How to Write a Kickass Blog Post & Improve SEO November 5, 2019
Did you know that creative pursuit often thrives with structure? Although it seems counterintuitive, establishing a solid creative process can help creativity to flourish. Establishing blog habits can help to improve and speed up the blog writing process, while also impacting SEO ranking within search engines. Please keep reading for a step-by-step guide on how to write a kickass blog post and 4 simple ways to better your blogging process.
Phase 1: How to Plan a Kickass Blog Post – Pre-Writing Habits
The first step for how to write a kickass blog post is to get good at planning. See the below tips for how to be a better planner.
- Brainstorm | Whether you prefer traditional notebooks, bullet journals, or your iPhone notepad app, keep an ongoing list of potential blog post ideas saved. When I first started blogging, I’d often forget some of my favorite new ideas for posts because I never took the time to jot down my idea.
- Plan an Editorial Calendar | Creating a monthly or seasonal edit can help you to plan out your content ahead of time to prevent redundancy in your content. Check out this tip full of blog scheduling tools.
- Create Post Templates | Did you know that I use templates for some of my more popular series on my blog? I save a formatted structural draft of the posts I write as part of an on-going series and use it to help me speed up the writing process. Now, I don’t have to waste additional time tweaking formatting!
- Research Keywords | Before writing your next post, do a little bit of keyword research to uncover potential keywords you should use in your post. Using the right keywords will help your SEO (organic search ranking) and drive more traffic to your blog!
Keep in mind that schedules help with blog consistency, but sometimes taking a much-needed break can be helpful for improved creativity, too.
Phase 2: How to Write a Kickass Blog Post – Writing Tips & Tricks
In terms of how to write a kickass blog post, there are 4 main steps you can implement to improve your content.
- Outline Your Post | If you aren’t already using a pre-made template, consider outlining your post. Following a logical and organized writing structure can help to improve SEO and will make the writing process easier.
- Add Helpful Links | Are you reviewing a particular product, referencing a news article, or commentating on a popular video? Add links within your post. Have you written similar content or other posts that could be helpful to the reader? Link them. Again, this is not only adding value for readers, but it will help your SEO!
- Use Relevant Photography or Graphics | All blog posts should have at least one image or graphic. Why? Beyond looking more visually stimulating, adding media within blog posts will …. help your SEO! Whether you shoot your own photography or use stock imagery, choose imagery or videos that make sense for your post.
- Don’t Forget a Call-to-Action | In advertising, a Call-to-Action (CTA) is a note that often asks the viewer or listener to take an additional action whether that be to Learn More or Shop Now, etc. In blogging, a CTA could be to check out a sponsor’s goods, your affiliate links, or to answer a question in the comment section. CTAs are proven to be effective at driving viewer engagement. Check out this post full of helpful tips for improving your blog post engagement rate.
Phase 3: How to Edit a Kickass Blog Post – The Final Touches
Want to know the secret to write a kickass blog post? Edit your writing. Sadly, I’ve learned this (and re-learned this) the hard way throughout my blogging career.
- Final Formatting | Don’t forget to format your blog post so that it follows a style that is cohesive with the rest of the content on your blog. By using a mix of font styles (ex. paragraph text vs. header text), colors, font details (bold, italics, etc.) your posts will look more visually interesting and may be easier to follow.
- Proofread, Proofread, Proofread | Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors impact how others perceive your blog. Unfortunately, too many errors can indicate poor writing ability OR laziness when it comes to blogging. If you struggle to proofread your content, try using a free service like Grammarly to simplify the proofreading process.
- Sweat the Small Stuff | If you use WordPress to host your blog, make use of the editor. Don’t forget to set relevant categories, tags, a featured image, Slug, Excerpt, or SEO Description (if you have a premium plan). These little details help Search Engines to understand WHAT you’re writing about and will 100% impact your search engine ranking.
- Keep a Schedule | Following a consistent blog posting schedule makes it easier to establish a regular reading audience for your blog. Simply put, readers will know when to look out for new posts. Also, regular posting will help your SEO ranking.
Blogging alone can get lonely – check out this post for tips detailing the Dos & Don’ts of writing thoughtful blog comments.
Phase 4: How to Promote a Kickass Blog Post – Generating Buzz
I’ve already shared tons of tips above that help improve organic blog promotion and ranking on WordPress and Google, but Social Media Promotion is a key portion of how to write a kickass blog post.
- Create or Keep a List of Blog Retweet Accounts | Blog retweet accounts can be an awesome way to meet new bloggers, make friends, and generate traffic to your blog. Keep a list or bookmark one that has already been made. Use the list to schedule promotional posts tagging your favorite retweet accounts.
- Pinterest is your BFF | Even though WordPress attributes a low volume of traffic to Pinterest, my blog views skyrocket during periods where I’m regularly promoting my content on Pinterest. Remember, Pinterest is a visual search engine. Pinterest users are often seeking out creative inspiration.
