog post, and you can use them to pull together experts in your blog’s niche.

You can also use round-up posts to link to other good web content or content on your own blog.

For example, a roundup post for “The Best Chicken Recipes” could be linked to recipes on your blog or other recipes around the web.

6. X vs Y Posts

An X vs Y post is also called a comparison post.

In this type of blog post, you are comparing two similar products and giving the pros and cons of each one.

For a comparison post, you don’t go as in-depth as you do with a product review post.

Instead, you compare similar features and point out the benefits of each tool. Determining that one is better than the other is optional.

7. Alternatives Posts

An alternatives blog post informs readers about alternatives to whatever they’re searching for. Here are some examples.

• 11 Photoshop Alternatives
• 17 Alternatives to Ugg Boots
• 13 Apple Watch Alternatives

People who are searching for an alternatives post usually use very specific long-tail keywords in their searches.

How Long Should a Blog Post Be?

How to write a blog post that is long enough to rank high in Google?

A blog post can be any length.

However, Google favors longer blog posts.

Depending on which study you read or which expert you ask, blog posts between 1200 and 2500 words perform best in search.

Cornerstone content can be as much as 9,000 words.

When a blog post’s text is longer, it gives Google more clues to what the content addresses.

However, according to Yoast, as long as a blog post is at least 300 words, it can technically rank in Google if the information is relevant and high-quality content.

The key to blog post length is this: Quality outweighs quantity.

Search rankings have less to do with the length of the post.

Rather, these three factors impact how well your content will perform in search.

• Blog post quality
• Lack of fluff or repetition within the text
• Relevance to search intent

Your goal is to add value to your content so that it meets the needs of your audience.

I recommend that you never add fluff to your content just so that you can make it longer.

Your readers are looking for useful, detailed posts.

Step 2: Structuring a Blog Post

To understand how to write a blog post and work through your writing process, it’s important to have a solid grasp on the different parts of a blog post.

There are four basic components of a blog post: headline/title, introduction, body, and conclusion.

The most important part of your post is the headline, also called the title or H1 (header 1).

A great headline summarizes your main point and has these qualities:

• Includes your target keyword at the beginning
• Between 6 and 13 words long
• Concise
• Unique
• Reflective of the content
• Creates curiosity
• Catchy without being click-bait
• Between 60 and 70 characters (for SEO and readability)

An effective headline should entice your readers to want to read your blog post and learn more.

Here are some tips for crafting the best headlines in your content manager.

• Use numbers and statistics. Research shows that odd numbers are more effective. Example: 21 Ways to Cook Chicken
• Address the reader. Example: Chicken Recipes You Need to Try
• Use the words “how to.” Example: How to Cook the Best Chicken
• Ask a question. Example: How Can You Make the Most Tender Chicken?

Analyze the headlines of your competitors to get ideas and inspiration for your headline. Just be sure you make your headline unique by adding your own fresh outlook.

Introduction

Think about the last time you searched for something in Google and clicked on one of the top links.

How long did you stay on that page?

If the introduction didn’t grab you, chances are you either skimmed past it to the main points or left the page altogether.

Your blog post introduction is key to encouraging your blog visitors to continue reading.

Also, the introduction is important in terms of SEO.

Follow these guidelines for writing an effective introduction.

• Keep it short. You need between 75 and 100 words in an introduction. Then it’s time to get into the meat of the article.
• Use your exact target keywords somewhere in the intro. Make sure it reads naturally.
• Speak as the author. Readers are more engaged if they feel connected with an actual person.
• Explain why the blog post topic is important. Address the reader’s needs and outline why you wrote the content.
• Tell your reader what they can expect. Your site visitors need to know what they are going to gain from investing their time reading your great content.
• Keep the intro relevant to the reader’s search query. The introduction is some of the most valuable real estate in your blog post. Avoid using filler content or fluff just to get the intro out of the way.
• Use active language and metaphors. This makes your content more enticing for the reader.

Body (Main Points)

Did you know that the average reader spends about 37 seconds on a blog post?

When learning how to write a blog post, this is the most important thing to keep in mind.

While this is an alarming statistic, knowledge is power.

