11 Blog Writing Tips for Beginners
Let’s get real. There’s a lot of bad blog content out there. Blog content that sounds like the writer just asked ChatGPT to pump out an article and didn’t bother to look over it.
The reality is that those blogs do very little to create true fans of their business, and they just add to the obscene amount of content out there these days.
Blogs are still very powerful, but you have to do it the right way.
Here are 11 blog writing tips for beginners who want to increase traffic, foster connection, and inspire action.
Tip #1: Know your target audience
Understanding who your target audience is and what they’re interested in is the first step to creating great blogs. This is not just about knowing their basic demographics, such as age, gender, and location, but delving deeper into their interests, goals, and the challenges they face.
Drill down who you are trying to reach so that you can tailor your content to them.
Tip #2: Tailor content to meet the needs of your audience
Once you have a good grasp of who your audience is, it's time to craft your content around what they need.
While your content might not perfectly speak to them right away, one way to gain insight into your readers is by utilizing analytics tools. These can show you which of your posts are most popular and which topics attract the most comments or shares. Make your blog a go-to resource for your audience's questions.
Tip #3: Write conversationally
Have you ever read a blog where don’t understand a word they said? Chances are the writer got a tad bit enthusiastic with their thesaurus! While it can be tempting to sound extra “smart” in your blog posts to show your expertise, it can have the opposite effect. Overcomplicating your writing can make your reader immediately bounce off your page and search for another blog that actually simplifies a concept for them. One of the best ways to sound conversational in your writing is to “write” your first draft by using voice-to-text software. I like the one included in Google Docs (the Chrome version)!
Tip #4: Tell stories
People are 22x times more likely to remember a story than they are to remember a fact (so you might not remember this). Incorporate stories throughout your blogs so your audience is more likely to remember what they’re reading. This might be personal stories, customer stories, or even stories going on in pop culture that you can tie to your content.
Tip #5: Share facts and figures
While I may have just said that stories are more memorable than facts, they can work hand in hand. Because one of the best ways to establish yourself as an authority figure is to present evidence for what you’re talking about.
However, it's not just about throwing in any number or statistic you come across. Make sure you share figures that are relevant to the topic at hand and come from reputable sources.
Tip #6: Leverage the power of SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial to building a successful blog.
But, this starts with knowing what your audience is searching for and researching keywords you can actually rank for. Once you've identified your main keyword, incorporate it naturally into the first 100 words of your blog, one H2, your meta description, and your meta title. Don’t overdo it because,Google will penalize you if they feel you are stuffing keywords in your content.
Tip #7: Write long-form content
Long-form content, typically defined as content that exceeds 1,000 words is crucial to the success of your blog if your goal is ranking on search engines like Google. Studies suggest that search engines tend to favor longer, more informative posts.
Longer content also encourages more significant user engagement - more time spent on the page, lower bounce rates, and higher chances for social sharing and backlinks, all of which contribute to SEO.
Tip #8: Promote your posts on social
It’s very important that you regularly promote your posts in the other places where you have an audience or are building an audience (Instagram, Pinterest, your Email list, etc.).
Why?
First of all, the people who already know you as an authority figure may use your content as backlinks to their own blogs (which does wonders for SEO).
Second, SEO takes time to do its magic, so promoting your blogs on social where you typically don’t need a big audience for new people to find you can help your blogs get some much-needed eyeballs.
Tip #9: Monitor your analytics
Not every blog post is going to be a winner. Some topics are going to popular than others.
A great way to figure out what’s working and what’s not?
Monitor your analytics! You can use tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console to do this. Use the data to determine which topics you should double down on and what you might want to change.
Tip #10: Update old content
All of our opinions change over time. If that’s the case with something you’ve said in an old blog post, it may be time for a refresh. On top of the chance to update your thoughts, updating old content also gives you the chance to look over if there are any broken links that you can replace and update the blog with better, more current keywords. Refreshing old content also tends to help those pages get more traffic.
Tip #11: Hire a pro (instead of reading even more blog writing tips for beginners)
Investing in a pro can be a huge time and money saver. Instead of wasting months learning the ropes of blogging, a pro has “been there, done that.” You can skip the learning curve and start seeing results in a fraction of the time you would have if you were doing it on all your own.
Want to learn more?
Hopefully, this blog post has helped you understand blogging as a beginner a little better. But if you want to learn more about blogging, websites, copywriting, and more, check out the blog! Here are some of our favorites!
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