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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 start a blog: a complete guide

• Rebecca Strehlow
• 28 min read

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

If you’re wondering how to create a blog , you’ve come to the right place. As a blogger myself, I can tell you it’s a rewarding way to hone your writing skills, explore new ideas and build an online presence that revolves around your passions and expertise. You’ll get the chance to inspire, educate, and entertain your readers—and as your blog grows, you can even start making money and turn it into a full-time job or use it to start a business .

In other words, blogging is the first step toward finally pursuing your dream job or favorite hobby, so you really can’t go wrong. While starting a blog might seem daunting, I’m going to walk you through every step to make it as smooth and successful as possible. The process is actually quite easy, and you’ll have your blog up and running, as well as your first blog post written, before you know it.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll find all the guidance and tools you’ll need to start a blog and get writing blog posts. You’ll learn how to make your website , write your first blog post and draw in loyal readers. Sounds exciting? Let’s dive in.

How to start a blog in 10 steps

Choose a blogging platform. Use a platform that offers customizable templates.

Pick a hosting platform. Consider a platform with good bandwidth, uptime and customer support.

Find the right niche. Narrow down your theme and have a specific audience in mind.

Select a blog name and domain. Choose a descriptive name that piques readers’ interests.

Set up and design your blog. Include imagery and effects that reflect your theme.

Brainstorm blog topics. Write down all your ideas before narrowing down topic selections.

Write your first blog post. Engage your audience with a killer title and use headers to make the content skimmable.

Create an editorial calendar. Create a calendar to help you publish consistently and hold yourself accountable.

Promote your blog. Use marketing strategies to expand your reach.

Make money blogging. Take advantage of opportunities to monetize your blog.

In this complete how to blog A to Z tutorial, we’ll cover everything from choosing your blogging platform to making money from your written work. With a little bit of guidance, you can get your blog online in 30 minutes or less.

This is going to be the most comprehensive advice you’ll find on building a successful blog from scratch. If you want to start a blog fast, though, feel free to use the numbered steps above as a quick cheat sheet. You can go directly to the step you need the most help with, or grab a cup of coffee and read it all the way through.

What is a blog?

While a blog can encompass an entire website or simply be its own section of a website, this is a place to share content about a topic you’re passionate about. A blog will typically include both written and visual elements published in an easy-to-read, article format so visitors can swiftly browse and find what they’re looking for. And with over 31.7 million blogs in the US alone, you can literally find blogs about every subject out there, from home renovation to baking to local business marketing strategies . Once you’ve established a community of readers, the possibilities are truly endless.

There's no definitive "perfect" time to start a blog. If you feel that you have the time and resources to start, manage and promote a blog and are enthusiastic about sharing your ideas with the world, it might be the right time to take the plunge and start your blogging journey. The sooner you start, the sooner you can learn and grow as a blogger.

Ready to start your blog now? Sign up with Wix today.

01. Choose a blogging platform

The first step in starting a blog is to select a blogging platform or Content Management System (CMS) for publishing your content. A quick Google search will show you that there are several different sites available that suit bloggers from all industries. I recommend Wix because it’s a good all-around blogging platform that satisfies most needs.

Wix’s blogging platform is fairly straightforward to get the hang of, and it offers a variety of attractive design options and templates to work with. In addition, it comes with features to analyze your blog’s performance and monetize your content, which will come in handy as you setup your blog and build your readership.

How much does it cost to start a blog?

When researching how to create a blog, one of the biggest questions people have is how much does it cost to start a blog . On many platforms, starting a blog is completely free .

You can decide at any point whether you’d like to upgrade to a variety of different plans, depending on your budget and needs. Learn more about how much does it cost to build a website.

02. Pick a hosting platform

Once you select your preferred blogging platform, you’ll need to choose a hosting platform. A blog, like other types of websites , requires a host. This essentially stores websites on a server under a unique address so that visitors can easily reach them.

faqOn some blogging platforms, hosting is already included, so you won’t need to find a separate web host when setting up your blog. In that case, you can skip this step and move to Step 3 .

With other website builders, such as WordPress, you will need to find and pay for a separate web hosting platform. Some popular options include:

If you’re not sure which web hosting platform to choose, take into account these factors:

Uptime: The amount of time that the server hosting your website is up and running. A strong uptime rate (99.95% or above) is a good indication that the host’s servers perform well.

Bandwidth: The amount of data your website can transfer to visitors over a certain period of time. This factor is based on the size of your website pages as well as the amount of traffic you expect. This quick bandwidth calculator can help you determine your site’s bandwidth.

Customer support: Customer service you can contact in the event something goes wrong. Ideally, your hosting provider should offer an online help center, offer callbacks and respond to questions and concerns on social media.

Once you’ve chosen your blogging platform and hosting provider, you can start coming up with your blog idea.

Don’t worry about picking and registering your domain name just yet. We’ll walk through that process together in Step 4 .

03. Find the right profitable blog niche

Let’s move away from the technical and dive into the more theoretical. Take a step back and think about the main element that will form the foundation of your blog, from its URL and domain name to its content and design: your blog’s niche. What, exactly, do you want your blog to be about?

There is virtually no limit when it comes to your choice of subjects. The most crucial thing is that you select a specific topic area that will be the central focus of your entire blog and its content strategy.

Possible blog types range from fashion blogs to real estate blogs to book blogs or food blogs . Because there are lots of other blogs focusing on the same subjects, you’ll need a way to stand out while still writing about what you love.

Here are three simple steps for choosing the perfect blog niche —one that not only is in line with your passions, but one that you can also monetize and grow:

Narrow down your interests

Research your audience

Check if it’s profitable

Narrow down your blogging interests

When you start a blog, think long term. To motivate yourself to blog regularly, you’ll need to write about something you’re genuinely interested in. If you choose a topic solely on the basis of its being popular or profitable, your efforts will peter out pretty quickly, along with your entire blog content strategy.

If you aren’t sure right off the bat what you should be blogging about, that’s okay. Begin with a simple brainstorming session about subjects you like. What do you get excited talking about? What are you eager to learn more about?

Now, write down the first five to 10 interests that come to mind. For the sake of this example, let’s say:

Next, think about your more specific interests within these subject areas and add them to your list. Your additions might look something like this:

Backpacking in Southeast Asia

Vegan recipes

Raising twins

Indie rock music

Hiking in the Rockies

Don’t worry about these niches being perfect just yet. You’ll research them more thoroughly in the next steps. (However, if you're looking for inspiration, check out how these popular art blogs are using their platforms to connect with audiences who share a similar passion.)

The next step of starting and creating a blog is to learn which topics people are interested in reading about. If your blog gains traction, you can eventually start making money from it and become a full-time blogger.

You can determine the demand for any given niche with a bit of market research. Begin by taking a look at Google Trends , which shows you how many people are searching for a particular topic. The more searches a topic gets, the more public demand it has.

For instance, let’s type “vegan recipes” into Google Trends. In the image below, you’ll see that there’s a relatively stable level of interest in this topic, so it’s a good candidate for a blog niche.

“Paleo recipes,” on the other hand, has a much lower degree of interest. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea—some bloggers prefer to write for a more specific crowd if they have a unique specialty—but it does mean there are fewer people interested in that particular subject area.

If Google Trends reveals that interest in a subject area is either very low or declining, then that topic is unlikely to gain traction.

Check if it’s profitable blog niche you want to start

Whether you run a personal blog or a professional one, it’s a good idea to check whether your niche is profitable. Even if you’re starting out as a hobby blogger or want to create a fan website , you’ll want to think about future monetization options in the event that your blogging efforts evolve into a career.

There are multiple ways to earn money as a blogger, but one of the most common methods is affiliate marketing. As an affiliate, you’ll work together with a specific company, providing a link to their products within your blog, and earning a commission for any sale made through your site.

Considering whether you could blog as an affiliate is a good way to figure out if your niche is profitable. Think about the kinds of “best of” or “how to” posts you might write. For instance, “Best kitchen appliances for easy cooking” or “How to make carrot cake in 10 minutes.” In both instances, you could include an affiliate link to your favorite food processor or electric mixer and make money for each purchase made through your blog.

You don’t need to plan out your money-making strategy just yet, but thinking generally about profitable opportunities can help you choose a niche. For now, focus on starting your blog—we’ll talk more about making money blogging in Step 10 .

04. Select a blog name and domain

As you think about how to make a blog, the question of what to name it is probably lurking somewhere in the back of your mind.

There are three main routes you can go with your blog's name. These include:

Your first and last name

The name of your business (if you have one)

A creative new name

When choosing your blog’s name, you should also think about the personality you want it to reflect. Should it be formal and professional? Sweet and romantic? Edgy and offbeat? If you’re stuck on names for your blog , this blog name generator is a helpful source of inspiration.

Once you decide, you should also go ahead and choose your domain name for your blog. Also referred to as a URL, a domain is a site’s address on the web (this website’s domain name, for example, is www.wix.com). Typically, your domain name will be the same as, or at least influenced by, the name of your blog.

If you really want your blog to stand out, consider a .blog domain extension . It's a clear and unique way to help your blog and content pop.

05. Set up and design your blog

Choose a blog template, decide which pages to include, get indexed on search engines, create a blog logo.

At this point, you’ve chosen a blogging and hosting platform, domain name and blog niche. You’re now equipped with all the basics for setting up your blog. Here's how to optimize your blog design :

The first part of setup for a blog is selecting a template. Like your blog’s name, its look and feel will be an important part of its personality.

The most efficient way to get your blog up and running is to choose a pre-designed blog template . Afterwards, you can customize it based on your preferences.

Be sure to pick one that conveys your blog’s subject area. There are website templates for bloggers of any genre, whether you’re a food blogger, photography blogger or business blogger. As you browse, think about the mood you want your website to communicate, for example. whether it’s classic, modern, rugged or minimalist.

You should also take that into account as you further personalize the template with your preferred colors. Color psychology plays a huge role in forming your audience’s impression of your blog. As you choose a color palette, keep in mind the feelings and attitudes that different colors evoke. Blue, for instance, tends to evoke dependability and trust, while yellow evokes energy and joy.

If you’re unsure of which templates to choose, these blog examples serve as a helpful source of design inspiration.

Once you’ve chosen a template, think about which pages to include. Most blogs include more than just a section to display their posts. They might also include an online store, as in the image below, or a contact page.

Here's an overview of the different options when designing your blog:

01. Contact page: This is a place to put your email address so that fans and potential business partners can reach out to you. You can also include a contact form so that people can send a message directly through your site.

02. About page: This tells visitors who you are, what you do, and why you do it, providing some context behind your blog and humanizing your content.

03. Online store: You’ll also want to add a separate online store page if you’re thinking of selling items related to your blog. You can call this page “Products” or “Shop.”

If you want to beef up your blog with even more pages, a Tutorials page, Now Trending page or Author’s Pick page are all popular options.

Furthermore, some blogs opt to place their posts directly on the homepage, while others keep their homepages and blog pages separate. If you do this, make sure to include a navigation menu so that visitors can easily access your blog as well as any other pages.

There’s no right or wrong way to set up a blog, so play around with different options to see what best suits your style and personality. Keep in mind that you can always add or remove pages over time as your blog evolves.

Another part of starting a blog is making sure it’s visible on Google and other search engines. This is crucial if you want your content to pop up in search results, so you’ll want to take care of this step right away.

First, make sure your site is indexed on Google. Essentially, this means giving Google a heads up that your blog exists. You can do this by submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console .

Pro tip: Google Search Console is not only important for indexing your site, but it’s also a valuable platform that you’ll be using throughout your blogging journey. It tells you important data about your blog’s site visitors and clicks, which you can use to improve your content.

To find out whether your site is already included in Google’s search index, do a quick site search (a site search uses your homepage URL and takes the form of site:yourblogname.com ). If your blog pops up in the search results, then your site is already indexed.

Finally, polish off your site with an attractive blog logo . This is another way to add personality to your site, and it’s an essential step if you want to create a blog that evolves into a recognizable brand.

One option is to design your own or outsource the task, but you can also use an online logo maker . These tools give you plenty of room to customize your logo with your preferred colors, fonts and icons, and tend to be quicker and more affordable than hiring a professional designer.

Once you create your logo, place it in the upper left-hand corner of your website, and link it to your homepage. This will help brand your content while improving the navigation experience for readers.

06. Brainstorm blog topics

On the technical side, your blog is now setup and ready to go. It’s time to start thinking about which topics you’ll get started with.

Begin by thinking about your experiences, successes, failures or discoveries related to your niche. What insights can you share? What ideas are you looking to explore in-depth?

As you think of topics, try to get into your readers’ heads. Here are some questions to guide you through the brainstorming process:

What characteristics does my target audience possess?

What subjects does my target audience get excited about?

What challenges does my target audience face?

You can also come up with ideas using the topic cluster model . Essentially, this is a tightly organized system that strings together related posts using a series of internal links. While this process is usually considered part of SEO, you can also think of it as a mind map for coming up with ideas.

By this model, think about a broad topic—say, recipes—and then divide that up into smaller subtopics, like dinner recipes or brunch recipes. Then, divide those up into even more specific topics, like 20-minute dinner recipes, mimosa recipes, and cake decoration ideas. Any of these topics could be its own blog post.

If you’re still stuck, this list of blog ideas can help jumpstart the brainstorming process. They include:

A 30 before 30 list (also 40 before 40, or 50 before 50)

Your sources of inspiration

Beginners’ guides

Time-saving hacks

A challenge you’ve faced

Use these ideas to guide you, but feel free to add your own creative twist based on your niche.

