If you’re looking for blog writing tips that will make an actual difference in your blog’s growth, you’re in the right place.
Blogging can be difficult when you’re just starting out or if you’ve been blogging for a long time without much success.
Trust me, I know what that’s like.
You put in tons of effort researching your topic, you sit typing at your computer for hours, you bravely hit “Publish” on your post, and then… You hear crickets.
After a while, you may start to feel like you’re spinning your wheels and not making any progress. Thankfully, these blog writing tips will help you be a better blogger and start seeing real results.
1. Answer Questions In Your Niche
As a blogger, answering your audience’s questions is one of the most important things (if not the most important thing) you can do.
These days, if someone has a question, the first thing he or she does is search for an answer on Google. So, the more blog posts you’ve written that answer a specific question in your niche, the more likely people will stumble upon your blog.
This is great news, since a frustration so many bloggers have is not knowing what to write about!
Coming up with blog post topics doesn’t have to be guesswork. Your content strategy should revolve around answering questions in your niche.
When you use real questions people have about your blog topic as springboards for post topics, you all but guarantee people will find and read your posts.
You may be wondering where you can find questions people are asking in your niche. One way you can find these questions is to poll your existing audience. Ask your readers about what they struggle with most or what they need help with when it comes to your blog topic.
Even if you only have a small audience, it’s important to continue providing value for the people who already read your blog. Chances are, there are more people like them out there who will benefit from your answers to their questions.
You can also check out other blogs in your niche to see which content topics they’re writing on. However, and I hope this goes without saying, NEVER copy another blogger’s posts. Only use their posts as inspiration for your own post topics.
Also, pay attention to any questions their readers are asking in their comments sections. This is a great place to hear directly from readers in your niche.
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2. Don’t Withhold Information From The Reader
When a reader first lands on one of your blog posts, you only have a few seconds to provide them with the information they’re looking for. If you don’t, they’ll just leave and look for the answer somewhere else.
Put simply, give your readers answers quickly. Then, use your unique voice and writing style to draw them in and to encourage them to spend more time reading your post.
Attention spans are shorter than ever these days. If you withhold information until the end of an article, it will backfire.
Unless you can provide readers with the information they’re looking for quickly and clearly, they’ll bounce from your page and look elsewhere.
Becoming a better blogger means understanding that blogs grow by providing value to their readers. Be upfront with the information you’re providing, and don’t bury it at the bottom of your post under layers of wordiness and distraction.
I know it might seem counterintuitive, but the quicker you deliver the answers your readers are looking for, the more likely your readers are to stay on your blog.
3. Take The Focus Off Yourself
If you want people to enjoy and continue reading your blog, you need to focus on them, not on yourself.
Generally, people who land on your blog are much more interested in what you can do for them than they are about you and your life. As harsh as it may sound, your blog is not about you. It’s about the people who will benefit from reading it.
Short anecdotes about your life can be a great supplement to your post and can create a deeper connection with your readers.
Just remember to treat your personal stories like side dishes rather than your main course. You should only include short stories or details about yourself when they help support the main purpose of the article. And if you do tell a story here and there, always return the focus to your reader.
Unfortunately, many bloggers get this wrong and make their blogs entirely about them.
But unless you’re a celebrity or you already have a large following, this probably won’t work.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with infusing your own unique style and flair into your blog – in fact, it can be beneficial. But always focus on serving your reader first.
4. Speak Directly To Your Reader
Your blog posts will be easier to read if you write as if you’re speaking directly to your reader.
This means keeping your writing style conversational in tone and using personal pronouns like “I” and “you”. It’s also a good idea to use contractions, since it makes your tone more familiar. After all, that’s how we tend to speak.
As a good rule of thumb, try to write the same way you would talk when speaking to a new friend.
You don’t want your blog posts to be too casually written because people may be turned off by that. On the flip side, though, writing that’s too stuffy and professional tends to be boring and difficult to read.
People don’t come to your blog so they can be reminded of what it’s like to read from one of their college textbooks! Unless, of course, your target audience is made up of academics and college professors. If that’s the case, don’t implement this tip.
In most other cases, your writing should aim to strike a balance between familiarity and professionalism. This will both keep people engaged and entice them to continue reading.
5. Use Grammarly To Proofread Your Work
Hey, not everyone is a grammar whiz. The good news is, you don’t have to be the best writer to have a successful blog and grow your traffic.
