This is a guest post by David Sneen from EarnMoreSpendMoreGroup.com
Whoa, with a title like that, what if this article turns out to be a dud? Pressure! My goal is to write a superior article–otherwise my content will contradict my heading. Therefore, I welcome your feedback (comment).
(I wrote this article with the written blog post in mind. You may find some of this information to be irrelevant if you are creating videos or Powerpoint content.)
Finding a topic
What am I going to write about? Everything interesting has already been said. What can I say that no one else has said?
Do you ever get those thoughts and ask yourself those types of questions before you begin? It is natural. Some of it is concern. Some of it is resistance to getting started. Either way, the solution is simple; make up your mind that you are going to write, and get started. If your goal is to write a superior blog post that your visitors and Google will love, keep reading!
Decide what category (for instance, blogging tips) that you wish to write about. Look at the news and trends. If you can tie your article to a current event, you may get a whole new set of visitors. Then brainstorm. What do you want to write about? Consider your options. Then, go for a walk, do yard work, or take a nap. But, have a pad of paper and a pen handy to jot down ideas that come to you. Your subconscious may very well take over; it could easily shower you with three or four great blog post ideas!
Writing your blog post
Once you have your idea, then it is time to brainstorm again. Write down items that you wish to include in your blog post. Then make an outline. You might be thinking, “Hey, wait a minute! I did this in English class when I wrote essays!” Exactly! And the technique that worked then will work now!
With your outline to guide you, you are ready. Don’t worry about saying everything right the first time. You can always come back and make corrections. Move from one topic to the next — get your ideas down. Just write like you are talking to the paper. If you are having trouble with writer’s block at this point, this recent SmartBloggerz’s blog post should help you.
Many people write their opening and concluding paragraphs after they have written their content. Your introduction (what you are going to say) and your conclusion (wrapping it up) are your two most important paragraphs.
After I am done with my draft, I ask myself, “Where can I insert keywords without taking away from the flow of my blog post?” Keywords are important to getting yourself ranked in the search engines. My keywords are goals, subconscious, and blog post. (I may have underused them–optimum use is between 3-5%. However, I would rather be a bit short, than force my keywords into my blog post and detract from its content.) Search engine visitors are likely to be your best visitors, because they requested your article.
Proofread your blog post; let your subconscious work for you if you get stuck
Next is the fun part. Proofread your article. Use your spell checker first and make changes as necessary. Make sure it reads well. It sounds hokey, but I recommend reading it aloud at this point. You catch far more mistakes when you read aloud than you do skimming or scanning your article.
When you think you said something wrong, think of an alternative way of saying it. When I had just started blogging, I would frequently ask myself, “Should this sentence be worded this way…or that way?” If neither feels right, don’t waste more than a minute thinking about it. Move on!
When I am at an impasse like that, I let my subconscious come up with the answer. And, I have found that the correct answer is almost always…neither way! My subconscious will deliver a third way of wording that sentence that is far superior to either of the options I had been considering.
Next, create your subtitles and links.
- You want at least three subtitles. I like bold Heading 2 or Heading 3 (WordPress) .
- At first, your links will be to authoritary sites. To get the most link juice, link to the topic that Google likes most. For instance, if I was going to link to the term “subconscious” from the previous paragraphs, I would Google “subconscious,” and link to one of their top choices. Once you have several articles, you will want to link them together. Google likes this internal linking and your visitors remain on your site longer, reading one blog post after another.
Always include pictures!
Don’t forget your pictures. People are likely to leave your site immediately if your blog post does not have at least one picture on it. I recently read an article about saying what you need to say with pictures. The article had multiple pictures on it. And, he had a good point—60% of us are primarily visual.
The title — last, but definitely NOT least!
Lastly, the title! You might say, “Oh, I created my title right away!” You could be right. But…there may be a better title. I am not going to say I have the best title in the world. But, what if I had entitled this blog post, Writing Great Blog Post Stuff? Would anyone read it? And, if no one reads it, why bother to write it? If you are at all unsure of how to create a great title, Google it!