07. Write your first blog post

Start with keyword research, come up with a blog post title, outline your main points, write engaging content, insert images, optimize for seo, edit and publish.

Now that you’ve come up with ideas, you’re ready to dive into the writing. Let’s go over how to write a blog post from start to finish:

Finding the right keywords is crucial for getting people to read your posts. By targeting certain phrases with your article, you increase the chances of your blog appearing on search results pages for those queries.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to share a carrot cake recipe in your blog. You’ll want to target keywords such as:

Carrot cake

Carrot cake recipe

Best carrot cake recipe

How to make carrot cake

Depending on your topic, some keywords may be more obvious than others. You can refine your keywords using free keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner or you can use more robust paid options like SEMrush or Ahrefs .

Next, you’ll need to strategically target your selected keywords throughout your article. This means two things: First, you’ll need to sprinkle those phrases throughout your post (but try to do so as organically as possible—no one likes unnatural keyword stuffing). Second, you should structure your article based on the format you see in the top 10 search results for those keywords (you can also reference these results when deciding how long should a blog post be ).

Let’s say, for example, that you want to write an article about your favorite carrot cake recipe. Start by checking your competitors—the top 10 search results on Google for the keyword “carrot cake recipe.”

When you type that phrase into the search engine, you’ll notice that the top results are written as numbered steps, rather than as a story. You can therefore assume that most readers prefer the list format for these types of posts. In order to provide valuable content to your readers—and to rank high on Google as a result—you’ll want your own post to assume a similar format.

Likewise, you’ll want to touch on all the main points covered by your competitors. This doesn’t mean you can’t be be creative. It’s just to say that in addition to sharing your own original insights, you should cover all the bases.

To continue with our example, let’s assume that when you look up “carrot cake recipe,” the top search results include a section about how to make cream cheese frosting. This is an indicator that many readers find this content helpful. In addition, it shows that Google has a preference for articles including that detail. You’d be wise, then, to touch on this idea in your own article.

Keyword research gives you an idea of the best format for your blog post, as well as which sections to include. This naturally segues into the outline stage of the writing process.

First, choose which type of blog post you’d like to write. Will it be a how-to guide? A product recommendation? An op-ed? Whichever blog post template you choose, you’ll want to have a clear idea in mind before structuring the outline.

Then, use headers and subheaders to break up your content into organized, bite-sized chunks. Beneath each heading, make bulleted notes of the main points you’ll include in each section. This will be the skeleton of your first blog post.

Feel free to use this downloadable blog post template to help with your outline. All you need to do is fill in the blanks:

The next part of starting a blog article is coming up with a strong title. You can come up with your blog titles at any stage of the planning process, but the best ideas often arise as you build your outline.

A blog title is a small but mighty piece of content. Often, it makes the difference between whether or not people click on your article.

To make your blog titles catchy and compelling, put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Think about what might interest and excite them, and try the following strategies:

Be clear and direct

Promise value

Appeal to your readers’ emotions

Pique their curiosity

Use humor, alliteration or wordplay

Here are a few fill-in-the-blank blog title ideas to help you:

Here’s more information on how to write a headline that stands out. If you’re curious about diving more into what makes a headline a success, Buzzsumo’s shared headlines study is also an insightful resource.

Now, it’s time to start typing away. Keep in mind that you’ll need an introduction, body text broken up by headers and sub-headers, and a conclusion (optional).

In the introduction, grab your audience’s attention with a captivating anecdote, a compelling quote or statistic, or an interesting fact. Then, share a brief summary of what the article is about, making sure to grab the interest of your readers.

Next, write the body text, using your outline as a guide. This is where you share your knowledge and expertise as a blogger. Be sure to avoid fluff; writing for the sake of writing is one of the biggest blogging mistakes . Instead, make sure each sentence is meaningful, and dive straight into sharing your original insights and actionable tips. You should also use a tone of voice that resonates with your audience, whether it’s funny and casual or serious and formal.

Finally, wrap up the post with a concluding section. While not every blog includes this final bit, it’s a nice way to tie your ideas together and share your closing thoughts.

Keep in mind that writing a blog post can take several hours, and it’s a process that shouldn’t be rushed. Set aside at least half a day to write your first draft.

There are quicker ways to research, plan and create blog content, if you choose to decide with AI content generation tools. There are several to choose from - including Open AI's Chat GPT, Google's BARD and others such as Jasper.ai. Just be sure to heavily edit any AI generated content, be on top of fact checking it's output and don't forget to bring your own voice and style to the content.

Write a blog post with AI

As AI content generators become more popular and as their output improves, considering whether to use AI to write blog posts is a valid question a lot of bloggers are asking themselves. AI content generation can speed up the blog writing process and help you create more, faster. However, in our experience, AI generated content still requires a large degree of human editing, fact checking and injecting of experience into it. So while it might help you create drafts faster, it's not going to be something you can publish fresh from an AI content generator.

However you can use AI for other parts of the blog writing process. You can use it to:

Create blog titles

Write meta titles and descriptions

Structure your blog articles

Help you proofread for grammar and spelling mistakes

As you start your blog, remember that your choice of images can strengthen readers’ overall impression of your article. Whether you add photos, screenshots or illustrations to your articles, they should be functional as well as beautiful. Make sure they convey your main points and highlight important examples in the post.

If you don’t have your own images, begin by browsing free stock photos on the web. Pexels and Unsplash are both popular sites for gathering visual material. While you might eventually want to use photos you take yourself, stock photos are a quick way to get your blog started.

Once you create your content, there are a couple things you’ll need to take care of before hitting Publish. These steps primarily revolve around strategy, from improving your blog SEO to generating conversions through your article. Here’s a quick post-writing checklist to guide you:

Double check your keywords: Quickly search your content (CTRL+F) to review your use of keywords. Did you include all the keywords you intended to? If not, check to see whether there are any other opportunities to incorporate the keywords throughout your article. (Keep in mind that keyword stuffing is considered a bad practice, and search engines can penalize you for it. Incorporate them naturally into the text, rather than forcing them in.)

Add internal links: One trick up every bloggers’ sleeve is to link between their blog posts (also known as the practice of internal linking). This helps improve your posts’ SEO, and it also encourages your readers to browse your other articles. Rather than linking randomly, you should link between primarily related blog posts; this is better for SEO, and it also makes the links more valuable to your readers. If you’re just starting a blog and don’t have much content yet, don’t forget to go back into your posts and add in the links later.

Incorporate CTAs: The next trick in the book is to include calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout the article. These little snippets of content often take the form of phrases such as Buy Now, Subscribe, or Read More. By placing call-to-action buttons in your article, you can direct readers to buy your products, subscribe to your newsletter, or click for further reading.

Use alt text: Because Google can’t read photos, bloggers often add a short description to each image (ideally using keywords) to help the search engine understand what is being displayed. This description, called alt text, helps your images show up in Google image searches.

Write your post’s metadata: Metadata is the term for the text used to display a web page in Google search results. This includes the meta title (also known as the title tag) and meta description. Sometimes, the meta title is the same as the title of your blog post, while other times, you’ll want to choose a slightly different title for displaying your post. There’s no right or wrong here, so long as your title is engaging and includes your most important keyword. The meta description, which is the short snippet of text beneath the meta title, should also include your main keywords and should preview the article’s main points.

Choose your URL: Every webpage has a dedicated URL, and your blog posts are no different. A strong URL helps your articles rank high on search engine results pages, and typically contains a keyword. Blog post URLs often take the form of www.yourdomainname.com/blog-post-keyword or www.yourdomainname.com/blog/blog-post-keyword .

You now have everything you need for your first blog post. Give it a couple reads, and share it with family members or friends to review. It’s always helpful to have a second, third, or fourth pair of eyes.

When you think your article is ready to go, upload it to your blog. Your blogging platform will also have a place for you to type in the metadata and URL. Once that’s done, hit Publish and let the celebrations begin.

08. Create an editorial calendar

Whew! You’ve just written your first blog post. Take a break, and when you’re ready, plan out the rest of the month’s posting schedule.

Creating an editorial calendar is an important part of starting a blog. It’s an effective way to ensure you publish content consistently, letting you hold yourself accountable as a writer and ensuring you don’t deviate from your blogging goals. Your readers want new content, and you need to deliver. Plus, search engines take into account how frequently you publish when determining your site’s overall ranking.

You probably already have a handful of topics from your brainstorming session in Step 6. If not, use the same process to come up with new ideas. Once you have at least 10 or so ideas, start building a content calendar.

Your calendar doesn’t need to cost a thing, and it certainly doesn’t require the use of unfamiliar tools or platforms. Open up Excel or Google Sheets, and start building a schedule from there. The columns you use are completely up to you, but you’ll probably want to create different sections for the publishing date, blog title, main keywords, article status and comments.

Pro tip: If you know you’re prone to procrastination (aren't we all?), open up a Google Calendar and fill in your deadlines there. You can even set aside blocks of time in your calendar for writing.

How often should you blog?

When learning how to start a blog, a big question people ask is how often they should be publishing new content. As a rule of thumb, the more often you blog, the more traffic you get. There’s no black-or-white answer for exactly how frequently that is, but studies have pointed us to a few important statistics :

11 or more posts per month yields a noticeable increase in traffic. Among small companies of 10 or fewer employees, those who published at least 11 blog posts a month had twice as much traffic as those who published two to five blogs a month.

Small companies also found that publishing at least 11 posts per month yields twice as many leads as those publishing six to 10 monthly articles. This is important if your goal is to obtain subscribers, sell products or work as an affiliate (more on that in Step 10).

How often you blog also depends on your goals . If your main goal is to generate brand awareness, start with one to two new posts per week. On the other hand, if you’re primarily aiming to increase blog traffic , you should ideally be writing three to four new posts per week.

Keep all this in mind as you create your editorial calendar, but make your goals small and achievable. If you set unrealistic deadlines that you can’t meet, you’ll get thrown off course and even discouraged.

You can always ramp up your efforts once you get used to publishing and make it a habit to stick to your schedule. In addition, remember that you can always bring in guest contributors to up the quantity of published content each week.

09. Promote your blog

Share on social media

Create a blog newsletter

Write for other sites

Reach out to an existing community

Participate in question and discussion sites

Invest in paid ads

Try new content formats

At this stage, you have everything you need to start a blog. These last couple of steps will focus on how to spread the word about your blog and grow it into a serious monetization tool.

In order to get readers, you’ll need to find creative ways to drive traffic to your site. While improving your SEO is an important step, the following methods can also help you promote your blog . Note that most of them are completely free, while a few (like advertising) are paid.

Share on social media: Social media is an excellent place to post your content and draw attention to your blog. Whether you promote your blog on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, it’s a great way to reach new readers. Learn more about blogging vs instagram in our guide.

Create a blog newsletter: Send out a weekly email newsletter to engage your readers and get them coming back to your blog for more. This will help you sustain a loyal fan base. To get subscribers to your blog email list in the first place, include a prominent Subscribe button in your website’s navigation bar, footer, and within your blog posts.

Write for other sites: Strengthen your reputation as a writer and expert in your niche by publishing content outside your own website. Consider opening a Medium account and making a name for yourself there, or post articles on LinkedIn . You should also keep an eye out for guest blogging opportunities, which are offered by publications such as Forbes and Entrepreneur .

Reach out to an existing community: Facebook groups, forums and LinkedIn groups are gathering places for people interested in a particular topic. If you find an online community that’s relevant to your blog niche, share your website with them and network among their group members.

Participate in question and discussion sites: Sites such as Quora and Reddit give you the opportunity to highlight your blog in discussion threads. Use one of your blog posts to answer a question or follow up on a comment, but be sure to come across as helpful and informative rather than promotional.

Invest in paid ads: In addition to sharing posts on social media, you can boost your posts with a paid promotion so that they reach more people. Likewise, you can pay for Google ads and reach new users through the search engine.

Try new content formats: Expand your reach even further by trying new content formats. These essentially repurpose the same information provided in your posts. For instance, you can turn your blog posts into videos and start a YouTube channel. You might even create a podcast or offer a webinar. The sky's the limit.

Learn more: Blogging vs Youtube

10. Make money blogging

Affiliate marketing

Advertise within your blog

Offer paid subscriptions

Write sponsored content

Sell e-books and merchandise

Provide consulting services

If you’re looking to start a blog with a large readership, chances are you’re also aiming to make money from your blog’s popularity. We touched on affiliate marketing earlier in the article, but let’s talk more about this and other money-making strategies that can help you generate passive income from your writing efforts.

There are more ways than one to make money blogging . Here’s a quick overview of each method:

Affiliate marketing: This is one of the most common ways to make money blogging, and it’s easy to get started. Intermediate affiliates can earn between $300 to $3,000 per day , and that number only goes up with experience. There are plenty of affiliate marketing programs out there, but Amazon Associates is a popular choice for beginners.

Advertising within your blog: Another option is to display ads within your blog, which means you’re essentially selling your blog real estate as ad space. This is a fairly reliable way to make money, as you’ll be earning revenue with each click. If you’re thinking of taking this route, Google AdSense is by far one of the most lucrative and popular programs.

Offering paid subscriptions: You know how the New York Times makes you pay to read their content? You can do the same thing with your blog. While some of your articles should be free, you can also create exclusive content that readers can buy access to through a subscription plan.

Write sponsored content: Reach out to companies—or, as you blog grows, make it easy for brands to contact you—regarding sponsorship opportunities. You’ll be writing articles that promote those companies’ products, and the business, in turn, will compensate you for the posts.

Sell e-books and merchandise: You can also sell digital or physical goods directly from your site. This might include branded merchandise, products related to your field, or e-books and other online resources. One way to do this is by adding a Pay button to your homepage that your readers can click to browse your merchandise.

