9 Tips That Will Make You Influential in BLOG Writing

Writing a blog post, especially if you’re a newbie, may seem tricky – but that doesn’t have always to be the case. That’s why this step-to-step guide shares practical tips on how to write an amazing article that will rank on Google and make you enough money.

Blogging helps you connect with your audience. And some of the benefits that come with it include organic (free) traffic from search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo and recognition from a new audience you haven’t tapped into yet.

So, if you’ve heard about blogging but haven’t started yet, possibly because you think your writing sucks or you don’t have enough money, the time for excuses is over. Learn how to start a free blog.

And then follow these 9 steps while writing your first blog post:

1. Brainstorm blog topics or ideas
2. Conduct keyword research
3. Define & study your audience
4. Create an organized outline
5. Write amazing content
6. Craft an irresistible headline
7. Add suitable visuals
8. Edit and publish your blog
9. Market and start making money

Let’s master these steps one at a time, shall we?

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Step 1: Brainstorm Blog Topics or Ideas

Before you start writing your blogs, find an interesting niche to focus your blog on, and list down a few categories that you’d love to share content on.

For instance, since my niche is digital creation and marketing, I classify my articles into five broad categories; money, vlogging, blogging, marketing, and trade and investment.

Let’s say you have 5 categories. Find keyword ideas (at least 10 per category), check the monthly search volumes in your desired location, and plan your publication schedule. Check out my plan:

Planning content helps you not to run out of ideas, enabling you to remain consistent and know when exactly to write and publish a blog on a specific topic.

And one of my favorite content idea generation strategies is scanning your competitors’ websites, and checking keywords and pages that are driving them massive traffic. Then write not a duplicate, but an improved version of their articles, keeping search intent in mind.

For instance, based on Neil Patel’s top pages, I can consider writing some blogs on the topics:

• Are the 4Ps of Marketing relevant?
• How to start a blog that makes money on itself
• Meaning of Affiliate marketing and how it works
• How bloggers make money
• The real meaning of digital marketing

Let’s say you find 30 competitors, and get 10 content ideas – you’ll end up with over 200 topics to brainstorm and pick the best for your audience. And you can also key in the main keyword on Google (YouTube or any other search engine) and use autocomplete to get more ideas.

Keyword research is the basics of blog writing and ranking, so let’s dive into it.

Step 2: Conduct Keyword Research

A keyword refers to word(s) or phrases someone types (or speaks) into a search engine. And people ask search engines all sorts of things – from ‘how to write a blog,’ ‘how to boil eggs,’ ‘how to use google keyword planner’, to personal stuff like ‘how to kiss your boyfriend romantically.’

So, keyword research refers to the process of finding popular search terms that your target audience is typing into search engines like Google and Bing.

It also entails placing the keywords strategically in your content so that it ranks higher on SERP (search engine results page) when people key in such terms.

Lucky for you, I shared a video on how you can use research tools like Ubersuggest, Googe Trends, and Google and YouTube autocomplete.

 Let’s say you want to write a blog targeting the keyword – ‘content writing.’ You can then use a free tool (website) Keyword.io to find long-tail keywords to include in your blog. It also gives you ideas for YouTube, Amazon, Bing, and even related questions. Check it out:

And also use a website called Answer the Public to find more questions and ideas.

But remember, location is very important when it comes to keyword research. So, in addition to knowing what your target audience is searching online, understand where they are located, and their search intent.

Step 3: Define your Target Audience

Having conducted the keyword research, you’re in a better position to understand what your audience is actively searching for on the web.

And in content marketing, a target audience refers to a specific group of people you’re writing to, whenever you publish a new article on your blog. Simply put, these are people who are interested in your blog’s niche, products, or services.

So, higher are the chances that they’ll possess some common features – especially demographics and behaviors. Remember, being highly specific when defining your audience is completely okay.

For instance, if you offer digital marketing services, you can focus on a specific country or seek an audience globally. Either way, be specific about whom you’re targeting.

And the best way to turn your traffic into active followers or fun is by giving them outstanding content that meets their search intent and offers solutions to their problems or searches.

When you’re sure about your target audience, start writing your blog or article. But you can first prepare an organized outline to help you remain focused.

Step 4: Create an organized outline

Composing an article outline shouldn’t be too complicated. Do this:

• Check 3 to 5 websites ranking for your focus keyword
• How have they structured their content?
• What have they missed out on? Any content gap?
• Then categorize your main topic into a few sub-topics

Having subheadings and including a table of content helps your audience navigate your post. And after preparing your outline, prepare yourself to begin writing your content and get started with it.

