how to write a good blog post

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How to Write a Good Blog Post: A Complete Step-by-Step Process

You pull up a blank document, ready to write a blog post, but the white emptiness stares back. How do you begin?

We’ve all been there, staring into that vast white space, wondering where to start. I’ve felt that subtle anxiety too. Yet, with the right approach, that daunting task can turn into a delightful journey. With an established process, writing becomes less about filling the space and more about connecting deeply with your readers.

Dive into the steps in this post and uncover the secrets to crafting a blog post that truly engages and resonates with your audience.

Table of Contents

How long does it take to write a great blog post?

Step 1: identify your topic, original research, topical research, competitive research, how-to guide, feature article, product review or comparison, link/article roundup, expert roundup, step 4: create an outline, introduction, body content, step 6: pen a headline, step 7: edit and proofread your content, step 8: add your meta data, step 9: publish your post, it’s all about practice.

As you get into writing blog posts, you might wonder how long you should take to write a good one. Are you taking too long? Should you spend more time?

Orbit Media Studios found that bloggers take an average of four hours and one minute to complete a blog post in their 2022 survey . For reference, these folks wrote an average of 1,416 words per blog post.

But think of this number as an estimate. It takes everyone a different amount of time to write a blog post based on factors like:

• Personal writing speed: All bloggers write at a different pace, and they’re all valid.
• Subject matter knowledge : It’s faster to write about a subject you know over one you don’t.
• Topic complexity: Most people will need more time to write about piezoelectric ceramics than how to blow a bubble with gum.
• Research requirements : It’ll take longer to put together a blog post that weaves together original interviews than one with a few online sources.

Plus, Orbit Media Studios discovered that bloggers who spend more time on their blog posts get more success. Thirty-three percent of respondents who spent six or more hours per blog post reported “strong results.” Compare that number to the 22% benchmark.

You’ll see that the first steps to writing a blog post involve careful preparation. Start by choosing a topic to write about.

Get as specific as possible when you pick your subject. Specificity lets you differentiate your content from blog posts on similar topics and helps you cover an idea in-depth. Let’s say you want to write about how to cook a steak — you could narrow that down to how to cook a T-bone steak on a grill.

After you decide on a topic, establish the angle you want to take. Going back to our example of how to cook a T-bone steak on a grill, you could come from a scientific angle. For your blog post, you could consult a scientist on why certain techniques make a better steak.

Step 2: Do your research

Now that you know what you want to write about, you can research your topic . Blog post research falls into three categories:

Original research comes from data you generate yourself by consulting other people. Not every blog post needs to have original research to have high-quality content, but it can contribute to truly unique writing.

Try these tactics to get one-of-a-kind sources for your post:

• Surveys: Use a free tool like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to ask people questions on a large scale. Find people who know about your topic at your organization, subscribed to your mailing list on the subject, or in an online community.
• Polls: Polls work well for asking a broad audience a single question. Many social media and communication apps have built-in poll features, such as Twitter and Slack.
• Interviews: Ask experts on your subject for an interview over email, on a video call, or in person. Reach out to your colleagues and network to see if they know anyone. You can also use a service like Help a Reporter Out to get expert quotes.

Topical research is the research you conduct around the internet. Use your preferred search engine to find online sources with these traits:

• Authoritative: The author or website should have plenty of experience or credentials on the topic. When applicable, they should use solid research to back up their claims.
• Recent: Aim for resources written three or fewer years ago when possible.
• Helpful: When your reader clicks through to your source, they should get value out of it and understand how it connects to your article.

This type of research often flies under the radar for newer blog post writers. Competitive research involves evaluating other articles on your subject. By understanding the other content out there on your topic, you can find ways to improve upon it.

Don’t just look for what ideas the other blog posts include. Instead, think about what they’re missing. Maybe they don’t cover a point you feel is important, or you could format your content more clearly than them.

Step 3: Choose the type of blog post you’ll write

With knowledge of your topic on hand, it’s time to decide how you’ll present it. Some popular blog post genres include:

List blog posts organize information into a list with headings naming each item. They often come in the form of numbered lists with a title featuring the number of items, such as “5 Ways to Fold a Towel.”

When you write a list blog post, you don’t have to make your list the only content. HelpScout’s 13 Best Practices for Improving Online Customer Service introduces online customer service, then digs into its items.

A checklist blog post provides a checklist for readers to follow to perform a task.

These posts often provide a simplified checklist to follow and then provide more details for each item, like our blog post checklist .

A how-to guide walks the reader through the steps it takes to perform an action.

These blog posts rely heavily on lists and images to help readers understand each part of the process. Melly Sews’s how-to guide to sewing a flat-felled seam uses both.

An interview blog post showcases an interview the author has with someone who has insights to share about the article topic.

You can go about one of these blog posts in two ways. Either list out your questions and answers in a Q&A format or use your interview answers to tell a story. Notion did the latter in Three-time YC founder and first-time mom finds flow in Notion .

A feature article brings together original research and interviews to explore a subject. Since features often involve interviews, they can overlap with interview blog posts.

Some blogs take a feature-first approach to posting, such as Microsoft’s Unlocked blog. One example of one of their features is Can an alphabet save a culture?

In the context of blog posts, an essay presents the author’s argument or opinion. The writer uses research and evidence to back up their points.

Media Strategies Aren’t as Crazy as They Seem from the Animalz blog features real-life examples that back up a unique perspective.

News posts share news from your community or company.

On business blogs, a lot of news posts relate to company and product updates, like SparkToro Now Has 50% More Podcasts from SparkToro.

A case study tells a success story about a product or service. It generally focuses on one event or customer.

This type of blog post requires original interviews with the customer involved so you can get their perspective on your work. With some products, you can share the results of how you helped the customer. Take Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, sharing posts from its customer in this case study as an example.

Product reviews and comparisons evaluate the usefulness of products for the reader. Reviews focus on a single product, while comparisons compare the features of multiple products.

Some of these product posts come in the form of a list ranking the best products in a category, like Zapier’s email newsletter software roundup .

Link and article roundups bring together links to online resources or articles on a specific subject.

Some of these roundups are more purchase-focused, such as Good On You’s roundup of eco-friendly fashion deals .

Expert roundup blog posts present opinions on a topic from multiple subject matter experts.

This format can overlap with other formats, like in Databox’s blog posts that synthesize expert opinions into lists. The Heroes of Business Transparency is one example.

Many people skip or rush through this step even though it’s just as important as the actual writing. A detailed blog post outline gives your article structure and lets you evaluate your overall argument before you write out the full post.

It also helps combat writer’s block. At the outline stage, you only have to get a basic idea down, taking off the pressure of writing a complete idea. Then, when you get to the writing stage, you’ll have your outline to reference when you don’t know what sentence to write next.

Follow these steps to write an outline:

• List each section and subsection of your blog post. Each section could cover a list item, a point in your argument, a step in a process, etc.
• Add up to three main points per section. Here’s where you’ll start forming the ideas you’ll cover. As you practice making outlines, you might find it helpful to get even more detailed at this stage.
• Include any links and examples you want to include for your points. Place your sources where you plan to reference them so you can add them easily in the writing stage.

Here’s a hypothetical outline for a blog post by my cat on why I should feed her a second dinner:

You can go more in-depth with your points in your outline, but here’s how the formatting should look.

I recommend writing your outline in a separate document and copying any headers and links over to your draft document. It can be tempting to write your outline and fill out your draft from there, but your document will get disorganized quickly with this approach.

Step 5: Write your post

Onto the writing itself!

Make sure to follow web writing best practices when you write your content.

People read 25% slower onscreen, and they skim rather than read. Web text should be short, scannable, and structured as linked, topical pages. Nielsen Norman Group

Shortening or “chunking” your content helps readers skim, so try to keep your sentences to 25 words or fewer and paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Make sure to follow the style guide for your blog if you have one as well.

A blog post consists of three main sections that require different approaches:

Integrate your blog post’s angle and an emotional hook into your introduction. This technique establishes what makes your post unique from the start and draws in the reader.

For example, in this blog post, I’m trying to provide a comprehensive process so you never feel lost when writing. I explained that angle in the second paragraph of my intro.

As for the emotional hook, try putting yourself in the reader’s shoes or telling a story. I used the example of staring at a blank page wondering what to do next because I’ve been there and know others have, too.

You could also use the Animalz technique of using an unexpected hook and referencing it throughout your blog post. This method takes practice and careful thought, but that hard work really pays off.

Whichever hook you use, keep your introduction concise — about three paragraphs or fewer. An intro that goes on too long can lose the reader’s interest.

A quick side note: You don’t have to write your introduction first if it comes easier to you after you write the rest of your post. Mark it for later and revisit it when you have more context to work with.

Your body content consists of all the words between the introduction and conclusion.

As you write this part of your post, try to cover all the information important for your reader to know. If you have a word limit to stay within, consider linking out to resources on complicated sub-topics.

Speaking of linking, include links to other posts on your blog and trusted sources throughout your body content. Search engines prioritize websites that link relevant pages to each other. Plus, it works as a way to cite your sources when you use outside information.

Just make sure that any site you link to is relevant to your post. Adding links for linking’s sake will make it harder to establish authority and search engine performance.

Lastly, make sure your writing is crisp, clear, and concise by keeping paragraphs three sentences or less, and each sentence 25 words or less .

Here’s an example of a well-structured post’s body content.

Time for the grand finale. You have multiple ways to go about writing a conclusion, such as:

• A summary: Summarize the key points you covered in your post.
• A takeaway: Provide a takeaway from the ideas you presented in your post. You could go back to the angle you established at the beginning, for example.
• A redirection: Connect your blog post to another post on your blog and direct your reader there for further reading.
• A bonus tip: Offer one final tip for the reader to use as they apply the knowledge in your post.

When it feels appropriate, you can also add a call to action to subscribe to your newsletter, try your product, or perform another transactional action. Connect your call to action back to the rest of your conclusion so it doesn’t feel pigeonholed.

After you finish writing your first draft, give it a headline . You can write the headline before your post if you like — there’s no hard and fast rule. For this blog post, we’re writing the headline after the content so you have your draft on hand to inspire your headline.

Follow these steps to craft a top-notch headline for your article:

• If you write blog posts with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, grab the top keyword for your article. This keyword should have a direct relation to your subject.
• Write down 25 versions of your headline to give yourself plenty of choices to consider. Make sure your keyword feels like a natural part of each headline if you include it.
• Narrow those 25 options to your five favorites.
• Choose a “winner” from your five finalists.

CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer Studio can help you identify what headlines will hook readers and work for SEO. It has a Google Chrome extension and WordPress plugin. If you don’t have a plan that supports plugins, the extension provides a prompt alongside your WordPress headline.

Every blog post needs editing to shine, no matter how talented the writer is. Give your content plenty of this TLC to create quality results.

Start with a basic spelling and grammar check using your word processor’s tools. Then, you can use a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway for more in-depth fixes. While Grammarly performs an advanced spelling and grammar scan, Hemingway checks sentence structure, like so:

After you perform these checks, you should still read through your writing manually. Your human eyes will catch mistakes the computer misses. Plus, your editing should focus as much on the quality of your ideas as it does on your spelling and grammar.

We provided some tips to make the manual editing and proofreading process easier in an earlier WordPress blog post. I also suggest asking yourself these questions as you go through your content:

• Do my logic and arguments make sense?
• Did I use my SEO keywords? Did I insert them naturally?
• Do I notice any words being used frequently that I can mix up with adjectives?
• Did I vary my sentence structure for more dynamic reading?
• Will my blog post be readable for my average reader?
• Did I follow my blog’s style throughout the post?

Your blog post’s title tag, meta description, and URL all influence how people find and understand it.

The title tag and meta description are the title and description you see for a page in search results. By default, WordPress uses your headline as the title tag and your excerpt as the meta description. But, if they aren’t the proper length for search results, they can get cut off.

It’s best practice to write a separate title tag and meta description so you know they’ll look good. In WordPress, you can edit this data by changing your post’s code or using a plugin .

Yoast and All in One SEO are two popular plugin options. These plugins add a box below your content in the WordPress editor where you can manage your title tag and meta description. They also guide you through writing those search specs well.

Your URL slug is the unique string of words that appears at the end of your URL.

For example, this blog post’s URL is:

Its slug is:

That’s the part of the URL that’s different for each blog post.

WordPress pulls your URL slug from your headline, but that slug usually isn’t optimized for search results. According to Ahrefs , a good slug follows keywords and summarizes the essence of the blog post.

No need for a plugin or fancy coding to edit your URL slug. Go to the Block tab in the right-hand menu, then edit your URL using the URL option. Save your draft or update your blog post to save your new slug.

Now that you have your meta data set up, you can finalize your content for publishing. Copy and paste your blog post from your word processor to your WordPress post. The formatting will carry over to the block editor.

Or, you may have written your blog post within the blog post editor. I generally don’t recommend this approach in case you accidentally click “Publish,” but I know some writers get by just fine doing it. You do you.

If you paste your content from a Google Doc or another online text editor, go through your post and re-upload your images from your computer. The images you paste from another source are kept on your editor’s website, and you’ll want them on your WordPress site for safekeeping.

Once you establish a solid process for writing your blog posts, the next step to mastery is practice. As you adjust your system to your workflow, you’ll know what to do next instead of hoping words will magically appear on your blank page. And we’ll be with you as you practice. Just use this guide to help keep you on track.

Pair your airtight writing process with a good topic generation system , and you’ll become an unstoppable blogger. We can’t wait to see what you write!

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About the author, melissa king.

Melissa King writes actionable blog posts about content, marketing, and productivity for tech companies. Find more of her work at melissakingfreelance.com.

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Find Keyword Ideas in Seconds

Boost SEO results with powerful keyword research

How to Write a Blog Post: The Definitive Guide

Written by Brian Dean

Today I’m going to show you how to write a blog post that gets:

Hundreds of comments.

Thousands of social shares.

And first page Google rankings.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Find a (Proven) Topic

2. Blog Post Templates

3. Create an Awesome Headline

4. Craft a Compelling Intro

5. Write Your Post

6. Add a Conclusion

7. Optimize for SEO

8. Promote Your Content

9. Content Transformation

Chapter 1: find a (proven) topic.

Your blog post topic is HUGE.

Question is:

How do you find proven topics?

Use one of these 5 simple step-by-step strategies .

Udemy Courses

Udemy is a keyword research GOLDMINE.

Here’s why:

Udemy doesn’t just show you content that people are interested in.

Instead, you see content that people are paying for.

You can search for courses by category…

…or by keyword.

Either way, you’ll find content that people are PAYING to access.

For example, let’s say you run a blog about graphic design.

Head over to the design category in Udemy…

…and scroll down to their best-selling courses:

And within 5 seconds you have a list of proven topics:

• 3D Modeling
• Designing and coding WordPress themes
• After Effects tutorial
• How to use Adobe Illustrator

Amazon Table of Contents

First, search in Amazon for a keyword that describes your blog.

Then, look for a book with lots of ratings.

(This shows you that people actually bought the book.)

Finally, click “Look Inside” to see the table of contents.

And just like with Udemy, you get a list of topics presented to you on a silver platter:

This leads us to…

Semrush “Top Pages”

Now it’s time to steal your competitor’s best topics.

First, grab a competitor and pop it into Semrush .

Then, hit “Traffic Analytics > Top Pages”.

And you’ll see the exact content that’s worked best for that blog (in terms of direct, referral, social, search, and paid traffic):

BuzzSumo’s “Evergreen Score”

You already know that BuzzSumo is a GREAT tool for finding content ideas.

(In fact, BuzzSumo is one of my favorite content marketing tools .)

And they recently added a VERY cool feature that makes this tool even more useful:

“Evergreen Score”.

Here’s how it works:

First, type a keyword into BuzzSumo just like you normally would.

By default, BuzzSumo shows you content that has lots of social shares.

But here’s the problem:

You can’t tell whether that content went viral for a day and quickly flamed out…

…or if it’s still racking up shares and links years later.

That’s where the Evergreen Score comes into play.

It shows you content that people share and link to MONTHS after it first went live:

That way, you can publish content that brings you traffic for YEARS.

Conference Agendas

This is quickly becoming my FAVORITE ways to find killer topics.

First, head to a conference website in your niche.

Go to the agenda page:

And you’ll see topics that people are (again) paying to learn more about:

Pro Tip: Pop the conference agenda page into the Google Keyword Planner .

Choose “This page only”:

And you’ll get a list of targeted keyword ideas… straight from Google.

Chapter 2: Blog Post Templates

Now that you have a topic, it’s time to get started on your post.

And I have great news:

You don’t need to start from scratch, suffer from writer’s block, or stare at a blank white screen.

Instead, use one of the awesome blog post templates that I’m about to share with you.

#1: Expanded List Post

A regular list post… but better.

List posts are a blogging mainstay. And for good reason: they’re a collection of bite-sized tips that people can use to get a specific result. The issue is: traditional list posts usually leave out key details.

(Like how to put each tip into practice.)

But the Expanded List Post is completely different.

With the Expanded List Post, you give LOTS of detail about each item on your list.

Why It Works

Normal lists posts make people do a ton of extra work.

For example, let’s say the first tip from a list post is: “Eat Eggs at Breakfast”

Well, that leaves out A LOT of important info, like:

• What time should I eat?
• How do I cook the eggs (hard boiled vs. scrambled)
• What about organic and free-range eggs?
• Can I eat anything with the eggs?

Well, the Expanded List Post answers all of those questions and more.

That way, your reader doesn’t have to fill in the blanks.

Real Life Example

A while back I published: “ 19 NEW SEO Techniques ”.

And this Expanded List Post is one of the most successful pieces of content that I’ve ever published.

To date, my post has 14k social shares and 1,150 comments:

And backlinks from over 1K domains:

Unlike most list posts, I gave people detailed steps for each and every tip:

#2: The Branded Strategy Case Study

Your Branded Strategy Post solves a problem that your target audience struggles with.

And when you give this solution a “branded” name? You’re instantly seen as an industry expert.

There’s only one catch:

You need to prove that it works.

Enter: The Branded Strategy Case Study.

Your branded name gives people something tangible to link to.

It also helps establish you as an authority in your niche.

(If you created your own strategy, you MUST be an expert.)

A few years ago I was having a hard time building my email list .

And after trying a bunch of different strategies, I finally found something that worked.

Offering people VERY targeted lead magnets.

So I decided to write a blog post about my experience.

And I made sure to give my new strategy a name:

The Content Upgrade .

This simple little case study has racked up 4.82K backlinks from 851 domains.

And most of these links are a direct result of my unique, branded name:

#3: Tools of the Trade

A “Tools Of The Trade Post” is a list of tools that you recommend.

To be clear:

These tools DON’T have to be software.

A “tool” can be a morning routine, a foam roller or a B12 supplement.

As long as the tool helps your reader solve a problem, you’re good.

Strategies are hard.

Approaches are tricky.

But tools are EASY.

(In fact, the #1 question I get is: “Brian, what SEO tools do you recommend?”.)

Finding the right tool can be REALLY hard.

That’s where your “Tools of the Trade” post comes in.

It’s a hand-picked list of the best tools… all in one place.

A few years ago I published a blog post called: How to Learn SEO In Record Time .

It was a list of “tools” (resources) to help people learn SEO.

It didn’t go viral or anything. But it got over 2K shares:

#4: The Ultimate Guide

A complete resource that covers EVERYTHING.

Your guide gives someone everything they need to know about a topic… in one place.

So there’s no need for people to read 18 different posts.

Once they find your guide, they have everything they need to know.

It’s also great for getting backlinks.

That’s because bloggers will link to your guide when they write about your topic:

The first guide I ever published at Backlinko was: “ Link Building for SEO: The Definitive Guide ”.

(Since then I’ve updated the guide at least 50 times.)

Because my guide is SUPER thorough, other SEO and content marketing blogs were happy to link to it:

And share it on social media:

#5: The Complete List

A Complete List is like an ultimate guide in list form.

So instead of a guide, you take every…

…And put it in one place.

First off, Complete Lists have a legit “WOW” factor.

(A list of 200+ anything is impressive.)

Second, you’re curating scattered information on a single page.

In 2015 I published “ SEO Tools: The Complete List ”.

It’s a MASSIVE list of over 175 SEO tools.

(Yup, I personally tried each and every one of them.)

But I didn’t just list a bunch of tools and call it a day.

I made sure to highlight my favorite tools:

And the post has been a traffic MAGNET for me.

In fact, 10,909 people visit that post every single month:

Chapter 3: Create an Awesome Headline

When it comes to writing a blog post, your headline can make or break your entire post .

So it’s important to nail this step.

And in this chapter, I’m going to show you how to write amazing blog post headlines.

Start Your Headline With These Phrases

BuzzSumo analyzed 100 million headlines .

So, what did they find?

That headlines that start with these 20 phrases tend to get the most shares:

For example, this post from my blog uses one of these tested phrases:

12-18 Words

Let’s look at another interesting finding from that BuzzSumo study.

They discovered that the sweet spot for headline length is between 12-18 words.

(At least when it comes to social shares.)

Add Brackets (And Parentheses)

This is one of my favorite headline hacks.

A study by OutBrain found that adding brackets to headlines can improve CTR up to 38%.

And my real-world experience backs this up.

5 of my top 10 most popular posts have brackets or parentheses in the title:

In B2B? Use These Proven Headline Phrases

If you’re in B2B (like me), you know that clickbait titles don’t work that well.

Fortunately, the BuzzSumo study I mentioned earlier also analyzed a subset of B2B post titles.

And they discovered that these 20 phrases work GREAT in B2B:

Optimize for EMV

Every copywriter knows that emotional headlines get LOTS of clicks.

And now there’s data to back this up.

CoSchedule published a blog post headline study.

Specifically, they analyzed a million headlines for “EMV”.

(EMV=”Emotional Marketing Value”)

And they found a clear correlation between high EMV and social shares.

You can measure your EMV score using this tool from the Advanced Marketing Institute:

Just pop your headline into the tool…

…and you’ll get your EMV score.

I try to get my EMV score to at least 25%.

I even have a few headlines with an EMV score of 70%+.

Chapter 4: Craft a Compelling Intro

Topic? Check.

Headline? Check.

Now it’s time to grab your reader’s attention.

How? Your blog post introduction.

4-7 Sentences

Let’s face it:

No one likes long blog post introductions, like this:

That’s why I limit my intros to 4-7 lines… MAX.

For example, my intro from this post is only 6 lines:

In my experience, 4-7 sentences are more than enough to hook people…

…and get them excited for the content they’re about to read.

PPP Formula

The PPP Formula is KILLING it for me right now.

(The “PPP” stands for: Preview, Proof, Preview.)

Here’s a visual of the formula:

Now I’m going to break down each part of the PPP formula…

…and show you real-life examples of the formula in action.

First, you have the Preview.

