So you have set up your new WordPress Blog and you want to learn how to write a good blog post. This article will discuss in depth “How to Write A Good Blog Post?” If you haven’t set up your blog yet make sure to first visit our first article in the series “How To Start A WordPress Blog?” Part One. It will take you from conception to launching your very first blog!
Now that your blog is setup and ready to rock and roll, it is time to learn how to write a good blog post. A good blog post consist of the following.
1. Pick A Topic You Are Passionate About:
As I mentioned in Part One of the series, picking a passionate topic is very important if you want to retain readers and grow your new blog. It is much easier to write about something you love and your readers can tell. They don’t want to read a cookie cutter article lacking in new perspective and overflowing with the same stale ideas.
Niche Topics For Your First Blog Post
Pick a niche topic if you can. This doesn’t mean you should sway away from a topic you are passionate about but if you can, it is better to pick a specific niche when possible. The internet is flooded with blogs and you want yours to stand out. For example: You have a way better shot at having the number one German Shepherd Blog than you do having the number one Dog Blog.
A niche blog may appeal to a specific region or demographic. It may also be a specific market inside of a large market. Choosing a specific niche will increase your chances of gaining followers and ranking higher in the search engines.
2. Choose Keywords For Your First Blog Post:
The first thing you need to do once you have a good topic to write about, is pick some good keywords to target in your article. Search engines love a nice long keyword rich article with relevant content and good readability.
How do I find keywords to use for my first blog post?
Their are tons of websites with keyword tool but I personally recommend Google Keyword Planner.
Google is the number one search engine and has a ton of data and tools for you to use while doing research. You Simply enter a few words relevant to your blog topic and click search. It will give you a ton of keyword ideas to use. Choose a good keyword phase that compliments your blog topic.
Use Long Tail Keywords
Long tail keywords are considered a string of 3 to 4 words with a specific phrase that someone might use to find exactly what they are looking for in a search. Think about what you would type if you were looking for certain information. Longer key word phrases are sometimes even better due to less competition and more targeted traffic. 70% of search engine traffic is found using long tail keywords.
3. Write An Article That Is At Least 1500 Words Long
Now that you have a good topic and a good long tail keyword phrase, lets begin writing your first blog post. Login to WordPress and click: add new post. You can now start working on your very first blog post.
Quick Tip:
I highly recommend installing the Yoast SEO plugin if it isn’t installed already on your blog. It will guide your search engine optimization along with your blog posts’ readability in real time, You should see a link to plugins on the left side of the WordPress menu. Click it and check to see if the plugin is already installed. If it isn’t click add new plugin and search the plugin database for the Yoast SEO plugin. It will be invaluable while writing your blog posts.
Start With Your Blog Title
Pick a good title with your keyword focus phrase in the title. I chose “How To Write A Good Blog Post” because it answers a question. You want your title to be fairly long and not too short. This is where Yoast will begin to help. Scroll down to the bottom of your WordPress Blog Post. You will see the Yoast SEO Plugin in action.
What exactly does the Yoast SEO Plugin do?
It optimizes your blog post by letting you know when something is wrong. Here is a quick synopsis of Yoast and what exactly it does: You will want to make sure all of these are green before publishing your article!
Yoast will scan for the following in Real Time:
1. Image Alt Attributes:
You need to have at least one image on your blog post. Once you insert that image. Check the side bar on the right side of the page and looks for the alt text box. Use your focus keyword phrase in this box.
2. Outbound Links:
It is good to have a least a couple of links to other pages or blogs outside of your blog. Linking to others will encourage them to link back to you. Link backs are a high priority when it comes to raking well in the search engines.
Internal Links:
Internal links are any links that link to the blog post you are working on. This will include the automatic link from your home page that will be produced upon publishing your blog post. Best case scenario will be to get others to link to your blog post. If you write a high quality post that solves a problem, others may want to link to you without even asking.
Keyphrase in Introduction:
This is pretty self explanatory. Make sure to include your keyword phrase in the first paragraph of your blog. It tells the search engine that your first paragraph is relevant to your blog post.
Keyphrase Length:
This is the length of your focus keyphrase which is directly related to the long tail keyword phrases that we discussed earlier. You want this to be at least 3 to 4 words.
Keyphrase Density:
This is the ratio of your keyword phrase when compared to the total word count of your blog article. A good ratio is 1-2%. That means use your keyphrase one time for every 200 words in your blog. This is very important but don’t over do it. Search engines will penalize you if you use too many. You want to have just the right amount for good search engine optimization.
Keyphrase in Metadescription:
Your metadescription is the description search engines will use to describe your website in the search results. If you fail to fill this in, the search engine will automatically pull text from your blog’s homepage to use and it may not be optimum.
Metadescription Length:
Keep it under 144 characters and make sure to use a call to action when describing your blog to the world.
Previously Used Keyphrase:
You will be alerted by Yoast if you have used the same keyphrase in the past. This will help prevent duplicate blog posts.
Keyphrase in Subheading:
Subheadings are important and you want to make sure that you include your keyphrase in your H2 and H3 subheadings. It will alert you if you don’t have enough.
Text Length:
Yoast SEO suggests using at least 300 words but as we mentioned earlier in this post, you want to aim for at least 1500 words with 2000 being optimum.
Keyphrase in Title:
Put your focus keyphrase in your title preferably at the beginning.