Now that you know that your readers are going to spend seconds on your post, you can craft your blog post in a way that keeps your readers engaged.

Your headline summarizes your main point and draws the reader in, and your introduction entices them to keep reading.

However, the body of your blog post is what will keep a reader on the page.

Later in this article, we’ll give you some tips for keeping your blog visitors engaged and reading.

In the body of your blog post, be sure to use plenty of headers to break up your content into sections.

This will make it easier for you to write and get into a good flow when you’re writing.

However, headers are also important for SEO and for your reader’s ease of consumption.

Conclusion

In your conclusion, you’re going to wrap up the key points of your blog post.

A conclusion should be between 50-75 words, and it’s helpful if you include a compelling call-to-action.

A call-to-action may be an invitation to:

• Subscribe to your newsletter.
• Leave a comment on the blog post.
• Follow you on social media.
• Visit another link on your blog.
• Share the link with a friend who may find the content helpful.

Follow these tips for the best conclusions.

• Short and sweet is key.
• Link to your related content.
• End with a question.

Step 3: Outlining a Blog Post

You’ve decided on a blog post type and title, learned how to write a blog post, and now you’re ready to start writing.

When you’re confronted with that blank page, it can be daunting to know where to start.

That’s where an outline comes in handy.

Once you have your outline, you can simply fill in the blanks.

Creating the Outline

An outline is where the structure of your blog post actually begins to come together.

While you’re not technically writing at this point, you’re listing out the information, points, and sections that you want to cover in your blog post.

Drafting a solid outline is key to creating blog content that ranks on the first page of Google.

Plan to spend plenty of time creating your outline.

For example, when drafting this article, I spent three hours drafting my outline.

One of the most valuable tools within Frase.io is its outline builder.

Using the headers that your competitors use in their content, you can interactively build an outline for your blog post.

We recommend watching this video to see step-by-step how to use Frase.io to create your outline.

Step 4: Writing a Blog Post

Now that you’ve identified your blog topic idea, learned how to create a great blog post, created your content outline, and researched your competition, it’s time to expand your outline into a full blog post.

Internal vs External

Since you have a blog, you are probably passionate about your niche or industry.

You can write your content yourself (internal), but not everyone enjoys writing. In this case, you can hire someone else to write your content (external).

Many businesses start with writing their own content internally with plans to outsource the content at a later date.

However, unless you have a full-time writer on staff, it’s better to work with external writers such as freelance writers or a content agency.

Internal Writing

There are two types of internal writing: write your content from scratch or use an AI writing tool.

Write from Scratch

If you want to write all of your content in-house, you can write it yourself or hire someone to write it for you.

Writing content in-house is perfect for people just starting out or for bloggers on a budget.

However, this method isn’t a scalable long-term solution unless you have someone who has blog post writing as part of their job description.

Use an AI Writing Tool

If you’re handling all of the content writing in-house, you can use an AI writing tool such as Jasper.ai.

Tools such as Jasper are becoming more and more common, and the writing that they produce looks nearly identical to content written by an actual person.

Outsource to a Freelance Writer

Successful bloggers who are producing a lot of content typically work with freelance writers who can produce high-quality content for them.

In some cases, this content may be ghost-written, and in other cases, the author may have a byline.

To find freelance writers, you can post on job boards such as Problogger, FlexJobs, Freelancer, CraigsList, Upwork, and other online marketplaces.

You can also find writers on Fiverr.

Writer Process

When you work with a freelance writer, the more information you give them, the better the content will be.

Instead of ordering a blog post and giving the writer vague instructions, be as specific as possible.

For example, if you provide the blog post outline for your writer, they can deliver exactly what you’re looking for.

Also, if you’re going to be working with freelance writers or a content agency, take the time to develop your own style guide for your writers to follow. It will save you a lot of work in the long run.

Tips for Writing

Remember, once you get people to click on your post link, the goal is to keep them on the page.

To keep your visitors reading, your content needs to be engaging and easily digestible.

Here are some tips to help you create better content, increase readership, and establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

1. Easily Readable

Most blog visitors want content to be easy to digest.

The best way to make a successful blog post easy to scan and read is to allow for plenty of white space.