Provide consulting services: This approach involves making use of your professional experience and harnessing the knowledge you’ve gained as a professional blogger. Based on your insights and expertise, think about the kinds of consulting services you might be able to offer to your clients. If you’re writing a nutrition blog, one such idea could be making customized diet plans or working as a nutrition coach for clients.

For further details, take a look at this article on how to monetize a blog or check out the Wix Learn online course on monetizing your blog.

5 reasons to start a blog and is it worth it

People start blogs for a variety of reasons, many of which mean blogging is still worth it, some of these reasons include:

01. Share your ideas with the world

Sometimes you just want to be heard and get your ideas out into the universe. This is where a blog can help—it’s a form of communication and space that’s entirely your own. You can use your creativity and passion to create a space customized exactly to your liking where you can share your ideas, expertise and experiences.

02. Promote a product or service

Blogging for business  is a great way to engage potential customers and provide more information about a product or service. Additionally, blogging does wonders for a website's SEO.

03. Build your brand

A blog provides a platform to showcase your knowledge and skills, establishing yourself as an authority in your field and building credibility and trust with your audience. As Ophyr Hanan, Blog Growth and SEO Outreach Specialist at Wix, says, "By fostering relationships and collaborating on content, it can help build the foundation for thought leadership and authority building both for you and within your industry."

04. Earn income

Blogging can be profitable with time and continued effort. The best way to see the monetary fruits of your labor is by posting quality content regularly that draws in new readers and brings more traffic to your website. This will help your blog gain advertisers and can also boost your status as an online influencer, which can open up the door for affiliate marketing.

05. Build a community

Thanks to the internet, we no longer need to live in the same city, state or even country to feel connected to others. A blog, as part of a wider blogosphere  community, creates a space to share your story, ideas and start conversations with people all over the world with mutual interests. A blog typically has a comments section where your readers can speak with you directly, allowing you to engage in conversation and build relationships.

Is it too late to start a blog?

Blogging is crucial to build your brand's voice and community, and allows you to expand your reach to a relevant audience who might otherwise not know you exist.

Judit Ruiz Ricart, Team Lead of Blog Growth at Wix

Blogs are still a popular and effective way to share your thoughts, ideas and expertise with the world. In fact, blogging is one of the most popular forms of content marketing. It can also be a great way to build a community and connect with other people who share your interests.

Remember that the internet is still growing, with more and more people using it every day. This means that there's a large and growing potential audience for your blog, too. While there are many blogs out there, there's always room for new voices and perspectives. If you have something unique to share, people will be interested in reading it. And the best part is that there are many tools and platforms that make it easy to create and manage a blog.

There are a number of reasons why blogging is still relevant, including:

Search engines love blogs

Blogs are a great way to improve your website's SEO and rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is because blogs provide fresh, high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience.

Blogs build authority

When you write informative and engaging blog posts, you establish yourself as an expert in your field. This can help you attract new customers and clients, and build trust with your existing audience.

Blogs build connections

Blogs provide a platform for you to share your thoughts and ideas and to connect with other people who share your interests. This can help you build a community around your brand. This is especially true of service industries, fitness blogs for example are a great way to build a loyal health focused audience and the same is true for almost every industry.

Blogs generate leads and sales

When you write blog posts that are relevant to your target audience, you can include calls to action that encourage them to learn more about your products or services, or to contact you for a consultation.

The blogging landscape has changed in recent years, the space is more competitive as more blogs exist and competition for audience numbers grows. Hand in hand with this social media and video have become more popular ways to consume content, especially amongst younger audiences. However amongst all of this blogs still play an important role in the content marketing mix.

Blogging resources - how to become a blogger

As you learn how to create a blog and become a blogger, browse these blogging resources to help guide you through the writing process, SEO and more:

Blog post checklist : Check off these steps to ensure you’ve covered all the bases with your first blog post.

Blogging for beginners : Read through these additional tips on how to start your blog from scratch.

Free online writing courses (Udemy) : Browse Udemy for professional writing courses that will help you develop your blogging skills.

Free SEO tutorial (Moz) : Learn the basics of SEO with this free six-part video course.

Blogging tools

Finally, online tools are a big part of launching a blog, since they make the process more streamlined and efficient. Here’s a quick list of some helpful blogging tools you can use to start a blog—don’t forget to bookmark them for future reference:

Google Keyword Planner : Get data about which keywords to use in your blog posts.

Google Analytics : Obtain insights into your blog’s data to strengthen its performance.

Google Search Console : Have a clear view of the number of website visitors and clicks your blog receives.

ShareThrough’s headline analyzer : Type in your headline and get feedback on its strengths and weaknesses.

Pexels : Find free stock photos for your blog articles.

Grammarly : Review your writing with an AI editing tool.

BuzzSumo : Keep track of trending content to create relevant, targeted posts.

Asana : Manage your writing schedule with an online task management tool.

How to start a blog infographic

That's all there is to it. Let's wrap up with a quick infographic:

At this point, you have all the tools and resources you need for starting a blog. You couldn't have found a more rewarding endeavor, and I couldn't be more honored to help you get your blog off the ground. Feel free to bookmark this guide as a reference as you begin this new journey, and happy blogging.

Start a blog FAQ

How can i start a blog for free.

First of all you'll need to choose a blogging platform with free user options. With Wix, for example, you can create a blog for free. You can also save money when starting a blog by writing all of your content yourself and by using as many free content planning and keyword research tools as possible. You can also use stock images included within the template or editor of your blogging platform for free in most cases.

How do I make a successful blog?

Is blogging still worth it in 2024, how to make a blogging website, how do bloggers get paid, can you start a blog as a side hustle, how to write a blog post with ai, do blogs make money, how do i start a blog with no money, related posts.

How to write catchy blog titles: 12 tips and examples

120 profitable blog niche ideas and how to pick the right one

How to make money blogging: the complete free guide

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How to write a great technical blog post

Five steps to get from idea to polished result

I’ve been working in the open source community for almost 5 years now, building and promoting developer tools including Meteor and Apollo . In that time, I’ve found that blogging is one of the most effective ways to spread ideas.

A blog post doesn’t take as long to prepare as a video or conference talk, but is easy to consume and can reach a ton of people. I’ve also personally gotten a ton of benefit out of writing: it has helped me organize my thoughts, teach people about technologies I love, and get my name out there.

Since publishing my first blog post ever in 2014, I’ve ended up writing 68 posts so far here on Medium, some with over 50k views and 1000 fans, and edited many posts for my friends and coworkers. Over that time, I’ve picked up a few strategies for taking a post from concept to publication.

In this article, we’ll go over five main steps of my process for writing a post:

• Find a good topic and commit to it
• Make your goals and audience specific
• Have a beginning, middle, and end
• Get feedback and iterate
• Add finishing touches: packaging, publication, and promotion

Let’s get right into the first step!

1. Find a good topic and commit to it

You can’t get started on a post unless you have something to write about! When I talk to people who want to start blogging, this is often their main blocker.

The simplest strategy is to write about what you know. If you spent many hours learning about something, and you think you could explain it in just a few minutes, you’re going to provide a lot of value to your readers.

Another idea is to write about an area you think is lacking content. For example, right now there aren’t a lot of posts about how to apply to technical conferences, so content about that could fill a gap in the community.

Here are some specific types of posts you could go for. Examples are from the GraphQL-related posts on the Apollo blog:

• A step-by-step guide to achieving a specific goal: “Building a great scrollable list in React Native with FlatList” or “Simplify your React components with Apollo and Recompose” . These are great for readers that are looking to get in, do a thing, and get out fast.
• An in-depth survey on a particular topic: “Using nullability in GraphQL” or “Anatomy of a GraphQL query” . These are useful if you’re targeting a more interested audience that wants to grab a cup of coffee and learn a ton.
• A numbered list of useful facts around a common topic: “4 simple ways to call a GraphQL API” or “5 benefits of static GraphQL queries” . These are a fun, lightweight read since you don’t have to commit to reading the whole thing, and it’s easy to consume the bite-sized pieces.

Now, let me dispel a few common concerns:

• There is already content out there about this topic. Don’t let that stop you. Even if your idea has been written about before, you can put your own perspective on it, or make it specific to your situation.
• My idea isn’t interesting enough. A lot of my friends and coworkers don’t end up writing because they are worried their conclusions might be boring or obvious. That’s a normal feeling! If you’re an expert on something, then of course the conclusions you’re writing about will be boring… to you . The key is that people in your audience don’t know that stuff yet.

Having said all that, at the end of the day, it’s hard to predict what topics will make a great post and which ones won’t, and often it’s the execution that makes or breaks a post, not a brilliant topic. My main suggestion would be to try writing about several different things and see what works.

2. Make your goals and audience specific

Now that you know your topic, you need an audience and goal for your post. Who will be reading it, and what are they going to get out of it?

Your goal needs to be specific so that you can focus all of your energy on one main idea. For this post, the goal couldn’t have just been “write about blogging”. I needed a more specific goal in mind:

• Audience: People who want to start blogging, especially about technical topics, but haven’t done it yet.
• Goal: Give people a concrete set of steps and pointers so they can get started.

Once you have these, keep your post focused by removing anything that doesn’t contribute, and avoid adding extra detail just because it’s related. I’ve found that relatively concise posts with a 5 - 10 minute read time are the most successful.

Knowing the background of your audience will allow you to tailor your writing to their existing knowledge, and can help determine how you should publish and promote your content. For example, I hope to publish this on freeCodeCamp, because a lot of people in my target audience might already read that publication.

3. Have a beginning, middle, and end

It’s disorienting when a post veers off in a direction you weren’t expecting. Plot twists can be a big benefit in fictional short stories, but it’s easier to consume a technical article if you get exactly what you expect. You can keep your readers on track by giving your post a comfortable structure.

Introduction

The first paragraph or two of your post will either convince the reader to stay on or lose their attention. Start off with a little bit of context to help people understand where your post fits into the big picture. Then, tell your audience what they will get out of reading your article. It might be tempting to leave the big reveal for the end, but watch out: if you don’t have a good hook, your readers won’t stick around to find out.

Now that you’ve told your readers what to expect, give it to them! Feel free to go into as much detail as you need, and leave sign-posts along the way to orient people. Use a lot of headings, numbered lists, and formatting to help people understand where they are, and enable them to skip around to the content they are most interested in.

Don’t just taper off into the void at the end of the article. If your reader has made it all the way there, they really care. Give them a quick summary of what they learned, a pat on the back for reading, and maybe even something to do next if they’re inspired - a call to action.

The format I’m suggesting here isn’t the most creative, and there are certainly other ways of doing it. But a simple structure is the most direct way to communicate with your readers.

4. Get feedback and iterate

You won’t know what people are going to get from your writing until they read it. This is where your assumptions about your topic, goals, the details of the post, and the structure are really put to the test. If you want to have a good result, you can’t skip this step.

It might feel like you’re imposing when you ask for feedback, or you might be worried that it will be negative, but people are more willing to help than you expect. It’s much better to find out how your post could be better before you publish it to the world. When I was putting together this post, I got some super valuable feedback that made the content much better and more focused.

What should you ask your reviewers? My main advice is to leave it as open-ended as possible. Try not to explain up front what you meant to achieve. Hand over the draft as-is, and ask your reviewer what they got out of it or what should be changed. When someone on the Internet comes across your article, they won’t have any extra context and it has to stand on its own.

The main thing to validate from the feedback is: will this post achieve the goals you decided on in step 2? Iterate until you’re confident it will.

5. Add finishing touches: packaging, publication, and promotion

Now that you have the idea, the goal, the structure, and some feedback, it’s time to polish everything up and ship it.

Come up with a great title and subtitle, and make sure your post has at least one image. This is what people will see when the post is shared on Twitter or Facebook, and it’s your chance to get people interested in reading.

It’s also important that your post looks and feels professional, so that your content can really shine. You should aim to have no spelling errors, grammar mistakes, or weird formatting in your post. If you have a friend that is great at spotting small details, ask them to read it over before publishing.

The freeCodeCamp article about getting published also has some great tips about writing style and formatting. Since you’ve already put so much work into your post, it’s worth it to add that little extra effort to really polish it up and give it a wider reach.

Finally, make sure to credit anyone whose work you referenced, or who helped review and edit your post.

Publication

You’re almost there! Pick where you actually publish the post so that it has the best chance of reaching your audience. Medium is generally a great place for technical content, and makes it easy for people to discover your writing.

For bonus points, try to get your post into a relevant publication that will help share your content - in this case, I’ve selected freeCodeCamp because I think this advice will be relevant to their readers. If you’d like to do the same, here are their directions for submitting your post . Publications in your areas of interest are likely also looking for posts, so don’t be afraid to get in touch!

Once you’ve actually published the post, you’re not done! If you want people to see what you’ve written and get value out of it, make sure to share it in the places where your audience is likely to hang out. This might include Facebook groups, Reddit, Hacker News, LinkedIn, or any other platform. Also, make sure to share your creation on your own social media accounts, like Twitter. Your friends will be excited to read, share, and upvote what you’ve written!

And now, you’re done. Go get a coffee or take a walk - taking a blog post from start to finish is no small feat. Read any feedback and replies from the the community so that you can keep improving. And when you have another idea, go do it again!

There’s no replacement for practice

We just walked through five of the most important things to do when writing a blog post, from coming up with the idea to publishing. Now that you’ve read it, you try applying this advice and see what works for you.