Step 5: Writing a Superb Blog

Before I guide you on how to compose an excellent article, here’re the common mistakes to avoid at all costs:

• Don’t stick with topics that your audience isn’t interested in
• Get rid of keyword stuffing
• Publishing content inconsistently
• Not linking to other content
• Don’t give up or get distracted too early
• Don’t ignore social media marketing
• Avoid writing without an outline
• Don’t create content for everyone, stick to your niche and audience

So, how do you write an excellent blog that will not only amaze your audience but make you a handsome amount of money at the same time? Well, all you need is to follow all the steps outlined in this article.

Simply put, your blog should contain answers that your target audience is actively searching for, bearing in mind their search intent and interests. And while writing your content, make sure it’s well organized and;

• It contains enough facts and visuals,
• Links to reputable websites,
• Links to other related posts on your blog (internal linking),
• Write in short sentences and paragraphs,
• Write original and authoritative (don’t copy-paste),
• It’s complete – long enough to give enough facts.

And if you are wondering how long a blog should be, the answer is – ‘it depends.’ A blog can be between 300 words to infinity, depending on your audience’s search intent and the topic.

You don’t expect to find a 3000-words article on ‘how to tie a tie’, yet an article on “how to make money on YouTube“ can be longer than 1,000 words, right? Remember, the longer the article, the more keywords it can rank for – but don’t force it.

Important for SEO: Don’t forget to include ‘enough’ long-tail keywords and their synonyms in the body of your content, and in h3, h4, and h5 headings where necessary.

Step 6: Craft an irresistible headline

Your headline (blog or article title) and thumbnail (especially on the home of your blog, social media, image search, and mobile display) have a significant impact on your average CTR (click-through rate).

And you can use online title generators to come up with compelling headlines for your blog. For instance, check out Hoth’s FREE Title Generator.

Or Title-generator.com – just key in the main keyword like “blog writing” and filter the results to find the most appropriate and interesting title that will grab people’s attention.

Some bloggers prefer crafting a headline before writing their content, while others do the opposite. Either way, you need a must-click headline that reprises your main keyword or topic and makes it more appealing to users.

Step 7: Include Suitable Visuals

Your articles should include as many visuals as possible. And some of the most common types include:

• Data-driven images
• Quotes
• Infographics
• Gifs
• Screenshots
• Videos or illustrations (slides)
• And many more, including memes

Skim through this post to see how I have used some, and let me know if you’d rather read the article with or without them. Visuals increase credibility of your content, especially if they’re well referenced. Not forgetting how they entice your readers to read more of your stuff.

But remember, only add the relevant ones where necessary.

Step 8: Polish and Publish your blog

Before publishing your content, make sure you proofread it and get rid of any grammatical errors, repetitions, or spelling mistakes, and include some internal and external links. And you can boost your proofreading efficiency, according to SmartWrite, by:

• Polishing your article in the morning or when you’re not exhausted
• Taking a break between writing and editing
• Paying attention to punctuation
• Read your content out
• Have someone read your work and provide feedback
• Avoiding distractions – find a cool environment
• Hire experts to proofread content for you

In addition to these tips, you can use online proofreading tools like Grammarly and ProWriting Aid to enhance your writing and editing capabilities.Get rid of writing mistakes in your blogs as much as possible or hire an expert to do it for you, otherwise, they may seem unprofessional.

Step 9: Market and Earn

This is a broad topic that I’ll cover on its own, but let me guide you on how to do it briefly. By now, you have already used a content marketing strategy to promote your services or brand online, congratulations.

For those who don’t know, “content marketing is an approach marketers use to attract, engage and retain an audience through sharing relevant articles or blogs, videos, podcasts, press releases, commercials, and newsletters.“

By conducting relevant keyword research and including keywords in your content and headings, you’ve also used SEO (search engine optimization) marketing.

So, now you’ll have to create or own backlinks that will help your content compete for higher positions in the SERPs (search engine optimization pages) and rank for more organic keywords. Other digital marketing strategies you can adopt to promote your blogs online include:

• Pay-per-Click (PPC)
• Social media marketing (SMM)
• Mobile or phone marketing
• Email marketing
• Affiliate marketing

Then, when you start getting traffic to your blog, you can monetize your blog through affiliate marketing. You can boost your revenue by selling your products, services, or courses to your audience. Either way, there are unlimited means through which you can earn as a blogger.

Conclusion

See, writing a perfect blog, even if you’re a complete beginner, isn’t that complicated, or is it? And lucky enough, this article has explained my content writing formula, whose 9 basic phases include;

1. Brainstorm blog topics or ideas
2. Conduct keyword research
3. Define & study your audience
4. Create an organized outline
5. Write amazing content
6. Craft an irresistible headline
7. Add suitable visuals
8. Edit and publish your blog
9. Market and start making money

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So, are you now set to write your first blog post?