SEO Title Width:
Google has a maximum width of 600 pixels when they display your title in the search. This means you want to keep your title under 60 characters.
Keyphrase in Slug:
Make sure that you use your keyphrase in the slug. The slug is the section of a url that identifies a specific page on your website. For example the slug for this blog post is /how-to-write-a-good-blog-post.
Here is a screenshot of my Yoast SEO while writing this blog post: Note that I have a red dot for keyphrase density. That is telling me that I need to add more keyphrases to my post. I will need to find a good area to add my keyphrase “How To Write A Good Blog Post.” and insert it.
Now that you understand what Yoast SEO does lets move on to the next step!
4. Start Writing Your Blog Post
Start writing the content of your first blog post. Most WordPress Blogs come with the CoBlocks Plugin which makes it easy to add everything you need including the following:
- Paragraphs
- Headings
- Lists (Ordered or Unordered)
- Images
- Media and Text Combination
- Quotes
- Forms
- And More
How To Use Blocks To Add Content To Your Blog Post
- Click in the area that you want to add the content and look for the + symbol.
- Click on the + symbol to add the block of your choice. Their are several options to choose from. Go to Browse More if you don’t see what you are looking for initially.
- Select the block you would like to use such as a paragraph or an image.
- Click in the area of the block and begin writing.
You will want to make sure that you are using enough transition words and not too much passive voice. These two things are related to readability.
What are transition words?
Transition words are words that show a relationship between paragraphs, phrases or sentences. Some examples include: and, because, but and so. They will improve your first blog posts’ readability. Readability determines how easy your blog post is to read using a special algorithm. For a complete list of transition words visit Smart Words. I use their list when I am writing my blog posts.
What is Active and Passive Voice?
Active voice is the standard way to structure a sentence and consist of a (person) who does something (verb) to the receiver (animal, person or thing). When you use passive voice, the person and the receiver are reversed. This may sound complicated and it will take some getting use to. You can write you article and then adjust according to Yoast SEO.
Quick Tip:
Yoast SEO features a neat little tool that allows you to highlight errors in your writing. For instance, if you are trying to correct having too much passive voice, you can highlight the areas in your blog post that passive voice is present and correct them. Simply scroll down to the Yoast SEO section and click on readability. Then click on the little eye next to the passive voice section. Now the sentences that have passive voice will be highlighted.
For a more in depth explanation of Active and Passive Voice you can visit Yoast SEO’s article on the topic.
5. Use Headings And Subheadings For Structure
The way that you structure your blog post is important. You will want to use headings and subheadings to break up your content therefore making it easier to follow and understand. Use the H2 headings for your most important content. As you can see in this blog post, I used H2 headings for each of the steps involved in “How To Write A Good Blog Post?”
You will work you way down from there into the different sections using smaller and smaller subheadings as you go. They go from H1 to H6 in WordPress with H1 being most important.
Quick Tip:
You can check the content structure of your blog post by clicking on the little “i” in the circle at the top left of the work area. Here is a screenshot showing you the location with an orange arrow.
Now that you know how to use heading and subheadings to layout your blog post, lets move on to the next step.
6. Finish Writing And Proof Read Your Blog Post
Once you finish writing your blog post using the techniques and information listed in this article, it is time to proof read your work.
Here is a checklist to make sure you have everything covered:
- Check for spelling errors:
You should have fixed any spelling errors along the way using spellcheck which is automated in WordPress. - Read your post:
Make sure the content flows with good sentences and the proper use of paragraphs. Make sure that paragraphs aren’t too long. People can have short attention spans. You want your writing to grab their attention. - Add some pictures:
Use some good pictures to spruce up your post. People are visual and love to see pictures. They can really add some personality to your blog posts. You can add screenshots similar to mine in this blog.
7. Final Steps Before Publishing You First Good Blog Post
So you have finished writing your first blog post and now it is time to publish it. Not so fast! Check these last couple of very important things before publishing your blog post for the world to see.
Check your Yoast SEO for any errors:
Look at Yoast SEO for any errors and if you do have errors, go ahead and address them. You will want to make sure that you have the green dot next to all of your items on the list. Once this is accomplished, you get a green smiley face. You will want to do this for SEO and Readability.
Make sure the following items are completed on the right sidebar under the Document Tab:
- Yoast SEO: Make sure you have a green smiley face for Readability and SEO.
- The URL Slug: Make sure that your permalink is filled in using your focus keyphrase.
- Categories: Add a new category and check the box. I used “Beginner Tips” as the blog category for this post.
- Tags: Add up to 8 relevant tags for your blog post. “How To Article” is an example of a tag I used for this post.
- Featured Image: Put your best image here. The featured image will be used as a thumbnail on the index page of most blogs. It will also show up at the top of your blog post once it is published.
8. Preview Your First Blog Post and Publish It
Click preview in the top right corner of the workspace to preview your blog. Make any necessary tweaks. Once you are satisfied with how everything looks, go ahead and click Publish.
Congratulations!
You did it! You just published your very first blog post. I hope this “How To Write A Good Blog Post” article was helpful and gave you all of the necessary tools.
Stay Tuned For Part Three “How To Build A Custom Blog Page In WordPress.”
My next in depth article will guide you step by step through the process of “How To Build A Custom Blog Page.” You will learn how to build the foundation of your blog with all of the necessary pages including the about me, contact and legal pages.
Thank you for visiting! Please leave a comment below and let me know how your first blog post turned out! I look forward to hearing from you!