I’ll leave you with one last bit of advice. The main thing I learned from blogging over the last 3 years is that I absolutely can’t predict what content will take off and what will end up being a total dud. Sometimes, I’ll put several days into a post, polishing every corner, and it won’t go anywhere. On the other hand, “GraphQL vs. REST” , my most-read post ever, was written in a few hours late at night.

So even if your first, or second, or third posts don’t succeed, keep trying new stuff, putting your ideas out there, and improving over time. The world wants to hear what you’ve got to say. Go tell them!

Huge thanks to Anvisha Pai , Angela Zhang , Katie Siegel , and the freeCodeCamp editors for helping review this post.

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How to start a blog: a complete guide for beginners

This is everything you'll need to start your own blog

Creating blogging sites can be a lot of fun, and it can also be an excellent way to express yourself and increase your online presence, connect with your desired audience, and at the same time, be an additional source of revenue.

In this guide, I will walk you through starting a blog from scratch. I'll cover everything from finding a niche, choosing a domain name, setting up your blog's design, and monetizing your blog.

By the end of this article, you'll have everything you need to launch your successful blog.

What is a blog?

A blog is a website or portion of a website where an individual or organization writes about topics that interest them. A blog can be focused on one particular topic, such as politics, or it can be a collection of the writer's thoughts and experiences on many different subjects. 

Blogs are usually updated frequently, and some even offer readers the ability to subscribe to updates via RSS feed or email. Many blogs also allow readers to leave comments on posts, which can create a community feel. 

Why should you start a blog?

There are many reasons to start a blog, but here are some of the most important ones:

Blogging can help you find your voice 

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If you’ve ever felt like you have something to say but don’t know how to say it, starting a blog can be a great way to get your thoughts out there. You can use your blog to share your opinions on current events, write about your hobbies and interests, or even just document your day-to-day life.

This is probably the most important reason to start a blog : even if you don’t gain much recognition or money, you can at least share your ideas and (hopefully) inspire others.

Blogging can help you connect with others 

Whether you’re looking to make new friends who share your interests or want to build a community around your blog, blogging can be a great way to connect with people from all over the world.

Blogging can help you improve your writing 

The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. And since a blog gives you a platform to practice your writing regularly, it can be a great way to improve your skills.

Even if you write regularly as part of your day job, the skills you learn from blog writing are valuable. Blog readers tend to prefer text that’s punchy and broken up into smaller paragraphs, ideally with images and infographics. You’ll also learn to optimize your text for SEO (see below). 

These skills are easily transferable to the workplace, where business jargon and long-winded e-mails are all too common. 

Blogging can help you make money 

While it takes time and effort to build up a successful blog, there are plenty of ways to monetize your site once you’ve built up a following. You could sell advertising space on your blog, promote affiliate products, or even create and sell your products.

If you can drive enough traffic to your blog, then you may even gain ‘influencer’ status and be paid by companies to review the products or services.

If you’re considering doing this for your own business though, having a blog on your company’s main website can really boost it’s SEO ratings (see below).

Blogging can help you boost your career 

If you’re looking to advance in your career or change careers altogether, starting a blog can help you get your foot in the door. By sharing your expert knowledge and insights on your blog, you can position yourself as an authority in your field and make yourself more attractive to potential employers.

Blogging myths 

Before you begin, let’s debunk a couple of common blogging myths.

Starting a blog doesn’t require you to be an absolute expert or a skilled technical writer. After all, if readers want a dry shopping list of facts they can just read manuals or technical descriptions on websites. This is the difference between telling people about your favorite chocolate chip cookie and just telling them to read the ingredients on the back of a box. 

People read blogs precisely because they want a personal perspective on things. If you have an authentic voice people will trust your opinion of a nearby restaurant, or the latest video game or any other number of topics, even if you don’t write like Shakespeare. 

While we’re on the subject of topics, you also don’t necessarily have to be an absolute expert in your blog topic. It can helpful finding a niche (see below) as it will help your blog stand out. 

Still, some bloggers do post on a variety of different topics, or have a topic area that’s so large they inevitably talk about different subjects. For instance, one of the all-time most popular blogs Life Hack broadly focuses on ways to improve your productivity but the contains multiple sub-categories like diet, exercise, focus, parenting and so on.  

Step-by-step guide to starting a blog

There are two main reasons why people start a blog; to share their thoughts and passion and to make passive income. Whichever it is, there are steps you need to follow in order to have a successful blog site.  

1. Choose a niche 

The first thing to starting a blog is brainstorming for a niche. Here, you need to choose a niche you have a passion for. 

This first step is very important because choosing the wrong niche may mar your blogging journey. So you must choose a niche familiar to you. When choosing a niche, It is recommended to do a little research before making a final decision.

• What kind of bloggers do you follow?
• What subjects are you an expert in? If a person comes to you for help, what is it usually for?
• What kind of blog content is lacking in the industry you’re passionate about? How can you fill in the gap?

If you can’t answer all these questions yet, don’t be discouraged. Get started anyway.

As we’ve discussed, some bloggers don’t have a specific niche but talk about all kinds of subjects. Sometimes there are plenty of blogs on a certain topic but as a blogger you can make yours stand out through how engaged you are.

If you set up a Wordpress blog and find your niche is too narrow or want to write about something else, you can rename it later. If you’ve bought a domain name, you can’t change this but you can buy another with a new name (see below).

If you’ve chosen your topic but are still stuck on a name, Wix has a great blog name generator . 

2. Choosing a blogging platform 

The next step is choosing a platform to build your blog with. For this, we recommend using WordPress.org . It’s a content management system ( CMS ) with robust blogging tools and a vast collection of plugins that can help you customize the site.

Using a CMS requires a web hosting service to get the blog up and running. Here’s a list of top web hosts to launch a self-hosted WordPress blog with:

• Hostinger - This hosting company offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a beginner-friendly control panel, starting from $2.99/month. Our Hostinger review  shows the pros and cons of their hosting plans, service, server performance, and customer support. One of the main perks of Hostinger is they have Wordpress-specific plans.
• Bluehost -  A web hosting provider with great site performance and a one-click button to install WordPress. The prices start from $3.99/month. Bluehost actually caters to around two third of all online blogs. Read our Bluehost review  for more information.
• HostGator - A web host offering unmetered bandwidth with all of its shared hosting plans, which start from $2.75/month along with a 45-day money-back guarantee. Check out our full HostGator review  to read up on its other benefits .

Alternatively, you can use blogging sites like Blogger. This type of platform already comes equipped with blog hosting, so you won’t have to make a separate purchase.

WordPress also comes in a hosted version in the form of WordPress.com . It allows you to blog for free, although the selection of tools is not nearly as extensive.

If you’re certain that you want to use this blog for a business or know you’ll need extra features, you should consider getting a paid plan and domain name immediately. 

Otherwise consider hosting with a free service like Blogger or Wordpress : you won’t necessarily generate as much income but you can get a feel for what blogging is like. You can also switch to a paid plan and custom domain at any time. 

3. Get a domain name 

Once you have chosen and set up your blogging platform, the next step is to get a domain name for your blog. 

A domain name is like the address of your blog on the internet. It makes it easier for people to find your site. It is important to use a domain name that is relatable to your niche as this makes your blog more SEO-friendly. Once you have chosen a domain name, you can buy it from domain registrars such as GoDaddy , Hostinger , HostGator , or Namecheap .

Unlike your Blog name, once registered a domain name can’t be changed, so consider what you want to call it carefully. Ideally it should match your blog name.

When you visit most hosting sites you can type in your chosen name and they can automatically if it’s available.

If your chosen domain name isn’t available, your host may offer you the chance to buy it if it’s for sale, or register using a different TLD (Top Level Domain). For instance www.sarahjanesrecipes.com may be taken but www.sarahjanes.recipes might still be available.

When you register your domain by default your name, address and e-mail are listed in a public WHOIS database. Some hosting providers offer you the option to use their details instead, so your personal information remains private : for instance BlueHost’s “Choice Plus” plan starts at just $5.49 per month with free domain privacy.

4. Pick a blog theme

When designing your blog, start by choosing a theme. It should be responsive and have all the features needed to function correctly. At the same time, the theme should help readers navigate between the articles easily.

If you use a hosted blogging platform, the themes usually come provided on their website.

For WordPress users, free blog themes are available in the official directory . 

Third-party marketplaces like ThemeForest and TemplateMonster also offer premium WordPress themes . They usually come with perks like regular updates and customer support.

If you’re still not sure which to choose, first apply some common sense. A green, leafy theme is much more suitable for a blog promoting herbal medicines than one providing investment advice. 

Remember you can return here and change your blog’s theme at any time. It’s best to get this right before your blog goes “live” though, so as not to confuse readers.

5. Customize your blog

It’s time to customize your chosen theme. Here’s what you can do when modifying a blog:

Create the website pages 

Depending on your preferences, the homepage can double as the blog page, though many bloggers separate the two. Other than that, you need a Contact page, About page, and separate pages for the blog post categories. 

You can do this either by clicking “Posts” in the left-hand column and creating a new “static” post or choosing from the ready-made pages in your blog template.

Readers may well go to your “About Me” page before they start reading your blog. Make sure to include your reasons for starting and writing this blog. Tell them what drives you. 

For “Contact” it’s best to put a contact form instead of an e-mail address. This stops your address from being harvested by web crawlers and subjected to spam. The exception to this is you’re running a business, as you may want to put your contact telephone number and physical address here. 

Set up a navigation bar 

This should be visible on top of the header and accessible across all pages. Only include links most relevant to readers’ interests to avoid cluttering the menu.

If there’s no navigation bar already built-in to your Wordpress template, you can add by going to Appearance > Menus from the main dashboard. Depending on your chosen theme, you’ll then be asked to name the menu and can choose where to place it : we recommend the “very top” bar to make your blog easy to navigate.

Upload a logo 

A good logo can set you apart from similar blogs and increase brand recognition. Many logo generators can come up with a high-quality design using some premade icons and AI  assistance.

Customize the colors and fonts 

Ensure these represent your brand’s visual identity. Most importantly they should go with your chosen theme. 

Unless you have a very good reason to do otherwise though, stick to using white text on a black background. This is by far the easiest kind to read. 

Add a sidebar 

The sidebar space next to the main content area intended for displaying a short bio, social media handles, or call-to-action buttons, or even subject categories within your blog. 

As with your navigation bar, your chosen Wordpress blog design may come with a sidebar pre-loaded. If not go to Appearance > Customizer. You should see “SideBar” as an available “Widget”. 

Enable/Disable Comments

By default anyone can comment on your blog posts. This leaves your blog open to abuse and spam. Fortunately these can be switched off very easily. Just open the Wordpress Dashboard and go to Settings > Discussion and uncheck “Allow People to Post Comments on New Articles.”

If you do this, remember you can always include a “call to action” with each post to encourage people to send an e-mail or make a video if they want to engage with your posts. 

6. Add any necessary extensions or plugins

In CMSs and blogging platforms, extensions are add-ons users can install to enable custom additional functionality on a website. In WordPress, they’re called plugins.

A blog usually requires the following types of extensions or WordPress plugins :

• SEO - A popular example is Yoast SEO , which can guide WordPress users on optimizing blog content for search engines.
• Contact form - Enable readers to communicate with you via a fillable web-based form. WPForms is a well-known plugin in this category.
• Spam protection - Blogs are a prime target for spam comments, which can hurt your reputation and web user experience. Prevent this from happening with Akismet .
• Malware protection - Blogs can be targeted by malware, especially if strangers can add links. Use an anti-malware plugin like Bulletproof Security to protect against this 
• Speed optimization - The longer your website loads, the less likely visitors are to stay and explore its content. WP Rocket can solve this problem by enabling website cache.
• Analytics - one of the most popular plugins to view your blog stats Google in a single place is Monster Insights . 
• Also take a look at our best WordPress themes for blogs guide

7. Create a content strategy

One way to ensure your blog posts remain relevant and interesting to readers is with a solid content strategy. Here’s a guide to creating one:

• Set realistic and measurable goals - Pick a specific and achievable objective you expect to accomplish. An example of this is to accumulate a thousand readers by the end of the month.
• Define your ideal readers - Knowing your target audience can determine the type of blog posts to publish and the kind of writing style to adopt.
• Conduct keyword research - Find out your target audience’s interests using tools like Answer the Public or Google Trends . From there, select the terms that have the most potential to become blog posts.
• Set up a blog editorial calendar - Create a schedule to write and publish the blog posts. Some bloggers prefer to make many drafts in advance and post them one at a time throughout the month.

8. Learn about SEO

SEO is short for search engine optimization, which is a collection of practices that aims to make a web page rank better on search engines. That way, the website can gain more exposure and organic traffic.

If you’re a beginner, there are tons of SEO resources to learn from. For example, Google’s SEO starter guide and Ahrefs' SEO basics guide  are great places to start.

Installing some SEO tools can also make it easier to strategize your content for search engines. If you prefer using free software, Ahrefs has a free version and is an excellent choice. It can help with both keyword research and competitor analysis.

When it comes to drafting SEO-optimized content, there are strategies First, you need to do keyword research. This is to ascertain the core metrics of the keyword you intend to rank for in search engines. Second, you need to draft a format for writing your content. Here, it is very crucial to remember the role of SEO-optimized blog posts. You need to know how to use keywords to make your content search engine friendly.

After writing your content, it is time to employ SEO practices to help it rank on the first page of Google . You need to optimize the title of your content for search engines. Also, you need to make sure your keywords are included in your content's meta tags and descriptions. The next important aspect of SEO you need to pay attention to is link building: both internal and external linking. For internal inbound links, ensure all pages/articles on your blog are interlinked to each other.