Here are some more ways to make your blog post easily readable and scannable.

• Use bulleted lists.
• Numbered lists work, too.
• Utilize headings (H2, H3, H4, etc…) to break up your content into sections.
• Make sure there are no more than 300 words under every header.
• Use images, embedded social media posts, and embedded YouTube videos liberally.
• Bold key phrases so that they stand out for your readers. But do this selectively so that it’s not overkill.

2. Short Sentences

When writing a great blog post, strive to keep your sentences and paragraphs short.

People like to scan through an article and walls of text are difficult to read, especially on mobile devices.

Also, Google doesn’t like walls of text, either.

Paragraphs should be short, too. Plan to have not more than two or three sentences per paragraph.

3. Use Images

We have mentioned the importance of images a few times in this article because they’re just that important.

In the section below, we give more information about how to find royalty-free images.

4. Quality Content

There is plenty of junk content on the internet, but Google and other search engines have gotten much better about filtering it out so that it doesn’t land on page one.

What is high-quality content? Good content is:

• Useful
• Comprehensive
• Educational
• Helpful
• Accurate
• Grammatically correct

If you’re like most people, the first time you see a misspelled word or incorrect grammar on a blog post, you’re done with the blog.

Also, readers don’t like fluff and chatter. Get to the point and stay on point.

5. Get Facts Correct

Consumers have become increasingly distrustful of the media, and that distrust can quickly transfer to even an innocuous blog if you have incorrect information on your site.

When you use facts, make sure you back them up with links that support your message.

More than ever, it’s important to ensure that the content you put on your blog is accurate, up-to-date, and correct.

6. Publish Often

A HubSpot study revealed that businesses that publish at least 16 blog posts every month generate nearly five times more leads than businesses that published four posts or less.

Step 5: Enhancing a Blog Post

When you have written your blog post, you can use media and tools to enhance the content and get it ready for publication.

Semantic Tools Optimization

To understand what semantic optimization is, think of it as being about topics and their related keyword phrases.

These related keywords provide context that naturally surrounds your primary keyword.

In short, semantic SEO brings us back to a site visitor’s search intent.

In 2015, Google confirmed RankBrain, their algorithm that is based on machine learning.

RankBrain essentially evolved Google into a semantic search engine. This means that Google can understand a page’s content and match it with a user’s search intent.

Google has grown to be more human-like with its semantic approach, and bloggers can use this to their advantage to rank blog posts.

With semantic SEO, Google takes into consideration the natural language processing and deep learning algorithms that make the search engine giant the best at what it does.

If you use semantic SEO strategies, you’re more likely to present as a topical authority in your niche or industry.

Our Favorite Tools

There are several excellent tools available to help you with semantic SEO, and our two favorites are Surfer SEO and MarketMust.

Surfer SEO (Best for Low Budgets)

If you’re on a lower budget or you’re just starting out, Surfer SEO is a great semantic SEO tool to start using.

Surfer SEO does a great job of analyzing your competitor pages and can help you deliver actionable, data-driven insights for planning your writing and content.

Here are some of Surfer SEO’s features:

• Content editor
• SERP analyzer
• SEO audit
• Keyword research
• Free Google Chrome extension
• Blog post template options

As of this writing, Surfer SEO starts at $49 per month.

MarketMuse (Best for Larger Budgets)

If you have a larger budget, MarketMuse may be your best bet.

This tool generates content briefs that include recommended subheads, word counts, external links, internal links, and keywords.

For every article, MarketMuse compares your content with that of your competitor and provides a personalized difficulty score that assesses how thoroughly you have covered the same topics.

MarketMuse services are delivered into multiple applications.

• Content strategy: Delivers metrics that help you find opportunities for creating high-performing blog posts
• Content research: Includes an inventory of blog topics and content that includes a thorough competitive analysis
• Content creation: Delivers detailed and comprehensive outlines that include writer briefs with subheads, keywords, link-building recommendations, and reader questions
• Content optimization: Analyzes your content to deliver a score that compares your content to your competitors

MarketMuse has a free plan, and paid plans start at $7,200 per year.