This couldn’t be any more simple.

Just let your reader know EXACTLY what to expect.

That way, when someone lands on your post, they know they’re in the right place.

Here’s an example:

Next, it’s time for the Proof.

Here’s where you show people that you can deliver.

Specifically, you want to prove that you know your stuff.

You can show proof with:

• Personal results
• Years of experience
• Number of clients
• Credentials or certifications

Last up, we have the Preview… again.

The first preview was a high-level overview of your post.

The 2nd preview is a little bit different.

This preview is where you get specific about something from your post.

For example, in this intro, I preview the fact that the steps are actionable.

I like to end my intros with a transition sentence.

In my experience, this transition helps push people to read the next section.

Chapter 5: Write Your Post

Now it’s time to show you how to write SUPER engaging content.

Specifically, I’m going to share 6 strategies that can make your blog posts 10x better.

Starting with…

Short Paragraphs

Want people to read your content? AVOID giant walls of text.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Instead, stick to paragraphs that are 1-2 sentences long.

Why is this important?

Short paragraphs are easier to read .

(Especially on mobile devices.)

Section Subheaders

I LOVE subheaders.

That’s because subheaders break your content up into easy-to-read chunks.

For example, my post “ The Complete SEO Checklist ” has A LOT of content.

(In fact, that post is 4,328 words.)

So I broke up the content into lots of little chunks. And added a list of bullet point links that take you to each section:

In fact, this single post has 9 subheaders.

Active Voice

If I could give people ONE writing tip for writing blog posts it would be:

Use the active voice!

The passive voice is just… lame.

On the flip side, the active voice is crisp and clear.

15-17px Font

You might have noticed that Medium.com posts are REALLY easy to read.

How do they do it?

They use 21px font.

If you’re using anything less than 15px, you’re losing lots of readers.

That’s why we use 18px font here at Backlinko.

Write Like You Talk

This is the holy grail of great writing.

But it’s not easy.

(Especially if you took English classes in high school.)

With that, here’s a tip:

Read your post out loud.

If it sounds weird, scrap that sentence.

This time, explain the same thing out loud.

You’ll probably find that the same sentence sounds A LOT better.

Lots of Visuals

Screenshots.

Infographics.

Don’t be afraid to use a ton of visuals in every post.

For example, this post from my blog has 95 visuals:

Chapter 6: Add a Conclusion

Let’s cap things off with your conclusion.

And let me be clear about something:

Your conclusion is VERY important.

(Especially if you want lots of people to comment on your post.)

Fortunately, I’ve developed a simple, 3-step formula for writing AWESOME conclusions.

It’s called “The TAC Formula”.

Here’s an overview of The TAC Formula:

And now I’ll cover the detailed steps…

Start your conclusion off with the Transition.

Your transition is just like it sounds:

It transitions people from your blog content to the conclusion section.

Next, it’s time for the Ask.

Here’s where you ask your reader a VERY specific question.

In other words: don’t ask: “Let me know what you think”.

Instead, throw your reader a softball question that’s easy to answer.

For example:

Finally, end with a call to action.

You can ask your readers to comment…

…or to share your content on social media.

Chapter 7: Optimize for SEO

Next, optimize your post for SEO.

And the best way to do that?

Use the 5 on-page SEO strategies I’m about to show you.

There’s no doubt about it:

When it comes to SEO, short URLs work best .

There are two reasons that short URLs outperform long URLs.

First off, your URL helps Google understand your page’s topic.

In fact, Google officially recommends short, descriptive URLs.

Second, people use URLs to help them decide what to click on in the search results.

And if your URL is insanely long, people are less likely to click on it :

Speaking of…

Meta Description

Nope, search engines don’t use your meta description for SEO. That said: your meta description is a GREAT way to get more people to click on your result.

Specifically, you want your meta description to:

• Include your target keyword (Google bolds keywords in the search results)
• Use verbs, like “learn”, “find” and “buy”
• Describe your content’s USP
• Fit within the ~155 character limit

For example, you can see that my meta description from this post is designed to maximize clicks:

Keyword In Title Tag

This couldn’t be any simpler.

Just include your exact keyword in your title tag.

For example, my target keyword for my post “ 27 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website ” is: “increase traffic”.

So I included that keyword in my title tag:

And WordPress page title:

Keyword In Intro

Make sure to use your keyword once in your blog post intro:

Internal Links

Internal linking might be the most underrated SEO strategy on the planet.

That said, internal linking isn’t complicated.

Whenever you publish a new post, add 2-5 links to older posts:

You can also go back to older posts and link to your NEW post.

For example, when I published “ The Definitive Guide to Keyword Research ”, I linked out to related content…

…and added a handful of internal links to the new guide:

Bonus Chapter: Promote Your Content

When it comes to blogging, promoting your post is even MORE important than the content itself.

In other words:

You can’t just share your post on Twitter and call it a day.

That’s why I recommend promoting your content with these 4 tested strategies.

Facebook Retargeting

Yup, Facebook’s organic reach is at an all-time low .

You can still get in front of your fans… with boosted posts.

(And it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.)

In fact, I paid 56 cents per click on this boosted post:

The secret?

Retargeting.

Here’s the exact process:

First, add Facebook’s ad pixel to your site.

Next, share your blog post on Facebook.

This will get you a handful of likes and comments… which pushes more people to engage with your post later on.

Now that you have some social proof, boost your post. And ONLY target people that visited your site in the last 30-60 days.

That’s all there is to it.

Email Newsletter

This is the ultimate content promotion superhack.

For example, I recently updated this post on my blog:

And to get the word out, I tweeted the post…

…and sent a newsletter to my email subscribers.

Which do you think got more clicks?

The newsletter.

In fact, the newsletter got 12.7x more clicks than my Tweet.

With that, here are 3 things I do to get lots of clicks on every newsletter:

First, I keep the design super-duper simple.

No fancy graphics.

Just plain text and links to the post.

Second, I only link to ONE post per newsletter.

Otherwise, your subscribers get “analysis paralysis”. And they don’t click on anything.

Finally, I only email my best stuff.

That way, when someone gets an email from me they say:

“Nice! Brian’s sending me something cool”.

Which has helped keep my open rates above 35%… even though I have over 200k email subscribers:

LinkedIn Organic

If you’re in B2B, you NEED to hop on LinkedIn .

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn organic reach right now is GREAT.

For example, here’s one of my older LinkedIn posts:

And that single post got 56,872 views.

Not every LinkedIn post does this well.

For example, this post was kind of a dud:

But 13k views is still WAY more than I’m getting on most other social networks.

Email Outreach

Outreach is still the best way to get your content in front of influential people.

But you can’t just spam people and expect it to work.

For example, I get generic emails like this all the time:

And I instantly delete them.

But when someone takes the time to send me a personalized message, I’ll at least check out their post.

And if the post is a good fit for the Backlinko community, I’ll share it:

Bonus Chapter: Content Transformation

Email newsletters.

YouTube video scripts.

Social media posts.

I used to write them all from scratch.

But over the last year or so, I’ve been trying a new content marketing technique:

Content Transformation.

Let me show you how it works with a real-life example…

Earlier this year I wanted to make a YouTube video about backlinks.

Back in the day, I’d open up a blank Google Doc and start on my outline.

But this time, I used Content Transformation.

And the process was MUCH faster.

Specifically, I wrote my video script based on this old guide from my blog:

For example, I took this strategy from the guide…

…and reworked it for the video:

Even though this video was mostly repurposed from existing content, it got 20k views in its first 30 days:

And it now has 278,532 total views:

Now It’s Your Turn

I hope this guide showed you how to write a blog post.

Now I’d like to turn it over to you:

What’s the #1 tip from this post that you want to try first?

Are you going to start using brackets in your headlines? Or maybe you’re going to promote your content on LinkedIn.

Or maybe you have a question about something you read.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

I don’t know how you do it Brian but you’ve pulled it off again. Cracking post and brilliant idea regards Udemy and many other things I had not thought of. Great post as always Brian

Thanks Val. Glad you learned some new stuff.

We are just starting with our blog. This guide it’s really good checklist. Thank for great tips!

Hi Jedrek, happy to help. Good luck with the new blog!

Wow fantastic info Thanks Brian

You’re welcome, Reece.

Awesome post ! Awesome graphics ! Thanks for sharing those ideas, so informative and will be helpful for bloggers to write attractive blog posts like this one 👍

Your posts are so informative and easy to read, plus those graphics are gorgeous!

Thanks Justas. I agree: our designer did an awesome job with the graphics here.

“Write Like You Talk”. A great tip here. I’ll definitely try this particular tip in my next blog post to see how it goes. Thanks, Brian for this insightful article. You are a genius.

No worries. Happy to help 👍

One technique I use is the “voice typing” function on Google docs. This means I’m literally typing the way l speak because I’m speaking into the microphone. Not only can you punch out content quicker, but it comes across a lot more as if you are actually talking. This has improved my active voice scores on Yoast SEO, transition sentences, Flesch reading score etc etc. And it has increased my traffic also. Best part is that it’s free!

Nice. Good stuff, Dezza

Can not wait to read this thoroughly & digest all the valuable information. Thank you for putting it together like this.

Sounds good, Darshana.

Yet again a great insight into blog creation! Nice one!

Thanks Matt

Thanks for the post! I just shared it with our team of writers and am asking them to choose what aspects we can improve on.

One question. We mainly do content marketing and social selling for high-end B2B products. Many of our clients don’t want list posts. Do you think there’s a way to reposition listicles so that they’re more compelling to B2B clients?

Thanks, Alex

You’re welcome. I’d consider a guide format, like this one. In many ways, it’s a list post in a different package. Each chapter/section is a list of 4-5 tips.

Hey, Brian. I have been your fan since ages, and have followed your advice on how to optimize the content of my site. In fact, I left a few comments on your YouTube videos time by time.

After applying your tips as religiously as I could, it worked! Super stoked!

Thanks a lot, Brian. You’re the best and a gift.

Hi Mercyll, that’s great to hear. Keep rocking!

Some of those tips are really solid! Thank you 🙂

You’re welcome, Francois.

That Udemy strategy is pure genius – I never would have thought about that before.

Love the idea about using Udemy Courses for topics.

Using an active voice is tricky for a lot of people. I find it helps to draft a post and go back to it a few hours later – looking at it with fresh eyes. Then it’s easier to spot where you’re slipping into a passive voice.

Thank you yet again for your wonderful content!

Thanks Alison. One shortcut that’s helped me with the active voice: the shorter sentence is usually the active voice (in terms of character count).

For example: If you plan on writing a blog post vs. If you plan to write a blog post.

Thanks for the tip Brian

Hey Brian, I have a question. Why you are not using AMP at your Blog?

Hi Marek, I talk about that here: https://backlinko.com/mobile-seo-guide

“Should You Implement AMP?”

Amazing stuff Brian, as pretty much always. I like you angle of finding topics people are willing to pay for to learn. That must mean they’d be interested to read about it for free in an awesome blog post:) I’m gonna share on Twitter, because your formula works:)

Thanks Nikola

I don’t know where you get all these ideas and strange thing is that no one shares such tips on an internet.

I loved your blog posts as it makes super easy for any one who is struggling to write a post in detail.

Great work!!!

Thanks Wasim

Awesome Article As Usual Brian,

Quick Question About Chapter 1 and 2.

Does the Proven topic that is found In Chapter 1 would it work with any of the Blog post template or it all depends on the topic?

Agree that one should write in short Sentences and paragraphs because a lot of persons only skim blog content these days online before reading.

And I found that the subheaders are a great attention grabber when included in blog post especially when it is written with a strong benefit.

Very Action pack and fluff-free guide Brian keep up the Awesome work!

Hi Floyd, thank you. Ideally, you’d pick the template that’s the best fit for the topic. It’s more art and science for sure. But it does depend a lot on the topic. For example, a topic like “SEO tips” is perfect for The Expanded List Post.

That’s True…

Thanks For the tip…

Was just wondering if there are some template that’s strictly for certain types of topic..

but I think I Get the Idea..

As usual that’s indeed a great article! You started off with an interesting chapter to find the proven topics. In fact, I was unaware of the Udemy and Conference agendas. That was new for me. Every time I read your article, i learn at least one new tip.

Anyway keep up the awesome work.

Waiting for the Next article..:)

Nice! I actually have a post I’m really excited about coming up next. Stay tuned for that.

There are 9+ incredible blog posts in this one post. As far as which one to implement first? I’ll start at the top and make my way down.

Thanks so much!

Hi Ted, thank you! Yes, this is a massive guide. It took a while to put together for sure.

Hi Brian, Thank You sooo much for this most detailed and comprehensive post out there on blogging as a free giveaway ! I will for sure share this! WELL DONE!

Hi Michele, you’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed the new guide.

WOW is an incredible blog post … and every infographic with data that is pure gold. Thanks Brian.

You’re welcome, Bernardo.

You are awesome!

Dude! I wanna be like you when I grow up. You make my post looks pathetic. lol. Such GREAT information and valuable. I can’t believe this is free stuff. I hope that I can be as successful at building my audience as you have been. Kudos, and thanks so much.

LOL! Thanks Juvonia.

Hi brian, Your posts are so informative and easy to read, plus those graphics are gorgeous. Your article have been very useful and helpful for me.. ☺️

You’re welcome, Harjit.

Great post Brian. I can say for certain I am one of the first clicks whenever I receive your newsletter!

Looking forward to putting these into practice.

Thanks Paul. I’m happy to have you as part of the Backlinko community.

Sorry for the previous type-o. I meant to say, you make my posts LOOK pathetic. Do you teach an online course?

All good 🙂 Yes I do https://backlinko.com/seo-training

Awesome post Brian! I think I do most of these to some extent, but you’ve made me realize I need to do all of them better. The topic ideas were extra epic.

Thanks Nick. I made the topic ideas section a point of emphasis because I feel like the same ideas get tossed around all the time. It was time to shake things up, LOL.

Thanks for alot for the sharing the man, Now i have 5 month of content ready thanks to you 😀

I’ll share what exactly do i feel when I get an Email from you :- ‘Email Notification :- Brian Dean’ “What! New Content from Backlinko. Finally, I’ll be able to learn & implement something new!” Opens the Email -> “where is the link? let me click it without even reading the email.” Webpage Opens :- I’ll just skim through the topic…oh wait, this is new… more new ideas… how come i never thought about it. Yayy! Now i know what needs to be done… That was Easy !

(Although in reality, you made it look easy with your in-depth explanation)

Leaves a Comment expecting that I would receive an Email Notification when you’d reply to it….but that doesn’t happen 🙁

I really think you should integrate a way to send some sort of notification when you reply to someone’s comment.

HA! That’s awesome. And thanks for that suggestion. I know WordPress can have it so you get notifications when people reply to comments.

You are just an awesome blogger, how a man can write these types of content? Really grateful and thanks for sharing.

You’re welcome. 👍👍👍

You see Brian I love your tips and tutorials. I love the way you break the process down to tiny actionable bits with nice relatable examples.

Happy to help. To me, it’s all about examples.

This is a very important topic you have written.

How to write a blog post is a well searched keyword.

I’m 100% sure all the currently ranking articles will loose their rankings.

Because Brian Dean’s this article will be #1 in Google.

Mark my word.

Thanks Rintu. I definitely hope so for this post!

I am new to your website. I have subscribed your newsletter and today I landed here from your email. I always want to know how to write a blog post. This illustrative guide will definitely improve my blog stats.

Thanks and regards

Thank you 👍👍👍

Great article Brian! Love your writing and work! It definitely takes a while to go through and digest your guides, but you definitely nail it with your design and readability! Thank you!

You’re welcome, Mike. Yup, this guide is pretty thorough. But I’m happy with how it turned out.

I do not have a word to say, I am a person who is in a completely different career. But I now am learning DM for gaining knowledge. And I must say there is no better place to learn then Brian Dean. The knowledge and concepts you provide are phenomenal. you are an Inspiration. : )

Thanks Rajat. I was in the same boat back in the day. I used to be a registered dietitian and now I’m a blogger/SEO pro. Crazy times!

Same here. A biotechnologist building a DM career

This is great into. Do you have it in a pdf format?

Thanks Joe. Should have a PDF version in the next few weeks.

I can’t wait to get the PDF version of this post as we use to have from other posts 😉

Thanks, Brian;

I can’t just appreciate what you gave me enough, you bomb my brain with knowledge

(brain and Brian) Hmm, no difference at all <3

Hi Walid, PDF version is in the works. It takes a while.

I really love this article, Can you write thought leadership articles ? I want to learn more about it.

Thanks Varsha. I’m not a big thought leadership guy. I rather be an action leader 😂😂😂

I’ve been blogging for a decade and still I’m learning some great tips after all these years. Thanks Brian your newsletter is the only one I subscribe to.

I’m going to try the brackets in the headline by the way.

Hi Deb, thank you. I hope that tip helps!

Great comprehensive guide, I am starting a blog and this is so helpful, thank you Brian

Hi Sandra, you’re welcome. Keep me posted on how your new blog goes.

How do you set up such great design for your article? Is it custom html each time or some super complex template?

Hi Marco, it started as HTML but has sort of morphed into a template that’s designed to work on Backlinko.

I need to manage time to read your detailed article…

My question, is this article perfect for news type post that last live 1 or 2 weeks maximum ??

Hi Vivek, some of the strategies apply to news content. But they’re mostly for evergreen posts.

Great Post Brian. Your copywriting skill is really amazing.

I think the SEO optimization is apt. I recently started work on a blog and noticed that whenever I included specific keywords in my Meta description (even if I do not use the exact keyword in the title) I ranked above my competitors (who have a much higher DA) than my blog. I don’t really understand how or why.

Initially I have read that Google pays more attention to the SEO title and the Meta description is more of a CTA for the users. Perhaps the effect I am seeing is indirect (In that a higher CTR will definitely lead to an upwards movement in the SERPs).

I’ll appreciate it if you can shed more light on this for me.

I’d guess that it’s CTR-related. Google has said several times that they don’t really pay attention to meta descriptions for SEO… but users definitely do. So that’s my guess.

Again a good SEO guide with live examples, you made SEO really simple and actionable for everyone.

Great tips for finding topics. I especially like the conference subject suggestion. Thank you for sharing!

You’re welcome, Mystique

Hi Brian! your are a Monster of SEO!!!!! Congratulation for your precious post… Luca from Italy

Thanks Luca

HI Dean, you have solved 90% of the problem most people are facing when it comes to writing a blog post. I have learnt a lot from you, thanks for sharing.

Hi Anthony, you’re welcome. That’s true: it’s probably not possible to cover everything there is about writing a blog post on a single page. There’s a lot to it. But 90% is pretty darn good!

Hi, Brain, thanks for your great post, this teach me a lot I’m Keen, a freelancer SEOer from China. You are very popular in China marketing groups, people talk about you, learn from you and even nickname you :). Maybe you can translate your post to Chinese, let more SEO newbie know about you.

Hi Keen, thank you for your kind words. I appreciate that.

Hey Brian, Thanks again for another great post.

Would you believe this? I was searching Google ‘How to write a blog post’ and going through some of the results. After a while I Googled ‘How to write a blog post’ + backlinko, I know your posts are real meat.

I did not find any.

Surprising part: I was looking into my emails and noticed the subject ‘Blog Content’ and it was from you (Brian Dean).

How amazing!! You just published what I was searching. Thanks a bunch.

I’m looking to write blog posts on Artificial Intelligence. Any special tips apart from what was already published in the post?

LOL! That’s crazy. What are the odds, right?

I’d say that the strategies here apply to pretty much every topic. I pulled a lot of the techniques from me working with lots of blogs in several different industries.

Amazing. This article should be sold as an E-book. It’s loaded with valuable info! Thank you for the time you invested and shared. Awesomeness packed into one post.:)

Thanks Catherine. I appreciate that.

I was having a short break from studying Google Search exam. I clicked through your email….and thank you!

This is a complete outline on how to craft a blog post, how to optimize and promote it. Excellent stuff.

Thank you, Alessandro. I tried to make this guide as complete as possible. Glad to see that I’m on track.

Leave a Comment

WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

How to write a blog post: a step-by-step guide

• Cecilia Lazzaro Blasbalg
• 14 min read

Get started by: Creating a website → | Getting a domain →

When you create a blog , you have the opportunity to dive deep into your favorite topics, highlight your expertise and build a community of readers interested in your work. Whether you want to learn how to make a website and blog from scratch, or make blogging part of your business strategy, publishing content online is an effective way to share your knowledge and ideas with the world.

That said, composing a winning entry takes practice. In this A-to-Z guide, you’ll learn how to write the perfect blog post—from choosing the right blog topics and picking the proper format for your articles, to selecting strategic images that generate interest and engagement. By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll have a clear idea of how to create strong blog content that effectively communicates your ideas and stands out from other articles on the web, other types of websites and within the blogosphere .

Ready to get blogging? Get started with Wix today.

What is a blog post?

A blog post is a piece of content published on a blog, typically consisting of text, images, videos or other multimedia elements. Blog posts cover a wide range of topics and can vary in length and format. They are often informal, conversational and engaging, providing information, insights, opinions or entertainment to the blog's audience. Blog posts can serve various purposes, including educating, entertaining, inspiring or promoting discussion.

How to write a blog post in 13 steps

Brainstorm blog topics

Refine your topic with keyword research

Define your audience

Create an organized outline

Write engaging content

Craft an irresistible headline

Choose a blog template

Select a blog domain name

Pick relevant images

Implement calls-to-action

Optimize for SEO

Edit and publish your blog post

Promote the final article

01. Brainstorm blog topics

When writing a blog post, whether you're guest posting for someone else or writing for your own blog, you’ll want to cover topics that bring value to your readers and fall in line with their interests, as well as your own. Rather than trying to find the perfect topic right away, start by jotting down different ideas that come to mind.

There are several places you can look to spark new topic ideas:

Browse other blogs within your niche with competitor analysis . If you’re starting a travel blog , for example, simply Google “travel blog” to see what your competitors are writing about.

Use AI tools at your disposal to generate topic ideas

Use Google Trends to find out which topics are trending.

Look for current events and recent news stories related to your field.

Find out what people enjoy learning about by browsing online courses on Udemy , Skillshare and LinkedIn Learning .

Once you find some interesting ideas online, think about the unique ways you can approach those topics. Consider the various ways you can play around with topic ideas to come up with something that isn’t only trendy and relevant, but that’s also original and fresh. You'll also need to consider making sure your blog post is up to date and this will mean including relevant data and statistics related to the topic.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to write about chocolate chip cookies. There are a few different angles you might consider taking here based on your target audience and potential for website traffic :

A how-to post that instructs readers how to do something with clearly ordered steps (e.g., “How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch”)

A curated list that offers a set of recommendations for your readers (e.g., “The Top Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes”)

A tips and advice post that provides expert guidance and resources. (e.g., “Tips for Making Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies Extra Gooey”)

A definition-based blog post that helps explain the meaning of a term or topic (e.g., “What Are No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies?”)

