How-to Write a Blog Post

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. When I was younger I kept a journal. If I want to concentrate in class I take notes, very detailed notes. When I need to express my feelings, I write them down.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a journalist, start a magazine, interview interesting people. I also had dreams of starting my own business.

When the idea of blogging surfaced I was really excited, but also very nervous to start sharing my thoughts to the world. But I did it.

I started writing a personal blog using Blogger because it was free. I wrote about my life, my marriage and shared everyday happenings.

Later I started a wedding and event planning business and I used blogging as a way to position myself as an expert in the field. I featured passed events, talked about trends and shared some planning tips. I found it very easy to write about these things because that’s what I loved doing. No question about it.

Blogging led me to many other opportunities, including starting my own family lifestyle blog, which you’re reading now!

Writing in general has taken me on some exciting adventures. Ones that I wouldn’t have had access to had I not put myself out there and started writing.

One question I get a lot is, “how do you start a blog?” The other is, “how did you learn to write so well?!” In this post, I’m going to cover the latter. I’ll give you a quick formula that has helped me overtime to write, more specifically, write a blog post.

Now, I am in no way an expert at writing. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I think I’m good enough to write this post.

At least that’s what people have told me. So here are some tips to get you over that writer’s block and start writing your blog post today!

How-to Write a Blog Post

Before you even start writing you’ll need to think about your story, your great idea. Think about how you can make it meaningful to your readers.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself…What are you sharing? Is it valuable? What is the big takeaway? What will they learn from you? How will you help them? How will they be inspired? What will they gain from reading your post?

Have you heard of WIIFM? It stands for “what’s in it for me?” And that is what people are ultimately thinking when they get to your blog.

Think of a catchy title.
The first thing you need to do is grab your reader’s attention. The title is going to do that for you. Having a catchy title will draw in curious minds. If your title is eh, plain and boring you might not get as many readers as you’d like. The key is to be straight forward, but intriguing at the same time. This will take time to master. Trust me even I have yet to get it down. I usually just think about how I would search for the information in my post and go from there. They aren’t always exciting, but they always tell the reader what to expect.

Here are a few tips to get you started…

• Keep it simple and straight to the point
• Make sure your title explains what your post is about
• Think about how you can make your title SEO-friendly

Quick Tip: Do a Google search of your title to see what kind of content appears. You’ll know right away if you hit the mark or not.

Start a conversation. Now that you’ve got your title out of the way, it’s time to start writing. And honestly, sometimes I change my title multiple times before I commit. That’s totally fine if you do too. No judgment here.

Starting a conversation means just that. It’s your introduction so to speak. Pretend you are having a chat with a good friend. Write the way you speak, you can always edit later. Think of those ice breakers that happen at networking events or work parties. What questions might you ask if you’ve just met someone or haven’t seen a good friend for a long time? Here are some ways to get the conversation started and introduce your idea to your readers in a fun and inviting way.

• Ask a question
• Share a quote
• Make a statement

Tell a story. Telling a story helps your reader relate to what you are going to talk about. It ties everything together. I used to think I was a bad storyteller until I started writing more. I’m still not great at telling stories in person, but give me a pen and paper or a laptop and I can shoot one out in an hour give or take.

Once you start writing your story will develop throughout your blog post. You don’t have to write a novel, it could just be a short paragraph or two. Here are some tips to create a story for your blog post.

• Talk about your day and tell your story as it relates to the topic you’re writing about
• Think about what made you want to write this blog post in the first place. How did the idea for this post come to mind?
• Share a memory about something that is in line with your topic
• Think of a good metaphor

Quick Example: If you’re writing a blog post about tips to successfully homeschool your child, share your story about why you decided to homeschool your child in the first place. Be as transparent as comfortably possible, share your struggles and how you overcame them, and then start going into the meat of your post.

Create a lead in sentence to address main points. Before going into the meat of my post or start sharing my bullet points I like to start with a lead in sentence to help prepare them for what’s next. It’s a simple way to get readers excited that I’m finally getting to the point. It’s the, “and now what you’ve all been waiting for” sentence letting them know they better get ready for something good. It’s one sentence that describes what you are going to list or talk about.

Quick Example: Back to the homeschool example. My readers are finally invested in this blog post, they liked my title enough to keep reading and they know my story. Now they want to know how I do it. To make the transition from the story to the tips I might say something like,

“Now that you know my story, I’d love to help you shape yours. Here are 5 tips to help you homeschool your child successfully.”

See, very simple, very similar to the title and it brings the reader back to where they need to be.

Headlines and main points. This is the meat of your post whether you’re writing a list or sharing your views points or reviewing a product this is the information your reader has been waiting for. Make it good, and if you are making a list be sure to expand a little on each bullet point. Share as much valuable information as possible. Tell them where they can find more. Feel free to incorporate additional elements of your story where they fit in. If possible break up your content with the use of headings for a better reading experience.

Remember WIIFM!? Inspire your readers, provide a solution to their problem, and let them know they’re not alone.

Closing. By this time, your story has come full circle. Reiterate your main points and the topic of discussion. Share your closing thoughts and move on. But before you do, know what your call to action will be.

Call to action. Think about what you want readers to do after they read your post. Do you have an offer for a free download? Do you want them to leave a comment? Share your post?

The call to action is simply asking your audience to engage with you. This is where you benefit. Here are some ideas for a call to action.

• Ask a question and tell your readers to respond in the comment section
• Ask them to follow you on social media
• Tell them to download your free eBook or printable
• Ask them to join your email list
• Tell them to register for an event or enter a giveaway

Don’t forget to include images. I won’t spend too much time on this, but make sure you have images to support your blog post and give it some character. I’ve found that it’s much easier to use your own images. You don’t have to deal with copyright issues and you can be consistent with your look across the board. Have fun with images and always make sure they make sense for the topic at hand.

So this is my formula to get me writing when I know I have an idea for a blog post. It took me a long time to realize I was even going through this process. I only took a closer look at what I was doing because my husband asked me to help him write better. I hope this helps him and all of you to get more of your ideas on paper and eventually on your blog.

What questions do you have about writing blog posts? Leave them in a comment below.