Add Media and Graphics

Studies show that a blog post that features an image for every 75-100 words will get twice the number of shares as blog posts that don’t have images.

In addition to images, you can use other media to break up your content.

• Screenshots
• Charts
• Infographics
• Gifs
• Memes

Places to Get Royalty-Free Images

Images are key to a good blog post, but do you have to take your own images?

You certainly can, but you can also find high-quality images that other people have taken and provided for free.

There are several different websites that offer royalty-free images that you can use in your blog posts.

Here are a few of our favorites.

• Pexels
• Unsplash
• Canva
• Pixabay

Using Alt Text in Images

Alternative text (alt text) is also sometimes called alt descriptions, alt attributes, and alt tags.

Alt text is used inside the HTML code of your blog post to describe the function and appearances of the images you use on a page.

Why do you need to use alt text?

• Alt text is primarily for web accessibility for users who are visually impaired. These readers use screen readers that will read aloud the alt text so that the user can understand what the image is.
• If an image doesn’t load, the alt text will show instead so that readers know what the image should be.
• Alt text helps Google and other search engines properly index your images.

Here are some tips for writing good alt text.

• Use your primary keyword or related keywords. Since Google indexes images based on the alt text, this is an excellent opportunity to get your images to the top of Google’s image search results.
• Don’t keyword stuff. While Google won’t penalize you for alt text that is poorly written, they will penalize keyword stuffing.
• Keep it short. Most screen readers cut alt text off at about 125 characters.
• Describe your images as specifically as you can. Remember that the primary purpose of alt text is to convey value and meaning.
• Don’t use the words “photo of” or “image of.” Google knows this intuitively, and so do your readers.

Here is a great video that explains alt tags in images.

Minimize Image Size

While you want to be sure you’re using high-quality images, images that are too large slow down your website and make your blog post slow to load.

Studies show that half of mobile users will abandon a website if they have to wait more than three seconds for it to load.

Slow-loading web pages don’t rank as well in Google.

Another issue with large images is that they consume a lot of the space on your website.

Don’t confuse image size with image dimensions.

An image can be small in dimension and still have a higher file size.

To minimize the sizes of your images, you can use a tool such as TinyPNG or Img2Go.

Step 6: Editing a Blog Post

Now that you’ve written your high-quality blog post, it’s time for the final edit to prepare for publication.

Whether you’re editing the blog post yourself or working with a professional editor, the tips below will help you ensure that your blog post is as perfect as possible.

Ensure Correct Grammar

Imagine that you’re searching Google for a solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.

If you land on a blog post that has poor spelling and grammar, do you consider the author to be an authority?

Most importantly, poor spelling and grammar can affect your SEO because errors and typos can create problems for Google.

In fact, Google’s John Mueller specifically stated that grammar and spelling should be a higher priority for most websites than fixing broken HTML.

Finally, blog posts with poor grammar get 4% fewer site visitors, and they also have higher bounce rates.

Optimizing for Search Engines (Best Practices)

The purpose of creating a blog post is to drive search traffic to your website.

Whether you’re earning ad revenue from your content, trying to generate leads, or attracting potential buyers, if search engines can’t find your site, you won’t have visitors.

Here are some quick tips to optimize your blog post for SEO:

• Use the keyword in your headline/title, preferably at the beginning.
• Make your keyword part of the post’s URL.
• Create a meta description that clearly describes what your blog post is about and includes the keyword. A meta description appears in Google along with your headline.
• Use a tool such as Rank Math or Yoast to help you easily optimize your blog post for SEO.

Optimizing for Readability

Both Yoast and Rank Math have tools built in for measuring readability.

However, a lot of your efforts will come from your own insight.

To ensure your blog posts are readable, use some of these tactics.

• Images
• Bullet points
• Bolded text for key points (but don’t over-do it)
• Navigation tools such as “back to top buttons” or a table of contents
• Embedded videos
• Infographics
• Dark screen and light screen options
• Yoast plugin

Step 7: Publishing a Blog Post

Now that you’ve gone through the entire process of planning, writing, optimizing, and editing your blog post, it’s time to publish.