A top trends article that highlights what’s currently popular (e.g., “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes From This Year”)

A personal or business update that lets you unveil something fresh or recently unknown (e.g., “My New Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Revealed”)

Get brainstorming with these best blog ideas , and check out our professional guide on how to start a blog for more helpful tips. You can also consider those close to you for feedback on your ideas, or branch out to a wider audience and get their thoughts.

02. Refine your topic with keyword research

Part of writing a blog post involves keyword research. This crucial SEO practice is used as a marker to see which terms you can potentially rank high for in certain online searches.

Once you’ve chosen a direction for your blog post, and before you get started with the writing process, you’ll need to figure out the chances of its success on search engine result pages—which ultimately means getting more eyes on your content. In order to succeed, conduct keyword research to find the most relevant queries for your topic.

You can find keywords for your own articles by using various keyword research tools. If you’re new to blogging, you’ll probably want to start with free tools such as Ubersuggest and Google Keyword Planner . Afterwards, you may want to upgrade to more advanced tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs .

While conducting keyword research, keep in mind that the more specific the phrase, the more closely it will match your audience’s intent. On the other hand, broader keywords tend to have higher search volumes—meaning more people are searching for them each month.

Think about the benefits of opting for a broader phrase, like “chocolate chip cookies,” over a more precise phrase, like “how to make chocolate chip cookies.” Choosing the right keywords means striking a balance between high search volume and high intent.

Once you’ve selected your keywords, you can use them to shape the structure of your content. Google those phrases to find out which articles have successfully targeted those same keywords, and spend some time browsing their content. This will give you inspiration for your own article in terms of what to include and how to structure it. Don't forget to also tap into your own experience as an entrepreneur or writer, when choosing what to write about.

03. Define your audience

Now that you know what you’ll be writing about , you need to find out who you’re writing for . Anticipating the kinds of people who will be reading your posts will help you create content that is interesting, engaging, full of relevance and shareable.

Of course, your audience largely depends on your type of blog . If you run a baking blog, you’ll probably be writing for an audience of people who love baking and are seeking recipe inspiration. Even more specifically, if you run a healthy baking blog, you’ll be writing for people who similarly love baking but who want to make their culinary creations healthier. It’s important to keep these nuances in mind when crafting your content, since your goal is to write articles that resonate strongly with readers.

So, how do you figure out your audience in the first place? Start by taking another look at the other blogs in your field. Consider who they seem to be writing for, and the kinds of assumptions they’re making about their readers’ interests and lifestyles. For example, you might find that most of the blogs address a particular gender or age group.

You can also use online forums to find the main questions asked by your audience, or visit Facebook groups to read what topics they like or talk about. This will help you create content that piques their interest, sparks their curiosity and answers their questions.

Whether you're starting a book blog , a fashion blog, travel blog or something else—defining your audience should come first.

04. Create an organized outline

The key to learning how to write a blog post is doing thorough research and planning before you create the article itself. After deciding on the topic and blog format , you’ll need to build the mold for your content. Creating an outline is critical, as it ensures your article will have a strong foundation that you can build on as you write your blog post.

Start by creating subheadings, which are the backbone of an organized outline, under which your paragraphs of text will sit. These small but mighty pieces of content help you break down your article into bite-sized sections, making it easier for you to write and more digestible for people to read.

If it’s a step-by-step guide or a list of tips, start building your outline by listing out all the main points clearly, as in the example below:

Outline: How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch

1. Gather your ingredients

2. Mix and knead the dough

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

4. Scoop mounds of dough onto baking sheet

5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Add bulleted notes within your introduction and under each of your subheadings. This will help you formulate your main points.

If you find yourself getting stuck, use one of these blog post templates to guide you through the outline process.

05. Write engaging content

Turning something you love and know a lot about into blog posts is a great strategy to attract readers: they’ll come for the knowledge, but they’ll stay for your authentic outlook and first-hand experiences.

Hanna Kimelblat , Blogger and Growth Marketing Expert at Wix

Now that you’ve sketched out the blog post, you can begin typing away (or, use AI to write your blog posts ). Keep in mind that blog posts, like many other types of writing, typically include three main elements: an introduction, the body text and a conclusion.

Let’s start with the introduction. In the first few sentences of your article, you should already grab your readers’ attention. Begin with a relevant quote or statistic, tell a short story, or share an interesting fact. Then, set the tone for the article by sharing a brief summary of what you’re going to talk about in the body text. This gives your readers a reason to keep going.

Next, fill in the body text. In your outline, these are the bullet points beneath each subheading. This is the meat of your blog post, so it should be clear and compelling. Avoid fluff and repetition, and instead offer deep value by sharing your knowledge, research, and insights.

A concluding section isn’t always necessary—in fact, our blog rarely uses one—but it can be useful in the case of storytelling or when wrapping up a very extensive article. You can tie your main points together using a short bulleted list, or by sharing some closing thoughts in a few sentences. No matter the case, you’ll want to end on an engaging note.

At this stage you'll also want to consider your writing style, this is usually determined by your blog audience. If you're targeting a professional business crowd so you might want to consider adopting a more formal writing style; if you're writing for bakers, something more light and fun might be the best style. Within this consider your tone too, blogs, even formal business ones, are meant to open up communication and inspire conversation. Make sure your tone is relevant to your writing style and audience, but also use welcoming and inspiring language where possible.

Other important concepts to consider in your content creation process are:

Viscosity : essentially the ease with which a reader can understand and flow through a piece of text. It is akin to the "fluidity" of the writing and how smoothly the ideas and information are conveyed to the reader. High viscosity in writing implies that the text is dense, complicated, and difficult to read, while low viscosity indicates that the writing is clear, concise, and easy to comprehend.

Rhythm: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, sentence structures, and the flow of words that create a musical or harmonious quality in the text. It's the cadence and beat that give the writing a sense of movement and can make the language more engaging and memorable.

Creativity : the ability to express oneself imaginatively and inventively through the written word. It involves using one's unique perspective, original ideas, emotion, pathos and artistic flair to craft compelling stories, poems, essays, or any form of written content. Creative writing allows writers to explore their thoughts, emotions, and observations in an innovative and expressive manner. Storytelling is a huge part of writing a blog post and shouldn't be neglected.

Sentence and clause structure: fundamental elements of grammar that govern how sentences are constructed in the English language. They determine the arrangement of words (verbs, adjectives), phrases, and clauses to convey meaning and ensure clarity in communication. Understanding sentence and clause structure is crucial for effective writing and communication.

06. Craft an irresistible headline

When writing a blog post, you don’t only need strong content; you’ll also want a powerful headline . A great headline entices readers and enhances your blog design , ensuring that they actually click on your article in the first place.

Learning how to write a catchy blog title doesn’t have to be hard. All you need to do is keep the following points in mind: clarity, specificity and offering an answer or solution.

Writing a good headline also depends on how well you put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Use the title to promise readers that your blog post will provide valuable insight that will benefit them in some way, whether by satisfying their intellectual curiosity, teaching them something new or helping them solve a problem. This will increase the chances that they’ll click on your article and read it. Just don't go over board and remember to avoid clickbait, which is writing a hyperbole headline just to get clicks through to an article.

Here are some examples of headlines that we are quite proud of, to give you a general idea for your own content:

Create a Powerful Free Landing Page in Under an Hour

20 Best Time Management Apps to Organize Your Life

How to Design an A+ School Website (With Examples)

Make a Change: Using Photography as a Tool to Raise Awareness

If you're looking for inspiration to get started, try out this blog post title generator .

07. Choose a blog template

Writing your blog post may be your first priority, but you’ll also want to package it in an appealing way. Having an article with strong visual appeal is crucial for striking the right chord with your readers. The best way to customize your blog's design is by starting with a free blog template .

Professional designers have created all these blog layouts, and they're fully customizable to reflect your blog's messaging and tone. For inspiration, check out these blog examples to see how others have transformed these templates into beautiful, content-rich powerhouses.

If you’re writing a blog about organic ingredients, for instance, using a natural color palette on your site will set the right tone for the type of topics you’ll be writing about. This same color palette should also be used for your blog logo , as well as on your social media platforms.

08. Select a blog domain name

You should host your well-crafted blog on your domain site address in order for readers to discover it. When it comes to naming your blog , you can gather ideas from a blog name generator and see if the domain name is available.

Spend time thinking about how your blog and domain name fit in with the blog post topics you will cover. Make sure that your name reflects your blog’s persona, topic and niche.

Once you have finalized your name, choose your domain name (also referred to as a URL, for example, www.wix.com). Typically, your domain name will be the same as, or at least similar to the name of your blog.

09. Pick relevant images

Likewise, you should also enhance your blog post with a few great images that illustrate your main points. It’s important that your pictures add value to the subject, rather than serving as placeholders. Pay extra attention to your featured image—this will be the main visual below your blog’s title, and it’s what readers will see when they browse your articles from your blog’s homepage. Infographics are also great to insert within blog posts to reinforce key points or ket stats.

Also consider inserting videos into your blog posts, the best ones are those you've created to match the topic and intent of the video, but you can also use those from third parties, to improve the user experience and engagement rates on your articles.

With Wix, you can add a professional photo gallery to individual posts and embed your own pictures within your articles. You can also choose from an array of media content from Wix, Shutterstock and Unsplash directly within your site’s editor.

10. Implement calls-to-action

In the same way a blog is meant to inform people about specific topics, it can also be used as an important tool that motivates readers to take a certain action. This includes everything from subscribing to your blog to making a purchase.

This element is referred to as CTA, or call-to-action, and is presented as an embedded link or button that states your objective in an alluring manner. Some of the most common call-to-action examples for blogs include “Subscribe,” “Download our e-book” or “Sign up.”

Using CTAs can help you transform your website traffic into engagement and, eventually, profit. While your immediate goal is to get more readers, you may eventually want to monetize your blog further down the road.

11. Optimize for SEO

When it comes to SEO for bloggers , a strong SEO plan involves optimizing your content both before and after writing the blog post. Not only does this include doing keyword research prior to the outline phase (mentioned in step 3), but it also includes using those keywords to polish your final piece.

This begins with sprinkling relevant keywords throughout your article. Let’s say you’ve chosen to target the keyword “business strategies.” Use this exact phrase in your headline, throughout the body text and one to two subheadings if it’s a natural fit.

Next, include this keyword in your metadata. This is the preview text you’ll see for every article on Google, and it includes a title (known as the meta title) and short description (the meta description). You’ll also want to add the keywords to the URL of your article, as well as in the alt text of your blog post’s images. Use these SEO features to give your blog an overall performance boost. Lastly, and make sure you know exactly how long a blog post should be to best rank your post.

12. Edit and publish your blog post

With so many common blogging mistakes out there, you’ll need to thoroughly check your article for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, repetition and any other unprofessional content. Furthermore, make sure your ideas flow coherently throughout each section, signaling a clear and purposeful message to readers. You can read about other essential aspects of blogging in this comprehensive blog post checklist .

We recommend asking a friend or colleague to give your blog article a once over before it goes live, as part of your proofreading and fact checking process prior to publishing. Direct them to look for any discrepancies or ambiguity. It’s also important to emphasize quality over quantity in order to keep your readers interested and to establish your credibility. Then, once you’re happy with your written work, it’s time to hit publish.

13. Promote the final article

Once you’ve written and published the blog post, take the necessary steps to make sure it gets read. Two of the most effective ways to promote your blog post and get readers are email marketing and social media marketing.

Email remains one of the most reliable platforms for marketing, as it allows for a direct communication channel between you and your audience. This highly effective digital marketing strategy involves sending out customized emails to prospective users with the aim of converting them into loyal fans. If you’re interested in getting started, this powerful email marketing service can help you send custom newsletters for your blog.

Beyond emails, sharing your article on social media can also go a long way. For example, if you want to accrue a wide audience, promote your blog on Facebook or Instagram, which have one of the largest and most diverse user bases.

Whichever channels you choose, make sure to actively engage with followers on a day-to-day basis. This will ensure that you not only write a great blog post, but that you get people reading your article, too.

Looking to really get your blog off the ground? Take a look at our Build Your Own Blog online course to get you started.

How to structure a blog post checklist

Headline: clear, catchy and relevant, includes keywords where relevant for SEO

Introduction: hooks the reader, answers search intent where relevant, outline's the blogs purpose and main point

Subheadings: organizes content into digestible and readable sections, follows a logical flow

Body: provides valuable information while supporting points with examples, stats and other evidence, conversational tone

Visuals: includes relevant images, infographics or videos that enhance understanding and reader engagement

Engagement: encourages reader interaction (comments, shares)

Editing: checks for grammar and spelling errors, edited for coherence and style, fact checked

SEO: includes relevant keywords naturally, answers search intent

Readability: uses consistent font and formatting, short sentences

Links: includes internal and external links for additional context

Social sharing: includes social sharing buttons and shareable snippets of information

Review: read through the post one last time before publishing and after published

How to write a blog post FAQ

How to write my first blog post.

Writing your first blog post can be an exciting but daunting task. To make it easier follow these basic steps - choose a compelling topic, plan out your post, hook readers with a killer introduction, provide meaningful content, hone your conversational style and include visuals where you can.

What are 5 easy steps to writing a blog post?

How to write a blog post with ai, how to write a blog post as a beginner, what is a blog post example, what is the format of blog writing, related posts.

How to write catchy blog titles: 12 tips and examples

The ultimate blog post checklist

Blogging for beginners: 20+ tips to jumpstart your blog

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How to Write a Blog Post: Your 11+ Step-By-Step Guide to Blog Writing

W ant to learn how to write a blog post people will actually read?

In this guide, you’ll learn step-by-step how to write a blog post with a super simple blog writing formula that ensures you satisfy both readers and search engines.

If you follow it and write a great blog post, you can have confidence that your target audience will find it – and stick around!

Keep reading to get tried and true expert tips to help you create engaging blog content – whether you’re writing your first blog post on a new blog or an experienced veteran. 

In This Guide:

• Key Takeaways For Effective Blog Writing

How To Write A Blog Post People Actually Want To Read?

Expert blog writing tips, good blog post examples, key takeaways for effective blog writing.

• Crafting a successful blog post is more than just using the right words.
• You must consider readability, visual engagement, and answering readers’ questions.
• Choose a topic your target audience is interested in, and take time to craft a great outline.
• Start drafting your post directly in your blogging platform for efficiency.
• Hook readers with a compelling opening that addresses their problem or sparks curiosity.
• Write in a conversational tone to engage readers and build a loyal audience.
• Format your post for scannability with subheadings, short sentences, and bullet points (don’t miss our full guide on best practices for blog design layouts ).
• Incorporate images to enhance visual engagement and break up text monotony.
• Include a compelling call to action to encourage reader interaction or conversion.
• Add a featured image to attract clicks, shares, and engagement.
• Optimize your post for search engines by including keywords, meta tags, proper formatting, and checking your articles overall score for the term using an SEO plugin like AIOSEO .
• Proofread and edit your draft with a tool like Grammarly before publishing to ensure clarity and correctness.
• Craft a captivating headline using emotional triggers, concise language, and curiosity gaps.

If you think that writing a good blog post just means using the right words, you’re mistaken.

There are a lot of other factors that contribute to making your blog post a success.

In fact, it’s possible (and even pretty common!) to be a great writer but not so great at blogging .

How’s that possible? Well, suppose you like to write – and draft an article that’s very well-researched and detailed and includes all the information your readers are looking for.

But it’s SO well-researched and informative that your paragraphs are really long and hard to read. Maybe you forgot to add images or other media content for fear of interrupting the flow of your article.

Because it looks like a big wall of text, people are more likely to hit the “back” button than to stay and read the whole thing.

Do you think people would call that a good post?

So apart from the words themselves, you also need to consider…

• How easy is it to read?
• How visually engaging is the post?
• How well does it answer your readers’ questions?
• How will it keep attracting more traffic?

To help you publish an amazing piece, I’ll show you how to answer all these questions and more.

Ready? Let’s get started with our expert tips for writing blog content.

Being a good writer is tough. But with a little practice and some research, it won’t take you long to join the ranks of other great bloggers.

But first, we must learn how to write for the web. 

So, let’s explore how to create a blog post that people will actually read. 

Step 1 – Choose a Great Blog Topic With Keyword Research

The first step in blog writing is picking a good topic.

You’ll need to find out what your followers want to know and what type of blog post they’ll actually read so will continue to get traffic after it’s published. 

By this, I mean that you’ll want to write your blog post on a topic of interest:

• Reader feedback
• Topics that get a lot of engagement on niche Facebook groups or subreddits
• A known problem in the industry that people are searching for help with
• Or  competition analysis in your keyword research.

Platforms like BuzzSumo can help you figure out what topics are trending in your niche that you can cover on your blog. 

But be sure to check out our list of SEO tools for more suggestions on how to come up with blog post ideas with high search volume.

And if you need help brainstorming, we have a list of blog post ideas that work with nearly every niche.

Step 2 – Do Your Research

Once you have your idea, make sure to research the front page of Google and your main competitors at this stage to see how you can improve on what’s out there. If you can’t write a high-quality post that’s better than theirs, don’t bother!

You don’t need to be an expert on the blog topic, but you do your research to ensure you’re adding value.

Step 3 – Take Notes and Create an Outline

While you do your research keep a notebook handy where you can take down the important main points and create a blog post outline for your topic.

If not a notebook, at least keep a Google Doc tab open. But you’ll want to do at least some research as you write your outline for every blog post you create. 

Step 4 – Start Drafting Your Blog Post

Now that you have the outline, you can sit down to write your post. I generally like drafting it directly on my WordPress dashboard. It saves a lot of time and extra effort if I don’t have to copy and paste it from somewhere else later.

Struggling to start writing, or do you keep getting stuck or distracted? See our tips on  how to write faster , and you’ll be churning out more posts in no time!

Step 5 – Hook Your Readers With a Great Opening

If you can hook your readers with a good opening, consider half of your work to be done. If your introduction is boring, people will not bother to read the rest.

Many writers find it easier to write the blog post’s body first and save writing the intro for last.

One easy way to write a great introduction is to pose a question addressing the reader’s problem. Then, you can tell them how reading your post can help them tackle it.

Another – like the one I used for this post – is made to spark intrigue and curiosity. 

Whatever you do – you want to grab your readers’ attention so they want to read to the end to find the solution or uncover the mystery.

Step 6 – Write Like You Talk

Don’t overlook the style and tone of your blog writing. Both these elements can make a big difference.

Writing like you’re talking to your readers can make them feel like they’re conversing with someone rather than actually reading a post.

Your readers will feel like you’re talking to them one-on-one to help them figure out a problem you can relate to. This is great for building a loyal readership.

Step 7 – Format It For Scannability

People read differently on the web. It’s almost never word-for-word. Instead, they scan for information they’re looking for.

That’s why it’s important to format your posts in a way that’s easy to scan. It’ll help your readers get the info they’re looking for quickly, so they’re more likely to give your blog a chance.

Here are a few ways you can make your blog posts scannable:

• Use Subheadings : Subheadings help your readers see the main topics of your post and help you stay organized and on track when blog writing.
• Write Short Sentences : Short sentences are much easier to read. Long sentences can make it hard to understand. Use a free tool like Hemingway Editor to ensure your readability score is Grade 8-9 or below. 
• Keep Paragraphs Short : When your paragraphs are too long, it’s harder to read. I recommend using 2-4 sentences in most of your paragraphs, with some 1-sentence paragraphs to grab the eye.
• Use Bullet Points : Whenever you have a list of 3 or more items – can use bullet points to make your message precise, clear, and easy to scan instead of listing items in a sentence.

If you use these tips to make your text visually engaging, your readers will be more likely to read the whole post.

For more details, see our guide on how to structure the perfect blog post .

Step 8 – Use Images for Visual Engagement

Blog writing is more than just words.

A simple image can make even a boring post much more fun and engaging.

What you fail to explain in words can be done with just a single image or a screenshot. Besides, it breaks the monotony of words and offers a refreshing visual break to the reader, keeping them engaged for longer.

Here are some stats from Quick Sprout that show how important images are:

Step 9 – Add a Compelling Call to Action To Your Blog Writing

Your post can’t be called successful unless you can convince your users to take action on the site.

What should your call to action ( CTA ) be? You could ask your readers to:

• Sign up for your email newsletter (must read “ how to create an email newsletter “)
• Leave a comment
• Share your post on social media
• Buy your product

It’s best to stick to one CTA so your readers aren’t distracted.

For your CTA to be compelling, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and talk about the benefits of taking action. What’s in it for them?

Step 10 – Add a Featured Image

Believe it or not, your readers won’t waste more than 2 seconds deciding whether to click on your post. If you want a positive response, you need to have a plan.

Adding an eye-catching featured image to your post is a great way to get more clicks, shares, and engagement.

Shutterstock, Unsplash , and Pixabay are great platforms to help you find an appealing image to use. You can also use Canva if you like them edited. If you need more help, here’s how to create great featured images for your blog posts .

Step 11 – Level Up Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you think you know how to write a good blog post, but it doesn’t get any traffic, you’re missing a step!

For your post to have a lot of readers, you need to level up your search engine optimization (SEO) to appear at the top of search results. 

We have published a separate post dedicated to  SEO tips for bloggers . And if you’re using an SEO plugin like All in One SEO (assuming you have already installed it on your site), much of your work is done.

You need to add a focus keyword, your H1 title, SEO title, meta description, and URL with your target keyword.

Your text also needs to have more than 300 words. However, I would recommend you pump up your word count to at least 1000 words.

Also, the images in your post need to be properly optimized. Make sure they’re the right size and have descriptive names before you upload them. Each image should also have proper alt text, tags, and categories.

For more details, see our ultimate SEO guide for bloggers .

Step 12 – Edit Your First Draft

Congratulations!

You’ve got a first draft ready to go, but you’ll want to proofread it before publishing it.

A pro tip is to read it out loud to yourself.

This helps you identify errors and lets you rectify them before you hit the publish button. Make sure to do a quick read-over for spelling, formatting, and clarity with the help of a tool like Grammarly .

Step 13 – Craft a Great Headline & Publish Your Post

A great blog post is nothing without a truly great blog title to get your readers in the door.

Without these enticing blog post headlines , your prospects will likely click on a competitor. 