You do, however, have to write blog posts that other people can understand. And grammar mistakes and typos can seriously detract from the point you’re trying to make in your blog post.
Even worse than that, people may become distracted, and they may take you less seriously if your writing is full of errors.
If your writing skills aren’t the best when it comes to good grammar and punctuation, I highly recommend you use Grammarly to check your work. It will catch any technical errors in your blog posts immediately as you write them.
Seriously, if you’re a blogger, Grammarly should be your secret weapon!
6. Try To Stay One Step Ahead Of The Reader
Another important blog writing tip is to get inside the head of your reader, and structure your posts with a logical mental flow.
Before you start writing, think through the journey your reader will be taking as they read.
Where do you want them to end up?
What is the purpose of the post?
What should your readers know or feel after reading your post?
Is there a call to action you want them to take after reading?
Knowing where you want your readers to end up will help make the entire blog writing process easier.
As you’re outlining your post, think about what your reader might be wondering after reading the previous section. This will help with the overall flow and readability of your post. It will also keep your reader engaged, as they’ll be anticipating what comes next.
If you don’t think through your posts in this way, your writing may end up coming across disjointed or even nonsensical. Your job is to make it easy for your reader to follow your thought process and to thoroughly cover the topic at hand in a way that’s understandable.
The better you get at predicting the thought process of your reader, the more value you will be able to provide with each blog post.
7. Write Longer Blog Posts
To set your blog up for success, every post you write should be a minimum of 1,500 words. This is important for search engine optimization (SEO) and to make sure you’re delivering as much value as possible in your posts.
Longer posts give you more opportunities to elaborate on a topic and to weave in relevant keywords. This increases the likelihood that your posts will show up higher in search results.
In turn, appearing at the top of search results will help grow your blog traffic which will translate to more subscribers.
While longer posts are helpful for growing your blog, be sure to keep the entirety of your post interesting and engaging. Just because a blog post is long doesn’t mean it has to be excessively verbose or boring. Continue delivering value until you can’t anymore, and then stop.
If you find it difficult to make your blog posts longer, you may need to spend some more time prepping your post before you write it.
Take the time to research the topic you’re writing about thoroughly, so your post will be full of the best information for your readers.
While this extra step does take some time, it makes the rest of the blog writing process easier and more efficient.
8. Publish Blog Posts Consistently
A key blog writing tip to grow your traffic and increase subscriber loyalty is to publish blog posts consistently.
In fact, if your goal is to grow your blog traffic, you should plan to publish a minimum of two to three blog posts each week.
Search engines favor websites that are consistently updated. So, the more you post on your blog, the more you set yourself up for SEO success.
Plus, as you grow your audience, your readers will begin to expect consistent content from you.
Consistency will make your blog a reliable source of information, and readers will know when they can expect to see more content from you. This will help you retain subscribers and gain repeat traffic to your blog.
9. Break Your Paragraphs Into Three Sentences Or Less
Long paragraphs might work great in a novel, but on a mobile device, short, easy-to-digest paragraphs are the way to go. To put it simply, don’t make your readers scroll through dense paragraphs of text.
Readers are often intimidated by huge text blocks that aren’t broken up by any space or variation. Therefore, it’s your job as a blogger to find ways to segment your content into smaller, easy-to-read paragraphs.
Another way to make reading your blog posts more enjoyable is to add headings throughout your content. This makes it easy for readers to skim through your post and gather your main points without spending too much time or effort on their part.
You might also consider adding some supplemental lists, tables, or images to illustrate your points and break up the sea of paragraph text on the page.
10. Write Every Day
You know what they say – practice makes perfect.
The more you write, the easier blogging becomes, and the faster you’ll be able to crank out blog posts.
I recommend getting in the habit of writing 1,000 words per day. While it may be difficult when you’re first starting out, getting into this habit will quickly turn the daunting task of writing a blog post into a routine part of your life.
To give you an idea, when I first started blogging, it took me 5 to 6 hours to write a 1,500-word blog post. Now, having written hundreds of blog posts, it only takes me 1 to 2 hours to complete a 1,500-word post.
The more you write, the easier blogging becomes.
Final Thoughts
Your writing doesn’t have to be perfect to make an impact. It just needs to clearly convey information to your readers.
By executing these blog writing tips, you’ll be able to grow your blog traffic and get more subscribers. Try implementing them the next time you sit down to write a blog post, and over time, you may be surprised by the results.