How To Write A Blog Post {That Converts Readers}

Are you struggling to write your blog posts?

You’re not alone; I’ve been there and many new bloggers are having the same problem.

But there is a way to write without feeling overwhelmed or stuck. There’s a method to the madness.

One thing that has worked really well for me is ‘me being my first audience’.

I write for ME first. So when you’re writing, write for yourself FIRST.

Write a blog post for you! 

You ask the question, how to write a blog post? The answer to that is easy and can be done in 4 simple steps:

1. Have a headline
2. Introduction 
3. Body with 3 or more paragraphs
4. Conclusion

We learn that in school, and you know what, anyone can do it, even a child.

But you’re not in school anymore and you’re not writing for fun. 

Do you really wanna learn how to write a regular post that a child could write? or do you want to write a blog post that is valuable enough to keep readers on your blog, and keep coming back for more?

If you choose the first one, then use the steps above, and don’t bother reading the rest of this post.

The rest of this post is for people like me who want to educate, inform, and convert first-time visitors into regular readers of my blog. 

If that’s you, let’s continue.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links and I will get a small commission if you use them and complete a purchase. This is at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.

With that out the way, let’s dive into each step.

How To Write A Blog Post

In the beginning, writing blog posts will seem hard to do, but the more you keep writing the better you will become in time.

You’re probably not going to want to write because you think your writing is bad but how else are you going to learn? The only way you’re going to get good is if you practice.

Now when you create a post you should do so with the goal of converting that reader.

Ok, let me start off with a little explanation of what I mean by ‘convert’.

Convert means to get someone to take a specific action on your site. 

For example, while I’m striving to educate and inform you, my end goal is to get you to keep coming back to my site for more value, as well as to tell others about my site.

So ask yourself these questions, why am I writing this post? Am I writing to educate, inform, convert; or all 3? 

Who am I writing for? Am I writing for my audience or other bloggers’ audiences? 

Hopefully, your audience is people like YOU, and you’re writing to provide value to them by educating and informing them about the topic so that they can get a solution to their problem.

I’m writing this article for ME because I’m my first audience and I’m writing for people like me, who are trying to figure out how to write a blog post that converts.

When I was in high school I hated English, especially the essay writing part.

In college, I lost a lot of points for the way my essays were structured and organized (or perhaps I should say the lack of).

My sentences were all over the place, packed closely together like slaves on a ship, and very confusing. Even to me.

The teacher’s feedback on essays was that the thesis is unclear, sentences aren’t flowing, the body does not reflect the topic, etc. (lots of red circles used to be on my papers).

From that feedback, I learned how to structure my essays and develop an outline to follow, and got much better results.

After a while, I got better at essay writing because I began paying attention to that feedback.

When it came time to write blog posts, honestly I struggled a lot, mainly because I have been out of college for so long and had pretty much-forgotten everything.

There’s a lot they teach in school about English writing that does not work in the lives of us bloggers, but, there are some little golden nuggets that definitely help.

Now, I use those feedback, along with what I’ve learned as a blogger about On-Page SEO to make my posts more organized, and easier to read and understand.

Understand Your Audience

If you already know how to start a blog or have a blog up and running then hopefully you’ve got a target audience.

But,

Is your blog targeting a specific niche and audience?

If it is, then you just have to find out what your audience wants. You should identify what topics within that niche interests them.

So what topics interest YOU? Remember, you are your first audience if you’re targeting people that have the same problems as you.

Find out exactly what they’re searching for, and their search intent.

Are they trying to ease pain or looking for something pleasurable?

Do they want to buy or do they just need information?

A great way for identifying searchers’ intent is by looking at their search query. For example, a how-to search query more than likely means they are looking for information.

Having a clear understanding of the searcher’s intent will help you narrow down your topic so you can create a more focused product or content.

Below you’ll find out

Writing a blog post is as easy as ABC once you have a guide.

Now let’s get some details on each step.

Step 1: Choose A Topic

Before you begin drafting any blog post you need to choose your topic carefully.

Finding a niche and choosing topics for blog posts are some of the greatest challenges a beginner faces.

However, if your niche is evergreen or something you’re passionate about then choosing a topic to blog about won’t be that difficult.

Keep in mind that your audience is YOU, so choose topics in your niche that interest you.

But, if you are having difficulty finding topic/content ideas there are a few places that can help.

Google Search

One of the first places to check for blog topic ideas is Google.

Head to Google and enter the keyword of your blog and you’ll see some topic ideas show up as you type.

Look at the people also ask section as well and you’ll get more ideas.