So here are some essential tips to keep in mind:

• Use Emotional Trigger Words: Emotion-evoking words like “surprising,” “amazing,” or “unbelievable” can pique curiosity and encourage readers to click (use Monster Insights’ Headline Analyzer to help).
• Keep It Short and Punchy: Aim for headlines around 60 characters or less. Short, snappy headlines are easier to read and more likely to grab attention.
• Ask a Question: Posing a question your target audience wants the answer to in an effective way that draws them in.
• Leverage Curiosity Gaps: Leaving something out of the headline creates a “curiosity gap” that compels people to read further to fill in the missing pieces.
• Use Numbers and Statistics: Numbers (especially odd numbers) and data-driven headlines signal that your post contains valuable, quantifiable information.
• Include Your Target Keyword: If you want your article to rank on Google, you must include your keyword in the title – ideally towards the beginning. 

Obviously, you don’t need to use all in every title – but to rank, you will need to include the keyword! 

And that’s how to write a good blog post! Wasn’t too difficult, was it? Just follow these quick steps and see how you can master the art of writing a good blog post in no time.

It wouldn’t be right to finish a piece on how to write blog posts without showing you some awesome examples I’ve seen out in the wild.

• 164 Best Email Subject Lines to Boost Your Email Open Rates This post on OptinMonster is ultra-useful and comprehensive and has great multimedia content as well. There’s a video and original graphics to keep readers interested and attract links and shares.
• Paleo Diet Beginner Guide: 7 Things to Know Before Eating Like a Caveman Steve Kamb’s post over at Nerd Fitness has had over 2,000 comments and 45,000 likes on Facebook. It’s a massively detailed article with photos, videos, and even its own app! Incredible value for anyone searching the topic.
• 40 Most Common WordPress Errors and How to Fix Them WPBeginner’s ultimate guide to WordPress errors is great because it’s comprehensive but also easy for beginners to follow. It’s a perfect example of a perfect tutorial post for beginners. If you want to learn more about WordPress, check out our article on the best WordPress blogs .

Blog Writing in Closing

Have you ever written a blog post that went viral or brought you tons of awesome results? I’d be really keen to hear about how you did it!

Before you publish your next post, use our ultimate list of blogging tips to make sure you create the perfect post.

If you liked this post then be sure to check out guides on how to start a blog and how to install WordPress .

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thanks for sharing wonderful article

When I was learning about blogging in 2016, I found your blog, ShoutMeLoud, Backlinko, Neil Patel, SPI and WPBeginner very helpful.

You guys always offer helpful and highly informative articles.

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, Inu!

great article thanks for the information

You’re welcome!

Great post, I really find it very useful as I’m thinking to start my blog so it really helps me.

Thanks, Daisy, let us know when you start your blog.

David, I am a great fan of your writing. I totally agree research make sure you’re adding value.

I notes these points and found them helpful, I will try to apply these on my work and will tell you about the results soon.

It was a great post! I liked how you have made this blog visually appealing that allows users to read it without toggling between tabs. Good work!

You certainly understand what you’re referring to, thanks for the info.

Thank you, for this amazing blog, everything is well explained step by step.

Fantastic article, I’m a big writing fan. I fully cooperate with work to ensure that you contribute positively. Inshort, I really find it really interesting, because I guess it encourages me to start my article.

I am going to start my blog writing career. The guidelines that you have described were so much precise & easy to understand. I am really thankful to you.

Glad you found the article helpful, Ovi. Good luck on your writing career! If you’re interested, you might want to check out our guide on freelance blogging as well. 🙂

Thanks for detailed information.

I always visit WPBginner and Blog Tyrant whenever I get stuck.

Curious to know the plug-in that you guys are using to create the numbered list.

Thanks Santosh! If you’re referring to the numbered headings in this post, I think they are custom.

This is really helpful, thanks.

Great article, with lots of useful tips.

I appreciate you and hopping for some more informative posts. Thanks for sharing us.

Thank you for the information , it’s very useful to me, I just started blogging this month and get frustrated in designing my theme, so I decided to leave it until I have money to buy a customizable theme, so I just want to focus on writing my blog post. Thank you very much, it will really help me a lot.

Hey Bilikis, have you checked out Blog Tyrant’s post on the best WordPress themes for bloggers ? It includes some free, customizable options!

Hello. I am extremely happy to come across this post that gave me accurate information on writing a high-quality blog post. Thank you!

It’s very helpful your words for a beginner like me. You have explained very well with easy words. Thank you very much.

Love from Kerala, India.

You put the you in thank you!

doesn’t tell me how to get the words to wrap nicely around the images or how to fix the big gaps between paragraphs with photos.

Hi Susan, here’s a guide on how to add and align images in the WordPress block editor .

Great post! Thanks so much for the ideas and info!

Your post is very helpful, thank you for sharing the ideas, I look forward to writing a better blog post.

I have been using Rank Math plugin in WordPress installation for giving me suggestions on SEO optimized Blog Post.

For keyword research I m using google Semrush and Google Ads for sugghestion

However you topic above has given more insight into the best way of writing Blog Post.

May I simply say what a comfort to discover someone that really understands what they’re talking about on the net. You definitely understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. A lot more people ought to look at this and understand this side of the story. I was surprised you aren’t more popular because you certainly possess the gift.

Your work here on this blog has been top notch from day 1. You’ve been continously providing amazing articles for us all to read and I just hope that you keep it going on in the future as well. Cheers!

Join our 30,000+ email subscribers for blog updates and get instant access to a 10,000-word guide on how to start a blog and build a sustainable business using keyword research, Google traffic, and a lot of tested strategies. Let us help you build a blog to support your family's income and help the community while you're at it!

Make The Leap

How to write a blog post (10 foolproof tips).

Blogs may have started as online diaries in the 1990s , but they’ve undergone a massive transformation since then. Now, they’re a crucial content marketing tool for creators and brands of all sizes — and one of the best ways to get noticed online. 

Solo entrepreneurs use blog content to hook leads and establish themselves as thought leaders. Course creators use blogs to prove their expertise and create demand for their online courses. Large brands use blogs to make sure they’re top-of-mind for key industry search terms. If you’re reading this, you probably already have an idea of what personal or business goals blogging could help you reach.

In this article, we’ll break down how to write great blog posts that boost your website’s traffic and drive new customers to your online courses . These tips are great for beginners, but they’re also perfect for professional bloggers who want a refresher. In fact, we even discuss how we used the guide while writing this very article. (Woah, meta.) 

So let’s dive in and take your blogging skills to the next level. Here are some shortcuts, if you’re eager to jump ahead: 

• How to write a good blog post: 10 tips

How to write a blog post outline

How to write a blog post introduction, how to write a blog post title, how to write a good a blog post: 10 tips, 1. carefully pick your topic.

The hardest part about blogging is picking what to write about. There’s no worse feeling than staring at a blank Google Doc and thinking: “Ugh, where do I even start?” On the flipside, knowing exactly what to write about is a great feeling.

So before putting fingers to keyboard, ask yourself these four questions:

• What subject am I an expert in—and what themes interest me?
• What has already been written about this subject? 
• What new angle(s) could I bring to the discourse? 
• What stories would my audience care about that I haven’t already blogged about? 

Usually, the core topics you’ll want to blog about will be tied to your business. (Or in some cases, your passions.) Lawyers write about law, marketers write about marketing, and life coaches write about life coaching. We all write about what we know best. 

Once you’ve got an established beat for your blog, you’ll want to stick to topic ideas that relate to your core subject area. This keeps your articles focused and relevant to your audience. Sticking to a niche and exploring it in depth across many articles will also help search engines like Google recognize you as an authority on the subject — so they’ll be more likely to surface your content to more people. 

2. Start with research

Once you’ve chosen a topic, do some basic research to see what others have written about the subject.  Don’t worry — you won’t need hyper-complicated search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. A cursory Google search is all it takes. 

Suppose you’re writing an article about the best cat treats for bad-tempered cats. You’d want to literally search Google for “the best cat treats for bad-tempered cats,” and read the first three or four articles that come up.

While you’re reading, ask yourself the following four questions: 

• How is each article structured?
• How long is each article? 
• What tone are they using? 
• What (if any) sources do they link? 

This won’t take long, but it’ll give you a sense for what’s ranking highly on Google and how authors of successful content address their target audiences — which very likely overlaps with yours. You’ll also come across some extra sources you can reference while writing your own blog post. Now, you’re ready to tame those angry cats. (And congrats — you’re also doing basic SEO keyword research!)

3. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes

When you’re planning a blog post, put yourself in your readers’ shoes by asking yourself these three questions: 

• Who am I trying to reach? 
• What do they already know about the subject I’m covering? 
• What interests them (and what doesn’t)?

It might not be obvious why these questions are so valuable, but they’re really important for tailoring your blog posts. 

For example, imagine you’re creating a blog post about TikTok marketing to promote a course you’ve created, and wanted to include a section talking about how TikTok was different in 2019.  Audiences of marketing pros might want the extra historical context, but if you’re writing for beginners, you’d do better to focus on what works today. There isn’t a clear right answer until you know who you’re writing for. 

4. Find the hidden story 

An underlying story is the difference between a sharp, insightful blog post and an aimless puddle of words. Many new writers struggle with effective storytelling, but there’s a proven strategy you can use to ensure you’re telling a full story: focus on cause and effect . 

Once you’ve got your article title and some basic research to guide you, ask yourself these three questions: 

• Where’s the basic starting point for this subject? 
• What happens as a result? 
• What might happen as a result? 

This will help you take a basic article topic and stretch it as far as it can possibly go. When we wrote this article, our basic starting point was explaining why blog posts are useful. This is the cause — and the effect is that our readers (hey, that’s you!) will become interested in writing their own blog. 

Then, we explained how to get started and pick the right topic for your blog post. The effect: you’ll probably want to learn tips for writing fast, efficiently, and clearly. Which brings us right to the next section.

5. Use simple language while writing

We’ll come right out and say it: big words don’t make you look smart. The occasional ten-dollar word is fine, but using too many will suffocate the story you’re trying to tell. When you’re writing your blog posts, focus on being clear and concise . Concision is tricky to explain, so let’s look at a good example and a bad example.

Imagine you’re blogging about cryptocurrency. To describe the blockchain, you might write that blockchains are “spreadsheets maintained across decentralized ‘peer-to-peer’ networks, [like] those used for torrenting pirated files,” as journalist Sohale Mortazavi does here . This definition is technical, sure, but it’s also simple and accessible. (Well, as simple and accessible as something like blockchain can be, anyway.)

On the flipside, you might describe Bitcoin as “a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy.” Yes, that is a real quote from Bitcoin believer Michael Saylor . And yes, it is very… complex writing. 

The point is: keep it simple. Avoid confusing metaphors, and write like you want your grandparents to understand you. It’ll help you write faster and more effectively. (And if you honestly think they could, then you’re doing great.)

6. Read your blog post out loud

Nobody’s first draft is perfect. In fact, it’s completely normal for your first draft of a blog post to have spelling errors, a few sentence fragments, and the odd section that just… doesn’t quite work. That doesn’t make you a bad writer — it makes you human. 

Before hitting publish, take proper time to edit your article. If you’re new to editing, the best way to catch any edits is reading your post out loud. When you’re skimming through a Google Doc, typos and chunks of awkward wording can slip past you. But when you’re reading out loud, every little mistake will make you cringe. (We did it with this article, too.)

7. Credit your sources

Whether you’re working in direct quotes from external sources or paraphrasing an article you’re using for research, make absolutely sure you’ve properly cited your sources . (Like we just did here!) Plagiarism, even the accidental kind, is a major faux pas among writers. And not only is it sloppy, it can actually impact your SEO ranking . You don’t want to be that person. 

8. Use a spell-checker 

If you’re using a text editor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, you already have a basic spell-checker. But these tend to only catch surface-level spelling errors, like when you mean to write “through“ instead of “thorough.”

Spell-checkers are especially valuable if you’re not writing in your native language. The nuances and tiny idiosyncrasies of a new language take a lifetime to master, and there’s no shame in making the odd mistake.

Most spell-checkers are free tools or have free tiers, and there’s a number that you can install as extensions for your text editor or internet browser. Here’s a list that’ll get you started , if you’re eager to start crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s. 

9. Use alt-text

Alt-text (short for  “alternative text”) is a short description of images that appear in your blog posts. Your alt-text simply describes what the image shows. Alt-text for an image of a cat chasing a dog might literally read “close-up of a cat chasing a dog.” It’s that simple. 

But alt-text is vitally important for accessibility and SEO reasons. Screen readers used by the visually impaired use the alt-text in place of the image itself, so if you don’t use alt-text, a portion of your readers won’t know what visuals you’ve included. Alt-text also helps clarify the semantic meaning of the image, and it’s an extra signal to search engines that your blog post should rank more highly. 

Good alt-text is short and descriptive. Include any visible text that’s on your image (like words on a sign), and don’t stuff your alt-text full of keywords. Alt-text is an accessibility tool, so that just makes you look tacky. 

10. Link to examples and rich media

When you’re writing your blog post, make sure to add links to examples that are relevant to your article. External links show both your audience and Google that you’ve done your research, and they’re a key way to build strong SEO in your articles. 

The rule-of-thumb is that every time you reference something that’s not common knowledge, you should add a link. You can talk about high school being hard without requiring a link, but if you want to reference how the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand kick-started WWI , you should probably include a link. (Like we did here.)

You should also add links to rich media — pieces of content like Instagram posts and tweets — that further illustrate the points you’re making in your blog posts. This post you’re reading right now is about writing and the power of one’s voice, so we’ll use this space to link to a motivational quote from writer Angie Thomas . (Take note: this is us giving an example. We practice what we preach.)

Taking the time to create a blog post outline makes the process of actually writing your post a lot easier. With a strong outline, all you have to do is flesh out ideas and fill in the gaps.

Here’s how to get started. Once you’ve picked a topic, done research, and sketched out the story you want to tell, write down all of your headlines and subheadings. (Those’re the bolded titles of each section, like the one just above here.)  

Then, start taking bullet notes under each relevant headline of what you want to talk about — bringing in the research you’ve already done. Grouping your research before you start writing will make it easy to structure your ideas, and save you major time searching for that one quote you need to make your point.

What’s more, those subheadings provide natural transition points between different sections of the article. There’s no way you’ll accidentally write an endless wall of text because you already have a structure. And later on, the subheadings will make it easier for readers to find what they’re looking for, too.

(Using skimmable subheadings is also a smart SEO strategy, but that’s a whole other can of worms. We dive deep into it in our guide to SEO for course creators. So if you’re curious, this is where you should go next.)

Your introduction should be the very last part of your blog post that you write. This might seem counterintuitive, but seasoned writers know it’s a key way to save time while writing — and prevent a serious stress headache. So let’s explore why. 

The introduction and title set up everything that comes after them. And when you’ve got an empty Google Doc, you don’t actually know exactly which directions your article will go in. If you write an intro and title first, you might end up writing a totally different article. (Which just creates more work for you.)

Instead, do your research, write your outline, and jump right into the meat of your blog post. Once you’ve got a good first draft, come back to the introduction, and pick a title that fits with the actual article sitting in your Google Doc. 

(Note: this isn’t a beginner tip even slightly . As I’m writing this very sentence, the introduction section of this article is completely empty. I’ll figure it out later, like I said.)

Pick your title once you’ve finished writing (unless the right title is clear from the start). Your title should sum up what you’re going to talk about in the article, but still have some intrigue. It should be short and descriptive, instead of long and fluffy. 

If you’ve ever been on PubMed, you’ll know that there’s a million research articles with long titles like “Eating regulation styles, appearance schemas, and body satisfaction predict changes in body fat for emerging adults.” It’s crammed with keywords and information — and for academic research, that’s fine. 

But for a blog post, you probably want something a bit catchier. For the example above, you could title it, “The New Trends Determining Body Satisfaction.” This still hints at what’s in the article, but doesn’t show all the cards at once. That’s enough of a hook to pull readers in. Short and simple is the way to go. 

So, what’s next?

Now that you know how to write a killer blog post, you might be looking for ways to turn subjects you’re an expert on into profitable digital products. (Especially if you’re an entrepreneur or educator.)

That’s where The Leap comes in. We make it easy to scale your business by offering an AI-powered authoring tool that allows you to create beautiful, intuitive digital products in just minutes.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, that’s the power of generative AI. While many other platforms use AI chatbots, The Leap’s digital product builder is the only of its kind with built-in generative AI. That means our tool can actually create your digital products for you rather than just spitting out content and topic suggestions. In the end, you get your digital products built faster — and better — so you can start earning $$$ ASAP.

Try The Leap for free today!

Luke is a content marketing strategist at Thinkific. While he likes to use a little alliteration in his work, he’s also aware that readers aren’t always in awe of his atrocious adjective additives.

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The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

Updated: April 29, 2022

Published: June 01, 2017

Even though we all are crunched for time, spouting off a mediocre blog post for the sake of hitting a deadline isn't worth it. Considering our audiences have access to countless other articles, it's unlikely that they'd settle for a half-baked attempt.

We get it, though: It can be difficult to keep track of all the right blog components when you've got a full plate of projects. There's a lot to remember when crafting a solid blog post -- which means there's also a lot to forget.

To make sure nothing slips through the cracks and every one of your blog posts is both comprehensive and useful to your readers, we've created a rundown of everything you need to remember when you start writing. Bookmark this blog post, and make sure you've completed this checklist the next time you press "publish."

6 Free Blog Post Templates

Save time creating blog posts with these free templates.

• "How-to" Post
• "What is" Post
• Listicle Post

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

How to Write a Perfect Blog Post

1) headline.

Every great blog post starts with a headline that grabs the reader's attention, and compels them to click and keep reading to learn more. Internet readers have very short attention spans -- around eight seconds in length -- and the headline is one of the critical first elements that help readers decide if they want to click and stay on your site. In fact,  60% of readers don't read past the headline, which presents a big opportunity. Here's how to write a great headline:

Brainstorm a Working Title

Start with a working title in mind and brainstorm how to make the angle as interesting as possible. This is the phase of blogging where you start with a general topic and narrow down exactly what you want to write about that topic.

For example, if I want to write about the topic of "blogging," I need to come up with a more specific working title first. And those working titles depend on the format of my blog post. Whether you're writing a listicle, an explainer article, or a how-to guide, brainstorm a few titles to guide your research. Here are a few ideas:

• The Guide to Business Blogging
• How to Get Started with Blogging
• 10 B2B Blogging Strategies We Love (and Why)

Once you have an angle you want to pursue, it's time for keyword research.

Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research will help you create a headline that will perform well on search engine results pages (SERPs). Your headline is one of many factors Google considers when ranking results on SERPs, and an optimized title will help people find the information they need more easily.

Tools like Google's  Keyword Planner , SEMrush , and HubSpot's keywords tool can help you determine exactly which terms people are searching for, and which will be easier or more difficult for your new blog post to rank for.

"Blogging" is a broad search term, and when I dropped it into SEMrush, more than 75,000 keyword results were returned. We recommend targeting long-tail keywords that are more specific to the exact audience you're targeting -- which you can learn more about by creating buyer personas .

When I searched for "business blogging," on the other hand, I found keywords with lower search volume, but would be more specifically targeted to the audience I'm trying to reach.

Once you've nailed the keyword you're targeting, you can create your final title, as well as your headers (more on that later). For the purposes of this example, I chose, " The Definitive Guide to Business Blogging."

Craft a Title

When it comes to the art of the perfect blog post, we've done some analysis and looked at how our own titles have performed. Here are the consistent principles we found:

• The ideal blog post title length   is 60 characters .
• Headlines between 8 and 12 words are shared most often on Twitter.
• Headlines between 12 and 14 words are liked most often on Facebook.

We also found that headlines ending with a bracketed clarification -- for example, "The Definitive Guide to Business Blogging [New Data]" -- performed 38% better than titles without that clarification.

If you're having trouble trimming down the length of a title, run it through SEOmofo and Twitter to see how the title will appear on SERPs and when it's shared on social media.

2) Meta Description

The meta description doesn't live on your blog post -- it lives somewhere different that's just as important.

The  meta description refers to the HTML attribute that explains the contents of a given web page.  Basically, it's a short description you see on a SERP to "preview" what the page is about. Check it out below:

The headline, URL, and meta description work together to convince searchers to click on a link to read the entire blog post, so you'll want to put thought into what to write for this piece of your blog post, too.

In our analysis, we found the ideal meta description length is  under 155 characters.

3) Featured Image

Featured images usually sit at the top of a blog post and are another element to draw readers in to learn more. The image should reflect what the story is about, intrigue readers, or provoke them. It shouldn't be too literal or obvious, and it can simply be aesthetically pleasing, too.

Here's an example of one of our featured images. It features a mobile phone and a bright yellow color -- fitting, considering I was writing about Snapchat:

Make sure you choose featured images that you're legally able to edit and distribute. Here are some of our suggestions:

• The Free Stock Photos You've Been Searching For
• Negative Space
• StockSnap.io

4) Introduction

The introduction needs to quickly hook your reader and convince her to read the rest of your blog post. It also has to let the reader know what your post is about, so she knows what she's getting. Nobody likes clickbait, so you want to make sure your post is about what the headline says it is.

Whether your approach is humor, interesting and surprising facts, or asking a question, find a way to make the first lines of your blog posts as attention-grabbing as possible. Write an introduction that would make you want to keep reading an article -- a quick few paragraphs to draw the reader in and let him know what he's about to read.

Here's an introduction my colleague, HubSpot Staff Writer Aja Frost , wrote that does this effectively:

Frost uses a cliffhanger approach here -- and now I want to read more to learn about how hard it is to be an entrepreneur. For more introduction inspiration outside of HubSpot Blogs, I recommend reading posts on Medium and Buffer .

5) Sub-Headers

Sub-headers are another on-page SEO element that helps your blog post to rank in Google Search. Sub-headers organize and break up your blog post into different sections to signal to Google (and your reader) what the post will cover.

Sub-headers should be written with H2 tags or smaller -- never H1 tags, which signal a title. Use sub-headers to split up sections of your blog post -- making sure to integrate the keywords you're using this post to target.

In this particular post, I'm targeting the keywords "perfect blog post," which I've used in my title and the first sub-header.

6) Body 

The meat of your blog post -- separated by various sub-headers, of course -- is where your readers will undoubtedly derive the most value. You have the freedom to draft compelling content for the body of your blog post using your own creativity or by enlisting the help of useful writing tools such as HubSpot's AI blog writer .

In our analysis, the ideal blog post length is roughly 2,100 words , but that will vary depending on your topic.  Medium found that posts that took  seven minutes to read earned the most engagement and attention. If you find that you're a bit too wordy when it comes to writing blog posts, you can try shortening your paragraphs using HubSpot's AI paragraph rewriter .

Whenever it's possible to use data and numbers, do so.  Numbers written as numerals (23) instead of words (twenty-three) have been shown to attract reader attention when they quickly scan what they're reading online. Additionally, numbers represent facts -- which are unimpeachable and most trusted by your readers.

If you're using numbers or data in your blog post, add [Data] or [Research] to your headline for additional impact, as we discussed earlier in the post.