You also need to sign up for analytics tools. You can sign up for the Google search console on search.google.com/search-console/ or bing .com/webmasters/ to connect your blog.

• Check out the best onpage SEO tools

9. Install analytics tools

An analytics tool can track your site’s performance, measure the effectiveness of the content strategy, and locate any web-related issues.

Google Analytics is the go-to choice for bloggers. It’s free and can show a wide range of performance metrics, such as the traffic sources and number of blog posts or pages a person visits in a single session.

You only need a Google account to get started. Then copy and paste the Tracking ID to the site’s code to begin collecting data.

• We've also rounded up the best cloud analytics

10. Set up your email list

An email list is a collection of user-submitted email addresses. In blogging, they're intended for marketing purposes, such as updating readers about new blog posts.

Creating one requires email marketing software . It will enable an opt-in form on your website, where visitors can fill in their name and email address. Additionally, it can automate the email delivery and personalize the message for each subscriber. 

Email lists play a vital role in internet marketing. They can helps you to retain your blog visitors. There are many email marketing services in the market such as MailChimp, MailerLite, etc. You can choose any according to your budget.

11. Publish and promote your blog

With the blog set up, it’s time to write your first blog posts and publish them.

Refer to the topics you’ve selected from the content strategy to decide what article to write about. Focus on making evergreen content , covering informative topics that will always remain relevant to your target audience.

Remember to promote the blog every time you publish a new post. Besides leveraging your email list, establish an online presence in social media networks often used by your readers. Also, take part in community-oriented sites like Quora and Reddit to expand your reach.

12. Collaborate with other blogs

Guest posting on other blogs in your niche offers the chance to broaden exposure and establish credibility. Plus, it’s an excellent way of link building for your blog – which is essential for ranking well on search engines.

To land your first guest posting opportunity, make sure to send an enticing email pitch. Address the recipient by name and make the message personal. Prove that you’ve researched the blog in-depth and mention some articles you like. 

Lastly, attach a draft of the post you want to write about so that the blogger can visualize what the article looks like. Ensure that it follows their submission guidelines and writing style. 

Guest posting is important. It helps you to gain backlinks thereby boosting your blog's SEO and authority. To pitch for a guest post, you need to reach out to authority blogs on your niche. 

There are two types of guest posting; free and paid. Most big blogs now charge for a guest post. To search for a guest posting opportunity, go to google and type Guest post + Keyword.

• Here's our list of the best online collaboration software

How to install WordPress 

When you log in to your cPanel , click on hosting and scroll down to Manage. Now, on the Manage menu, scroll down and click on the website section. Next, on the new window that will appear, click on Auto installer and then select WordPress. Once you click on the WordPress icon, you will be prompted to enter the domain name where you want the WordPress to be installed; here you should enter your domain name and details and click install.

Choose an SEO-friendly and responsive blog theme - After installing WordPress, it's time to choose a theme. To choose a theme, log into your WordPress dashboard, click on Appearance, and click on themes. Here, you will find tons of themes, so you must choose a lightweight theme that is SEO-friendly. To know if a theme is SEO-friendly, you can check reviews about the theme before installing it.

Customizing your blog - Now, it's time to customize your blog. You can start by changing the logo of the theme you have chosen to your logo. You can change the fonts, background images, layouts, etc. It all boils down to your taste and how you want your blog design to be.

Adding extensions for SEO, contact forms, spam protection, and speed optimization. At this stage, you need to install some plugins that will enhance your blog's SEO features. I recommend Yoast or Rank Math plugins for on-page SEO content optimization. Both plugins give you metrics on how to optimise your blog's written content for SEO purposes. For spam protection and speed optimization on your blog, installing LiteSpeed and WordFence plugins is recommended.

When it comes to drafting SEO-optimized content, there are strategies to that. First, you need to do keyword research. This is to ascertain the core metrics of the keyword you intend to rank for in search engines. Second, you need to draft a format for writing your content. Here, it is very crucial to remember the role of SEO-optimized blog posts. You need to know how to use keywords to make your content search engine friendly.

After writing your content, it is time to employ SEO practices to help it rank on the first page of Google. You need to optimize the title of your content for search engines. Also, you need to make sure your keywords are included in your content's meta tags and descriptions. The next important aspect of SEO you need to pay attention to is link building: both internal and external linking. For internal inbound links, ensure all pages/articles on your blog are interlinked to each other.

You also need to sign up for analytics tools. You can sign up for the Google search console on search.google.com/search-console/ or bing.com/webmasters/ to connect your blog.

Next, set up an email list using email marketing software. Email list plays a vital role in internet marketing. It helps you to retain your blog visitors. There are many email marketing software in the market such as MailChimp, MailerLite, etc. You can choose any according to your budget.

After publishing your first blog, it's time to promote. There are two ways you can promote your blog on social media; free and paid. You can join social media forums, groups, or communities that share the same niche as you. For paid promotions, you can run social media ads on any of the popular social sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

When it comes to building a successful blog, the role of guest posting is important. It helps you to gain backlinks thereby boosting your blog's SEO and authority. To pitch for a guest post, you need to reach out to authority blogs on your niche. 

How to monetize your blog

Now that you’re more familiar with blogging, let’s discuss the many ways to make money while doing so. Here are several profitable blog monetization methods: 

• Ad displays - This tactic requires signing up on an advertising network like Google AdSense , which will partner you with brands that want to advertise their business on your website. 
• Affiliate marketing - With this method, you will join affiliate programs to find products to promote on your blog posts. You will earn a commission every time a reader clicks on the affiliate link you’ve provided. 
• Sponsored content - This is a common monetization technique for popular bloggers. Brands will pay them to have their products or services featured on their blog posts, usually in reviews or recommendations. 
• Online courses - If you like teaching, try to monetize your blog with video courses on topics that your readers might have questions about. Besides generating income, it’s also an excellent way to establish your expertise in the field.
• eBooks - Many bloggers use this method to repurpose and combine their existing content into one in-depth file. Besides selling the eBook on the blog, you can also self-publish with Amazon KDP to gain more exposure. 
• Coaching services - This tactic is similar to that of offering online courses – it usually involves personalized mentoring sessions and virtual workshops. 
• Membership plans - If you manage to build strong audience engagement, consider launching a private community where readers can access exclusive content and connect with you more personally. Patreon is the go-to platform for this.

What makes a good blog

There are a few key features that make a good blog. First, a good blog should have interesting, original and useful content. The content should be well-written and well-researched. Additionally, the blog should be updated regularly with new content to keep readers coming back.

Another important aspect of a good blog is interactivity. A good blog will encourage comments and dialogue between the author and readers. This interaction makes the reading experience more enjoyable and helps to create a community around the blog.

Finally, a good blog should be visually appealing. Readers should enjoy looking at the site and finding it easy to navigate. If a blog is difficult to read or navigate, readers will likely move on to another site.

If you’re handy with a camera, you should have no trouble including good quality images to engage readers and break up your text. If not, consider using some high-res stock photos (see below).

If your blog includes videos of you, make sure to buy a decent webcam , as well as  a ring light. 

Tips, tricks and tools to help your blog succeed

To have a successful blog, you need to put in the effort. You need to be consistent with your postings and engage with your audience. By following these simple tips, you can ensure that your blog is attractive to both search engines and readers.

One of the most important things to remember when blogging is to keep your content fresh. This means publishing new articles regularly. If you only post sporadically, readers will quickly lose interest in your site. Likewise, if all of your posts are about the same topic, you’ll start to bore your readers. Mix it up by writing on a variety of topics and including different types of content such as videos or infographics.

Another key to success is promoting your blog through social media and other channels. This will help you reach a wider audience and drive traffic back to your site. Make sure to share each new post on social media and include engaging visuals and catchy headlines. There are plugins (see below) that you can use to automatically crosspost blog pieces to your social media channels. You can also use plugins to make it easier for readers to share your posts to social media themselves. 

You can also use paid advertising to promote your blog posts or guest posting on other sites to get exposure for your site. Some hosting providers such as GoDaddy let you do this automatically via Google’s AdSense. 

If you do this though, you’ll have no control over which specific products or services are advertised. Alternatively you can place your own old-school banner ads (with affiliate link) on your blog by contacting companies directly.  

Tools to help you start a blog

Besides the already mentioned extensions and software for SEO, analytics, and email list building, consider installing these tools as well:

• Content calendar - Use it to keep track of deadlines for writing, editing, and publishing. It can also help with scheduling your social media posts. CoSchedule is an excellent tool for this. 
• Password manager - WordPress is known for being prone to hacking attempts, so extra precautions are necessary. Tools like NordPass make it easy to create and manage strong passwords for all the websites and apps that you use.  
• Alternatively use a web browser with a built-in password manager like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome .
• Graphic design platform - It can help create engaging visuals for the blog content and social media feed. Check out Canva for a free and beginner-friendly option. 
• Stock photos - Another great way to add more visual appeal to your content with minimal effort. Visit Unsplash if you’re looking for a free option. 
• Time management app - Use this to keep yourself focused when writing blog posts. We recommend using Toggl, which can track work hours and analyze them to help improve your productivity. 
• Grammar checker - Flawless sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation can make the blog more credible and easier to understand for readers. Install Grammarly to keep them in check.
• Webmaster tool - This software is usually provided for free from search engines to help site owners monitor their ranking performance. An example is Google Search Console , which can track the click-through rate generated from search engine results pages. 
• Crossposting tool - Plugins like JetPack allow you to crosspost your blog pieces directly to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn .
• Sharing tool - Plugins like Social Snap make it much simpler to add social media sharing buttons to your blog, so people can post it on their own feeds.
• Loading tool - WP Super Cache improves the website's loading speed by generating small static HTML pages of your blog posts, which are cached on your webserver. This is much more efficient than heavier Wordpress PHP scripts 

Starting a blog

Now that you know how to start a blog, all that’s left to do is take the first step. Let’s recap:

• Brainstorm for a blog niche that suits your interests and has potential for traffic. 
• Choose a blogging platform. We recommend using the best WordPress hosting and web hosting plans by Hostinger, Bluehost, or HostGator.
• Pick a catchy and descriptive domain name .
• Pick a responsive blog theme that helps readers navigate through the blog posts.
• Customize your blog. Set up the website pages, navigation bar, logo, colors and fonts, and sidebar.
• Add extensions for SEO, contact forms, spam protection, and speed optimization. 
• Create a content strategy to serve as a guide for writing your blog posts. 
• Research the best SEO practices and install SEO tools .
• Install an analytics tool to keep track of your blog’s performance and locate any issues.
• Set up an email list for marketing purposes by using email marketing software.
• Publish your first few blog posts and promote the blog on social media and community-oriented websites.
• Guest post on blogs in your niche to build backlinks and broaden your exposure. 

The bottom line 

There are several things to consider before starting a blog. You need to decide what you want to write about, what your goals are, if you plan on monetizing your site. It’s fine to write a blog just for fun but make sure you’re clear about why you’re doing this from the start. 

If gaining new readers is important to you, make sure that you have the time and resources necessary to commit to regularly updating your blog.

If you’re willing to put in the work, starting a blog can be a great way to share your voice with the world and connect with like-minded people. You may also be able to market your products/services or those of someone else and earn a living.

With a little effort, you can build a successful blog that will help you achieve your personal or professional goals. 

• We've also featured the best blogging platforms

Ruby has been a freelance technology writer for over four years and has a passion for information technology and the Internet in its entirety. She has a wide range of specialities including web hosting, streaming (Firestick, Kodi, and APKs), VPN, information technology, and affiliate marketing. Ruby is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of the Philippines, and regularly codes in her free time.

• Abigail Opiah B2B Editor - Web hosting & Website builders

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How To Write Blog Posts Faster: 13 Powerful Tips For Quicker Content

By Jessie Festa. This post on how to write blogs faster contains affiliate links to trusted partners!

Curious how to write blog posts faster?

Then you’re in the right place!

As bloggers, one of our most important jobs is creating great content.

The thing is, it’s hardly our only job, so the more efficient we can be with writing articles and crafting social posts, the more time we’ll have for our other important projects.

Luckily, there are ways to seriously speed up the content creation process — which we’ll be going over below, with bonuses to help with implementation.

Table of Contents

Grow Your Blog Faster & Easier With My Free Resource Library

But first, before we dive into how to write content faster and creating amazing blog articles, I want to invite you to grab access to my free Travel Blogger Resource Library .

The library includes 45+ blogging resources like printables, video tutorials, and workbooks that can help you grow your traffic, community, and income faster and with less overwhelm!

One particular resource I want to point out that can help you understand how to organize blog posts and achieve fast article writing is the Content Creation & Promotion Workflow Trello Board — which can also help you better promote your content for maximum engagement.

Additionally, the resource library also includes a Blog Post From Scratch Template that can help you create SEO-optimized content from start to finish.

Click here to grab the free Trello board as well as the full suite of blogging resources.

How Long Does It Take To Write A Blog Post?

In terms of how long it takes to create content, it really depends on your unique strategy and how much research is involved in creating the blog article.

If you’re writing an article that involves interviewing sources, it could take a week or more.

However, if you’re utilizing online sources and using your own knowledge, you can certainly pinpoint how to write a perfect blog post in one hour — especially if you utilize the resources below.

Write Articles Faster With These Powerful Resources

One of the easiest ways to create faster content is to utilize tools that take some of the workload off of you. We’ll go over these more below, though a few of my favorite time-saving blogging tools include:

Jasper AI (link includes a free trial). If you’re curious how to write a blog post in 20 minutes, the answer is artificial intelligence — which is what Jasper uses to help you come up with article ideas, create outlines, and craft quality content.