Tip: Use the search filters in Google to get more recent ideas.

To access the filters click on ‘Tools’ and then set your time.

You can also get ideas by looking at the news, books, and videos section.

At the bottom of Google’s page is the related searches, that’s another place to get a few ideas.

AnswerThePublic

Answer the public is another place to get good content ideas.

Type in your keyword and set your preferences if you want.

The cool thing with this site is they show the topics in a nice organized way.

Amazon

Do you shop on Amazon? I’m guessing you do.

I bet you didn’t know that you can also use it to find great blog topics.

Head over to Amazon and type your keyword in search under the book category.

Select a book that has high ratings.

Check if it has a ‘look inside’ text, then click and check out its table of contents for topic ideas.

Course Selling Platforms

Platforms such as Skillshare, Coursera, Edureka, etc, are great places to get tons of content topics to blog about.

Pick your favorite course platform and type your keyword in the search, select a course and check its ratings.

Competitors Website

One of the best places to get content ideas is your competitors’ sites.

Checking the site of your competitors will give you an idea of their most popular and best content.

You can use their topics and get ideas to create similar topics for your site.

Be sure to identify a few competitors in your niche so you can see what’s working for them.

Some other great places to find topic ideas for your blog posts are social platforms.

You can use Hubspot’s blog ideas generator to come up with some post ideas. I also came across this really cool site title generator that will give you loads of content ideas.

After you’ve got your topic, move on to

Step 2: Do Keyword Research

When it comes to writing blog posts that will get you free traffic, you need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is the practice of writing and structuring your posts in a way that makes it easy for search engine bots and users to navigate your site and understand its content.

The key focuses of SEO are keywords and searcher intent.

Keyword research is the process of finding and understanding the search queries that people type into search engines when looking for something.

Keywords are the words or phrases a searcher enters into search engines.

For example, digital marketing.

There are seed or head keywords, and long-tail keywords.

Seed keywords are one or two words (marketing, digital marketing).

Long-tail keywords consist of three or more words ( how to start a digital marketing agency).

The keywords are what you will optimize your posts for.

This means when you write your posts you will add the keyword and its synonyms and phrases throughout your content.

By doing this, Google and other search engines will be able to understand what your content is about and add it to their database to show up on the search engine results page (SERP) when relevant.

This does not mean that you should keyword stuff your posts, or that your post will rank in SERP.

There are some great tools that can help you with your research.

These tools will provide you with valuable information that will help you produce great content.

Above is an example of the Ubersuggest keyword tool.

Beginners Tip: Target long-tail keywords that have low monthly search volumes (20-100). They will be less competitive and easier to rank for in search engines.

The key to keyword research lies in understanding the intent of the searcher; that is the reason why they are searching.

Step 3: Pick a Post Type

Before you write any blog post, you first need to decide what type of post you’re going to write.

There are a number of different blog post types. Below are some of the

Most common types of blog posts

The type you choose depends on your experience or knowledge of the topic you’re writing about.

What I mean is that you shouldn’t write a ‘how-to’ article unless you know how to do what you’re writing about.

Choose a post type that best suits your skill level or knowledge about each topic.

Now it’s time for

Step 4: How To Outline A Post

Can you build a house without a building plan?

Probably. But that wouldn’t be very wise.

Writing a blog post is no different. If you want to write a post that people will read, you need an outline.

A great blog post needs an outline.

If you want to be a great blogger you must plan out your posts before you start writing.

Your outline does not have to be long and wordy. It just needs to be short and simple enough to keep you on track.

Anyone can open up a text document and scramble a few words on it and call it a post, but if it lacks a proper layout, it will drive readers away.

Let’s be honest, do you read every word of every article? Or do you scan it to find important details and points of interest?

I skim through articles and I do the same with videos as well. I jump to important sections.

That’s why having an outline/structure is important.

A blog post structure will help your post be better organized and easier to read and understand.

Your structure should include the following components:

I will now explain each part individually.

Headline/ Title

The goal of your headline is to grab the reader’s attention, that’s it. It could be the reason your reader decides to stay or leave your blog.

You only have a few seconds to get their attention, so make it count or you’ll lose that reader.

Create a few different headlines and then when you’re done writing, pick the best headline that fits your content.

Whenever you’re crafting your headline, think about YOURSELF and some headlines that have scared you away or lured you in and replicate those. 

Back in 2017, Buzzsumo conducted research for headline phrases that get the most engagement and these were the top results.

So here are some tips to follow when creating your titles.