8) Multimedia Elements

We've told you a few times that your reader is having trouble staying focused, so wherever it's possible to use multimedia content to break up the blog post and re-engage your reader, add images, videos, audio recordings, and social media posts. Changing up the format of your blog post will provide additional value to your reader while making sure their eyes are focused on what they're reading and seeing.

Works, huh? 

9) Conclusion

When you're ready to wrap up and sign off, make sure to let your reader know the article is closing. Your conclusion doesn't need to be lengthy, but it should serve to recap the blog post the reader just finished and provide more resources and guidance, if wanted. More on that next.

10) Call to Action

Finish your conclusion with a meaningful call to action (CTA) for your reader -- whether it's advice, a content offer, or a link to another related blog post. Use the last lines of your post to leave the reader feeling like he or she learned something from you -- and like there's, even more, to learn from you, creating the desire to click a link or CTA image and read more. The Blog Starter provides a ton of different methods to keep readers engaged, establish credibility, and build your readership.

For more ideas on how to write a killer blog post, learn from our analysis of 175,000 B2B and B2C blog posts.

What's your go-to blueprint for a blog post? Share with us in the comments below.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide [+ Free Blog Post Templates]

Do People Still Read Blogs in 2023? We Asked Consumers [New Data]

How to Write a Blog Post Outline: A Simple Formula to Follow [+Tips from Our Blog Team]

What HubSpot's Highest Performing Blog Posts Have in Common & Why These Elements Work

5 Blogging Trends to Leverage in 2023, According to HubSpot Leaders

How to Create a Perfect Blog Post Template in Google Docs

Which Format Is Right for Your Next Blog Post?

9 Ways to Crush the End of a Blog Post

Can You Really Drive Traffic With Clickbait Articles?

7 Tips for Making Dull Blog Topics Interesting, According to Our Blog Team

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How To Write A Blog Post Like A Pro: A Step-By-Step Guide

• July 12, 2023
• by Margaret Bourne

Want to know how to write a blog post? A post that readers will finish reading and say “Yes, this answers my question. And I like this blogger’s content!” This ultimate guide will introduce you to a blog writing format that’ll make your blog stand out.

Writing blog posts is one of the top activities for bloggers. However, not everyone does it well – for some, the blog writing process can be confusing. It took me a while before I figured out a formula and format that consistently created good blog posts – no matter the niche.

The ultimate goal of any blogger is to create content that people will find useful, interesting or entertaining.

Whatever your blog post’s goal, these tips on how to write a blog post will have your readers staying on your page longer, and sharing them with others.

Whether you’re a beginner blogger writing your first post or one who needs to improve your blog writing skills, focusing on writing great blog posts is key to blog growth.

Quality blog content is good for SEO because it’s content that keeps people on your site longer.

This is how blogs grow and create a following! When you create something worthwhile that others find interesting, you’re doing it right.

Great content that meets a need, and has the reader sharing it is the reason why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Right ? If not, then you have to question why you’re blogging in the first place .

“A creative outlet” is probably not the top answer you should be giving me. This means you’re writing for yourself, not for others.

So if you’re serious about taking your blog to the next level, let’s look at the top elements of writing blog posts!

DISCLOSURE : This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click on a product or service, and decide to purchase it, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. All recommended products and services are based on my positive experience with them. For more information, please read my Disclaimer .

Save this post on Pinterest for future reference!

How To Write A Blog Post: 7 Easy Steps

If you’re just starting a blog, as a first step, I suggest you read my complete post with tips on what not to do when writing your first blog post . This includes tips on the best strategy to wow your readers from the start.

I’ve often seen many new bloggers searching for tips on how to write a blog post that gets many shares and clicks.

They may have started a self-hosted blog with a host such as my recommended NameHero ). It’s been set up to look professional , and there’s content.

But they’re failing to get traction with blog traffic.

They’re writing for search engines, not readers!

They’ve tried publishing blog posts that share some tips and are long.

However, there’s more to writing a blog post than writing your ideas and then adding a few visuals.

There’s a structure to follow when writing blog posts. I like to think of it as a recipe.

Write consistently & with care

What do the majority of the best bloggers do to improve their writing?

Instead of looking at how to write a blog post fast, learn how to write a well-written, well-formatted, engaging blog post that’s a worthwhile read.

Taking a quick survey of the blog writing tips posts from the best bloggers, I’ve noticed many of them do five things. I do these too!

• They search for topics that answer a question their readers have
• Researching content and SEO keywords for successful blog posts
• They do an outline including the introduction, body, and conclusion
• Writing the first draft, they take their time in crafting it well
• They do a final review and edit before formatting and publishing

In the end, the blog post is well-written, well-researched and achieves its goal.

A great blog post can be either educating, inspiring, entertaining or persuading.

In addition, it follows a good blog writing format that makes it easy to read.

Before we jump to the key steps of writing a simple, great blog post, let’s look at the most popular types of blog posts you should consider writing.

Discover how to Develop A Blog Writing Schedule That Works For You

Types Of Blog Posts To Write

Although I’ll show you a simple “how to” blog post format in just a moment – with an intro, body and conclusion – there are many more types that you can consider publishing.

Here are some of the most popular blog post types and formats:

• “How to”/tutorial blog posts
• Seasonal blog posts
• Listicles or list posts – with a series of ideas in a list or with a list
• Blog series: where you write more than one post on an umbrella topic
• Cornerstone or pillar posts are big ultimate guides on a top topic you want to rank for in searches
• Product reviews
• Curated lists
• Interview posts
• Podcast/vlog posts

Don’t get stuck in a rut with writing the same kind of blog post!

Now, let’s look at my step-by-step guide to writing a great blog post.

1. Choosing Topics That Answer Questions Your Readers Have

To write a great blog post, start with a question that your readers – your wider audience – have that they NEED to get answered.

Think broad at first, not super niche. You can drill down a bit to get past the issue of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and getting found on Google. However, start big and narrow it down.

For example, “How to make a chocolate cake” is broad. Niche it down to: “How to make a keto chocolate cake”.

When you’re focusing on optimizing your blog posts, you will want to use the “hub and spoke” approach , where you write one key cornerstone post on a big broad keyword topic, and follow up with specific sub-topics that stem from the original broad topic.

Here are some questions to ask yourself for inspiration:

• What are my reader’s pain points? What are they trying to solve?
• Which blog posts are my most popular? What can I write that plays off that successful topic?
• Taking a broad topic, what are some of the top blog posts showing up on Google and Pinterest?
• I have a topic, but can I write a more than 1000-word post on it? (Improving reader engagement, which boosts chances for ranking higher on Google searches)

Getting Inspired By Others To Write Good Blog Posts

The second last point in the list above is important when you’re seeking to write a new blog post.

By researching your topics on Google and Pinterest, you get a sense of what information your target audience is seeking.

Read what other bloggers are writing about! Keep a list of those which you find interesting.

You can create a list of blog topics based on the top blog posts you’re finding on other bloggers’ sites.

I have a running list of blog post ideas that I write down Airtable . It’s organized under the subject matter and is part of my blog editorial calendar.

When I’m stuck with inspiration for new topics, I look at my notes. If nothing grabs my interest, or if it’s just not the right time of year to write about that topic, I go to Pinterest as my next go-to source of ideas.

Like Google, Pinterest gives you prompts as to hot trending topics.

Pinterest’s SEO system includes specific Pinterest keywords . Put in just one keyword and you get a broad range of topics.

You can narrow it down and get more detailed topics. These are ideal because the chances of your Pins showing up are greater if fewer people are writing on the topic.

Here’s an example of a key phrase on Pinterest:

Also, this is a good time to save these popular pins to a secret board to refer to the pin for inspiration for pin design, descriptions and keywords. This will help you get your pin to the top of the list faster.

The best blog posts consider what the audience wants to know more about and they engagingly deliver the information.

I’ve also drafted a list of lifestyle blog post topics if you’re stuck for inspiration!

2. Research The Blog Topic & Keywords

The next key step in how to write a blog post that your readers will love is to research keywords and the topic.

Why do you need to do this?

Well, you want your blog post to be found in search results, right?

So, you’re going to need to start looking for keywords, and in some cases get help from a keyword search tool.

Here are my key steps:

• Researching phrases that people are using on Google and Pinterest.
• Listing the keywords: my main keyword and a few similar longtail keywords to use when I write my draft.
• Gather my information on the chosen topic. I may have a very good idea of what I’m going to write, but I want to see what experts are saying.
• Save links to authoritative sites that are informative so that I can reference them in my post. I use the MOZ Chrome extension for my browser to check if the link is to an authoritative page. Google likes blog posts that link to other quality resources.

Your readers will find your post more valuable if you give them information that is useful to them.

If you include several great internal and external links, readers will bookmark your post and come back to it as a valuable resource.

At this point, I’m also making sure I have my facts straight. If it makes sense to add some stats in my blog post opening, I make sure I have the right ones from reputable sources, surveys, and studies.

If I’m writing about something technical, I make sure I understand the key things my readers will need to know and that I can relate to it without any jargon.

Plain English language is key!

Writing a blog post means you put in the time to know what you’re writing about in the first place!

| RELATED: 10 Blog SEO Tips For Beginners

3. Write An Outline For Your Blog Post

There are many different types of blog posts, but they all have three things in common:

• an introduction
• a conclusion (also called a call-to-action section).

What I’ll be sharing with you here is an outline for a standard blog post.

Blog pros can wing it and write blog posts without this one key step. But when you are learning how to write a blog post, the first thing to do is create an outline.

I still take this step, even if it’s in a draft post in WordPress. This will act as a guide, helping my points flow from one idea to another.

It’s very easy to get off topic and “into the weeds”.

This is why I recommend an outline. It doesn’t have to be fancy – as long as it has a complete flow of points from start to finish.

Read: How To Write A Blog Post Outline That Speeds Up Content Creation

The Four Main Parts Of A Blog Post: Blog Writing Format

Here are the four key sections of my blog writing format that always work well.

When you break things down into sections, it’s easier to get your points and ideas organized.

1. Headline: Grab The Reader’s Attention

The first thing to do is to write your blog post title !

It will take you some time to craft a blog post title that’s catchy and gets clicks.

Some people write their blog post titles first. I sometimes go back and re-edit my initial blog post title.

You can use the free version of Headline Studio analyzer to see if your blog post title is catchy enough to warrant clicks.

Remember, there are two different types of titles: the great headline which is what the person reads on the blog post, and the SEO title that appears in Google searches.

They should be different, as they serve different purposes. The SEO title is usually shorter, with your keyword and a few dynamic words to generate a click-through to your post.

2. Context & Agitation: The Introduction

How do you start a blog post?

With a lead paragraph that instantly grabs the attention of the reader, giving them an indicator of what problem will be solved.

Ask yourself: what is the situation or key problem the reader is looking to solve?

It can be something like this:

“ Many bloggers are frustrated when nobody reads their blog posts. As such, new blogs fail because bloggers give up. However, the good news is that by structuring your blog writing process, you can produce quality posts that people enjoy reading. “

Agitate the problem!

Make it a bit personal too: how you were feeling when dealing with the problem. Make it relatable to the reader.

“I too was frustrated when I produced 10 awesome blog posts in my first few months of blogging and nobody was reading them. I was so ready to quit!”

You can also write the intro as a transformation: how somebody overcame a problem.

Throughout the blog post, you share the process from “problem” to “problem solved.” These are case study blog posts that illustrate how something can be achieved.

This context section can be the first few paragraphs of your blog post.

Remember to include your longtail keyword in the first paragraph if possible! Ideally, it should appear in the first 10% of your blog content.

3. Body: The Main Points And Key Information

The second most important section in your blog post outline is the body.

This is where you show the reader how you solve the problem you’ve outlined in the Context section.

The easiest way to fill out this section is to create a bullet-point list of solutions. At a minimum, have three points.

If you have many tips, consider making this into a long list. “Listicles” are great, as they drive traffic.

If it’s an in-depth blog post that you suspect will be more than 1,000 words long, consider doing a “Top X list.”

I like to write out my key points with notes supporting them, as well as relevant links (internal, and external). This helps me keep track of what I want to write, without forgetting something!

Also, don’t forget to share some of your personal experiences in the body: what did you do to solve the problem? Share anecdotes and examples if you can.

PRO TIP: Always ask yourself, did I properly answer the question? Did I answer the core question and any subsequent questions my reader may have on this topic? It’s OK to include a FAQ section before the last call-to-action/summary section to answer these potential reader questions.

4. Call To Action: Summary And Engagement

Next on the list of how to write a blog post is the one that many bloggers forget to do.

Summarize what you’ve written and share what you want the reader to do!

It’s the perfect time to ask them to do something – aka the “call-to-action.”

• Do you want them to download a worksheet and sign up for your newsletter? Add your opt-in lead magnet.
• Do you want them to comment on your post? You may also want to end it off with an uplifting statement such as, “I hope these tips help you achieve XYZ. Let me know how it goes by dropping me a comment below!”
• Entice them to share the post via your social media sharing buttons.

So write down your notes as to what you want to write for this section.

This makes it so much easier to write a great blog post that your readers will feel gives them all the info they need.

| READ MORE: How To End Your Blog Post In An Engaging Way To Generate A Reader Action

| RELATED: 7 Powerful Ways To End A Blog Post

4. Blog Writing Process: Take Your Time Writing The First Blog Post Draft

Want to know the secret to writing blog posts that consistently impress your readers?

Take your time!

If you’re following your outline, chances are you’re doing a good job with writing out the first draft.

It’s good to take a break and step away from what you’re writing.

If you’re writing a long blog post like the one you’re reading right now, you’ll get tired after a while. It’s good to take a break before you begin writing again.

I’ve seen Pinterest pins that claim you can hammer out several new blog posts within 30 minutes to half an hour. But at what cost?

Want to know how much time my blog writing process took me to write the draft for this post and how many breaks I took?

A total of two hours and four breaks.

But this isn’t a problem. Why?

Because in between all those breaks, I would take a step back and consider what I wrote, and what I was missing.

I would go back after each break, and tweak something or note down a new idea on the outline to include later.

Infuse Your Blog Post With Your Personal Brand

Don’t forget to add your flair to your blog content.

There’s nothing more boring than reading blog posts that sound like technical manuals. Especially if they are from personal business blogs, like this one.

Sure they answer the question. But they fail at one thing: showing the personality of the person who wrote the content.

Blog readers are naturally drawn to finding out more about the author of a post. Are they credible? What’s their expertise? Who is the person?

If they like the blog style, they’re more likely to follow you.

This is why working on your personal brand is important as a blogger.

So, consider your tone of voice, wording and style when you write your blog content.

The best thing to do is to read your post out loud to see if it sounds like you!

| RELATED: How To Find Your Own Brand Voice For Your Blog

5. Optimize Your Blog Post For SEO

One of the best blog writing tips I can share with new bloggers is to not skip optimizing blog content. It may seem too complicated and a long process.

However, doing a bit of research to see what kind of high-volume, low-competition keywords readers are using, and adding them to your blog post, can greatly help you grow your ranking in search engine results and your position as a niche expert.

So what should you be doing?

• Use good SEO practices – sprinkle your keywords throughout the blog post.
• Add relevant headings (H2, H3 etc.) to break up the copy.
• Add your keywords where possible to your alt-text for your images.
• Make sure you have an SEO title with your keyword.
• Optimize your images : correct dimensions, small file size, correct title and alt-text

Read this in-depth guide to optimizing a blog post .

PRO TIP: A great keyword research tool is Rank IQ . Find out which keywords on your topic will rank faster than others, especially if you’re a new blogger!

6. Formatting Blog Posts: Create A Blog Post Format

Want to know how to write a blog post that looks good?

It involves creating a consistent blog post format that follows website content best practices, as well as a text editing process.

If in the first few paragraphs, you have spelling errors and convoluted sentences, your readers will move on to other content.

Adopting a good blog writing format for each and every post you produce will make you a consistent producer of great content for your readers.

Using an editing process is the second to last step before hitting “publish”.

After writing the first draft, give yourself a day and do the following:

• Read the blog post out loud. Fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and improve sentence flow.
• Change text-heavy paragraphs into lists, like this one.
• Break up text-heavy content with visuals: relevant photos, infographics, Pinterest pin images, graphs or screenshots.
• Use a spellchecker to ensure that you haven’t made any mistakes. I like using Grammarly .
• Make sure you have white space for a pleasing aesthetic on the page: shorter sentences and smaller paragraphs!
• Add links to relevant and related internal links. And make sure you’ve included quality outbound (external) links.
• Make sure you have quality stock photo visuals to break up the text. I’m using PixiStock and LOVING IT. Add alt text to photos with some form of keyword phrases included. Center images properly.
• Edit your photos so that they are small file sizes. Use one of my favourite free online photo editors.
• Create and add to your post at least one Pinterest pin. I like to create two to give readers an option as to which one they want to post on Pinterest.
• Add an awesome, enticing free lead magnet that’s relevant to this blog post. Include it at the end of your blog post as the perfect call to action.
• Don’t forget to add affiliate links! If you can recommend one product that helps solve the problem, either add an affiliate link to it or point the reader to a full in-depth review you’ve written on it.

Once everything looks good, and you’ve added all your necessary elements, do one last lookover of the blog post preview.

If you’re happy, press Publish!

That’s the process for how to write a blog post that makes your readers happy.

| RELATED: 16 Types Of Blog Posts That Drive Crazy Traffic And Engage Readers

Get a free SEO cheat sheet and printable checklist for when you write your blog posts.

PRO TIP: Before I play around with my blog post format, I focus on my spelling and grammar by checking it with the free Chrome extension, Grammarly .

7. Do A Final Check And Hit Publish

The final thing that I like to do before I hit publish is to do a final check-through of the blog post and all necessary sections.

This means I hit the “Preview” button to check what the blog post looks like.

What does this entail?

• Does it look well-formatted? If it’s cluttered, it’s time to create some white space
• Read the post out loud: fix any section that sounds too wordy or has grammatical errors
• Check the sentence structure
• Do all the links work correctly , especially affiliate links?
• The required affiliate disclosure – did you add it before the first link?
• Categories and tags: did you choose them correctly?
• Feature image: make sure you’ve added this

If everything looks good, then it’s time to hit publish.

What To Do After You Publish A Blog Post

What happens next? Sharing your post on social media platforms is just one step.

Here’s what I do:

• Get internal links to it: add a link to this post in older, relevant posts (at least 10)
• Submit it to Google Search Console to prompt indexing
• Pin a Pinterest image for it to a relevant board
• Share it on key social media platforms

I also share my new blog posts in my weekly Blogging Insider newsletter.

Promotion is a key activity, so don’t skimp on it!

Need Blog Post Ideas?

Check out these evergreen lifestyle blog post topics to start!

Over 100 Trending and Popular Lifestyle Blog Post Topics

300+ Mom Blog Post Ideas

And for seasonal blog post ideas check out these:

• 100+ Fabulous Winter blog post topics
• 31 Wintery ideas for December blog content
• 30 Inspiring January blog topics for the new year
• 28+ Fun February blog post ideas
• 100+ Sensational Spring blog topics
• 31 Inspirational March blog post ideas
• 30 Fresh April blog post topics
• 31 Popular blog post ideas for May
• 100+ Summer Blog Post Topics
• 30 Fun June blog post ideas
• 31 July blog topics
• 31 Popular blog ideas for August
• 30 Sensational September blog topics
• 120+ Fall blog topics
• 31 Fun and festive October blog post ideas
• 30 Popular November blog topics
• 31 Cool December blog post ideas

Consider other ways to find blog post ideas your readers will love .

Good Blog Posts Take Time

When you want to improve your blog’s authority, Google ranking, and traffic, the key thing every blogging expert will tell you to do is to create amazing content.

Learning how to write a good blog post right from the start of your blogging journey can make things so much easier down the line.

How many blog posts will you need to launch your new blog? Well, that’s up to you.

I hope that my list of seven tips for how to write a blog post and make it great every time is helpful.

The effort you put into writing awesome blog posts and creating a great blog writing format is what matters.

Create great content, promote it smartly on sites, search engines and social media channels that your audience uses, and you’ll see a definite change in your blog’s success.

How I Grew My Blog Traffic By 200% In 2 Months

How To Write Affiliate Product Reviews That Convert

Before I wrap up this post, I want to make sure you read about blogging legally ! You want to protect your content and make sure you protect yourself and your blog legally and financially.

QUESTION: What would you add to this post on how to write a blog post? What are your tricks?

Love it? Share it! Thanks!

About Margaret

5 comments on how to write a blog post like a pro: a step-by-step guide.

This is a great guide! I also take breaks when I’m writing a post, as you said, it helps to see what’s missing and what needs to be changed. I’m just starting and these tips were something I was needing. I follow pretty much the same process, but you gave me great ideas to add to it. Thank you!

I’m glad to hear this was helpful for you! The breaks are the best way to make sure you’re not missing anything!

Great advice! One thing I will say is that if you have a good relationship with your audience, you can always ask what they would like to see. I have run polls on Twitter and received a great response. When I do take these results into consideration, it has always paid off for me with a well read post!

Absolutely! Great point. If your community is engaging with you, get ideas from them! Always great to ask questions as to what they want to know more about.

I love these tips, thank You for sharing!

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The step-by-step guide to writing great blog posts in 2022

August 19, 2022

John Thomas

Here are a few tips on how to write great blog posts that will engage your readers and drive traffic to your website.

As one of the oldest and most popular forms of online content marketing, blogging has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Today, businesses of all sizes use blogs to connect with their customers and promote their products or services.

Blogging is also great for SEO , helping you attract more visitors and improve your search engine ranking.

But what makes a great blog post? Sure, you can assemble a few sentences and call it a day, but if you really want to drive results with your blog, you need to put in the effort to make it extraordinary.

Table of Contents

Set a b log goal

Gather your blogging tools

Brainstorm unique blog topics

Do content and keyword research

Choose a blog format

Create a blog brief or outline

Write the first draft

Create a blog headline

Create powerful calls to action (CTAs)

Optimize your blog for SEO

Edit, preview, and publish your blog

Distribute and promote your blog post

Track your performance

Rinse and repeat

1. Set a goal for your blog

Before you even write the title of your blog post, you need to have a clear idea of what it is you’re trying to achieve. Blog goals might include improving SEO, generating leads, or even building brand awareness It helps to ask yourself:

Who is your target audience?

What do you want them to do after reading your blog post (e.g., subscribe to your newsletter, buy a product)?

What problem(s) are you solving for them?

Note that you can have primary and secondary objectives for each blog post. For example, your primary purpose might be to educate your readers on a particular topic while a secondary goal might be to rank on search engines.

Once you’ve determined your objective(s), writing a blog post that resonates with your target audience and meets your business goals will be much easier.

