Writing a blog post should be just sitting down and doing a highschool storey however it is much more than that if you want to be read and respected.
Why I write blogs
We all have a need to express ourselves in some way and mine came with a dual purpose.
First of all, I have nearly a lifetime in a small business and have amassed a whole heap of information to share.
Also, the world of small business has changed so dramatically with the arrival of the internet that there was a lot of relearning to do to be able to compete.
The answer for me was to go back to school and be equal to the opportunities presented.
I still operate a small business and also use the Internet for affiliate income so I remain at the forefront of opportunities.
This led me to the first part of blogging and having a niche.
Small business marketing is my passion and my niche and the adventure starts from here.
Do you have a Niche or interest?
Mine was in fact hard to find. When I first thought about blogging I could not think of anything to write about. Yes, I have my life interests and a few passions but nothing to drive me to a lifetime of blogging.
I had a few false starts before the realisation hit me that small business was my thing. I have now written near 500 blogs or close to a million words and never the same Keyword more than once.
You should not be afraid to start a venture. Also, a small failure or change of mind is not a criminal offence it happens to us all.
However, you should start by knowing where you are going and that comes down to planning and your blogging is all planned into the future.
Doing a plan for the journey allows several things.
- You understand where you are going
- This allows your performance to be monitored
- Make vital adjustments along the way
- Compare your self to others
- Continue to visualise success.
It would be a good idea to list your starting keywords so that the daily selection is a lot easier.
How to build a Keyword list
I like to start with your main subject and build down from there.
You should also link to a Cornerstone keyword.
Let's pick a subject that we can work forward on. say “Racing”
Sprint racing, long-distance racing, Horse and dog racing. Cars, trucks and toboggans and on and on.
Then say Long distance racing, 12 KLM runs. half-marathons, marathons, super marathons, Girls, guys, Para,
Where we go to the Olympics, World championships
You should now see how we build a list of Keywords relating to any subject.
A keyword needs traffic
The idea of a Keyword is that you get enough traffic to read your blog but not so much to be competitive.
Let me explain an important issue that you must understand otherwise you will kill the process.
Over 80% of readers never go past the first page, in fact, the first four spots on the page. By page three you are really struggling for lookers.
Searching keywords is assisted by tools in the market and we will share more with you as we go along.
Get your SEO correct before you blog
SEO for dummies says that if you want to be read follow the rules. No short cuts. Here Wikipedia gives you a summary of the subject.
There is Paid traffic and Unpaid traffic, Good traffic and Bad traffic often called Black hat or white hat traffic so you are targeting very wide in your online product
You must understand that all traffic is not good. A thousand cars may drive past your house every day but you want one to walk in the door and talk to you. Your website is no different you want to interest.
Below is a free traffic generator
With Google Adwords, you can pay to be on page one in the first few lines.
However, there could be a heavy cost for this because every time someone clicks on your ad you pay money and sometimes substancial amounts of money.
Google takes it time to trust you
When you first start a blog or web page the Google trust factor is very low. In fact, about 10% trust in you until you prove your competence. Furthermore, this only grows by about 10% a month so it takes time to obtain full Google love.
If you are blogging for the income you can pay for traffic if the return is big enough. This is a mathematical problem of income over costs.
If a click costs you $15 and you convert 20% then a sale has a cost of just under $100. Therefore your profit must be greater than the cost. simple stuff.
Income can also be gained from Affiliates and Advertising so you have a trade on the value.
What can you do about SEO
Fortunately, a lot of this is in your hands and can be attended to early.
In no particular order, I will give you some items to be attended.
- The first is web site speed. If you are hosting on a slow website you will be disadvantaged over everyone else. This will apply to many of the free sites and those more crowded than necessary.
You can check this with Google - The next is writing for mobile phones. Google rates your Mobile images before a website so you need to write for small screens.
- Site security is also important and your site must be https compliant
or it will suffer. This was a big problem but most carriers now offer the secure listing for free, if you don't have it upgrade or change carriers.
That is your heading says HTTPS:// and not HTTP://. - The more comments you get to a site or blog the better you will be rated. Therefore you actively need to ask for comments and feedback
- Limit the number of site plugins you use as these will affect the whole site.
- Writing in a readable manner without a bundle of mistakes
- Consistent blogging over the time you want to be number one
Learning how to blog is easy
You should start your journey with a solid background in all things internet
and have enough information to proceed with confidence. It is a bit of a Minefield unless you go in the right direction.
We are halfway through this blog and we have not yet mentioned writing as your primary objective.
Consistent and ongoing training is essential to stay ahead of the market and your fellow bloggers. Remember it is not just writing it is a whole structure that is required for you to move forward in a competitive industry.
How do I achieve a good blog format?
More rules on top of rules before we go.
If we have chosen a Keyword then we have three more things to do before our literary attempts get the go-ahead.
- The site description is placed in your WordPress or web site in the designated area. This description must include your keyword and be less than 160 characters. It must be written to draw readers into your page from a simple search.
- You then have a title with the keyword in it.
- Plus your Keyword.
The image below is by someone that understands the rules. The Keyword “Marketing strategy” is in the title, the URL and the description. I usually place the description as my opening paragraph as well to compliment the circle.
Don't overuse Keywords
The rules changed on this some time ago when keyword stuffing, a common practice, became unacceptable by Google. We now aim for one for every 300 or so words including having one in a subheading.
Remember it is best to use one Keyword per blog for best effect.