You can Google blog post titles. Many top bloggers spend more time and effort creating a title than they do creating the material within their blog post. It is that important.
Writing an essay is a relatively simple thing. A blog post is a bit more complicated. But, when you create a great one, Google will love you, your readers will seek out more of your material, and you can reach your online goals!
Top 10 Search Terms:
• how to write blogs on google
Thanks David, I am a new blogger in this tech world I am just struggling to get better position in Google and I hope your ideas will help me in this.
Thanks for commenting, Rajnish. Your blogging career may be young, but I see that you have already written at least one post. Congratulations, Rajnish!
Starting is such an exciting time! Blogging can be overwhelming! But just write!!! Once you have your rough draft, just go through your checklist, step by step and you will do just fine.
It is all about how you perceive to write the article.
If you “think” to make a great post, it will happen.
It is just about thinking in the right way.
I understand what you are saying, Samuel. Thinking you do well is definitely necessary. Without that mindset, you will never achieve your best post.
I do not think about making a great post. If I were to focus on that, and mentally criticize my work next to Darren Rowse (or any other great blogger), I could get bummed out. I simply focus on what I need to do. (Of course, reading the works of the great bloggers and copying their style will help you [and me] improve.)
Nice post! I was just wondering about your keyword density: 3-5%. I try to keep that a bit lower, let’s say 1,5-3%. From what i have read (nobody actually seems to know this 100%, but a too high keyword density could push your blog post down in the search results). Do you have any solid info to back up 3-5%?
I understand what you are saying, Samuel. Thinking you do well is definitely necessary. Without that mindset, you will never achieve your best post.
I do not think about making a great post. If I were to focus on that, and mentally criticize my work next to Darren Rowse (or any other great blogger), I could get bummed out. I simply focus on what I need to do. (Of course, reading the works of the great bloggers and copying their style will help you [and me] improve.)
I am not sure on the exact keyword density numbers, Rick.
Keyword density can be tricky. You can be using 3, 4, or 5 keywords. You might use short keywords….(personal goals) or long keywords…..(great home based business ideas). So the number of keywords you use could vary from 6 or 7 to 20 or 25. That may explain the percentage disparity you are talking about.
Instead, I focus on using your keywords at least five times as prominently as possible. You want to have your keywords in the title, subtitle, and first paragraph as much as possible. Using a keyword more than 15 times may be overloading.
Naturally, in a longer post of 1000 words, you would use your keywords more. In a shorter post of 400 words, a bit less.
Of course, the flow of the article is the most important thing. Never insert keywords when they detract from the quality of your post.
Hi Sir,
Content of the blog should always be of great importance.If content is not good enough then its not worth it.Google always searches for the right content which matches with the Google algorithm.A proper title with a good content is always great to start with blogging.
Yes, Aditya….proper content keeps the readers reading and makes Google happy. Google is getting good at judging content, even though it cannot read your posts, . So, if you have great content; your readers will be happy, and Google…and the other search engines will know it.
David well done two questions? First, how long do you usually take to write a post. I mean the entire process from concept to publish. How often do you go back and edit previous posts when information changes? Great post, good flow. Good length.
Great questions, Spencer.
A blog post usually takes me about two hours. I have heard some people say that they can get one done in less than half an hour, but I don’t plan on joining that group.
I type about 50-60 wpm. So, I could type a rough draft in as little as 10 or 12 minutes. But, I am pausing and making corrections as I type, so it takes me at least twice that long. Adding subtitles, italics, bolding words, and links takes me about 15 minutes. Then, adding keywords without interrupting the flow takes another 15 minutes.
So, I am inside of an hour. The second hour. Proofreading, proofreading, and proofreading. I read aloud, and go through it again and again. I make major corrections, sometimes omitting an entire paragraph at first, but after awhile, I make only one or two minor corrections each time through. I tend to get antsy and want to hit the publish button. But, I continue until I have 0 corrections; twice through.
