How To Write a Blog That People Actually Read

However, readers today are impatient, overwhelmed with options, and unlikely to stick around if you don’t deliver something valuable. So how do you write blog posts that your audience will love?

Before you write a word, get to know yourself. Come up with your overall theme—for example, healthy recipes, DIY home maintenance hacks, or retirement planning. In other words, have a strong sense of your personal brand and then identify who your audience is, what they need, and what you have to offer them.

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Then make a quick list of topics you’ll cover and create a social media calendar to organize what and how often you’ll post. Plan blog posts that address your audience’s biggest challenges or answer the burning questions that keep them up at night . This will allow you to deliver consistent value over time, turning your blog into go-to resource for your readers.

Once you’ve identified your theme, audience, and topics, you’re ready for the fun part—creating your blog content. Here’s how to write a good blog post:

Gather your materials. Make sure you have everything you need all in one place. Collect any images you’ll use and set up your document. Use a free blog post template that lets you format, spell check, add pictures, and format your blog post before you publish.

Craft a compelling headline. Brainstorm headlines until you come up with something that’s compelling without being too click-baity. “How to” headlines (“How to Train Your Puppy to Let You Sleep Past 5 a.m.”) or list post headlines (“5 Broccoli Recipes Even the Pickiest Kids Will Love”) are a great place to start. Try to keep your headline under 60 characters, otherwise it may be truncated on search results pages.

Hook the reader with a strong introduction. Lead with a suspenseful moment in your opening story, a short question or sentence, or a description of the problem you’re about to help them solve. Just be sure you don’t give away the answer right away. The purpose of your first sentence is to get them to read the next one.

Deliver on your promise. The reader has clicked to open your blog post and become hooked by your introduction. Now it’s time to deliver the goods.

Here’s where it gets tricky: Your blog post needs a certain level of depth and creativity in order to be valuable. However, most readers scan it first to decide whether your writing is good enough for them to read it in the first place.

As you write your blog post, be sure your main point can be absorbed quickly.

• Use simple language and short sentences.
• Divide long blocks of text into shorter paragraphs.
• Use bullet points instead of paragraph-style lists.
• Add descriptive subheads every 3-5 paragraphs to guide the reader down the page.
• Add images and videos to break up the text and tell your story visually. Tip: Create simple photo collages or overlay text on images using slide presentation software.

Close with a clear call to action. Tell the reader what to do next. Ask them to leave a comment, check out one of your other blog posts, send you feedback, get in touch, or purchase a product. You can write this as a text link or add a button that links to the next action.

Once your post is published, make sure it’s not forgotten. Most blog platforms include a way to see simple metrics, including how many page views each post got, and how many people clicked each link. Watch these trends over time so you can get a better understanding of what type of content engages your audience the most. Then use those insights to inform your future content planning—and watch your blog grow.