How To Write Your First Blog Post In 10 Easy Steps

Are you overwhelmed at the thought of writing your first blog post?

You’ve just finished setting up your website, brimming with so much excitement.

And all you want right now is to publish content on your blog.

But, of course, you know what you want to write; in fact, you’ve carefully thought out the ideas.

But then, you realize something seems to be missing: a good structure plan to begin. 

I know the feeling; I felt the same way the first time.

So what did I do?

I mapped out these ten easy steps I’m about to share with you.

If you’re ready, let’s go!

How To Write A Blog Post In Ten Easy Steps

• Step 1 – Identify your audience.
• Step 2 – Brainstorm your blog post topic
• Step 3 – Target a Keyword for the title
• Step 4 – Create an outline
• Step 5 – Craft a compelling introduction
• Step 6 – Write the first draft of Your Blog post
• Step 7: Edit and proofread the draft
• Step 8: Optimize for SEO
• Step 9 – Craft a captivating headline
• Step 10 – End with a compelling CTA

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

If you’re looking at blogging as a long-term business, writing content relevant to your target audience is better.

Remember that writing about what no one is looking for will lead to little or no traffic.

So, develop a good understanding of who they are and what they are struggling it, and come up with a way to solve their problems.

You can leverage many forums to locate your target audience; Facebook groups, Pinterest group boards, and groups within your niche.

Find out what borders them,

• What problem are they struggling with?
• What answer do they seek for the issues?
• Can you help them solve their problems?

If you write valuable and helpful content focused on solving these problems, your audience will continue to clamor for more of your content.

Step 2: Brainstorm Your Blog Post Topic

Now, choose the topic relevant to your reader’s queries and questions.

So, how do you know what people are looking for online?

There are various places to get a hint of what questions people are seeking the answers to.

1. Google search – type in the question, for example, How to write a blog post.

Take note of the People also ask and related searches.

2.   Quora is also an excellent place to check

Slot in your question How to write my first blog post

3.   Answer the public –  shows the aggregate questions people are looking for about a particular subject

Step 3: Target A Keyword For The Title

Then, pick a title from the list and identify the keyword to target for SEO.

But first, check how competitive is the one you’ve chosen.

Get your hands on SEO tools like Jaaxy, ahrefs, Answer the Public,  keyword planner,  Buzzsumo, Semrush, and Ubbersuggest.

Jaaxy shows you the keyword difficulty and lets you know if you should target it.

So, instead of targeting high-volume keywords, focus on finding low-competition and long-tail keywords.

The reason is to have a high chance of ranking for them on search engines.

Step 4: Create An Outline

Starting your writing in an organized manner is vital as it helps put your ideas into a structured form.

I always outline the content to get more insight into what I’m about to write.

So, break it down into sections separated by headers and subheaders.

Start from the main heading and then move to sub-headings.

Step 5: Craft a compelling introduction

Next is to write an engaging introduction that keeps your audience reading till the end.

Keep in mind that it takes only a few seconds for readers to scan and decide whether to stay or not.

So, grab their attention with a good opening.

You may pose a question, tell a personal story or start with humor telling them how you struggled with the same problem.

Then lead them to read about how you solved it. Pick what works best for you, but keep the sentences short.

Step 6: Write the first draft of Your Blog post

Use the headings and subheadings to expand your points.

Try to write in a friendly manner, the way you talk. It may seem difficult; even for me, it is sometimes.

After all, we were all taught the academic writing style in school.

But, that method does not work when writing content for our audience. So instead, write conversationally.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect at this stage; you can edit your draft later. So, feel free to express your mind and let it flow.

I always start with a draft, writing everything I know related to the topic on google docs. After that, do some research, then take a break.

Then, when I get back to work, I will have fresh ideas to add.

Some people find using a notebook or writing straight into WordPress very comfortable. It all depends on what works best for you but don’t linger on it for too long.

Step 7: Edit And Proofread The Draft

Editing is a crucial step in writing high-quality content. Though it can be time-consuming, it’s not a step to ignore or skip.

I constantly edit my draft to check the flow, tone, and other errors I might not have seen initially.

It also gives me a chance to see it from different perspectives.

In addition, Research shows that reading your content or hearing it read aloud helps you discover errors you didn’t notice before.

There are many grammar checker tools, but I mainly use Grammarly Pro.

It’s straightforward and good enough; the free version is all you need to get started.

While editing, ensure you do the following final checks

• Write in a conversational style – keep the content simple and easy to understand
• Read the post aloud to check the flow.
• Use headers and sub-headers – make you stay organized when writing.
• Include relevant images – images play a significant role in breaking the long text block. Add alt tags to images.
• Use short sentences – they are easier to read than long sentences. Moreover, most readers will get bored reading long sentences of text.
• Keep paragraphs short – maybe 2-3 sentences in a section.
• Add lots of white spaces.
• Promote on social media.

Step 8: Optimize for on-page SEO 

On-page SEO is essential to improve your site’s visibility on search engines.

• Install the Yoast, All-in-One SEO plugin
• Use keywords in the title and subheading.
• Add internal and external links. Internal links help improve users’ experience and encourage them to visit other pages on your website. Linking to authority sites helps to improve your site visibility.
• Optimize images – add alt text describing the purpose of the picture.
• Write the meta description – include keywords in the meta description. Keep it under 60 characters but make sure it grabs searchers’ attention.
• Optimize site load speed – install a caching plugin and reduce the image size to the tiniest form.
• Mobile responsiveness – a responsive site changes based on the screen size; check that your site adjusts to layout and proportions on the mobile device. Go to Google search console, then mobile usability, look at the report, and follow the instruction to fix any error noticed.

Step 9: Craft A Captivating Headline

Use your title and target keyword to produce an attention-grabbing headline.

However, it can sometimes be time-consuming, so I prefer to work on that after the main body.

In addition, you may check your title score using headline analyzers like optinmonster, coschedule, and likes.

Remember, it’s the first thing your readers see, and you have a few seconds to catch their attention to click and read.

Step 10: Conclude With A Compelling Call to Action

End with an irresistible call to action (CTA). Tell readers what action you want of them at the end of the post.

For example, you may ask questions, tell them to share, or subscribe to the email list.

So, summarize the entire post quickly, and point out what exactly you want the audience to take away from it.

Encourage and give them the confidence to achieve a good result if they are ready to take action.

Bonus – Blog Post Checklist

But before you hit publish, check this list of vital things a blog post must have to help it rank well in Google.

Conclusion

And there you have it, how to write a first blog post in ten easy steps.

Writing your first content can be overwhelming with consistent practice and research, but you see yourself honing your writing skills.

And remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it gets better over time.

Try these ten steps and let me know where you are struggling most.

Now go out there, write that excellent content, and keep blogging.

Have you written a blog post that got tons of clicks and read? Share your experience with us in the comment.

If you enjoy this post, don’t hesitate to share it with your friends.

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