1.Come up with a list of interests.
Before you define your blog's intention, you should have a general idea of what you want to write about. The sky is the limit when it comes to your blog's category, but common topics include the following:
Gaming
Style
Politics/Social Justice/Activism
Cooking/Food
Travel
Business/Company
2.Know what not to blog about.
Things like private information—both yours and other people's—and personal details that you don't want to share with people close to you shouldn't be topics for your blog.
If you have a job that required you to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), you should avoid discussing activities or topics outlined in the NDA.
Blogging about other people is fine as long as you don't harass or discriminate against them, but be aware that they may see your content and retaliate.
3. Consider your blog's intention.
While having in mind a blog topic is a good start, your blog needs a specific direction in order to get off the ground. Common reasons for blogging include one (or a combination) of the following, though you can certainly find your own inspiration:[1]
Teach something — Best-suited to instructional blogs (e.g., DIY projects).
Document your experience — Good for travel blogs, fitness challenges, and so on.
Entertain — Well-suited to a variety of mediums such as comedy writing, fan-fiction, and so on.
Call to action — Commonly used for your business or company blog.
Inspire others — This is a category that can stand on its own, but may best fit any of the other intentions in this section.
4. Check out other blogs in your category.
Once you've established your blog's topic and goal, research other blogs that use the same topic and/or your preferred style of writing to see how they engage their audiences.
You shouldn't outright copy a blog you admire, but you can take inspiration from the tone, layout, or language used for the blog content itself.
5. Brainstorm blog specifics.
The last two things you should know before you actually make your blog are the blog's name and how you want the blog to look:
Blog name — Come up with a name that you feel comfortable sharing with others. This may be a combination of your interests, your blog's content, and/or a nickname; just make sure that your blog's title is both unique and easy to remember.
Blog design — You probably won't be able to design your blog's layout exactly the way you want to, but having a general idea of the color scheme and font type before you go to create your blog will make it easier to find a template you like.
6. Keep posting content. Little will cause your blog to stop drawing in traffic faster than not posting for a long period of time (or posting erratically). Develop a posting schedule that allows you to post at least once per week and stick to it.
- Missing a post by a day or two once in a while is fine, though you should consider making a note on social media that your post will be late.
7. Create your blog using a reputable platform.
Common blog platforms include WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr, but you can choose any commonly used service you like. Once you've selected a service, your blog creation process will usually look something like this:
Open the service's website on your computer.
Create an account (preferably a free one to start).
Enter your desired blog name, then pick a URL.
Select a blog layout and any other requested details.
Promote your blog on social media.Once you've created your blog and made a few posts, you can increase your blog traffic by posting a link to your blog on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
You might even consider using the blog's address in your bio or as your "Company Website" on social media
8. Write the post
We’re going to keep this step short and sweet. As we’ve mentioned, actually sitting down to write a blog post is a creative process, and everyone’s approach will be different.
With this in mind, here are a few tips that work for us when writing a blog post:
Don’t worry about self-editing while you’re writing the first draft. There’s plenty of time to go back and make fixes later. Just get all your ideas down.
Aim to write too much, rather than too little. You can always trim down what you’ve written, but trying to lengthen a post after the fact can result in adding too much ‘fluff’.
Write your post’s introduction and conclusion last. Once the rest of the post is laid out, you’ll have a better idea for how to best open and close it.
It’s also smart to keep in mind more general writing advice, such as finding somewhere without distractions and writing at the time of day when you’re most alert and focused.
9. Edit your first draft
This step is where a lot of bloggers stumble – especially first-timers. The biggest mistake you can make is simply to omit this phase altogether. Many people simply write a blog post, give it a quick pass for spelling mistakes, and hit Publish.
However, much of a post’s quality comes through in the editing process. Your first effort is called a rough draft for a reason – polishing lets your ideas, opinions, and advice shine through without distraction. This holds true no matter how much (or how little) experience you have.
We’ve written about the editing process in the past, and we recommend you check out the article for a full checklist. As with the previous step, though, here’s a summary of the most important advice you’ll want to keep in mind:
Don’t edit right after you’ve finished writing. Allow for time to pass so you can see the post more objectively – ideally a day or so.
Watch out for the basics. Spelling and grammar may seem simple, but they’re important for establishing your credibility and putting the focus on your content (not your mistakes).
Edit the entire post, not just the text.This means looking over images and other media, checking your formatting and metadata, and so on.
Check out your post on the front end.No matter where you’ve actually written your blog post, you’ll want to preview and read it through on the WordPress front end. This lets you catch all sorts of errors you may have otherwise missed.
Give your post a final proofread. When you’re happy with the post, give it one final read-through to catch any lingering errors, confusing sentences, etc.
You really can’t devote too much time to the editing and polishing process. The result will be a high-quality blog post you’ll be happy to put your name to.
That’s how to write a blog post that people want to read
If you’re looking to build a thriving WordPress blog, there are a lot of strategies you can employ. You can use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive more traffic to your site, and even take advantage of useful external tools. Along the way, however, you can’t afford to ignore the importance of the writing process itself.
When it comes time to write a blog post for your site, you’ll want to make sure you cover these vital copyright steps:
Come up with a viable idea – one that suits your audience and lets you provide a unique piece of content.
Create an outline that provides an overall structure for your post, without constraining your creativity.
Write the post, getting the first draft down while everything is still fresh in your thoughts.
Edit your first draft, keeping an eye on small- and large-scale considerations alike.
Do you have any other tips for how to write a blog post? Your thoughts are welcome in the comments section below!
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