How to Write Your First Blog Post & Not Get it Wrong
Around 7 Million blog posts are published per day – you might want to know how to write your first blog post in order to actually get it read.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels
How hard can it be to write a blog post? Anyone can do it, right?
Absolutely! I remember the first one I wrote, what a disappointment :(
My first post had just the right amount of humor, a respectable length and some relatively worthwhile information in it. Unfortunately, after like six months it only had about a hundred views, so all that humor was pretty much lost on everyone.
Think about if for a minute though… around 7 million blog posts published per day.
Damn. That’s a lot!
What’s worse is tens of thousands of posts are coming from high authority sites like Business.com, Insider, NewsWeek, Huff Post, just to name a few. These sources draw a lot of views because they have big audiences. Sorry to burst your bubble, but just because you write a great post doesn’t mean you have an audience to view it.
Here are some things to consider:
- Where are you publishing your first blog post?
- What topic are you writing on?
- How many times and different ways has it already been covered?
- Is your post really any different or better?
Before you start typing and hit ‘Publish’, just take a couple minutes to read this post on how to write your first blog post so you can make sure you’re not just wasting time. After all, writing for your blog or for others’ isn’t just about publishing content — it’s about traction and engagement.
Introduction on How to Write Your First Blog Post
A blog post is a tool to help you connect with your target audience.
It’s the fastest way to spread your brand name, get feedback, and start building a following. There are several approaches on how you can write your fist blog post. For example you can focus on a niche blog post or one that’s more general.
What you can’t forget is that the goal is to help you connect and have someone listen to what you say.
There are a lot of tools available to help you get started. But it’s also important to understand that writing a blog post can be challenging at first. This post is going to cover the best tips on how to write your first blog post as well as the different types of posts you can write to best suit your audience.
What is a blog post?
Blog posts are:
- Online articles are written by people who have a website and blog to share their thoughts with the world on things they know.
- Topics they specialize in.
Blog posts can be on specific subjects like cooking or fashion, or the blog owner may use it as an opportunity to share their personal life experiences with others. A blog post can be written in a straight column, an editorial (which is more like a list), or even as bullet points.
The most common type of blog post is articles because there are enough formats to effectively communicate with your audience and make them stay on your site for longer. Blogs are mostly read online, but they can also be used offline to inspire people to go out and do things that would normally take time off their schedules if done on the spot.
The purpose of blog posts are to provide unique insight or instruction on a specific topic.
The act of blogging is primarily to market a product of service to a specific audience without being blatantly salesy.
When to start blogging?
There are many reasons why you might choose to blog.
Blogging helps establish authority and credibility.
The perfect time to start blogging is yesterday. Regardless of whether you’re starting a blog to build your brand, sell products or even build backlinks — you should start as soon as you can. Blogging is only effective when you start getting posts out there. That’s exactly why we’re going to show you how to write your first blog post.
If we think of blogging in terms of social networking, we can begin to see how we should begin structuring our content. For example, LinkedIn is one tool that separates those who know how social networks work and those who don’t.
People on LinkedIn who don’t keep their profiles updated don’t draw a lot of interest. B.T.W you can publish blog posts directly into LinkedIn business profiles and even groups. People who do this regularly stand out. People who don’t don’t get views. It’s that simple. Professionals who actively publish are viewed as authorities in their industries and it all boils down to a formula of:
topic > expertise > engagement > sharing
Let’s break down how to go about writing your first blog post so that you can write on a topic that will allow you to compete for visibility online.
How to Write Your Fist Blog Post in 5 Steps:
1. Find a low-volume topic
Choose a topic that is less competitive and relevant to your industry. For example, if you started an accounting firm, the first blog post you write will be on taxes or bookkeeping. You don’t want to make it too complicated for people who are just looking for help with their basic issues related to those topics because they won’t click past the home page of your website.
A great place to start is to read through related questions on Quora or Google Trends and see if any of them contain similar topics. If so, you’ve found your subject! Once you’ve narrowed down your topic, make sure that the question is interesting enough for people to want to read more about it; otherwise, they’ll move on and miss out on valuable information.