So when writing a blog post stick to the agenda.
Headings and hashtags
Headings also have rules and they should be followed religiously to meet the demands of SEO.
Basically, you start big and go down through the page and not a haphazard journey of big and small.
However, lots of headings are recommended because the skim readers love them as they glance through your page. They stop at an interesting point and start to read.
It is recommended that you do your headings before you write a word. This way you set up a logical sequence of writing that has a start, middle and finish.
At this point in the blog I have about a dozen headings and this is on the light side of the requirement. As I edit I may add a few more and aim for a total of about 20 in 2000 words.
I start with a #2 and use #3 during the blog and will end with a #4 just to follow the rules.
You need to consistently edit your blog
This can not be overstated because our first draft is never the final. Even with a spell check we will still make mistakes along the way and take away from the readers' pleasure. Believe me, they see the mistakes and it distracts from their pleasure in your great article.
Writing short sentences
The general attention span of your audience is very limited unless you have riveting information that holds us to every word.
It does not happen so listen up.
Write short sentences and lots of them under a bundle of headings and you are on your way.
Yoast SEO recommends that no more than 25% of paragraphs should have greater than 20 words.
This may change your style at the start but provides a better chance of being read.
Transition words and using a passive voice
This will really ignite your objection to the rules however it does come easier with practice.
Words like furthermore, because, as a result, probably, and most of all are examples of transition words that help your structure.
Plus more
| Above all | Earlier | Similarly |
|---|---|---|
| As an example | Hence | Therefore |
| Before | Here | Thus |
| Besides | However | To begin with |
| Beyond | In addition to | To summarize |
These are taken from a site called your dictionary and serve as good examples of linking facts.
If you use Yoast SEO as a plugin he will drive you mad with these.
Next is using a passive voice to describe a situation. Readers need to be told what to do and not given vague alternatives.
Grammarly covers this quite well when you want to explore further.
I don't want to become to bogged down with this as it is an area for further study however it is an important feature.
Providing links in a blog
Another important rule is to link to other sites.
- Use internal links to other pages on your site
- Link to outside sources
- Authority links are important
- Affiliate links are money links
- Youtube links to keep the readers' interest
- Inbound links are really important
- Social media links work
Throughout this site, I have used links, at least one of all the above to either enhance my writing or support it. This creates traffic on google.
Social media linking
This is an important way to grow your readers. Share your post on your social media channels and share your social media to your blog post
This is an important part of SEO and helps you in your efforts to grow.
Categories and tags must be used
I write about business, affiliates, Social media, videos, working from home, lists and growth to name a few.
These often have different readers so the casual log in can find subjets of interest.
Beware the word uncategorized, this is often the default and should always be changed.
On my home page or a blog page, these will show up in the left widget.
Tags are different in that they link to subjects that people search using common words and describe specific details of your post. In the past really important but now believed to be a handy addition only.
Site comments and reviews
We work hard to get comments and reviews for several reasons.
- Google is impressed that readers like your work
- It adds to the page word count
- Readers will scan for good and bad comments
- and it fills out a page.
Getting comments is not easy. you can ask, beg, plead or get friends to do them for you. At Wealthy Affiliate, we have a trading platform where we offer to receive.
Pictures in a blog and Alt tags
Pictures tell a thousand words was on old saying but they also grab attention as people skim your blog seeking valuable content.
In addition, it gives you clarity and some art to your production.
I watched a news channel last night with no sound as the wife was talking on the phone. The pictures in the background clearly laid out the story and it jolted my conscience to the real value of using images.
However, they must be relevant to the subject and sized to fit the page.
Sometimes a good looking girl/guy helps the structure.
A Feature image at the start of your blog
This is a must-do and you will see in most stories a leading image that pertains to the relevant subject. This is an attention-getter to draw people into reading your article.
Make sure you have a nice image at the start.
Alt tags on images
Every image has a box to input what the image is about, called an AltTag
Some will say to put your Keyword in this but the real purpose is to tell disabled readers what the image is about. I have recently converted to an actual description in most cases.
The main point, however, is you must fill it out or be in the hands of Google dislike.
Analytics and your blog
You need to know how well your site or post is being seen and where your readers are and what they read.
You can use Google Analytics, a free site, that records all your actions provided you place a link on your site. Sign in to Google and set up a site.
Click on the admin button, then tracking info, tracking code and copy the code.
At the top of your post insert the code but at the start using a code <head>
so that the code is not shown on the site.
I also use Buz Sumo as a backup.
When your site visitors increase you will know you are on a winning streak
My conclusion on Blog writing
I hope you are not overawed on all the rules and decide it is not worthwhile because it is too hard.
So was learning to drive a car, sitting for exams and a host of things you have achieved over the years.
It quickly becomes commonplace although I do recommend a checklist when you start.
We all forget things and going through a list is really important because each action can make a difference to your result.
Edit, edit and edit are three golden rules of writing and that includes going back after you have published your blogs. Make some changes and review your site and improve its position.
Most of all enjoy the journey
Writing a blog post by Peter Hanley
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Hi, Peter Hanley here. Thanks for getting this far and I hope I have contributed in some way to your success as a writer. You will obtain countless joy from writing a good article and seeing it come alive on Google.
However, it is not a short journey and a single post will not make you a hero. It takes time and effort and a lot of writing to make the grade.
It is worth the effort so start typing, remember your rules and make a career of an art form.
BTW please feel free to comment and I shall re[ply to each and every one