2. Gather your blogging tools

Blogging is more than just sitting down at your computer and typing. In order to be effective, you need to have the right tools at your disposal. While none of these are mandatory , they can certainly make your life easier:

Content calendar: This tool will help you keep track of your blog ideas, publish dates, and target keywords. You can use a Google Calendar or a collaborative project management tool like Trello or Asana to stay organized.

Grammar and spelling checker: No one’s perfect. Ensure your posts are free of typos and grammatical errors. Grammarly is the most popular tool out there, but the Hemingway Editor is an excellent alternative, as it also checks for plagiarism.

Images: You’ll need images to break up your text and make your posts more visually appealing. Unsplash and Pexels are great sources for high-quality, royalty-free images.

Keyword research tool: A keyword research tool will help you find the right keywords to target in your blog posts. Google AdWo rds Keyword Planner is a good option, or you can try a paid tool like Moz Keyword Explorer . Simply enter a seed keyword related to your topic, and the tool will generate a list of related keywords you might want to include in your post.

AI content Idea generator: Leverage the power of artificial intelligence to help you develop ideas for your blog posts. Some content creation agencies like Draft have free topic generation tools.

Word processor: Even if you’re the fastest typist in the world, it’s always helpful to have a word processor so you can easily make changes to your drafts. We recommend using Google Docs for its powerful editing and collaboration features.

Blogging is more than just sitting down at your computer and typing.

3. Brainstorm unique blog topics

Once you know your objectives, it’s time to start brainstorming ideas for your blog post topic. After all, you can’t write a great blog post without a great topic to focus on. 

There are many ways to come up with ideas for your blog , including our content idea generator . This intuitive tool allows you to input keywords related to your business and generates blog topic ideas based on those keywords. 

Another popular brainstorming technique is to use Google Trends . This tool lets you see how popular specific keywords are and can help you develop timely and relevant blog topics.

You can also look to your competitors’ blogs for inspiration. See what topics they’re writing about and consider how you can put your own spin on it. And don’t forget to check social media, web forums, and other online platforms to see what people in your industry or niche are talking about.

4. Do some content and keyword research

Next, it’s time to do a little content research. This involves understanding what type of content is already out there on your chosen topic and how you can make your own article more unique.

This step is also where you do your keyword research. Keyword research is the process of finding and using relevant keywords in your content so that search engine users can find your blog post.

There are several keyword research tools out there, including Go ogle AdWords Keyword Planner , a free tool that provides keyword options based on monthly search volume, difficulty level, and more.

Once you have a list of potential keywords, you’ve essentially created a list of potential blog topics. All you need to do now is choose the ones that are most relevant to your business and the target audience’s intent. The intent is what the searcher wants to do when they type in that keyword. We can separate intent into four broad categories:

Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or brand (e.g., “ Draft.co Login”).

Informational: The user is looking for information on a topic (e.g., “What is SEO?”).

Transactional: The user is looking to make a purchase (e.g., “Best content creation agencies”).

Commercial: The user is looking for a product or service to buy (e.g., “Freelance copywriting rates”).

Ideally, you’ll choose keywords with high search volume but low difficulty to rank. This way, you’re more likely to rank in search engines for these keywords and drive traffic to your website. However, sometimes it can be more beneficial to focus on long-tail keywords, which are longer, more specific phrases that people are searching for.

5. Choose a blog post format

When doing your content research, it’s also important to consider the structure of your blog post. How do you organize and present the content you’re writing?

Here are the most common types of blog post formats:

How-tos: These blog posts teach readers how to do something, such as “How to Write a Great Blog Post.”

Listicles: These are blog posts organized in the form of a list, such as “7 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Ads” or “10 Must-Read Books for Marketers.”

Product reviews: In these blog posts, you review a product and discuss its pros and cons. You might also compare it to similar products on the market.

Interviews: In an interview blog post, you feature someone else as the expert and include their insights on a particular topic through Q&A.

Case Studies: A case study is a blog post that tells the story of how you or your company helped solve a problem for a real client.

Industry News: These blog posts discuss the latest trends and news in your industry.

Opinion Pieces: In an opinion piece, you share your thoughts and feelings on a particular issue.

Regardless of the format you choose, you will need to follow similar guidelines like sourcing stats and expert quotes, finding or creating images and videos, and staying up-to-date on the latest industry news.

6. Create a blog brief or outline

You’re finally ready to start writing your blog post! But before diving in, creating a blog brief or outline is essential. It will help keep you focused as you write and ensure that your blog post is appropriately structured. We’ve already talked about ways to build a brief that saves time and money , so we’ll focus on outlines now. 

Draft’s Outline Assistant can help you create a great blog outline quickly and easily. If you choose to outsource your blog writing, this outline can also be sent to your Draft writer to produce your content. 

If you choose to build your own outline, the basic template you can use to structure your blog post outline will vary depending on the type of post you’re writing. But in general, every blog post outline should have the following sections:

Introduction

Perhaps the most important part of your blog post, the introduction is what will hook your reader in and make them want to keep reading. A good introduction will grab the reader’s attention, provide some context for the rest of the post, and set up the main point or argument you’ll be making.

Try to keep your introduction short and sweet—you can always provide more context later in the post. Between 75 and 150 words is a good target to aim for. You can also try using a “hook” at the beginning of your introduction to grab the reader’s attention. This could be a surprising statistic, an interesting story, or a thought-provoking question.

Here is where you’ll flesh out your argument or main point. The main body of your blog post should be the longest section, and it’s where you’ll provide evidence, examples, and supporting information for your claims. It’s also where you’ll address any counter arguments or objections.

Make sure to keep things organized by using subheadings. Each subheading can represent a different point you’re making. Subheadings will also help break up your post so it’s not one huge wall of text.

When outlining your main body, take some time to brainstorm any examples or supporting information you’ll need to include. This could be data from research, your own personal experiences, or even something as simple as a strong quote from another source.

Finally, every blog post needs a conclusion. A good conclusion will summarize the main points of your post, emphasize the takeaways, and maybe even provide some food for thought or additional resources for further reading. The conclusion is where you’ll tie everything together and leave your reader with a strong final impression.

Call to action (CTA)

A call to action, or CTA, is also a great way to end your blog post. This is your opportunity to guide readers who’ve made it to the end of your post to take the action you identified earlier on.

7. Write the first draft of your blog

Now, onto the fun part: writing your blog post! When writing your first draft, there are a few things to keep in mind to increase your chances of success.

Write in a way that is easy to understand and avoid using jargon (unless your audience is made up of experts in your field).

Hemingway Editor is a great tool that can help you simplify your writing and make it more readable. It tells you what grade level your writing is at and suggests how to make it simpler. Generally speaking, you want to aim for a grade level of 9 or below unless you are writing for a particularly knowledgeable audience.

Sensory descriptions

The best blogs use sensory descriptions to describe how something looks, smells, tastes, feels, or sounds. They are often used in fiction writing to create a more immersive experience for the reader, but you can also use them in non-fiction content writing to help readers visualize what you’re talking about.

For example, rather than saying, “The steak was overcooked,” you could say, “The steak was dry and tough.”

Sensory descriptions can also evoke an emotional response in your reader. Ideally, your content brief establishes the tone you want to set for your blog post. Keep this tone in mind as you write and use sensory descriptions accordingly.

Paragraphs and sentences

Most blog posts are divided into paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a different point. Keep your paragraphs short – no more than 3-4 sentences each. This will make your blog post easier to read and digest.

As for sentences, shorter is almost always better. Aim for sentences that are 15 words or less. If you find yourself with a much longer sentence, try to break it up into two sentences.

Proofreading and editing

Proofreading is an essential step when writing for blogs – don’t skip it! Read through your blog post slowly and make any necessary changes. Once you’ve finished writing your first draft, put it away for a few hours (or over night) and then come back to it with fresh eyes.

Software like Grammarly can help identify grammatical errors and improve readability.

8. Craft a headline and hook

An integral part of writing a great blog post is coming up with effective headlines and a captivating hook. Your headline is what appears in search results and on social media, so it needs to be attention-grabbing and accurate. In other words, it should accurately reflect your blog post’s content while piquing the reader’s curiosity.

You might have created ‘placeholder’ headlines while drafting your blog post – now is the time to refine them. To write headlines that are both effective and interesting, try these tips:

Use active voice: Headlines in the active voice are more likely to earn clicks. For example, “Make a cake in 5 minutes” is more active than “How cake can be made in 5 minutes.”

Keep it concise: Keep your headlines under 12 words to avoid it getting cut off on search engine result pages (SERPs). Long headlines can also be overwhelming for readers.

Include keywords: Keywords help your blog post appear in search results, so be sure to include them in your headline. However, don’t stuff your headline with keywords – this may actually make it less effective. Instead, use 1-2 relevant keywords that flow naturally with the rest of your headline.

When it comes to CTAs, less is almost always more.

9. Create powerful calls to action (CTAs)

CTAs are statements that tell your readers what you want them to do next. For example, a CTA might be “read more blog posts on our website,” “subscribe to our newsletter,” or “sign up for a trial.”

If you’re in the e-commerce space, you might also include product links in your CTAs. For example, if you’re writing a blog post about the best skincare products for dry skin, you could link to some of the products you sell. By including a product link, you’re giving your readers the opportunity to purchase the items you’re writing about immediately.

When it comes to CTAs, less is almost always more. In general, you should only include 1-2 CTAs in each blog post. Any more than that, and you risk overwhelming your readers. These commonly appear at the end of a blog post but can also be sprinkled within the blog post body if it flows well with the content.

10. Optimize your blog post for SEO

After you’ve written your blog post, it’s time to optimize it for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of making your blog post more visible in search results. As mentioned above, keywords are the basis of SEO. Other than that, you can:

Use subheadings

Breaking up your content into smaller sections makes it more digestible for readers – and it also helps with SEO. By including subheadings (H2s, H3s), you’re making it easier for search engines to understand the structure of your blog post.

Include internal links

Internal links are links from one of your blog posts to another page on your website. Internal linking is important for SEO because it helps search engine crawlers index your website more easily. It also helps improve the flow of traffic on your website by directing readers to other relevant content.

Optimize your images

When you upload an image to your blog post, be sure to include keywords in the file name and fill out the alt text field. This helps improve your image’s SEO and makes it more likely to appear in search results.

There’s a ton more you can do to improve your chances of ranking on search engines. Check out our in-depth SEO playbook to learn how. 

11. Edit, preview, and publish the blog post

Editing is important because it helps you catch issues you might not have seen in the heat of writing. Previewing the blog post in the context of your website can help you identify glaring issues before going live. Look out for:

Inconsistencies

Repetitiveness

Keyword stuffing (overuse of keywords)

Visual breaks (paragraph length)

And any other mistakes

Once you’re happy with your blog post, it’s time to hit publish! Depending on your CMS, you might have the option to schedule your blog post to go live at a later date.

12. Distribute and promote your blog post

Finally, it’s time to share your blog post with the world. There are several ways you can do this: 

Promote it on social media

Email your list

Submit to relevant forums, groups, and directories

Reach out to influencers in your industry

Paid promotion

The sky’s the limit when it comes to promoting your blog post. The important thing is to be strategic about promoting your blog post where you know your target audience will see it.

13. Track performance

Like anything else, you should track the performance of your blog post. This will help you determine what’s working and what’s not so that you can make necessary changes going forward. Google Analytics is a great tool for tracking blog post performance. You can track metrics like:

Number of page views

Bounce rate

Average time on page

Referral traffic

Social media traffic

Conversions

Likes/Comments

Related content: The SEO and content marketing glossary

14. Rinse and repeat

The cycle doesn’t end after you hit publish. If you want your blog to be successful, you need to keep writing quality content on a regular basis. The more you publish, the easier it will be to drive traffic to your site and convert leads into customers. 

Some sources suggest publishing as many as 10 blog posts each month. As you can imagine, it can be hard for a single person to sustain a regular blog writing schedule. That’s where a content service comes in. A good copywriting service will help you develop a content strategy, identify topics to write about, and consistently deliver quality blog posts.

Draft does that and more, offering unlimited revisions and a 4,000-word, money-back guarantee. 

The bottom line

Writing a great blog post takes time and effort, but it’s well worth it. The more blog posts you publish, the quicker your SEO results will improve. Before long, you’ll be among Google’s top search results.

Of course, if you already have a full-time job, Draft’s writer marketplace of expert writers can help you produce quality blog posts on a regular basis.

Drive ROI for your content efforts. Hire a vetted writer on Draft

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11 Blogging Tips For Beginners To Succeed In 2024

Blogging is still one of the best opportunities to make money online as you can build an engaged audience and then sell products, services, or sponsorships.

Yet, the prospect of building a blog that will generate thousands of dollars can feel daunting if you’re just starting your journey as a blogger. 

The blogging landscape is more competitive than ever, and the strategies that used to work even just a few years ago no longer work today. 

While getting started might feel overwhelming, set aside just thirty minutes or an hour per day for blogging, and by implementing the tips outlined in this blog post, you’ll be well on your way to success. 

Whether you’re blogging about your travel adventures or striving to attract customers for your business, these are the simple beginner blogging tips that will help you achieve your goals.

Want us to scale your traffic?

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1. Define A Specific Niche

If you publish a blog article about dogs one week and gardening the next, it will be difficult to build a loyal audience of avid readers because people interested in dogs may not be interested in gardening. 

Selecting a specific niche and only publishing content relevant to a specific topic solves this problem. 

You’ll also find ranking in search engines like Google easier if you specialize in a specific niche. This is because search engines want to ensure they’re showing accurate information to their users, and one way search engines determine the credibility of a blog is by analyzing the different topics it covers.

This concept is known as topical authority . By showing search engines that you’re an authority on a specific topic, you’re more likely to rank well for your target keywords .

How do you select a specific niche to blog about?

If you’re blogging for business, the answer is clear – write about your business’s niche.

However, if you’re starting a blog to build an audience that you’ll later monetize through sponsorships or affiliate products, your niche options are limitless (i.e., a travel blogger, a food blogger, etc.).

To help you select a niche, write down all of your interests and passions on a sheet of paper. You can also notate your level of passion for each niche. 

To further narrow down your list, here are three other criteria to consider:

• Your expertise : If you’re highly knowledgeable about that particular niche, it will be easier to write the content as you won’t have to do much research beforehand. 
• Your competitive advantage : Is there a reason why your lifestyle or industry access might give you an advantage in this niche? For example, if you’re a flight attendant and travel frequently for work, you’ll have a unique advantage in writing a travel blog because you already travel much more frequently than the average person. You could also discuss unknown tips on airports and flight deals.
• The value of the audience : Some niches are much more valuable than others. For example, if you have a successful blog about camera gear, you’ll likely make more money than someone with a blog about baking simply because the average order value of a camera is significantly higher than the average order value of baking supplies. So whether you end up selling your own products through the blog or making money through sponsorships or affiliates, you’ll make more money if the end product has a higher profit margin.

One of the downsides of blogging is that it’s very competitive – especially if you’re targeting a high-value audience.

You can solve this problem by niching down and targeting only a specific subset of that niche.

For example, the “dog training” niche is very broad and competitive. However, you can stand out by becoming “the dog trainer for labradors” or “the dog trainer for older dogs.”

This will help you stand out because someone with an older dog will be more inclined to talk to a specialist who works exclusively with older dogs rather than a generalist who works with any dogs.

2. Engage With Your Target Audience

One of the biggest mistakes beginner bloggers make is choosing topics based on what they want to write about. While there’s nothing wrong with writing for your own pure enjoyment, it’s essential to provide content that interests the reader if your goal is building a loyal following.

If you selected a niche you’re passionate about, there should be plenty of topics that both you and your readers enjoy. 

However, the best way to determine what topics your readers want information about is to engage with them directly. 

You can do this by joining Facebook groups, Slack groups, Reddit threads, and industry forums. Then, make a list of the most commonly discussed topics as these will become your first content ideas . You’ll also learn the general industry terminology, which is helpful as you begin writing your blog posts.

For example, if you have a web design agency for real estate agents, consider joining a group like the one below to learn about common marketing questions real estate agents ask. You can also provide helpful answers to questions about marketing, which can help you earn your first few readers and develop genuine relationships with industry experts.

3. Select Relevant Low Difficulty Keywords

Unfortunately, people don’t magically find your blog post as soon as you hit publish – especially as a new blogger.

While there are plenty of different ways to promote a blog post after it’s published, Google is perhaps the best (free!) opportunity to get your blog post in front of new readers. The process of optimizing your blog posts to appear in search results like Google is called SEO (search engine optimization) . 

For example, if you just wrote a blog post about “how to train a dog to sit,” you want Google to show it to people who search for terms related to training a dog to sit.

These phrases that people commonly search in Google are referred to as keywords. 

While keyword research is an entire topic in its own right, here are two basic keyword research tips:

• Only target keywords relevant to your audience : As we discussed in the tip above, your audience should be interested in the topic. If you’re blogging for business, the topic should also be a problem that your product or service solves (e.g., topics related to generating more real estate clients would be great for a web design service to target because the service solves that problem of earning real estate clients).
• Choose keywords with low difficulty scores : Remember when we discussed earlier during niche selection that it’s important to select a low competition niche? This is because it’s more difficult to rank for a keyword with many blog posts targeting it. This is especially true if you’re competing against a highly authoritative website like Forbes. Since search engines tend to favor websites with well established credibility, it can be difficult for a new blogger to outrank them in the search results. Unfortunately, if your website doesn’t rank in search engines, it will be difficult for you as a blogger to earn new readers. 

So how do you check the difficulty of a specific keyword?

There are plenty of SEO tools that make this easy, and Ahrefs and SEMrush are among the two most popular.

These tools analyze the search result pages (SERPs) for a particular keyword and then assign it a difficulty score based on the authority of the other websites ranking for that keyword. 

These tools consider plenty of factors when creating their difficulty scores, but the only thing you need to know is that lower difficulty keywords (keywords that are easy for new bloggers to rank for) have lower difficulty numbers, whereas more competitive keywords that new blogs likely won’t rank for have higher difficulty numbers.

So list topics you might want to cover on your blog, and then type each into a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush. You’ll likely see different variations of that keyword as well as its difficulty scores. 

As a beginner blogger with a brand new website, only select keywords with a difficulty score of 15 or less. As your website earns more authority, you can target increasingly competitive keywords. 

You’ll also see a volume metric. This is the estimated number of searches for that keyword each month, so the higher the search volume metric, the better.

You’ll probably have a long list of similar keywords for each topic, so select the keyword with the lowest difficulty and highest volume. 

Once you select a keyword, what should you do with it? How do you optimize your blog post to rank for it?

To get started, just include it in the title of your blog post. 

These next few tips will discuss how you can optimize your blog post to rank for your target keyword.

4. Deliver The Most Effective Advice

There are usually tens or even hundreds of helpful blog posts covering any content idea . 

And most of the information in these blog posts is accurate and helpful. So why should someone read your blog post over the other blog posts? In other words, what makes your blog post the best on that topic?

One way to do this is to provide the most effective solution to their problem.

This may sound obvious, but let me illustrate this with an example.

Earning backlinks is a major challenge for SEO professionals, so it’s no surprise that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blog posts on building backlinks. 

Yet building backlinks is a popular content idea because it’s so challenging, meaning that most of the solutions mentioned in these blog posts are only minimally effective. 

For example, broken link building is a common link building technique that might require about five hours of work to earn one link:

On a scale of one to ten, broken link building is probably about a 5/10 strategy, as you might spend several hours to get one quality link.

On the other hand, Brian Dean recently shared a case study of a new backlink strategy that allowed him to build over 5,000 backlinks (many of which are high quality links) in 30 days. As a result, his strategy is probably a 9/10 solution to the problem as it requires minimal effort and produces high results.

Therefore, Brian Dean’s blog post is much higher quality simply because the solution is much more effective. 

While it may take some time for search engines like Google to realize that your content provides the best solution, they will pick up on positive user engagement signals, like a long average time on page, many organic mentions and backlinks from people who found your ideas remarkable and reshared them, and other signs. 

Of course, thinking of the most effective solution to a real problem that many people face is challenging. 

To identify the best solution to a problem, experiment with multiple tactics or talk to people who have experienced these challenges and ask what worked and didn’t work for them. 

Real experience will make your content more helpful than content written by bloggers who have never personally experimented with the theories they’re writing about, as they won’t be able to articulate the drawbacks and downsides of various “best practices.”

In fact, you’ll notice that this is exactly what Brian Dean did when writing the post on link building . He called out the challenges he experienced with traditional link building tactics and then used that as the launchpad to show how he created a more effective solution.

Search engines also recognize that people with real experience tend to produce better content, so they often optimize their algorithms to recognize expertise and experience within content and tend to rank those blog posts higher. In fact, Google released the acronym “ EEAT ” which stands for:

• Experience 

So the more you can focus on finding the absolute best solution to a problem, the better your content will perform and the more loyal readers you’ll earn.

Of course, this means that the real work begins long before you ever begin typing a word of the blog post, but the essence of great content marketing is solving a reader’s problem. 

5. Package Your Advice As Simply As Possible 

Scientific papers and textbooks provide excellent expert advice, so why do people turn to TikTok creators and other less credible sources for information?

Most scientific papers and textbooks are boring and difficult to understand, whereas many viral creators package their information in interesting stories. 

The lesson?

If your content is difficult to comprehend, you’ll struggle to build a loyal following – regardless of how effective your advice is. 

Therefore, optimize your content to be easy to understand and fun to read.

The first tactical strategy for making your content easy to understand is to write at a fifth or sixth-grade reading level. This rule applies even to sophisticated niches, like tech gurus and healthcare professionals. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t use industry terminology or that you must dumb down the information. Instead, just think about keeping your sentences simple. Here are a few specific tips:

• Write in the active voice
• Keep your sentences short
• Use an app like Grammarly or Hemingway and aim for a fifth or sixth grade reading level
• Get directly to the point 

Here’s a great example of how you can simplify language to communicate the same point:

In addition to optimizing the sentence structure for simplicity, you can also make your blog post easier and more enjoyable to read by including stories and real examples. 

Stories and examples make it easier for people to understand your point, and they make the content more memorable.

Here’s a great example of storytelling copywriting:

Instead of stating the point directly, the copywriter used a story to communicate his point – it’s important to take breaks. The story makes his content memorable and more enjoyable to read. 

6. Optimize For Scannability

When you’re researching a topic, you want to learn the most important information as quickly as possible. If you glance at the two screenshots below, which blog post are you more likely to read? 

While both articles contain the same information, the first one is much easier to scan because it uses bullet points, bold, short sentences, and headers.

Readers will likely skim through the first article and read the important parts, whereas they’re more likely to immediately hit the “back” button on the second article, which is a wall of text. 

It’s also worth noting that the more scannable text (the first screenshot) ranks first in Google. This is likely because search engines noticed that people were staying on the first page for more time, indicating that it delivers a better user experience than the other posts.