2. Google the term to double-check search intent
You can find the search volume for a low-volume topic by going to Google and typing in your term. You should see how many people are searching that keyword daily, as well as what page they found you on when they entered it into the search bar. If there’s enough traffic but not too much competition, this will give you an idea of where to start writing your first blog post.
4. Outline and write the post.
Write a title and some brief introductory text. Then write an introduction to the post that includes your point of view, what you want people to learn from reading it, how they can benefit from this information or advice, and why they should take action.
Next comes the body of the blog post (the main content). It should start with a thesis statement about your topic—something like “There are many benefits when blogging.” Once you complete, each section thinks about any additional explanation needed for readers who aren’t familiar with certain concepts, so make sure those sections have bullet points explaining them.
5. Promote your first post via outreach.
Outreach is how you let people know about your blog by writing a post, publishing it on social media like Twitter or Facebook, and then making sure it gets seen by others. You can promote your post through different Facebook ads management.
You can also link to the article in your email signature (if you have one) so that new friends of yours can read what’s going on in your company/office. Or announce public relations-related channels.
This includes sharing articles through LinkedIn groups and talking up their importance with journalists who cover different industries to promote them as well as helping other bloggers find these types of stories that they might be interested in writing about. For more information on how to syndicate your blog content, click here.
Types of Blog Posts You Should Write:
• List-Based Post
The list-based blog post is a great way for people to gain insight into your company. It’s an engaging article that provides value to the reader and is good for those who don’t have time for more in-depth material.
This type of blog post works best if you have a service or product that is really complicated and takes time to explain. A list-based blog might include a few top tips or present an overview of your services with bullet points. It also allows you to share the benefits of your particular service or product with potential customers by name.
• Thought Leadership Post
This blog post is a great way to differentiate your business by sharing valuable information and insights. In this category, you can share insight on topics meaningful to the industry at large or specific industries within your industry niche (marketing-focused thought leadership). This is an ideal topic for those who have expertise in certain areas but don’t want people to think they do because they aren’t experts in every area.
• Curated Collection Post
Curated collection posts are good for those who want to share various content with their audience. This is great if you have expertise in many different topics but don’t like the idea of sharing one blog post per week on each topic.
Curating your content allows you to share all types of information from a range of sources that might be helpful or relevant depending on what your readers need at any given time.
• Newsjacking Post
This blog post is perfect if you want to show your expertise in a particular area and add value to what’s being discussed by linking it back to your business. This often involves finding an interesting piece of news that people might not be aware exists or one with potentially damaging information that could lead readers into thinking about the implications for them. It can also mean stepping outside the box and sharing something personal from your perspective on a hot topic like social media or online dating.
• Infographic Post
This is a great way to share visual information with your audience. These are perfect for those who want to guide their reader’s eyes but don’t have the time or expertise to create them themselves.
This type of post can also be used as an opportunity for you to highlight something that you believe other people might find helpful, like a list of tips on how to improve social media engagement from marketing experts at HubSpot, which includes explanations and examples of what they mean by all the buzzwords surrounding it (such as “engagement rate”).
• How-to Post
This is very similar to an infographic in that it’s a visual representation of some sort, but this time you are sharing how something was done. A great example of this type would be the content from Buffer, which shows readers how to create their own micro-blogging or social media accounts, including screenshots and instructions on what steps they should take.
• Resource Post
This type of post is great for those who have a lot to offer and don’t necessarily want to share their own content. This could be something that you used in the past or read about from someone else, but it was very helpful, so you wanted your audience to know about it too.
Conclusion
Once you learn the formula, understanding how to write your first blog post is not as difficult as it seems. To start, you need to find a topic that you can write about. The first step is to find a topic that’s relevant to your business and industry. Next, you need to search for the term that best describes what you want to talk about.
After your first post, you can simply use this same formula as a guide on how to produce more high value posts. You can always check back on this blog for more great insight on how to come up with original ideas for content or tips on building your audience.
