How To Write Your First Blog Post The Right Way!
It’s great to want to blog to increase your web traffic and establish yourself as a pro in your niche, but it’s all pointless if nobody reads it or if it’s not done right.
Blogging had a massive impact on selling out my services when I was a Virtual Assistant and now especially to sell digital products for me on auto-pilot.
The tough part, of course, is knowing where the heck to start.
I was in the same boat as you 4 years ago, and thankfully I made blogging a focus in my business and look where things are at today!
Blogging and Pinterest are the two top reasons I am able to consistently bring in over 10k per month while working from home!
It’s time for you to get serious about writing your first blog post too.
Why You Need to Blog for Your Online Business
Blogging as a business or for business can seem quite daunting, but it doesn't have to be.
I know you came here to find out how to write your first blog post, but let’s just quickly recap on WHY blogging is soo incredibly important for your business.
If you already know, then please feel free to skip down a bit!
1. Blogging Drives Organic Traffic to Your Website with SEO Ranking
Want more readers on your site? Who doesn't?!
Paying for ads to drive traffic to your site can be expensive and is totally unnecessary.
Updating your site shows Google and other search engines that your website is active. Maintaining activity tells these search engines to check in more regularly to see your new content.
And you're not just going to update your About Page every week in hopes of ranking, are you?
I give you the solution: blog posts.
Each and every time you write a blog post, that article becomes one more indexed page on your website.
The more pages a website has (and continually adds), the better the chance that Google will pick up on that activity and rank it.
Blog posts are the easiest and most effective way to add this new information to your site.
Blogging gives you the chance to organically end up in search results for people actually looking for your services or products.
If you want people to give you their time, you need to offer them value in exchange. You can give them that value in a blog post!
2. Blogging Converts Traffic into Sales or Signups
Your business blog relates to your products and services. Duh.
So link to them in the blog post!!
Talking about the importance of something you offer a course on? Link to it.
Does your blog post relate to a previous post on your site? Link it. Link it. Link it!!!
Not only do inbound links improve your blog's SEO, but they can also drive sales and signups to the products you are talking about.
Having someone visit your site because of a blog post is also the perfect opportunity to get them on your email list!
3. Blogging Establishes Authority and Trust
You chose your business because you're an expert in your specific niche, and blogging is the perfect way for you to let the world know about it.
Consistently blogging about topics in your niche establishes authority as readers will start to see you as the go-to for information.
If people enjoy reading your blog and have come to learn that you're trustworthy in producing your content, they will be more likely to buy from you than the other guys.
Blogging shows that there are people behind the business that are engaging with potential customers. People tend to trust people over companies themselves.
4. Blogging Impacts Long-Term Results
Seriously. How great would it be to write your first blog post and have it continually drive leads without even touching it?
That's what blog posts do! You may publish a blog post today and get a certain amount of views and clicks that day, but it doesn't end there!
Blog Posts continue to rank and drive readers to your site, so actually, over time, you have a higher chance of getting more readers to your site from that older blog post than you do on a newly published one.
How cool is that?
So, let's get started on that first blog post!
What to Actually Write Your First Blog Post About.
Now that you know the benefits of blogging for business, it's time to write your first blog post.
Start by brainstorming what problems your ideal client has.
- Do they need a step-by-step tutorial?
- Do they need a list post on where to find the best of something?
- Could they benefit from an interview with a top dog in your industry?
- Maybe it’s just a simple top tips post.
As I said above, people need to find value in a blog post. Value is the whole reason for writing it in the first place.
Adding value to your blog posts also gives readers a reason to trust your business by proving that you know what you're talking about and have their interests in mind.
Blog posts also allow for a discussion between you and your readers by asking questions and then interacting with your readers in the comments.
So now it's time to answer some of these questions to help you narrow down what your first blog post should be about!
Questions:
- List what your ideal customer waking up in the morning and thinking?
- (How do I... Where can I find... What’s the best way to...)