- Join FB Groups | I won’t lie – I’m not in any Facebook Groups because I don’t have a Facebook Page for my blog. However, these types of groups can help establish or grow your blog community.
Keep in mind: social media isn’t everything and not all time spent on social media is time well spent. Is social media becoming toxic to you? Read my post on social media toxicity here and my advice on how to navigate your own social media detox.
Final Thoughts
Maybe it is my business background or my type-A personality, but establishing my own blog writing rhythm has been key in helping me to grow my blog and post content regularly. By following a standard blog writing process, I’ve been able to post with greater frequency and keep a consistent voice throughout my posts.
Also, if it wasn’t apparent in the above suggestions, many of these blog writing “habits” have a tangible impact on your blog’s SEO ranking. Why not make the effort to establish habits that will help your blog to grow?
Let’s connect on social media: Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin’ | Influenster
New to blogging and looking for some essential blogging tips? Check out my post detailing the five things I wish I knew before I started blogging, the reasons why I blog and advice for new bloggers, and essential advice for sustaining blog growth.
Have you heard of any of my tips for how to write a kickass blog post? Do you currently do any of these steps? What is something you think I’m missing from my list? Please let me know in the comments below.
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Yas, thanks for sharing all these tips girl! I really need them to grow! 😁
Yay! hope this was helpful!
Thank you for sharing these practical tips! I’ve never been good at advertising my blog posts, but I’ll try these 🙂
hope you found this helpful! 🙂
I actually do a couple of these things and that’s to make a list of different posts and give them a date to when they will be posting. I find it has helped me a lot because I’m actually able to write a head of time.
I totally agree with you on that. Writing ahead of time can be such a game changer!!
Definitely 👍🏻👍🏻
Loving this advice, it’s so darn helpful.
so glad you found this helpful! 🙂
Another helpful article, LP! Thanks for putting pinterest back on my radar. I have had other people tell me they saw my images on Pinterest but I haven’t been diligent at all about sharing there. Lots of great advice here.
I need to be better about Pinterest, too. I go through phases where I’m good but lately I feel like I haven’t had the time to sit down and create pins.
These are some really useful tips – thank you for sharing! I have such a love/hate relationship with Pinterest but I’ll definitely be giving it a go again! xx
Thank you so much for your comment – I’m the same way with Pinterest. I def see a spike in traffic when I use it regularly, but lately I’ve let it slide to the back burner.
Love this, gal! Super helpful, especially for someone trying to get back into blogging.
I hope this was helpful <3
Lots of super helpful tips here! And a great way to highlight how much work actually goes into being a blogger! Thanks for sharing xx
People really do underestimate the amount of work and effort that goes into running a blog!
Do you pin to your own boards? Does this generate traffic? I haven’t had much luck with Pinterest
yes – when I pin, I’ll pin to my own boards and to group boards! I tend to have the most luck with pinning to my own boards.
The key is to pin popular content + your own content so that Pinterest associates your content as also being popular. Also, to pin daily (even if it is just repinning other content).
This was such an amazing blogpost! These tips are amazing.
I’ve been thinking about saving a template for my (series) blog posts but I’m not sure where to save it. Do you save a template in a Word document? Or is there an easy way to save it in WordPress itself?
I save it as a draft in my draft section!! So I have a “Bad or Rad” template that is pre-formatted for me and it helps save so much time when I get to writing my reviews! I spend less time tinkering with formatting!
That’s truly so smart!!
These tips are so helpful, girl. I can see that you put in work in all of your blog posts. Keep thriving, LP!
Much love always,
GABBY | http://www.gabbyabigaill.com
Thanks girl – I need to be better about following my own advice when it comes to promo!!
Using the right keywords will help your SEO (organic search ranking) and drive more traffic to your blog!
Thank you for these tips! I love how you presented them in an easy way that flows with the blogging process.
Thank you – hope you found this helpful!
Nice post helpful
Hi, That is really awesome to find your blog. I was really looking for SEO Articles. I am currently on the Premium package at WordPress.com. I want to improve its SEO but I can’t install Plugins. any Good Suggestions for my blog. It is on inspiration and motivation.
https://idealinspiration.blog is the blog link.
Regards
Rising Star
There are def still SEO basics you can do without having a plugin – such as optimizing your image sizes and image titles before you upload them onto your blog, or doing keyword research before you write up your post! Hope this is helpful.
Yeah, you are absolutely right and I am trying to do that for all of my post.
Thanks for kind consideration.
I really like your blog so I have nominated you for the SEO Blogger Award. I hope that you will accept the award and that you enjoy answering the questions. You can find the award here https://debbyseo.wordpress.com/2020/05/05/seo-award-2-0-you-have-been-nominated/ With love, Debby Winter
Thanks for sharing these SEO tips. Your article is very well written and formatted, two thumbs up!