I haven’t even mentioned the most important part—the title. Without a catchy title, people are not going to read your article. I may have one in mind, or I may create one after I complete the rest of my post. I will typically step away after I have created my title, and do other things. Then, I will come back to it, hours later, and either publish my post or retitle it.
Now, your second question. My material is not dated, so I have not needed to go through and make changes to published information for that reason. But, I have made major changes to my pages twice when I changed my blog’s focus.
Wow David.. Those are excellent tips man. I’m gonna bookmark this comment 😉
I usually take anything around 3+ hours to write a blog post (I usually write around 900 to 1200 words).
My biggest pitfall when writing is: editing (I’m getting over this problem these days though). What I recommend to anyone is: write while writing, don’t try to edit. Editing comes in the second phase. Then it’ll be very easy to write the faster blog posts.
Thanks so much for the kind comments, Rahul.
I understand exactly what you mean, “write while writing, don’t try to edit”. In general, I totally agree. Editing while composing your post can mess up your flow. But, there are times that you realize that what you just typed is unusable garbage. You might as well remove it right away if you are not going to build upon it.
David, thanks for the detailed response. Follow up question, do you pick topics as a response to what trends you are seeing, or do you pick topics based on a need. How do you prioritize your topics/posts?
Spencer,
Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.
I think picking topics based on trends is an awesome idea. As of yet, I have been picking topics more on need.
Great article! I am always striving to improve my posts. Interesting comment on the pictures. ITs true, I always skip blogs without them. Good tips, I will try and use them to make my posts more google friendly. Google is am essential but difficult friend to have.
Thanks, Greg. We are all striving to improve our posts. I like your last sentence, “Google is an essential but difficult friend to have.” Well said.
I always have a confusion in my mind about two things when creating content.
Should I write only for my readers? Or should I optimize my content for search engines?
I’m really poor at choosing the right keywords on my blog posts. I think I’ve to know more about their usage.
Thanks for your questions, Rahul.
In the early days of blogging, you might have had to make the decision; write for the readers or please the search engines. Now, if you write for the readers, the search engines will like your material. Just be sure you display your keywords in key spots and use them enough to get Google’s attention.
Choosing keywords is a topic that I could not begin to cover here. It is a huge and very important topic. Keep reading blog posts. You will come across many very helpful posts on that topic.
I get some of my better ideas when having a shower, David 🙂
When I’m stuck, there’s a neat little iOS app that is simply an ideas generator. Essentially, it gives you three random words you need to write a post about, in your niche. Challenging but it really gets your thoughts moving in totally different areas too and getting unique posts is the byproduct.
Good tips and a solid process to follow too.
The shower is a great place to get ideas. So is, dare I say it,….the toilet. Many great ideas have originated there. I have not yet used the ideas generator app. It sounds like a neat idea. Thanks for the heads up, Martin!
I’m glad you were the one mentioning the toilet but it is 🙂
You can just search the App Store for Idea Generator and it’ll pop up. I got mine copy for free since it looks like now $1.99 but there’s also a few websites that can do the very same thing – good to get your mind thinking in other areas, in case you get writers block.
It sounds like a great App. $2 is a very small expense for an app that can help you throughout your entire blogging career.
So I have this question i’ve been pondering over, Does untargeted without keyword optimization, does the blog even get organic traffic, places in search results.
Well from my personal experience, without keyword optimization, i managed to get way less traffic than when i targeted. So what do you suggest Content for search engine or for readers as Matt Cutts describes
Search Engine Optimization does demand a keyword. The only traffic you get from a search engine comes because you have placed highly in the keyword the person doing the search is requesting.
Untargeted traffic is people who stumbled onto your site. They did not type in keywords, and may be there for any reason you can think of. There are exceptions, but they are not as likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
Someone who types in keywords that you rank highly for—-asked for you. They are likely to want what you are offering.