The takeaway? Make your content easy to scan.

To make your content scannable, here are a few tips:

• Use screenshots and graphics whenever possible to communicate your point
• Use bullet points
• Bold and italicize important points
• Limit paragraphs to four lines or less

If you want to write in a flow state, write in long paragraphs as you’re drafting, and then use this checklist as you’re editing to optimize for scannability.

7. Follow SEO Best Practices

Including a primary keyword in your blog post’s title is a great start to optimizing it for SEO , but there are a handful of other SEO best practices that all bloggers should follow to maximize reach.

Here’s a quick checklist you can use to optimize your blog post for SEO:

• Properly format each post: Use H2s and H3s for each subheader.

• Include internal links : An internal link directs readers to another helpful blog post on your website. For example, rather than providing a detailed explanation of internal links, I’m simply linking to another blog post we’ve written about internal links. This ensures you don’t have to go on a side tangent to explain a subtopic, yet readers that want more information can go to that link to learn more. From an SEO perspective, internal links help search engines crawl your website more efficiently, translating to better rankings. 
• Include related keywords : You can use a tool like Clearscope to identify keywords related to your primary keyword. Including related keywords helps search engines understand what your blog post is about and ultimately helps you rank higher in search results. For example, you can see that some keywords related to “best travel credit cards” include “car rental,” “card offers,” and “cash back.” Including those keywords in your article helps search engines like Google realize that your blog post is about travel credit cards, which can help your blog post rank higher in the search results for keywords like “best travel credit cards.”

• Include FAQs : Another strategy to earn more real estate in the search results is to look at the frequently asked questions that pop up for the primary keyword. For example, if you’re writing a blog post on “how to start a business,” these are some great FAQs to include in your article:

• Target Featured Snippet Opportunities : Featured snippets are the answer boxes that sometimes appear at the top of the search results. You can identify these opportunities by pasting the top ranking blog post’s URL for your target keyword in a tool like Ahrefs. Then, sort by “SERP feature” and check “Featured snippet.” From there you’ll find a list of different keywords with featured snippets.

Then, optimize your blog post to rank for those featured snippets. You can do that by searching the current featured snippet and then format your blog post to match it. For example, if the featured snippet opportunity is “how to become a business owner,” be sure to structure your blog post as a list:

In addition to following on-page best practice tips, here are a few technical SEO tips that you can apply to all of your blog posts:

• Optimize for mobile : Most people access blog posts on mobile devices, so make sure that the blog post is easy to read on a mobile device. Today, most websites are mobile friendly. Otherwise, try a different website theme.

• Improve your site speed : If your website takes too much time to load, people will click the back button, and then use a tool like PageSpeed Insights to test your site speed, and if it isn’t up to scratch, consider hiring someone on Upwork to fix it:

8. Collaborate With Influencers

As a beginner blogger, you probably won’t receive any organic traffic to your website when you first start publishing blog posts, as search engines like Google tend to favor ranking more established websites. 

An easy solution to quickly earn readers is to collaborate with influencers. 

The only problem is that, as a new blog with zero followers, there isn’t a strong incentive for influencers to work with you if you can’t send them any new readers. The solution to this problem is to offer them another form of value. 

For example, if you’re a brand new travel blogger, you could reach out to a resort with a significant following and offer to create a promotional video of them (perhaps involving an interview with the owner). In exchange, ask them to share it on their social media profiles. 

This is beneficial for them because they get high quality, free marketing materials, and it’s also beneficial for you because they’re sharing your content. 

Here’s a great example of a vacation resort that reshared the video of a travel blogger:

If you consistently collaborate with influencers, you’ll eventually earn readers and develop genuine industry relationships, which will ultimately set you up for excellent long term growth. 

The key to landing influencer collaborations is to always ask the question: How will this collaboration benefit the influencer ?

9. Establish A Consistent Content Calendar

The more high quality content you publish, the faster you’ll grow.

However, many beginner bloggers are overly ambitious and try publishing multiple blog posts per week. Unfortunately, the ultimately become overwhelmed and give up.  

Instead, set a goal of publishing just one blog post per week. By publishing once per week, you’ll still grow at a reasonable rate, but it won’t be so overwhelming that you give up.

This will help you develop the habit of writing blog posts, and over time, you can either increase your publishing rate or hire other writers to help you.

To stay organized, create a content calendar . This way, you can establish all of your content ideas for the month and set milestone goals throughout the week to stay on track. For example, you can set a goal to have the draft written by Wednesday, edited by Thursday, and published on Friday.

Trello offers several editorial calendars you can use for free.

Alternatively, here’s an example of simple Google spreadsheet content calendar:

10. Establish A Content Repurposing Strategy

Once you write a blog post, you can extract snippets from it to publish on other platforms, like Twitter, LinkedIn, and even your email list. 

You’ve already done the hard work of creating the initial content, so extracting a few snippets from it should only take a few extra minutes, yet it will help more people discover your brand.

For example, this travel blogger wrote a post on visiting Florida Keys:

Then, she repurposed the content into Instagram and Facebook posts. While these were both sponsored posts, it’s an excellent example of how bloggers can repurpose their content:

In fact, content repurposing was a key reason Alex Hormozi grew from 180,000 to over 1.2 million followers in just one year.

He only spent about two days per month creating content, and therefore only published a few long form pieces of content per month. However, he then had a team that repurposed snippets from those long form pieces of content across different social media platforms which allowed him to publish 80 total pieces of content per month.

As you grow, you can also hire a freelancer to repurpose the content for you. 

11. Measure Progress And Seek Feedback

Starting a blog can feel overwhelming. There’s a lot to learn, and even advanced bloggers are always learning and improving. Instead of trying to make your first blog post perfect, just get started and then make one improvement to each blog post you write. 

Over time, your blog posts will become better and better and you’ll earn more readers.

Once you start to build an audience, you can also ask for their qualitative feedback on your blog posts. A key mistake many larger bloggers make is failing to interact with their audience. 

However, interacting with your audience will help you understand their pain points, which will help you think of better topic ideas and improve your writing. Direct communication with your audience will also help you build a deeper relationship with readers, which will help you monetize your blog in the future.

From a tactical standpoint, you can interact with your audience by responding to their comments. This is what we do here at Copyblogger:

You can also send them an email asking for feedback on your content. Or, you can just ask them about their biggest challenges. 

You can also measure success based on traditional content marketing metrics , like traffic and social shares.

Start Your Blog Today

Starting a blog is just like starting a business – it might be hard to get traction in those first few weeks, but you’ll eventually grow if you just stay consistent. 

Nevertheless, we realize that the initial stage can be overwhelming. That’s why we built the Copyblogger Academy , a community of entrepreneurs and marketers who earn money through writing.

Inside the Academy, you’ll have access to eight different courses on various marketing topics, including email marketing, copywriting, and SEO. You’ll also connect with like-minded peers and can ask seven-figure entrepreneur and Copyblogger founder Tim Stoddart for direct feedback in the community. You can sign up today risk-free. If you aren’t 100% satisfied, we’ll give you a full refund within the first 30 days.

Megan Mahoney

Megan is the head of SEO for Copyblogger. In addition, she runs the content agency Ignite My Site . You can follow here on LinkedIn.

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'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

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ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

How to use ChatGPT to write code: What it can and can't do for you

One of the more intriguing discoveries about ChatGPT is that it can write pretty good code. I first tested this out last year when I asked it to write a WordPress plugin my wife could use on her website. ChatGPT did a fine job, but it was a very simple project. 

How to use ChatGPT to write: Resumes  | Excel formulas | Essays | Cover letters  

So, how can you use ChatGPT to write code as part of your daily coding practice? Here's a quick summary:

• ChatGPT can produce both useful and unusable code. For best results, provide clear and detailed prompts.
• ChatGPT excels in assisting with specific coding tasks or routines, rather than building complete applications from scratch.
• Use ChatGPT to find and choose the right coding libraries for specific purposes, and engage in an interactive discussion to narrow down options.
• Be cautious about the ownership of AI-generated code and always verify the code's reliability. Don't blindly trust the generated output.
• Treat interactions with ChatGPT as a conversation. Refine your questions based on the AI's responses to get closer to the desired output.

Now, let's explore ChatGPT in considerably more depth.

What types of coding can ChatGPT do well?

There are two important facts about ChatGPT and coding. The first is that the AI can, in fact, write useful code. 

The second is that it can get completely lost, fall down a rabbit hole, chase its own tail, and produce unusable garbage.

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I found this out the hard way. After I finished the WordPress plugin, I decided to see how far ChatGPT could go. 

I wrote out a very careful prompt for a Mac application, including detailed descriptions of user interface elements, interactions, what would be provided in settings, how they would work, and so on. Then, I fed the prompt to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT responded with a flood of text and code. Then, it stopped mid-code. When I asked it to continue, it vomited out even more code and text. I requested continue after continue, and it dumped out more and more code. But... none of it was usable . It didn't identify where the code should go, how to construct the project, and -- when I looked carefully at the code produced -- it left out major operations I requested, leaving in simple text descriptions stating "program logic goes here".

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After a bunch of repeated tests, it became clear to me that if you ask ChatGPT to deliver a complete application, it will fail. A corollary to this observation is that if you know nothing about coding and want ChatGPT to build you something, it will fail.

Where ChatGPT succeeds -- and does so very well -- is in helping someone who already knows how to code to build specific routines and get specific tasks done. Don't ask for an app that runs on the menu bar. But if you ask ChatGPT for a routine to put a menu on the menu bar, and then paste that into your project, the tool will do quite well.

Also, keep in mind that while ChatGPT appears  to have a tremendous amount of domain-specific knowledge (and it often does), it lacks wisdom . As such, the tool may be able to write code, but it won't be able to write code containing the nuances for very specific or complex problems that require deep experience to understand.

Also:  How to use ChatGPT to create an app

Use ChatGPT to demo techniques, write small algorithms, and produce subroutines. You can even get ChatGPT to help you break down a bigger project into chunks, and then you can ask it to help you code those chunks.

So, with that in mind, let's look at some specific steps for how ChatGPT can help you write code.

How to use ChatGPT to write code

1. narrow down and sharpen up your request.

This first step is to decide what you are going to ask of ChatGPT -- but not yet ask it anything. Decide what you want your function or routine to do, or what you want to learn about to incorporate into your code. Decide on the parameters you're going to pass into your code and what you want to get out. And then look at how you're going to describe it.

Also: How to write better ChatGPT prompts

Imagine you're paying a human programmer to do this task. Are you giving that person enough information to be able to work on your assignment? Or are you too vague and the person you're paying is more likely to either ask questions or turn in something entirely unrelated to what you want?

Here's an example. Let's say I want to be able to summarize any web page. I want to feed it something like this article and get back a short summary that's well-considered and appropriate. As my input, I'll specify a web page URL. As my output, it's a block of text with a summary.

2. Use ChatGPT to explore libraries and resources

Continuing with the example above, a very old school way of extracting web page data was to find the text between HTML paragraph tags.

But with the rise of AI tools , it makes more sense to use an AI library to do an intelligent extract and summary. One of the places ChatGPT excels (and it's also an area you can easily verify to avoid its authoritative-but-wrong behavior pattern) is finding libraries and resources. 

Also: How to make ChatGPT provide sources and citations

OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT) sells API access to the GPT-3 and GPT-4 engines that will do exactly what we want. But in the case of this example, let's assume we don't want to pay transaction fees.

So let's look at interacting with ChatGPT to figure out how to use such a tool, for free, with a project that runs in PHP.

I started with a prompt that was designed to elicit information about what libraries would provide the functionality I wanted. A library (for those of you reading along who aren't programmers) is a body of code a programmer can access that does a lot of the heavy lifting for a specific purpose. A big part of modern programming is finding and choosing the right libraries, so this is a good starting point.

In this case, I'm looking at blocks of code written by other people that will summarize text. Here's my first prompt:

Describe ten different open source AI libraries (and the languages they work with) that I can use to generate a summary of the main core contents of any web page, ignoring any ads or embedded materials.

This prompt gave me exactly what I wanted, including a mention of OpenAI's offerings. I think OpenAI would do great here, but for this hypothetical project, I don't want to budget for API fees. So. I'll narrow down the question:

Are any of these free?

ChatGPT hedged its bets with its answer. Here's what it said: "Yes, all ten of these AI libraries are open source and free to use. However, some of them may have usage limits or require payment for access to additional features or resources." So, based on that, I clarified my query:

Which of these libraries have no usage limits and don't require any additional payment or licensing?

Notice how this is very much a conversation. I don't have to re-ask the originating question. I'm just drilling down in the same way I might if I had an expert at hand and was seeking clarification. In this case, ChatGPT gave me eight library choices, but none of them mentioned the PHP language that I was planning to code in. So, here's the next prompt:

Of those 8 libraries, can I use any with PHP?

It returned three libraries, but I wasn't sure about what each did. So, another question:

What's the difference between Sumy, Gensim, and NLTK?

I still wasn't sure, so I clarified my use plan and then asked:

If I want to create summaries of web page news articles, which library would work better?

The answer I got was clear and promising: "Sumy is specifically designed for text summarization, which is the task of creating a summary that captures the most important information from a piece of text." So, now it was time to see what was involved in using Sumy with PHP. I asked my last question for this part of the project:

Can you explain how to use Sumy from PHP?

Feel free to play along on your computer and paste these prompts into your instance of ChatGPT. Notice that, in step one, I decided what program module I was going to get help on. Then, in this step, I had a conversation with ChatGPT to decide what library to use and how to integrate it into my project.

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That may not seem like programming, but I assure you it is. Programming isn't just blasting lines of code onto a page. Programming is figuring out how to integrate all the various resources and systems together, and how to talk to all the various components of your solution. Here, ChatGPT helped me do that integration analysis.

By the way, I was curious whether Google's Gemini AI (formerly Bard) could help in the same way. Gemini can't actually write code, but it did give some extra insights into the planning aspect of programming over ChatGPT's responses. So, don't hesitate to use multiple tools to triangulate on answers you want. Here's that story: Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Can Gemini help you code?  Since I wrote that article, Google added some coding capabilities to Gemini, but they're not all that great. You can read about it here: I tested Google Gemini's new coding skills. It didn't go well . And even more recently, I dug into Gemini Advanced . It's still not passing many tests.

Also: How I test an AI chatbot's coding ability - and you can too

Coding is next. 

3. Ask ChatGPT to write example code

OK, let's pause here. This article is entitled "How to use ChatGPT to write code." And it will. But what we're really doing is asking ChatGPT to write example code.

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Let's be clear: Unless you're writing a very small function (like the line sorter/randomizer ChatGPT wrote for my wife), ChatGPT isn't going to be able to write your final code. First, you're going to have to maintain it. ChatGPT is terrible at modifying already-written code. Terrible, as in, it doesn't do it. So, to get new code, you have to ask ChatGPT to generate something new. As I found previously, even if your prompt is virtually identical, ChatGPT may change what it gives you in very unexpected ways.

So, bottom line: ChatGPT can't maintain your code, or even tweak it.

That limitation means you have to do it yourself. As we know, the first draft of a piece of code is rarely the final code. So, even if you were to expect ChatGPT to generate final code, it would really be a starting point, one where you need to take it to completion, integrate it into your bigger project, test it, refine it, debug it, and so on.

Also:   I asked ChatGPT to write a short Star Trek episode. It actually succeeded

But that doesn't mean the example code is worthless -- far from it. Let's take a look at a prompt I wrote based on the project I described earlier. Here's the first part:

Wite a PHP function called summarize_article. As input, summarize_article will be passed a URL to an article on a news-related site like ZDNET.com or Reuters.com.

I'm telling ChatGPT the programming language it should use. I'm also telling it the input but, while doing so, providing two sites as samples to help ChatGPT understand the style of article. Honestly, I'm not sure ChatGPT didn't ignore that bit of guidance. Next, I'll tell it how to do the bulk of the work:

Inside summarize_article, retrieve the contents of the web page at the URL provided. Using the library Sumy from within PHP and any other libraries necessary, extract the main body of the article, ignoring any ads or embedded materials, and summarize it to approximately 50 words. Make sure the summary consists of complete sentences. You can go above the 50 words to finish the last sentence, if necessary.

This is very similar to how I'd instruct an employee. I'd want that person to know that they weren't only restricted to Sumy. If they needed another tool, I wanted them to use it. 

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I also specified an approximate number of words to create bounds for what I wanted as a summary. A later version of the routine might take that number as a parameter. I then ended by saying what I wanted as a result:

Once processing is complete, code summarize_article so it returns the summary in plain text.

The resulting code is pretty simple. ChatGPT did call on another library (Goose) to retrieve the article contents. It then passed that summary to Sumy with a 50-word limit and then returned the result. But once the basics are written, it's a mere matter of programming to go back in and add tweaks, customize what's passed to the two libraries, and delivering the results.

One interesting point of note. When I originally tried this test in early 2023, ChatGPT created a sample call to the routine it wrote, using a URL from after 2021. At that time, in March 2023, ChatGPT's dataset only went to 2021. Now, the ChatGPT knowledge base extends to the end of December 2023. But my point is that ChatGPT made up a sample link that it couldn't possibly know about:

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/teslas-musk-says-fremont-california-factory-may-be-sold-chip-shortage-bites-2022-03-18/

I checked that URL against both Reuters' site and the Wayback Machine, and it doesn't exist. Never assume ChatGPT is accurate. Always double-check everything it gives you.

Does ChatGPT replace programmers? 

Not now -- or, at least -- not yet. ChatGPT programs at the level of a talented first-year programming student, but it's lazy (like that first-year student). The tool might reduce the need for entry-level programmers, but at its current level, I think it will just make life easier for entry-level programmers (and even programmers with more experience) to write code and look up information. It's definitely a time-saver, but there are few programming projects it can do on its own -- at least now. In 2030? Who knows.

How do I get coding answers in ChatGPT?

Just ask it. You saw above how I used an interactive discussion dialog to narrow down the answers I wanted. When you're working with ChatGPT, don't expect one question to magically do all your work for you. But use ChatGPT as a helper and resource, and it will give you a lot of very helpful information. Of course, test that information -- because, as John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, says , "Our biggest concern was around factuality, because the model likes to fabricate things."

Is the code generated by ChatGPT guaranteed to be error-free?

Hell, no! But you also can't trust the code human programmers write. I certainly don't trust any code I write. Code comes out of the code-making process incredibly flawed. There are always bugs. Before you ship, you need to test, test, and test again. Then, alpha test with a few chosen victims. Then beta test with your wider user community. Even after all that, there will be bugs. Just because an AI is playing at this coding thing doesn't mean it can do bug-free code. Do not trust. Always verify. And you still won't have it fully bug-free. Such is the nature of the universe.

How detailed should my description of a programming issue be when asking ChatGPT?

Detailed. Look at it this way: the more you leave open for interpretation, the more the AI will go its own way. When I give prompts to ChatGPT to help me while programming, I imagine I'm assigning a programming task to one of my students or someone who works for me. Did I give that person enough details to go off and create a first draft or will that person have to ask me a ton of additional questions? Worse, will that person have so little guidance that they'll go off in entirely the wrong direction? Don't be lazy here. ChatGPT can save you hours or even days programming (it has for me), but only if you give it useful instructions to begin with.

If I use ChatGPT to write my code, who owns it?

As it turns out, there's not a lot of case law yet to definitively answer this question. The US, Canada, and the UK require something that's copyrighted to have been created by human hands, so code generated by an AI tool may not be copyrightable. There are also issues of liability based on where the training code came from and how the resulting code is used. ZDNET did a deep dive on this topic, spoke to legal experts, and produced the following three articles. If you're concerned about this issue (and if you're using AI to help with code, you should be), I recommend you give them a read.

• Who owns the code? If ChatGPT's AI helps write your app, does it still belong to you?
• If you use AI-generated code, what's your liability exposure?
• A thorny question: Who owns code, images, and narratives generated by AI?

What programming languages does ChatGPT know?

Most of them.  I tested common modern languages , like PHP, Python, Java, Kotlin, Swift, C#, and more. But then I had the tool  write code in obscure dark-age languages like COBOL, Fortran, Forth, LISP, ALGOL, RPG (the report program generator, not the role-playing game), and even IBM/360 assembly language. 

As the icing on the cake, I gave it this prompt:

Write a sequence that displays 'Hello, world' in ascii blinking lights on the front panel of a PDP 8/e

The PDP 8/e was my very first computer , and ChatGPT actually gave me instructions for toggling in a program using front-panel switches. I was impressed, gleeful, and ever so slightly afraid.

Can ChatGPT help me with data analysis and visualization tasks?

Yes, and a lot of it can be done without code. Check out my entire article on this topic:  The moment I realized ChatGPT Plus was a game-changer for my business .

I also did a piece on generated charts and tables:  How to use ChatGPT to make charts and tables

But here's where it gets fun. In the article above, I asked ChatGPT Plus "Make a bar chart of the top five cities in the world by population," and it did. But do you want code? Try asking:

Make a bar chart of the top five cities in the world by population in Swift. Pull the population data from online. Be sure to include any necessary libraries.

By adding "in Swift," you're specifying the programming language. By specifying where the data comes from and forcing ChatGPT Plus to include libraries, it knows to bring in the other resources the program needs. That's why, fundamentally, programming with an AI's help requires you to know things about programming. But if you do, it's cool. Because three sentences can get you a nice chunk of annotated code. Cool, huh?  

How does ChatGPT handle the differences between dialects and implementations of a given programming language?

We don't have exact details on this issue from OpenAI, but our understanding of how ChatGPT is trained can shed some light on this question. Keep in mind that dialects and implementations of programming languages (and their little quirks) change much more rapidly than the full language itself. This reality makes it harder for ChatGPT (and many programming professionals) to keep up.

Also:  How I used ChatGPT to write a custom JavaScript bookmarklet

As such, I'd work off these two assumptions:

• The more recent the dialectic change, the less likely ChatGPT knows about it, and
• The more popular a language overall, the more training data it likely has learned from, and therefore the more accurate it will be.

What's the bottom line? ChatGPT can be a very helpful tool. Just don't ascribe superpowers to it. Yet.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz , on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz , on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz , and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV .

Code faster with generative AI, but beware the risks when you do

How to use chatgpt, how i test an ai chatbot's coding ability - and you can too.

Learning & Education

Bringing educators together this Teacher Appreciation Week

May 06, 2024

[[read-time]] min read

2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman shares an open letter to educators across the U.S. with a message of strength and togetherness.

Read this post in Spanish // Blog en español aquí .

Editor’s Note: For the eighth year, Google for Education has partnered with the Council of Chief State School Officers ( CCSSO ) to support educators nationwide through the annual National Teacher of the Year Program . In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, 2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman from Tennessee shares an open letter to her fellow educators.