- What solutions do your services or products offer your ideal audience?
- (Time-saving, peace of mind, glowing skin, work/life balance)
- List out some of the how-to’s you’re always explaining to clients?
- (How to’s are an incredible way to show and establish your credibility)
- Is there a program, app or tool you that you constantly rave about?
- (Writing reviews and experiences can help your audience connect with you.)
- What are some programs/apps you use that are specific to your industry?
- (Top tips for using programs more efficiently can be a huge hit.)
Out of all of the answers you’ve written down above, which one would be the easiest for you to actually write about?
Getting your first blog post done will be a major milestone, so pick a topic that’s as easy as possible!
First Blog Post Action Plan
Now that we have covered the why, the what, let's talk about the how.
After all, how to actually write your first blog post is the beast that everyone is afraid of at first.
1. Start by Brainstorming Topics
Using the questions discussed above (I know, we've covered a lot today) to brainstorm topics for your first blog post.
Be sure to keep your target audience in mind and remain on-brand.
2. Brainstorm Keywords
After you have chosen your blog post topic, do some research and write down some relatable keywords.
Google Trends and Yoast SEO are awesome for finding relevant keywords. There are tons of different websites where you can do this as well, just do some research and use the one that works best for you!
Decide on your primary keyword along with some searchable synonyms.
Soovle is super helpful for finding synonyms of your keyword.
Just plug in your keyword and it will generate the top phrases linked to that keyword across all search engines, including Google and Yahoo!
Synonyms help your blog post to flow better and keeps your keyword from sounding too forced or unnatural!
3. Develop Your Outline
Start laying out your blog post in an outline. Remember those High School English classes? Time to put them to good use.
Decide on your headings (H1, H2, etc.) in this outline and try to incorporate your keywords there.
You can do this in a simple word or pages document and it gives you something to follow along as you're writing your content out.
I also like to make notes in my outline for internal links I want to include like related blog posts or products and services.
4. Create Your Content
It's time to fill in your outline! (Are you getting school flashbacks yet?)
Create filler content with no more than 300 words under each subheading for max SEO props.
You're writing to your audience, so write your content as you would if speaking to them. A more conversational approach is usually better in blog posts!
Now something important to keep in mind here. Google loves posts that are longer than 1000 words but... most people zone out at about the 700 word mark.
This just means you can be flexible and create some shorter and some longer posts. So don't feel bad if your first couple of posts are a little bit shorter!
5. Add Links
Review your post and add links to relevant internal and external sources.
Internal sources are other posts and pages on your site and external sources are complimentary content on another site.
If you want to read more about link building from an SEO Expert, check out this article from Yoast:
A successful link building strategy in 6 Easy Steps. See what I did there....
This will give you SEO ranking points from Google so don't forget this step!
6. Add Your Images
Images not only break up your text and make it more readable but if they are SEO'd, they will boost your ranking too!
So, add those SEO'd images to make your blog post more appealing and give it a boost.
7. Review and Proofread
Be sure to review your blog post on your computer but make sure to check and see how it looks on tablet and mobile.
If you've visited my blog before, you probably know my gripes with proofreading.
I'm trying, I really am.
Spellcheck is the best to easily show your errors BUT do make sure to read over your blog post a few times to catch those more hidden errors.
And if you can, hire an assistant to review your blog posts before they go live... #2021GOALS
Voila! Your First Blog Post is DONE!!!!
Phew, you made it to the end!!
That was A LOT to cover, but following these blogging tips will do wonders when creating blog content, whether it's your first blog post or one of many!
Do you have any bonus blogging tips you'd like to share? Please leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you.
AND, that's it for the Website Launch Series! Thanks for coming along the 7 post series journey!
As always, don't hesitate to reach out if you need clarification or have any questions.
Happy blogging!
Hi Tasha, first of all '10k per month while working from home' - congrats. That takes a lot of work and determination. Do you currently partner with a website host? Would you be open to partnering with a new one?