Surfer SEO . This tool is like employing an SEO expert on your team (without the 4-figure monthly price tag). You’ll get specific recommendations tailored to your blog for how to optimize your blog posts for SEO and rank in organic search results. You can see my video tutorial here, too:

Canva . This drag-and-drop graphic design tool makes it easy to create stunning social media graphics, presentations, marketing assets, and more. There are over 400k templates to choose from, not to mention an enormous library of stock photos and videos to use in your projects.

Storychief . Create, tweak, and blast your story out across all of your channels and platforms from one dashboard — in-depth analytics included.

MacBook Air with M2 Chip . In my opinion, this is the best laptop for travel blogging .

Keysearch (snag 30% off with code “jessieonajourney30”). This powerful keyword research tool makes it easy to find keywords you can rank for and optimize your content to rank in organic search. Here is a quick tutorial showing how I use Keysearch to grow my traffic:

How To Write Blog Posts Faster

Okay, now let’s dive into a few powerful tips for how to write a blog post quickly — and how to create content for social media faster, too.

If you have your own strategies for how to write articles fast, please leave them in the comments below!

Tip #1: Pinpoint Your Mission & Content Buckets

One of the most important aspects of creating content quickly is understanding the purpose of your content.

My recommendation:

Start with an overarching mission — like helping women travel solo or helping families plan unforgettable US road trips — and then have about three recurring themes or content buckets.

This step is an important part of niching down , branding your blog , and becoming a full time blogger as a whole, as it helps:

• your audience understand what to expect from you
• you create a clear and cohesive brand
• your content rank in organic search as Google understands what you’re an expert on

Additionally, it helps you blog fast as you’re not starting from scratch with what to write every single time.

Tip #2: Keep A Running List Of Rankable Keywords

Sitting down to write when you don’t have a topic idea ready to go is a huge time-waster.

Personally, I dedicate one-to-two weeks each month to writing blog posts, and I make sure that when these weeks come around I know exactly what I can focus on to create content that engages my audience and ranks in Google.

Therefore, keeping your content buckets in mind, it’s wise to keep a running list of keywords you can rank for, which also helps eliminate writer’s block . You can use a project management tool like Asana for this or even a simple Google Doc.

To do the keyword research, I use and love Keysearch .

There are a few strategies I use, but one is typing out a topic idea, seeing what keyword suggestions come up, and then filtering them to find ones that are easier to rank for.

I’ll usually set the score to be 1-35 to do this, though these numbers might differ based on your unique Domain Authority. Here is a visual:

Once I have keyword ideas, I pop them into an ongoing list I keep in Asana.

This is simplifying the strategy a bit — I go over keyword research in much more depth in my Travel Blog Prosperity membership — but doing the above step should give you a bunch of ideas.

Bonus: Click here and use code “jessieonajourney30” to snag 30% off Keysearch.

Tip #3: Create A Content Calendar

Building on the above, you can further save time blogging by creating a content calendar that includes your recurring topics and rankable keywords.

Pro tip: To also benefit from seasonal spikes, you can pre-plan posts to publish a few months before they’ll be popular. This is why it’s helpful to plan an annual content strategy in advance.

For instance, if you write about adventure travel, you might publish an adventure travel gift guide in October in preparation for the holiday season. Creating gift guides for your blog , especially for this time of year, can help you seriously increase website traffic .

The reason you want to publish this content early is to give it time to rank in Google — as well as to give your Pinterest pins time to rank in Pinterest if you utilize that platform. This is an important part of any Pinterest strategy .

Keep in mind, too, that people typically research seasonal topics in advance. For example, if you write a post on fall foliage road trips, people will be researching and booking their trip before the foliage season begins.

In terms of how to write blog posts quickly , having this content calendar saves time as you know exactly what you’ll be writing and when.

Tip #4: Start With A Blog Post Outline

Creating an outline is the difference between staring at a blank screen wondering what to write and simply filling in the blanks.

Curious how to write a blog post outline ? Well, there are a few ways to do.

Mind mapping

First of all, you might try mind mapping, which is an exercise where you start with a central theme that is typically circled in the center of a piece of paper.

From there, you draw lines and circles to branch out your ideas from there, and more lines and circles to branch other ideas out from those.

Here is a visual example:

Another idea is to use a tool like Keysearch to do keyword research, including discovering related keywords and topics that could complement your main keyword.

For example, in a post on how to monetize your blog from day one , Keysearch let me know that people were also interested in learning about how to monetize a blog without ads as well as blog monetization requirements, so I added sections to address those questions.

Again, you can click here and use code JESSIEONAJOURNEY for 20% off Keysearch if you’re a new user.

Artificial Intelligence

Another idea is using artificial intelligence — like Jasper AI , which in itself can save you loads of time!

Here’s how it works:

• Choose the blog post outline template
• Input your topic and desired tone
• Click “generate”

Boom — Jasper will generate an outline for you that you can use for articles and other long-form content.

For a visual of how Jasper works, you can click here to snag a free trial and click here to check out a demo :

Tip #5: Utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) to write blog posts

So I just mentioned utilizing AI to create your blog post outline, but that is hardly the only thing you can use it for. AI is truly the answer if you want to understand how to write an article quickly or create other types of content almost instantly.

For instance, Jasper can also help you save time with:

• Remember, I mentioned above it’s helpful to have a running list of blog post ideas ready to go, so this can further save time with that!
• Writing introduction and conclusion paragraphs for you
• Creating marketing copy
• Creating keyword-rich blog articles

There are over 50 content creation templates to choose from, which you can see here .

In terms of writing articles, here is a quick overview of how it works:

• Login to Jasper and choose “long-form assistant”
• Choose “blog post workflow”
• Let Jasper know what type of content you’re trying to create as well as your main keyword
• Jasper will then generate title ideas and sample introduction paragraphs
• Choose which ones you like and then open the long-form editor
• Choose to have Jasper create your content or input subheadings and have Jasper craft copy to go into your various sections

Just keep in mind that while Jasper does create content, it is best used as your assistant; as in, you’ll still want to fact check, add in supporting case studies and facts, and refine the article to add in your own personality, voice, and knowledge.

Again, you can snag a 10,000-word free word trial by clicking here .

Tip #6: Automate Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

An important part of content creation is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), though doing this research can be tedious and time-consuming.

Luckily, Surfer SEO speeds up the process and helps you create content much faster. Instead of simply giving you data about other sites that are ranking, Surfer SEO analyzes your website to make tailored recommendations for:

• specific keywords to target
• specific ways to optimize new content
• specific changes to make to old content to improve its chances of ranking
• specific missed opportunities for internal and external backlinks
• specific on-page SEO optimizations (such as optimal word count, title length, image count, etc)
• and much more

As you can see, the tool gets specific!

In short, you’ll get a step-by-step SEO workflow that can help you grow your traffic and increase your rankings faster — no guesswork required!

In case you didn’t see the Surfer SEO tutorial above, here it is again:

While you’ll want a paid plan to access all of the features in the tutorial (I have the Pro Plan ), they do offer a free AI Article Outline Generator to help you get acquainted with their platform.

Totally confused by SEO? Check out their free SEO Writing Masterclass !

Tip #7: Have A Structure For Regular Story Types

While each blog post I publish is unique, I’m often writing the same types of articles — like solo female travel guides, hiking guides, NYC neighborhood guides, and show notes for The Profitable Travel Blogger Podcast.

I don’t reinvent the wheel each time. Instead, I reuse the same headings for each, with a few tweaks depending on the exact post topic.

For instance, if I’m writing a solo female travel city guide, I know I’ll always include headings like “things to do for solo travelers” and “safety tips for solo travelers”. Additionally, I’ll always promote my free 5-day solo female travel course opt-in freebie.

Tip #8: Save Blocks In Gutenberg

Gutenberg is the drag-and-drop blog post editor most WordPress bloggers use. One of its neat time-saving features is that you can save blocks to reuse in other posts.

This is incredibly helpful if you find yourself constantly adding the same sections to your articles.

For example, as a travel blogger, I add hotel recommendations, tour suggestions, and a travel insurance section in almost every blog post. Instead of writing these from scratch every time, I can insert my Hotel Recommendations block from Gutenberg and edit it to fit my current article.

Tip #9: Create A Content Creation Checklist

In terms of how to write blog posts quickly , this is a big one! A content creation checklist can save you a ton of time.

Instead of wondering what steps you should take each time you write an article, you can quickly refer to a written list of steps — which also means you won’t forget any.

The steps can also help you create your best blog posts, as you’re not wasting precious brainpower trying to remember what you need to do before you hit publish.

For instance, a few steps on my personal blog post checklist include adding an opt-in freebie (like these clever opt-in offer ideas ), promoting relevant affiliate links , and creating a backlink profile to help my content rank in organic search results.

You can find a Content Creation & Promotion Trello Board within my free Travel Blogger Resource Library — which you can copy into your own Trello account.

Tip #10: Write Without Stopping.

Yes, research and editing are important parts of writing a great blog post; however, if you’re constantly pausing to look up facts, it’ll be hard to get into a flow state.

Hone your creative storytelling skills and craft truly engaging content by first getting all of your ideas out. Let the writing flow from your fingertips, and just mark spaces you’ll need to go back to later.

Personally, I make text that I need to fact check purple, and write “XYZ” in spots that I need to fill in later. This makes it really easy to go back to these areas that need attention once I’m ready to edit, and helps me create content much faster.

Tip #11: Repurpose Long-Form Content For Short-Form Mediums

If every time you post on social media you’re starting from scratch, you’re going to love this time-saving tip!

Instead, start with a piece of long-form content — like a blog post, YouTube video , or podcast episode — and then pull out the most interesting points. Each of these points can be its own social media share!

For instance, if you write a post on fun things to do in NYC, each of those fun things could be a unique social share that you reformat to fit each platform.

Moreover, you can often reuse the same social content across platforms — like TiKToks, Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

If you’d like to dive into this idea further, check out my video sharing a strategy for a streamlined blogger workflow :

Tip #12: Create Across Platforms From One Dashboard

Logging into your various accounts individually to create and analyze content can be a big time-waster.

That is why using a tool like StoryChief can save you time by bringing all of your platforms into one workspace — with in-depth analytics included.

In short, you simply click “craft a story” to create your blog post. You’ll also be able to add media — including from Instagram, which can be a huge time-saver — and invite collaborators.

(Because, remember, growing your blog through collaboration can be powerful and can help you see success faster!)

Once your article is ready to go, you can quickly and easily share it across your various digital touchpoints, like your blog, social media platforms, email list , Medium, and more.

There are other time-saving features, too, like guided SEO copywriting assistance, a digital content calendar, and social media scheduling.

Tip #13: Have A Repeatable Promo Plan

Just as you should have a repeatable blogging workflow for creating content, you should also have a content promotion checklist to save time with getting your posts seen.

Part of this workflow should also include having plug-and-play templates ready to go for social media . For instance, if you have a Pinterest strategy , you might create and save pin templates in Canva — a drag-and-drop graphic design platform — to reuse for each post.

Moreover, a TikTok for bloggers strategy might involve breaking up articles into recurring vertical video types.

Again, you can find a Content Creation & Promotion Trello Board within my free Travel Blogger Resource Library to use for yourself.

Tip #14: Create A Productivity Strategy

There are so many tools, techniques, and tips for enhanced productivity — from intuitive eating to working in batches to creating a mindful morning routine and beyond.

One productivity method I personally love is the Pomodoro Technique, which is a time management system that involves breaking your day up into chunks. It looks like this:

• Choose your task
• Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on the task
• Take a 5-minute break
• Repeat, taking a longer break of 15-30 minutes after 4 pomodoros

Another tip: let go of perfectionism.

While striving to create quality content is important, if you spend hours, days, or even weeks agonizing over every detail of a post before you hit publish, it’ll hold you back from being efficient and sharing your voice with the world.

An Important Note On How To Write A Quick Blog Post

While researching how to write a blog post fast can help you discover strategies like the ones mentioned above, the goal shouldn’t be to just churn out post after post.

If you’re wondering how to write a great blog post in just 15 minutes, the truth is creating thorough and engaging content takes time and research. Sure, you can use AI to write blog posts almost instantly; however, you’ll still want to spend time refining that content and giving it a human element.

Optimize your workflow — but also enjoy the process! Your passion for your topic should shine through your content so that your audience is also excited and feels like when they read your posts they’ve learned something.

This is truly one of the most important aspects of creating a profitable blog !

Also, along with creating new content, make sure to update old blog posts , as this is a vital part of having a healthy SEO-optimized website.

A Simple Step-By-Step Blog Writing Formula

Okay, now that we’ve gone over how to write blog articles fast , let’s go over a simple process for how to write a unique blog post while applying some of the above tips.

Step #1: Start with your blog post topic. It should be related to your mission and should be within one of your main content categories to maximize it’s ability to rank in organic search results.

Step #2: Do keyword research. You can use a tool like Keysearch to research what keywords and topics should be included for an in-depth keyword-rich article. Remember that code JESSIEONAJOURNEY saves you 20%.

Step #3: Create your blog post outline. This helps you create a fill-in-the-blank template for writing your content faster. Keysearch and Jasper (free trial link) are both great tools for quickly and efficiently crafting a great outline, though you can also use a free tool — like mind mapping.

These tools can also be helpful as part of a podcast workflow if you have a show where you script episodes.

Step #4: Create your content. To maximize efficiency, consider utilizing producitivty strategies like the Pomodoro Technique and task batching.

Moreover, save time by reusing content templates, having a reusable content checklist saved, and employing the powers of artifical intelligence through a tool like Jasper — which can actually write out your content for you (though make sure to edit it for a human touch).