Dear teachers,

I don’t remember much about the first classrooms I was in. I’m sure there were desks and I know there were crayons. But what I do remember are the teachers — Mrs. Rhymer, Miss Guggisburg, Mrs. Stooksbury, and Mrs. Long — and how they made me feel. These teachers nurtured and motivated me to not only learn the content they taught, they gave me a model for who I wanted to be.

My teachers taught me the value of dignity. As teachers, we offer dignity for our students when we “stand in the gap” each day. When we listen to our students and show them a path, or when we notice what they need and remove a barrier to achieve it, we create a “pass through” from where they are to who they can become. This can be sending a bag of food home over a long weekend, helping a family locate a counselor for a teen struggling with depression, or a snack for a student headed to football practice. Most of the time, these little acts of noticing and acting go unseen by most, but to the student whose dignity is restored because of it, respect is established, trust is built, and their potential is brought to life.

Missy in the classroom with her students.

Photo credit: Tennessee State Department of Education

We meet students where they are, no matter the difficult circumstances they face: be it generational poverty, challenges at home, or mental health struggles. We love them through it all. Great teachers know, however, that loving our students is not enough. If we only love and care for our students, we do not help them affect the trajectories of their lives. That only happens when we hold high expectations for all students and celebrate their progress. We must firmly believe that all students are capable of learning and continually move the bar higher as they achieve new heights. Only then do we really help our students create a future for themselves.

Teachers know the future comes from what we do everyday as we build trust with them that allows them to feel comfortable enough to make mistakes without fear. Those mistakes are just as much of the learning process as the connections we make with our students. If our students leave our classrooms without gaining ground in crucial skills, they’re going to continue to struggle moving forward. They will be unprepared for whatever lies ahead. They will be stuck spinning their wheels in a system that depends upon an escalation of progress. Our goal is to set them up for success when we’re not there.

“There will always be students who are in need of inspiration and a desire to learn.”

As this year’s National Teacher of the Year, I’ve had the honor to learn from so many teachers from across the country. Cat Walker, who teaches Oceanography and Marine Biology in Alaska, sometimes dons a scuba diving suit during her classes. Joe Nappi, who teaches History in New Jersey, can explain the history behind the most complex geopolitical conflicts in a way that anyone can understand. And, Christy Todd who teaches Music Technology in Georgia, with a passion for inclusivity that reminds me of what is important not just in education, but in life.

While everyone comes from all walks of life, the common thread that brings us together is our love and passion for our students and our calling to meet them where they are, to help create a better future for themselves.

This year’s Google Doodle honors Teacher Appreciation Week, and shows how teaching is many small actions that come together to nurture our students’ success.

Teaching is often doing the little things, whether it is taking the time to write an encouraging note on a student’s paper or offering support to a frustrated student who simply isn’t even going to attempt a task. It’s listening and watching to make sure that students have what they need to succeed.

During this Teacher Appreciation Week, I know that you are all doing the little things, and sometimes they are actually big, heavy things. Please know that you are seen, and you are appreciated.

Related stories

Unimos a los educadores esta Semana de Agradecimiento a los Maestros

Introducing new Chromebooks for Asia Pacific and Latin America

How Chromebooks can support your school's Earth Day goals

Growth Academy’s new AI program to help startups build educational tools

8 Google Classroom tips every teacher should know

10 Chromebook features teachers will love

Let’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox.

Money blog: My employer wants to pay me by the minute - what can I do?

A reader seeks help as her employer of 24 years is bringing in a new clock-in system to pay her by the minute. Read this and all the latest personal finance and consumer news in the Money blog - and share your own problem or dispute below.

Monday 13 May 2024 07:42, UK

• Free childcare applications open for new age band
• Money Problem: My workplace is bringing in new clock-in system to pay us by the minute - is this allowed?

Essential reads

• How to make sure your car passes its MOT
• 'Loud budgeting': The money-saving trend that has nothing to do with giving up your daily coffee
• How to avoid a holiday data roaming charge (while still using the internet)
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

By Emily Mee , Money team

No one likes the date in their calendar when their MOT rolls around. 

But to make things a little less stressful, consumer expert Scott Dixon - known as The Complaints Resolver - has given us some tips on what to look out for to help your vehicle pass with flying colours. 

Some of the most common failures are faulty steering, brakes, suspension, worn or damaged tyres, cracked windscreens and faulty lights. 

Mr Dixon recommends you get your car serviced a couple of weeks before your MOT, in case there are any complex or costly issues. 

This will give you time to get them fixed and get your car through first time without any advisories. 

Aside from taking your car for a service, there are also some easy checks you can run yourself... 

Listen for unusual clunks while you're driving - this could be a sign of a damaged suspension. 

You could also check by pushing the car down on each corner. It should return to normal without bouncing a few times. 

Another option is to look with a torch under the wheel arch, as this should reveal any obvious defects. 

Blown bulbs are a common MOT failure, but they're cheap to fix. 

Walk around your car and check all the bulbs are working - this includes the headlights, sidelights, brake lights, indicators and the number plate bulb.

Mr Dixon says it's "not an easy job" to change the lightbulbs yourself on most modern cars, as the MOT will also check the positioning of the light. Therefore he recommends getting this done professionally. 

Squealing or grinding noises may be a sign your brake pads need replacing. 

You should also check whether your car stops in a straight line, or whether it pulls in different directions. 

Don't forget about the handbrake, too. Test it out on a slope and see if it securely holds the car. If it doesn't, you should get it adjusted. 

It's easy to check if your wipers work okay, but you should also make sure to inspect the blades for tears and rips. 

They should be able to clean the windows with no smears. 

Mr Dixon says you don't need to pay Halfords to change your wiper blade as you can "do it yourself in seconds". All you need to do is look for a YouTube tutorial. 

He also recommends buying the Bosch wiper blades, as he says these are good quality and will also be a sign you've looked after your car well when you come to sell it. 

One thing to look out for is tread depth. You can do this by looking for the "wear bar" that sits between the tread. 

If it's close to 1.6mm and is low, you should get the tyre replaced so it's not flagged as an advisory. 

Also check for perished tyre walls, which can happen when a vehicle is standing for any length of time. 

Uneven tyre wear is another potential issue, and if there are signs of this you should get the tyre replaced and tracking and suspension checked. 

These must be in good condition and working order, with no tears or knots. 

Registration plates

Your number plates should be clean and visible with a working light bulb at the rear. You may need to give them a wipe and replace the bulb if necessary. 

This should be in good condition, without damage such as loose bumpers or sharp edges. 

Mr Dixon advises against using automatic car washes during your car's lifetime, saying they "wreck your car". 

"It's not just your paintwork but they can also damage the wiper blades and the bodywork," he says. 

Check for warning lights

You'll need to take your vehicle to a trusted garage or mechanic for this. 

Exhaust emissions

Some diesel vehicles can fail their MOTs based on emissions. To avoid this, you can buy a fuel treatment pack and take your car for a good run to clear the fuel lines and tank.

Driving for at least 30 to 50 minutes at a sustained speed on a motorway or A-road should help to clear the filter. 

You should make sure the driver's view of the road isn't obstructed, so check for stone chips at eye level and remove any obstructions such as air fresheners and mobile phone cradles. 

What else should you think about? 

Make sure your car is clean beforehand, as a tester can refuse to do your MOT if the vehicle is filthy and full of rubbish. 

Giving your car a clean can also give you a chance to inspect it, Mr Dixon says. 

Another thing to do is to check last year's MOT for any advisories that might crop up this time. 

These potential issues will still be there - so it's best not to ignore them. 

You can check your vehicle's MOT history using  https://car-check.co.uk . 

Every Monday we get an expert to answer your money problems or consumer disputes. Find out how to submit yours at the bottom of this post. Today's question is...

I have worked at a bank for 24 years - the facilities are outsourced. This new company is bringing in a system where the staff have to click in and out and are then paid by the minute? Is this allowed? Amber

Ian Jones, director and principal solicitor at Spencer Shaw Solicitors, has picked this one up...

Your rights depend on your contract and what it says about payment. Does it specify an annual salary, or payment by time? Does it allow for changes to how payment is calculated?

If the contract does not allow for this type of payment, your employer may be trying to vary the contract of employment unlawfully.

If you're directly employed by the bank, and your pay arrangements are changing because of a new monitoring system, this would be an internal contract variation. If you work in the facilities department and the new contractor is taking over as your employer, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) 2006 may apply. 

In this case, your current terms, conditions and previous service will transfer to the new employer.

TUPE may make the issue sound more complicated but, in practice, either way the changes will be valid only if the employee agrees to them.

If you have not agreed to the change, then this could be a breach of contract. This could give rise to a successful claim in the civil courts or the employment tribunal. 

If the breach is serious (for example, you're paid less than agreed in the original contract) and you resign in response, this could amount to constructive dismissal for which a claim can be made in the employment tribunal. 

It would be sensible to get the contract reviewed by a solicitor for advice. But act swiftly - if you continue working for the employer, you are effectively waiving the breach and accepting the change to your contract.

To make it possible to pay by the minute, employees may be monitored while at work. When collecting and processing data and using it to make a decision, the employer must comply with data protection laws. If not, the employee could be entitled to compensation, depending on the breach, or the employer could be at risk of a sanction by the regulator the Information Commissioner's Office.

This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about.  Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:

• The form above - make sure you leave a phone number or email address
• Email [email protected] with the subject line "Money blog"
• WhatsApp us  here .

Please make sure you leave your contact details as we cannot follow up consumer disputes without them.

We're back for another week of consumer news, personal finance tips and all the latest on the economy.

This is how the week in the Money blog is shaping up...

Today : Every week we ask industry experts to answer your Money Problems . Today, a reader's employer is bringing in a new clock-in system to pay workers by the minute - but is this allowed?

Tuesday : This week's  Basically...  explains everything you need to know about the PIP. 

Wednesday : It's inflation day - we'll hear April's figure, with a drop expected due to falling energy prices. And we speak to one of London's top chefs for his Cheap Eats at home and in the capital.

Thursday : Savings Champion  founder Anna Bowes will be back with her weekly insight into the savings market.

Friday : We'll have everything you need to know about the mortgage market this week with the guys from Moneyfacts.

Running every weekday, Money features a morning markets round-up from the  Sky News business team  and regular updates and analysis from our business, City and economic correspondents, editors and presenters -  Ed Conway ,  Mark Kleinman ,  Ian King ,  Paul Kelso  and  Adele Robinson .

You'll also be able to stream  Business Live with Ian King on weekdays at 11.30am and 4.30pm.

Bookmark  news.sky.com/money  and check back from 8am, and through the day, each weekday.

The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

By Jess Sharp , Money team 

Money saving trends are constantly popping up on social media - but one in particular has been gaining huge amounts of attention.

Created accidentally by a comedian, loud budgeting is breaking down the taboo of speaking about money.

The idea is based on being firmer/more vocal about your financial boundaries in social situations and setting out what you are happy to spend your money on, instead of "Keeping up with the Joneses". 

On TikTok alone, videos published under the hashtag #loudbudgeting have garnered more than 30 million views - and that figure is continuing to climb. 

We spoke to Lukas Battle - the 26-year-old who unintentionally created the trend as part of a comedy sketch. 

Based in New York, he came up with the term in a skit about the "quiet luxury" hype, which had spread online in 2023 inspired by shows like Succession. 

The term was used for humble bragging about your wealth with expensive items that were subtle in their design - for example, Gwyneth Paltrow's  £3,900 moss green wool coat from The Row, which she wore during her ski resort trial...

"I was never a big fan of the quiet luxury trend, so I just kind of switched the words and wrote 'loud budgeting is in'. I'm tired of spending money and I don't want to pretend to be rich," Lukas said. 

"That's how it started and then the TikTok comments were just obsessed with that original idea." 

This was the first time he mentioned it...

Lukas explained that it wasn't about "being poor" but about not being afraid of sharing your financial limits and "what's profitable for you personally". 

"It's not 'skip a coffee a day and you'll become a millionaire'."

While talking money has been seen as rude or taboo, he said it's something his generation is more comfortable doing. 

"I've seen more debate around the topic and I think people are really intrigued and attracted by the idea," he said. 

"It's just focusing your spending and time on things you enjoy and cutting out the things you might feel pressured to spend your money on."  

He has incorporated loud budgeting into his own life, telling his friends "it's free to go outside" and opting for cheaper dinner alternatives.

"Having the terminology and knowing it's a trend helps people understand it and there's no awkward conversation around it," he said. 

The trend has been a big hit with so-called American "finfluencers", or "financial influencers", but people in the UK have started practising it as well. 

Mia Westrap has taken up loud budgeting by embarking on a no-buy year and sharing her finances with her 11.3k TikTok followers. 

Earning roughly £2,100 a month, she spends around £1,200 on essentials, like rent, petrol and car insurance, but limits what else she can purchase. 

Clothes, fizzy drinks, beauty treatments, makeup, dinners out and train tickets are just some things on her "red list". 

The 26-year-old PHD student first came across the idea back in 2017, but decided to take up the challenge this year after realising she was living "pay check to pay check". 

She said her "biggest fear" in the beginning was that her friends wouldn't understand what she was doing, but she found loud budgeting helped. 

"I'm still trying my best to just go along with what everyone wants to do but I just won't spend money while we do it and my friends don't mind that, we don't make a big deal out of it," she said. 

So far, she has been able to save £1,700, and she said talking openly about her money has been "really helpful". 

"There's no way I could have got this far if I wasn't baring my soul to the internet about the money I have spent. It has been a really motivating factor."

Financial expert John Webb said loud budgeting has the ability to help many "feel empowered" and create a "more realistic" relationship with money.

"This is helping to normalise having open and honest conversations about finances," the consumer affair manager at Experien said. 

"It can also reduce the anxiety some might have by keeping their financial worries to themselves." 

However, he warned it's important to be cautious and to take the reality of life into consideration. 

"It could cause troubles within friendship groups if they're not on the same page as you or have different financial goals," he said.

"This challenge isn't meant to stop you from having fun, but it is designed to help people become more conscious and intentional when it comes to money, and reduce the stigma around talking about it." 

Rightmove's keyword tool shows Victorian-era houses are the most commonly searched period properties, with people drawn to their ornate designs and features.

Georgian and Edwardian-style are second and third respectively, followed by Tudor properties. Regency ranked in fifth place.

Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said: "Home hunters continue to be captivated by the character and charm of properties that we see in period dramas.

"Victorian homes remain particularly popular, characterised by their historic charm, solid construction, and spacious interiors. You'll often find Victorian houses in some of the most desirable locations which include convenient access to schools and transport links."

Throughout the week Money blog readers have shared their thoughts on the stories we've been covering, with the most correspondence coming in on...

• A hotly contested debate on the best brand of tea
• Downsizing homes
• The cost of Michelin-starred food

Job interview mistakes

On Wednesday we reported on a new £12m ad from PG Tips in response to it falling behind rivals such as Twinings, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley....

We had lots of comments like this...

How on earth was the PG Tips advert so expensive? I prefer Tetley tea, PG Tips is never strong enough flavour for me. Shellyleppard

The reason for the sales drop with PG Tips could be because they increased the price and reduced the quantity of bags from 240 to 180 - it's obvious. Royston

And then this question which we've tried to answer below...

Why have PG Tips changed from Pyramid shape tea bags, to a square? Sam

Last year PG Tips said it was changing to a square bag that left more room for leaves to infuse, as the bags wouldn't fold over themselves.

We reported on data showing how downsizing could save you money for retirement - more than £400,000, in some regions, by swapping four beds for two.

Some of our readers shared their experiences...

We are downsizing and moving South so it's costing us £100k extra for a smaller place, all money from retirement fund. AlanNorth

Interesting read about downsizing for retirement. We recently did this to have the means to retire early at 52. However, we bought a house in the south of France for the price of a flat in our town in West Sussex. Now living the dream! OliSarah

How much should we pay for food?

Executive chef at London's two-Michelin-starred Ikoyi, Jeremy Chan, raised eyebrows when he suggested to the Money blog that Britons don't pay enough for restaurant food.

Ikoyi, the 35th best restaurant in the world, charges £320 for its tasting menu. 

"I don't think people pay enough money for food, I think we charge too little, [but] we want to always be accessible to as many people as possible, we're always trying our best to do that," he said, in a piece about his restaurant's tie up with Uber Eats... 

We had this in... 

Are they serious? That is two weeks' worth of food shopping for me, if the rich can afford this "tasting menu" then they need to be taxed even more by the government, it's just crazy! Steve T

If the rate of pay is proportionate to the vastly overpriced costs of the double Michelin star menu, I would gladly peel quail eggs for four-hour stints over continuing to be abused as a UK supply teacher. AndrewWard

Does this two-star Michelin star chef live in the real world? Who gives a toss if he stands and peels his quails eggs for four hours, and he can get the best turbot from the fishmonger fresh on a daily basis? It doesn't justify the outrageous price he is charging for his tasting menu. Topaztraveller

Chefs do make me laugh, a steak is just a steak, they don't make the meat! They just cook it like the rest of us, but we eat out because we can't be bothered cooking! StevieGrah

Finally, many of you reacted to this feature on common mistakes in job interviews...

Those 10 biggest mistakes people make in interviews is the dumbest thing I've ever read. They expect all that and they'll be offering a £25k a year job. Why wouldn't I want to know about benefits and basic sick pay? And also a limp handshake? How's that relevant to how you work? Jre90

Others brought their own tips...

Whenever I go for an interview I stick to three points: 1. Be yourself 2. Own the interview 3. Wear the clothes that match the job you are applying Kevin James Blakey

From Sunday, eligible working parents of children from nine-months-old in England will be able to register for access to up to 15 free hours of government-funded childcare per week.

This will then be granted from September. 

Check if you're eligible  here  - or read on for our explainer on free childcare across the UK.

Three and four year olds

In England, all parents of children aged three and four in England can claim 15 hours of free childcare per week, for 1,140 hours (38 weeks) a year, at an approved provider.

This is a universal offer open to all.

It can be extended to 30 hours where both parents (or the sole parent) are in work, earn the weekly minimum equivalent of 16 hours at the national minimum or living wage, and have an income of less than £100,000 per year.

Two year olds

Previously, only parents in receipt of certain benefits were eligible for 15 hours of free childcare.

But, as of last month, this was extended to working parents.

This is not a universal offer, however.

A working parent must earn more than £8,670 but less than £100,000 per year. For couples, the rule applies to both parents.

Nine months old

In September, this same 15-hour offer will be extended to working parents of children aged from nine months. From 12 May, those whose children will be at least nine months old on 31 August can apply to received the 15 hours of care from September.

From September 2025

The final change to the childcare offer in England will be rolled out in September 2025, when eligible working parents of all children under the age of five will be able to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week.

In some areas of Wales, the Flying Start early years programme offers 12.5 hours of free childcare for 39 weeks, for eligible children aged two to three. The scheme is based on your postcode area, though it is currently being expanded.

All three and four-year-olds are entitled to free early education of 10 hours per week in approved settings during term time under the Welsh government's childcare offer.

Some children of this age are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of free early education and childcare over 48 weeks of the year. The hours can be split - but at least 10 need to be used on early education.

To qualify for this, each parent must earn less than £100,000 per year, be employed and earn at least the equivalent of working 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage, or be enrolled on an undergraduate, postgraduate or further education course that is at least 10 weeks in length.

All three and four-year-olds living in Scotland are entitled to at least 1,140 hours per year of free childcare, with no work or earnings requirements for parents. 

This is usually taken as 30 hours per week over term time (38 weeks), though each provider will have their own approach.

Some households can claim free childcare for two-year-olds. To be eligible you have to be claiming certain benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit, or have a child that is in the care of their local council or living with you under a guardianship order or kinship care order.

Northern Ireland

There is no scheme for free childcare in Northern Ireland. Some other limited support is available.

Working parents can access support from UK-wide schemes such as tax credits, Universal Credit, childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare.

Aside from this, all parents of children aged three or four can apply for at least 12.5 hours a week of funded pre-school education during term time. But over 90% of three-year-olds have a funded pre-school place - and of course this is different to childcare.

What other help could I be eligible for?

Tax-free childcare  - Working parents in the UK can claim up to £500 every three months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of their children to help with childcare costs. 

If the child is disabled, the amount goes up to £1,000 every three months (up to £4,000 a year).

To claim the benefit, parents will need to open a tax-free childcare account online. For every 80p paid into the account, the government will top it up by 20p.

The scheme is available until the September after the child turns 11.

Universal credit  - Working families on universal credit can claim back up to 85% of their monthly childcare costs, as long as the care is paid for upfront. The most you can claim per month is £951 for one child or £1,630 for two or more children.

Tax credits -  People claiming working tax credit can get up to 70% of what they pay for childcare if their costs are no more than £175 per week for one child or £300 per work for multiple children.

Two big economic moments dominated the news agenda in Money this week - interest rates and GDP.

As expected, the Bank of England held the base rate at 5.25% on Wednesday - but a shift in language was instructive about what may happen next.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey opened the door to a summer cut to 5%, telling reporters that an easing of rates at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 20 June was neither ruled out nor a fait accompli.

More surprisingly, he suggested that rate cuts, when they start, could go deeper "than currently priced into market rates".

He refused to be drawn on what that path might look like - but markets had thought rates could bottom out at 4.5% or 4.75% this year, and potentially 3.5% or 4% next.

"To make sure that inflation stays around the 2% target - that inflation will neither be too high nor too low - it's likely that we will need to cut Bank rate over the coming quarters and make monetary policy somewhat less restrictive over the forecast period," Mr Bailey said.

You can read economics editor Ed Conway's analysis of the Bank's decision here ...

On Friday we discovered the UK is no longer in recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics said.

This followed two consecutive quarters of the economy shrinking.

The data was more positive than anticipated.

"Britain is not just out of recession," wrote Conway. "It is out of recession with a bang."

The UK has seen its fastest growth since the tailend of the pandemic - and Conway picked out three other reasons for optimism.

1/ An economic growth rate of 0.6% is near enough to what economists used to call "trend growth". It's the kind of number that signifies the economy growing at more or less "normal" rates.

2/ 0.6% means the UK is, alongside Canada, the fastest-growing economy in the G7 (we've yet to hear from Japan, but economists expect its economy to contract in the first quarter).

3/ Third, it's not just gross domestic product that's up. So too is gross domestic product per head - the number you get when you divide our national income by every person in the country. After seven years without any growth, GDP per head rose by 0.4% in the first quarter.

GDP per head is a more accurate yardstick for the "feelgood factor", said Conway - perhaps meaning people will finally start to feel better off.

For more on where Friday's figures leaves us, listen to an Ian King Business Podcast special...

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money .

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

Check them out this morning and we'll be back on Monday with rolling news and features.

If you've missed any of the features we've been running in Money this year, or want to check back on something you've previously seen in the blog, this archive of our most popular articles may help...

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