Scan the Post Before Publishing

Before you hit the publish button, double-check that these tasks have been completed:

• Proofread your post one last time.
• Run the blog post through Copyscape (to check for duplicate content on the web), Grammarly, and Hemingway App.
• Add a featured image.
• Look at the post in preview mode to see how the published post will look to readers.
• Change the URL if needed to incorporate your keyword.
• Add internal links to other relevant content on your website.
• Include a few external links to authority sites.
• Ensure that your primary keyword is in the introduction and the conclusion.
• End your conclusion with a call to action.

Share the Post

Once your blog post is published, it’s time to share it with the world. While SEO will drive traffic, that takes time.

The best way to get traffic quickly is to share your post as widely as possible.

Submit to Google Search Console

Another free Google tool, Google Search Console gives you valuable data about your website traffic.

Google Search Console can show you:

• Who links to your blog and how often.
• The keywords you’re ranking for.
• Your site structure.
• Whether or not you have duplicate meta data (and how you can fix it).
• How often you’re showing up in search.
• The number of clicks you have on your indexed blog posts.

Share on Social Media

You probably already have a social media presence, but if you don’t, it’s time to start building one.

We suggest that you focus on a few social media platforms rather than try to be on every single platform that’s out there.

• Post the link to your blog post on your Facebook page or in your Facebook group.
• Create an image for Pinterest and upload the image to the Pinterest board you have created for your blog. Be sure to optimize the image using Pinterest tools, and put the pinnable image in your post.
• If your blog post is of interest to Twitter users, share it to your Twitter account with relevant hashtags.
• Upload one of the best images to Instagram with the link to the blog post in the Instagram post. You can also put the link in your Instagram bio or use a link-in-bio tool such as Later or LinkTree.
• If your blog content is a good fit for video, consider creating a video of yourself talking about your blog post. You can do this on TikTok, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, or YouTube.

Share With Your Email List

One of the best ways to let your readers or customers know about your blog post is to send it to your email subscriber list.

To manage your email subscriber list, you can use a tool such as Mailchimp or Convertkit.

What should you send to your email subscribers?

You can send your entire blog post, but ideally, your subscribers will want to visit your site.

If site visits are your goal, include an enticing snippet of the blog post in your email.

Link Building

For the long game, we recommend putting some focus on link building.

While link building can be time-consuming and tedious, if you can get an authoritative website to link to your blog post, it can help you rank better in Google.

One of the best ways to get backlinks to your blog is through guest posts that you write on other blogs.

To do this, identify the high-authority blogs in your niche and offer to write a free guest post for them.

Most blog owners will allow you to put a link to your blog in your guest post.

For organic link building, keep writing high-quality content that other blogs will want to share.

Track the Post

How can you know how well your blog post is doing?

Fortunately, there are some tools and metrics that can help you see your post’s performance.

Blog Comments and Engagement with Readers

The first thing you can do to understand the effectiveness of your blog post is to carefully watch your reader engagement.

Are people commenting on your post? When you share on social media, are you getting interaction?

Social Shares

Monitoring your social shares and engagement can let you know if your blog content is resonating with readers.

Post Views

One of the best tools you can use to monitor your blog’s impact is Google Analytics.

Since Google Analytics is a free Google tool, you know that you’re getting your info straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak).

With Google Analytics, you can:

• Track specific WordPress links.
• Use UTM parameters to see where your traffic is coming from.
• Measure user behavior.
• Monitor the user experience.
• Measure e-commerce performance for your online store.
• Connect your Google Analytics to your Google Adsense account to track revenue earned from each blog post.
• Download customize reports.
• See which devices your readers are using (desktop computer, tablet, or mobile device).
• Measure internal site search.
• See where your traffic is coming from (organic search, direct traffic, and social media referrals).

Another tool you can use to monitor your site traffic is the Jetpack WordPress plugin and its site stats feature.

However, keep in mind that Jetpack may slow your website down.

You can also use tools such as Monster Insights.

Wrapping Up: How to Write a Blog Post in 2022

You’ve created your blog, optimized it, and maybe monetized it.

Now you know how to write a blog post that will be engaging and effective, so it’s your time to shine.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know below or connect with us on social media.