Here is a look at the long-form editor in Jasper:

Step #5: Edit, fact check & add in missing content. Remember, on your first run you just want to get into a flow state and write. Afterward, you can fill in any necessary blanks.

Step #6: Promote your content. Having a content promotion checklist that outlines your repeatable promo workflow will help you save time with this.

How To Write Articles Fast (Bonus Resources)

The following guides can help you create content faster and aid in the blog writing process:

How To Create A Profitable Content Plan In 3 Steps (free workshop)

How To Start A Travel Blog & Make Money

How To Create A Blogging Content Calendar

120+ Travel Blog Post Ideas For Creating Engaging Content

A Streamlined Workflow For Organizing Your Blogger To-Do List

9 Clever Ways To Increase Blog Traffic (Beyond SEO)

How To Map Out & Crush Your Blogging Goals

How To Create A Travel Blog Business Plan

How To Get Blog Followers & Grow Your Blogging Business

How To Create A Pinterest Strategy That Grows Your Blog Traffic

12 Quick-Win Strategies To Grow Your Blog Fast

What would you add to this guide on how to write blog posts faster?

15,000 squares, 500 hours, 19 months: how I used embroidery to make sense of Australia’s catastrophic fires

Lecturer in Visual Art and McGlade Gallery Director, Australian Catholic University

Disclosure statement

Tracey Clement does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Australian Catholic University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

I slip the needle through a small loop of black thread, pull it tight and snip. Done. I have just tied off the very last stitch on an embroidered scroll that has taken me more than 500 hours across 19 months to complete.

All of my artwork is extremely labour-intensive. But I have to admit, this is a bit excessive, even for me. It’s not surprising that I have been asked more than once “why not just outsource the labour?” and even “what is the point?”

I always sigh and think enviously of plumbers. I am 100% sure hardworking tradies are never asked to justify the point of their work.

Why do I work so hard? There is no one easy answer, it’s different every time. The labour intensity of my processes adds time into the equation and this both carries meaning and can change the meaning of the work as it goes on (and on and on). I always learn something unexpected.

I put my little scissors down and, before busting out the bubbles, I snap a picture for Instagram because #selfpromotion, but also because this is news, albeit of a very slow-breaking kind. This is what I’ve learned after stitching for seemingly endless hours: while no news may be good news, “slow news” is even better.

My embroidered scroll is titled Impossible Numbers. It started as my attempt to memorialise the estimated 3,000,000,000 non-human lives lost in the devastating bushfires of 2019–20, a number impossible to actually comprehend.

Doomscrolling an emergency

During that long and awful summer Sydney was often shrouded in an eerie orange haze. You could smell smoke. Ash fell. But, like many Australians, I experienced the worst of it by doomscrolling fast news.

I was both horrified and fascinated by images of fires so huge and hot they generated their own weather, by pictures of houses reduced to smoking skeletal outlines that somehow remained standing, by headlines comparing the fires to armageddon and the apocalypse .

This hyperbolic language implies we are locked in a war of good versus evil. Even headlines in the vein of “Firefighters battle blazes” pit us (people) against them (the forces of nature). And in the heat of the moment the language of war feels right. I’ve succumbed to it myself . But it is dangerous. This language reinforces the idea we can dominate nature; it frames the fires as a conflict that we can end by winning.

I will admit watching a goat-toting woman berate a sitting prime minister left me with a short-lived, but mildly satisfying, feeling of shared righteous indignation. But mostly doomscrolling just fuelled my sorrow and left me feeling impotent as, inevitably, the fast news cycled on to the next crisis (and the next, and the next).

Slowing it down

In October 2022, I finally stopped trying to process the bushfires, and all their terrifying implications, through the fast-news language of war. I picked up a needle instead.

Of course 3,000,000,000 stitches would be too many, even for me, so I decided to stitch a grid of some 15,000 squares, which I filled with innumerable stitches – a nod to the endless stream of pixels that usually deliver our news.

I started wanting to honour the 3 billion dead, that impossible number, but after months of stitching I realised I was “writing” a kind of slow-news story. It may sound ridiculous, but this tactic has been used before. The Bayeux Tapestry is a slow-news story that documents the Norman conquest of England through embroidery. It took years to stitch, and some 950 years later it is still in circulation.

As an alternative to doomscrolling easily digestible fast-news stories of good triumphing (or not) over evil, I have created an actual fabric scroll which depicts a stylised firestorm building in intensity until it becomes all-consuming.

Despite mimicking pixels, Impossible Numbers is resolutely handmade. It is too messy, too crude, to be anything else. It is bleedingly obvious (and there was blood) the will of a person is inextricably stitched into this image of devastating fire. Human labour is literally entangled in this artwork; it shows us as part of the picture, part of nature. And this is good news

Impossible Numbers doesn’t have a victorious ending, or any ending at all. The scroll is not fully unrolled. There is no end in sight: the story isn’t over, it’s ongoing.

In this way it points to the future; a future in which we are not fighting nature. And this is good news too.

If you don’t have a spare 500 hours to process the news into slow news, don’t worry. By the time I finally tied my last knot, I found I had transformed my fear and rage into something tangible, something both magnificent and beautiful (if I do say so myself), no longer about me.

It is now a slow-news story that is no longer about a particular event; something everyone can share. This is why I do the work.

Impossible Numbers is on display as part of The Blake Prize at the Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, until July 7.

This article is part of Making Art Work , our series on what inspires artists and the process of their work.

• bushfires 2019
• Making Art Work
• Visual art and design

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Communications and Engagement Officer, Corporate Finance Property and Sustainability

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Earth System Science (School of Science)

SEO Writing: 13 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Rank on Google

Published: November 09, 2023

If you've ever written a blog post before, you know how much time it can take.

From topic selection and gathering research to writing the post and pressing “Publish,” the process often demands hours. That‘s why, if your post doesn’t earn the traffic you expected, it can be a major letdown.

Fortunately, there's a way to combat low traffic: search engine optimization . As marketers, we‘re always aiming to write content that’ll rank highly on Google, and SEO is the bridge that'll help you get there. That begs the question: How do you incorporate that into your content?

Don‘t worry — we’ve got you covered. In this post, we're going to dive into 12 ways to master SEO writing.

What is SEO writing?

SEO writing is the process of writing content to rank on the first page of search engines like Google. This involves researching keywords, writing high-quality content that matches user intent, and optimizing your headers for easy page crawling.

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With higher rankings, your website increases its overall visibility. The ultimate goal is to drive organic traffic, increase conversions, and achieve business objectives through effective optimization.

If you don’t optimize your content for search engines, your website may suffer from low visibility and poor rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). As a result, the potential reach and exposure of your content may be significantly reduced.

Why is SEO content writing important?

Without SEO, your content is less likely to rank highly on search engines. Ranking lower may hinder your ability to attract and engage with your target audience. It may also make your content seem less credible and authoritative.

A 2020 Search Engine Journal study found that the clickthrough rate for websites in position one on the SERP is 25%. This number drops drastically to 15% for websites in position two and then down to 2.5% for websites in position 10. When you get to page two of Google, that number gets even lower.

This means that if your website is not on the first page, there’s a small chance consumers will find your website organically. Fewer visits to your site mean fewer opportunities to generate leads, and ultimately, revenue.

Your next best option is investing in advertising to get those users to your site. But that costs money, and if you’re on a tight budget, why not invest time in SEO writing? It’s free and will likely bring you traffic for much longer than a campaign would.

The Basics of SEO Content Writing

When getting started with SEO content writing, it’s important to understand the basics. Here are some fundamental principles to follow when incorporating SEO into your writing.

Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is all about strategically using relevant keywords and phrases in your content to boost its visibility and ranking. This aspect of SEO is super important because it helps search engines better understand your content, thereby increasing the chances of it appearing in relevant search queries and attracting organic traffic.

To select the best keywords, you’ll need to research and identify what exactly your target audience is looking for and align it with your content’s topic. Finding the right balance between incorporating keywords in a way that makes sense to readers and satisfies search engine algorithms is key.

We’ll go more in-depth about how to find keywords and how to disperse them throughout your content in the tips section .

User Intent

User intent refers to the motivation or purpose behind a user's search query. It’s all about figuring out what they really want to discover when typing something into a search engine.

There are generally four types of user intent:

• Informational intent: When someone is seeking information or answers to their questions. They may be looking for definitions, explanations, how-to guides, or research materials.
• Navigational intent: When someone is searching for a specific website or brand. They already know what they want to find and are using a search engine to navigate to a particular webpage.
• Transactional intent: When someone is ready to take action, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a service, or booking an appointment.
• Commercial intent: When someone is researching products or services with the intention to buy later. They are comparing products, reading reviews, and looking for the best deals before making a decision.

By understanding user intent, you can create content that aligns with what people are looking for and boost your chances of showing up in search results. Each industry and niche also changes your user intent. For example, SEO for lawyers will be a lot different compared to SEO for marketers. It's all about giving people what they need and providing them with a good search experience.

Readability

Writing for SEO isn’t just about what you write, it’s also about how you write. It isn’t enough to just place keywords into your content and call it a day. You need to consider how your audience’s experience will be when they read it.

This is where readability comes in.

Readability is all about striking the right balance between optimizing for search engines and ensuring that your content is enjoyable and valuable to human readers.

In addition to optimizing your content with keywords and internal links, you’ll want to focus on user experience. Write in a reader-friendly manner by using clear and concise language and avoiding jargon. You’ll also want to utilize headings and make your content more scannable (more on that below).

When writing and editing your content ask yourself: Is this easy to understand? Does this have a logical flow? Is this engaging? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” you may need to make some changes.

Historical Optimization

Every SEO writer knows that an evergreen blog post will never be completely finished, even after it’s been published. Thanks to algorithm updates and competitors targeting the same keywords, search results are always changing.

That’s why it’s important to have a content update strategy in place to ensure your older web content remains fresh and relevant in search engine rankings. This practice is called historical optimization .

To figure out which blog posts you need to update, assess your older content by conducting a content audit to find underperforming or outdated pieces. Then, determine how to improve the piece. This usually involves refreshing the content by adding new information, removing outdated information, optimizing keywords, and improving formatting and readability.

Tips on How To Incorporate SEO in Your Writing

• Start with keyword research.
• Use headings to your benefit.
• Optimize your content for featured snippets.
• Write for humans, not search engines.
• Optimize your title.
• Include keywords in your meta description.
• Add alt text to images.
• Resist the urge to keyword stuff.
• Link to high-authority websites.
• Aim for scannable, longer posts.
• Link to other posts on your site.
• Compress images for fast page load speed.
• Design a link-building strategy.

1. Start with keyword research.

It’s estimated that Google processes over 70,000 search queries a second. Staggering, right?

If you want to cut through SERP clutter and outrank your competitors, you need to target the specific keywords and phrases your potential customers are searching for. Otherwise, how else will they find your content and website?

Start with a keyword research tool . Sites like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner give you details on what users are searching for and how popular those queries are. For an inside look into how Ahrefs can aid you in your SEO keyword research and beyond, check out our case study and exclusive interview here.

Google Trends can also give you a feel for what keywords are popular at any given time. If you see searches are steadily declining over time for a specific keyword, you know that’s probably not the right keyword to target for your marketing. The opposite is true for rising trends.

If you’re ever running low on keyword ideas, get inspiration from your competition. Use competitive intelligence tools to see what keywords their domains currently rank for. If these keywords are relevant to your business, consider using them too.

However, keep in mind that the most obvious keywords don’t always align with your strategy. Additionally, your focus keywords will evolve over time as trends shift, terminology changes or your product/service line grows.

Be sure to conduct keyword research periodically to ensure you’re still focusing on the right keywords for your target audience and not missing out on vital ranking opportunities.

2. Use headings to your benefit.

Headers help Google’s web crawlers understand your blog post and the sections within it.

Think of the crawlers as readers who are skimming your blog. They want an overview of what your article will cover, that’s your H1. Then your H2s, H3s, H4s break down the subtopics within the piece.

So, your subheaders should reflect the content in the body and include high-intent keywords . When you use the right keywords, meaning the ones your target audience is using, you have a much higher chance of ranking on the SERP.

3. Optimize your content for featured snippets.

Featured snippets on Google are the most direct answers to search queries. For instance, if I were to search, “How do you write a blog post?” Google might use a featured snippet to show the best answer.

Start writing for SEO with HubSpot's Free AI Blog Writer.

You can then go through that draft and add the personal touches and optimizations that make it fun for humans to read.

5. Optimize your title.

Even with a great, SEO-friendly post body, a bad headline could hurt you in the SERP.

To title your post with SEO in mind, write something compelling that also incorporates your main keyword. Here are a few tips:

• Incorporate numbers. E.g.: “5 Ways to Rock a Matte Lipstick.”
• Include your offer in the title. E.g.: “How to Write a Cover Letter [+ Free Template]”
• Add a teaser. E.g.: “We Tried the New [Insert App Name] App: Here's What Happened”

6. Include keywords in your meta description.

Are you adding meta descriptions to your post? If your answer is “no,” then you‘re probably not getting as much traffic as you could. Let’s get into why they're important.

By now, we‘ve talked about a couple of the ways a blog post can communicate with Google: subheaders, keywords, and snippets. However, that’s not an exhaustive list.

Meta descriptions are another area Google crawls to determine search rankings. Meta descriptions are the one- to three-sentence descriptions, you'll find underneath the title of a result.

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26212 (Canary Channel)

• Amanda Langowski
• Brandon LeBlanc

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26212 to the Canary Channel.