You can use the free EMV headline analyzer tool to check your headline score. Try to aim for a score of at least 15

Here are some of the best and most common headline formulas

Images

If your headline did or did not do its job correctly, your next line of defense will be an image.   

You’ve heard the saying, “A picture says a thousand words”, it’s true and it works for blog posts as well. 

Most of us are visual learners and are first attracted by imagery. So having catchy images or infographics in your posts will help keep your readers. 

Eye-catching images let your posts seem less boring. However, do not over-saturate your post with pictures. 

To me, too many images in a post are annoying. It distracts my brain from the content.

Be sure to check the copyright on your images before you use them and give proper credit to sources.

Introduction/Hook

The introduction is your third line of defense. 

Its goal is to reel the reader in by letting them know why they should read your posts.

If your readers make it past the title and the image and get to your introduction and it sucks, that’s it, game over, and they’re gone.

Some tips to keep in mind when writing your introduction:

Below is a list of the most common introduction ledes:

Body/Content

This is where you deliver the main points of your blog posts. 

The body of your post covers the most critical points and should provide details and add clarity to your introduction. 

Don’t jam your sentences together like you did when you were in school.

I’m sure you don’t want to send your readers to the eye doctor; so make your writing easy on the eyes.

Conclusion

End with a great conclusion. 

Your conclusion should do the following things:

Call to Action

You never want to end a post without a call to action. 

Also, add a call to action in the body of your content.

If you think a call to action only has to do with filling in a subscription form so you can capture an email address, you’re dead wrong. 

In your conclusion, you may:

Remember, each post reflects a 1-on-1 conversation with each of your readers, so engage them in conversation. Talk to yourself as you write.

Step 5: Write and Optimize

You’ve done your necessary keyword research and figured out what topic you want to write about.

In step 4 we looked at how to outline a blog post, now it’s time to use that outline to write your high-quality post.

Your goal at this point is to provide the most value to your readers in the easiest way.

Writing high-quality content is great, but it doesn’t end there, you need to optimize it.

When you optimize your content, it means you’re organizing in a way that both humans and search engine bots can understand.

This includes adding keywords, synonyms, phrases, and imagery to different elements of your post.

If you want your post to be on the Google search engine results page (SERP), you’ll have to optimize it for bots to be able to read and understand it.

Below is an image of a SERP, that should be where you want your post to end up.

Learning how to write a well-optimized blog post can get you a lot of organic traffic if it lands on Google’s first page.

Below are some of the best practices for optimizing your posts.

I have a very detailed post that walks you through the step-by-step process of optimizing a blog post, please be sure to give it a read.

While writing your content be sure to add relevant images and audio to it, and optimize those as well.

Once you’re done writing your post, you’d then move on to the final stages of the writing process.

Step 6: Edit And Proofread

Ok, you’re at the finish line. Just a little trimming to go and then you’re ready to publish.

This is the part where you go over your work with a fine-tooth comb. Ask friends or family for feedback and suggestions.

Check for grammatical errors using tools such as Grammarly and Hemingway app to help you.

Read out loud to yourself to catch any sentence errors. If you can pick up on them, then so can your readers.

Rewrite and reword sentences as often as you wish until you are happy with the final product.

Once you’re finished with your edits, go ahead and publish.

Self-editing and proofreading are not easy, it’s easy to miss the errors in your own writing, so whenever possible hire an editor.

But if you can’t afford to hire someone then use the editing tips below to help you.

Make sure you optimize your post properly so you can have a shot at landing on Google’s SERP.

Once you’re done with these steps you are ready to post.

That’s it, you are done writing your blog post. Congratulations!

Tips to help you write a blog post

Most bloggers say “write like you talk”, I say that’s crap.

Don’t write like you talk, because we don’t all use the same dialect. 

I’m from Jamaica and in our dialect, we speak ‘patois’, it’s Creole English. If I wrote in it, you would not understand what I wrote unless you were Jamaican or had some knowledge of the language.

So write in an understandable conversational tone. 

Here are some additional tips to keep in mind when writing.

wrapping up

I had to redo some of my posts many times and I know it can be quite frustrating but don’t give up.

If you want the stars you have to reach for the sky. If this guide wasn’t enough to help you, then find one that will. Don’t stop believing and don’t stop aiming.

I would love to hear how your post came out after using this guide. Let me know.

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me, I’d love to hear from you, drop your thoughts in the comments below.

Also, before you go, if you found value in this post can you help a girl out and share it, please. Thanks a mil.

I’ve made it super easy for you to share by just clicking any of the social icons or images below.