Developers, please note that for a short period of time, we will not be releasing an SDK for builds we flight to the Canary Channel.

Changes and Improvements

[windows share].

• Users will be able to now generate QR codes for URLs and cloud file links through the Windows share window to seamlessly share webpages and files across their devices. To try this out in Microsoft Edge, just click the share button in the Edge toolbar and choose “Windows share options”.

• To prevent accidentally closing the Windows share window, clicking outside the Windows share window will no longer close it. To close the Windows share window, just press the close button at the top right corner.
• If your Microsoft account uses a Gmail address, you can now send email to yourself from Windows share window and receive it in your Gmail account.

[Copilot in Windows*]

• Over the last few months, we’ve been trying out different experiences for Copilot in Windows (Preview) with Windows Insiders across the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback. Copilot in Windows will continue to work as expected while we continue to evolve new ideas with Windows Insiders.

Fixes for known issues

• We fixed the issue causing advanced startup options to not work. This also fixes the progress wheel from not showing when booting.
• We believe we fixed the issue causing Features on Demand (FODs) to not install.
• We are rolling out a fix for the issue causing Copilot to auto-launch unexpectedly for Windows Insiders in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels after restarting their PCs. This issue was unrelated to the auto-launching experience we tried out with Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels  in early February which we stopped rolling out in March.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

• Fixed an issue that caused the taskbar to be partially off the screen on secondary monitors.
• Fixed an issue that caused Narrator to be silent while rearranging your apps on taskbar.

[File Explorer]

• Fixed an issue which was causing File Explorer to sporadically crash when using path suggestions in the address bar.
• Fixed an issue which could cause File Explorer to crash sometimes when going from the search box to the body of File Explorer.

[Windowing]

• Fixed a couple DWM crashes, which could cause the screen to appear to flash.
• Fixed an issue that was causing some people to repeatedly see a message saying live captions were being missed.
• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing Visual Studio to fail to debug x64 .NET framework console applications (the app would crash in ntdll.dll upon load).

Known issues

• [IMPORTANT NOTE] We are investigating reports that some Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels are stuck on Build 26040 or Build 23620. The investigation is ongoing, however if you are impacted by this and really want to get onto the latest build in the Canary or Dev Channel today – you can download the latest ISO here and do a clean install and opt your device back into flighting in the Canary or Dev Channels.
• [ADDED 5/12] The WIN + W keyboard shortcut may not work correctly and open the Widgets board on Build 26212.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

• The builds we release to the Canary Channel should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready .
• Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology , starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.
• To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required . As a reminder – Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.
• The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.
• Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.
• Copilot in Windows* in preview is being rolled out gradually to Windows Insiders in select global markets. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America, United Kingdom and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

Thanks, Amanda & Brandon

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Solar Storm Intensifies, Filling Skies With Northern Lights

Officials warned of potential blackouts or interference with navigation and communication systems this weekend, as well as auroras as far south as Southern California or Texas.

By Katrina Miller and Judson Jones

Katrina Miller reports on space and astronomy and Judson Jones is a meteorologist.

A dramatic blast from the sun set off the highest-level geomagnetic storm in Earth’s atmosphere on Friday that is expected to make the northern lights visible as far south as Florida and Southern California and could interfere with power grids, communications and navigations system.

It is the strongest such storm to reach Earth since Halloween of 2003. That one was strong enough to create power outages in Sweden and damage transformers in South Africa.

The effects could continue through the weekend as a steady stream of emissions from the sun continues to bombard the planet’s magnetic field.

The solar activity is so powerful that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors space weather, issued an unusual storm watch for the first time in 19 years, which was then upgraded to a warning. The agency began observing outbursts on the sun’s surface on Wednesday, with at least five heading in the direction of Earth.

“What we’re expecting over the next couple of days should be more significant than what we’ve seen certainly so far,” Mike Bettwy, the operations chief at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said at a news conference on Friday morning.

For people in many places, the most visible part of the storm will be the northern lights, known also as auroras. But authorities and companies will also be on the lookout for the event’s effects on infrastructure, like global positioning systems, radio communications and even electrical power.

While the northern lights are most often seen in higher latitudes closer to the North Pole, people in many more parts of the world are already getting a show this weekend that could last through the early part of next week.

As Friday turned to Saturday in Europe, people across the continent described skies hued in a mottling of colors.

Alfredo Carpineti , an astrophysicist, journalist and author in North London, saw them with his husband from the rooftop of their apartment building.

“It is incredible to be able to see the aurora directly from one’s own backyard,” he said. “I was hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of green on the horizon, but it was all across the sky in both green and purple.”

Here’s what you need to know about this weekend’s solar event.

How will the storm affect people on Earth?

A geomagnetic storm watch or warning indicates that space weather may affect critical infrastructure on or orbiting near Earth. It may introduce additional current into systems, which could damage pipelines, railroad tracks and power lines.

According to Joe Llama, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, communications that rely on high frequency radio waves, such as ham radio and commercial aviation , are most likely to suffer. That means it is unlikely that your cellphone or car radio, which depend on much higher frequency radio waves, will conk out.

Still, it is possible for blackouts to occur. As with any power outage, you can prepare by keeping your devices charged and having access to backup batteries, generators and radio.

The most notable solar storm recorded in history occurred in 1859. Known as the Carrington Event, it lasted for nearly a week, creating aurora that stretched down to Hawaii and Central America and impacting hundreds of thousands of miles of telegraph lines.

But that was technology of the 19th century, used before scientists fully understood how solar activity disrupted Earth’s atmosphere and communication systems.

“That was an extreme level event,” said Shawn Dahl, a forecaster at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “We are not anticipating that.”

Unlike tornado watches and warnings, the target audience for NOAA’s announcements is not the public.

“For most people here on planet Earth, they won’t have to do anything,” said Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

The goal of the announcements is to give agencies and companies that operate this infrastructure time to put protection measures in place to mitigate any effects.

“If everything is working like it should, the grid will be stable and they’ll be able to go about their daily lives,” Mr. Steenburgh said.

Will I be able to see the northern lights?

It is possible that the northern lights may grace the skies this week over places that don’t usually see them. The best visibility is outside the bright lights of cities.

Clouds or stormy weather could pose a problem in some places. But if the skies are clear, even well south of where the aurora is forecast to take place, snap a picture or record a video with your cellphone. The sensor on the camera is more sensitive to the wavelengths produced by the aurora and may produce an image you can’t see with the naked eye.

Another opportunity could be viewing sunspots during the daytime, if your skies are clear. As always, do not look directly at the sun without protection. But if you still have your eclipse glasses lying around from the April 8 event, you may try to use them to try to spot the cluster of sunspots causing the activity.

How strong is the current geomagnetic storm?

Giant explosions on the surface of the sun, known as coronal mass ejections, send streams of energetic particles into space. But the sun is large, and such outbursts may not cross our planet as it travels around the star. But when these particles create a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field, it is known as a geomagnetic storm.

NOAA classifies these storms on a “G” scale of 1 to 5, with G1 being minor and G5 being extreme. The most extreme storms can cause widespread blackouts and damage to infrastructure on Earth. Satellites may also have trouble orienting themselves or sending or receiving information during these events.

The current storm is classified as G5, or “extreme.” It is caused by a cluster of sunspots — dark, cool regions on the solar surface — that is about 16 times the diameter of Earth. The cluster is flaring and ejecting material every six to 12 hours.

“We anticipate that we’re going to get one shock after another through the weekend,” said Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

Why is this happening now?

The sun’s activity ebbs and flows on an 11-year cycle, and right now, it is approaching a solar maximum. Three other severe geomagnetic storms have been observed so far in the current activity cycle, which began in December 2019, but none were predicted to cause effects strong enough on Earth to warrant a watch or warning announcement.

The cluster of sunspots generating the current storm is the largest seen in this solar cycle, NOAA officials said. They added that the activity in this cycle has outperformed initial predictions .

More flares and expulsions from this cluster are expected, but because of the sun’s rotation the cluster will be oriented in a position less likely to affect Earth. In the coming weeks, the sunspots may appear again on the left side of the sun, but it is difficult for scientists to predict whether this will cause another bout of activity.

“Usually, these don’t come around packing as much of a punch as they did originally,” Mr. Dahl said. “But time will tell on that.”

Jonathan O’Callaghan contributed reporting from London.

An earlier version of this article misstated the radio frequencies used by cellphones and car radios. They are higher frequencies, not low.

How we handle corrections

Katrina Miller is a science reporting fellow for The Times. She recently earned her Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Chicago. More about Katrina Miller

Judson Jones is a meteorologist and reporter for The Times who forecasts and covers extreme weather. More about Judson Jones

What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

A dramatic blast from the sun  set off the highest-level geomagnetic storm in Earth’s atmosphere, making the northern lights visible around the world .

With the help of Google Cloud, scientists who hunt killer asteroids churned through hundreds of thousands of images of the night sky to reveal 27,500 overlooked space rocks in the solar system .

A celestial image, an Impressionistic swirl of color in the center of the Milky Way, represents a first step toward understanding the role of magnetic fields  in the cycle of stellar death and rebirth.

Scientists may have discovered a major flaw in their understanding of dark energy, a mysterious cosmic force . That could be good news for the fate of the universe.

Is Pluto a planet? And what is a planet, anyway? Test your knowledge here .

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How to make the most of Destiny 2 Expansion Open Access, live now

How to make the most of the Expansion Open Access, plus PlayStation Plus Monthly Game Destiny 2: Lightfall.

Whether you’re new to Destiny 2 or haven’t played in a while, this could go down in history as the best month yet to hop in the game. From May 7 to June 3, Bungie is giving all players access to The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and Shadowkeep expansions (plus Lightfall if you’re a PlayStation Plus member) along with the past four Seasons of content!

That’s a lot to tackle in one month. Where does a Guardian even start? We consulted Bungie Community Lead Chris “Cozmo” Shannon to see what he recommends.

Skip ahead and gear up

“If you haven’t finished the New Light quest chain, there’s now an option to skip it and get right to all this content. There are two gifts you should immediately go claim, too. Visit Shaxx in the Hall of Champions to pick up your high-power gear from the Gift of the Thunder Gods chest and go see Ikora in the Tower to choose your New Light Kit. Each kit has Exotic armor and abilities for a different Light subclass. And you can get this gear for each of your characters!”

Choose your own adventure

After you’re geared up, it’s time to determine your first adventure. There are so many places to explore, each with its own unique fantasy feel and story. Consider your play style and availability, too. Whether you have limited time and just want to explore or want to go all-in to take advantage of this deal, Cozmo has some ideas to help point you in the right direction.

Solo Campaign: The Witch Queen

Journey through Savathûn’s Throne World, a twisted wonderland of Darkness and Light.

“I believe The Witch Queen is some of the best storytelling we’ve done so far. We took our time setting up Savathûn as a complicated antagonist, and it’s thrilling to finally get to face off against her and learn more about her history and motivations. Even if you aren’t familiar with Savathûn, the campaign does a great job of telling her story and catching you up along the way. It has some amazing moments and caps off with a spectacular boss fight.” – Chris “Cozmo” Shannon

Solo Campaign: Unlock Stasis in Beyond Light

Experience the dark power of Jupiter’s moon, the blizzardy landscape of the Fallen.

“If you like crowd control and the idea of freezing enemies and then shattering them into ice chunks, get Stasis. You can unlock this Darkness subclass by completing the Beyond Light campaign and getting various quests from the Exo Stranger. She can also help you unlock more Stasis abilities.”

Solo or 3-Player Matchmade Activity: The Coil from Season of the Wish

Go below the Dreaming City, where a labyrinth of dragon mysteries awaits.

“Definitely check out The Coil. I believe it’s one of the best activities we’ve ever made and one of the most rewarding. You get to explore Riven’s dragon lair with different layouts each time you pass through, dodging traps to protect your limited lives. Take it on solo, bring friends, or get automatically matched with a fireteam.” – Chris “Cozmo” Shannon

Extra Challenge: Shadowkeep Exotic Weapons

Discover nightmarish secrets hidden beneath the surface of the Moon.

“Shadowkeep has some really great Exotic weapons, but they’re difficult to get. If you’re up for the challenge, assemble a team to do the Symphony of Death Exotic quest for the Deathbringer Rocket Launcher and The Journey quest for the reliable, versatile Xenophage Heavy Machine Gun. If you’re a support player who wants a weapon that could really help out your team and you’re ready for even more of a challenge, go after Divinity. Find a good guide online though. You’ll have to do a bunch of tough puzzles and a raid.” – Chris “Cozmo” Shannon

Casual: Fishing from Season of the Deep

The ocean floor of Titan teems with dangers, but fishing is not one of them .

“Sometimes it’s nice to just take a break from the action and enjoy the simple pleasure of casting a line and pulling in some fish and occasional treasure. It’s great for unwinding solo or with friends. Plus, you get to collect a bunch of different fish for your tank and visit them at your aquarium in the H.E.L.M.”  – Chris “Cozmo” Shannon

Destiny 2: Lightfall available with PlayStation Plus

On top of all that, PlayStation Plus members will have access to the current Destiny 2 expansion, Lightfall, during this same time period, included as a May Monthly Game.

“Lightfall features beautiful urban environments to visit and some action-packed encounters in the later missions. It’s definitely worth a playthrough to pick up Strand and start swinging around with the grapple ability.”  – Chris “Cozmo” Shannon

Ready, Guardians?

Tuck these tips in your pocket as a handy roadmap from your Bungie friend Cozmo. Explore! Have fun! Gear up and boost those stats. The Final Shape launches on June 4, and we need all Guardians at peak readiness for the battle ahead.

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