Have you just started your blog? Or maybe you have written your first post or 5^th post. Now you’re wondering why more people haven’t read your blog yet. Well these blog writing tips will help you not only write better blog content but also connect better with your audience.

Writing good blog posts is more than just knowing your facts and putting it out there.

You may be the fact-check King or Queen, but you know what is way MORE important?

Connecting with your audience

If you aren’t able to write in a way that allows your readers to connect with you and start building a relationship, they’ll never sign up for your email list, purchase a product, or visit your blog again.

Trust is EVERYTHING in the blogging world where competition is stiff and there are millions of articles competing with yours.

Writing a good blog post requires you to do several different things at once, and I’ve got you covered on just about everything in this article.

Here is an outline of what we’re going to cover.

How to Choose Your Blog Topic

• What is Keyword Research
• Listen to Your Audience
• Trending Topics
• Content That Matters

Best Blog Writing Tips

• Plan Out Your Content
• Understanding who you are writing to
• Write like you talk
• Keep it real
• Length of blog content
• Make your content easy to read
• Ask for comments

After You Finish Writing

• Shareable Images
• Optimized Images
• SEO-Friendly
• Proofread and Edit

Before you can start writing your blog post, you need to make sure you’ve chosen a topic you like and feel good writing about. Below I’ve outlined a few of my steps for you.

How to Choose your Blog Topic

You can easily make this part way more difficult than it has to be by overdoing it. If you’re just starting out, you’re likely going to start writing about the most important topics you think your audience will be interested in.

Nothing is wrong with that starting out, but it can lead you down the wrong path.

People who blog just to blog create content they want to create, people who run successful businesses create content others want and need.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t write about what you are passionate about, but make sure you align your passion with the interests of others!

It has been said many of times by the experts so I’ll stress this as well. Your Number 1 focus in the beginning of building your blog is keyword research.

1. What is Keyword Research

Chris Inc. is built on creating content people actually search for. Here’s my step-by-step process to finding article topics on Pinterest (my recommended traffic engine for bloggers):

• 1. Go to Pinterest.
• 2. Type a Keyword into the top. In this example, we’re going to use the word “online.”
• 3. I like the word “business,” so I will select that as well.
• 4. I see both “ideas” and “opportunities” in the top searches, so I select ideas.

Now the keyword “Online Business Ideas” is cool and I could stop there, but in the spirit of giving you all I got, I will take it one step further.

• 5. I see that “Online Business Opportunities” is coming up in the suggested search (these items are the most searched and trafficked).

Therefore, I will add “opportunities” to my blog post, mix up the words a little, and I now have “Top Online Business Opportunities.”

BOOM!  I can even add a little fluff to it if the keyword is too boring. Its truly that SIMPLE!

At least 80% of your content needs to be created based on the things people want, need, and are actually searching for.

Chris Inc. is written solely based on content people want and need. Other tools that may help you find what people are searching for

You can also use tools like SEMrush and Google AdWords to find popular keywords and headlines for your blog topics.

You won’t need to do this for EVERY single article, but it can be helpful for coming up with the right keywords. Over time, you will begin to learn more about what your audience wants are based on the feedback you receive.

2. Listen to your Audience

This is self-explanatory. Some of what you create should specifically be about what your readers want and need! Focus on their PAIN POINTS!

The best way to find out what your audience wants is to ASK them.

• Ask your email subscribers.
• Ask your Facebook fans.
• If you don’t have an audience yet, make sure to ask at the end of your posts (for comments).

As your blog grows, your audience will begin commenting on your posts and replying to your emails with feedback about what they want and need more help with.

Now, remember, don’t lose yourself keeping up with all of their request. There is a reason you should do this in moderation.

Being in the lifestyle and personal finance space, I have got some crazy suggestions.

You can’t write about a crazy topic just because ONE person asked for it.

You should listen for a common theme among your audience.

The smartest things I did when I started out was ask people in my opening email what they wanted me to speak about.

I sifted through literally hundreds of emails where people spoke about ways I could help them.

I know exactly down to a “T” what my audience wants and needs are. The question is… do you??

3. TMZ and Trending Topics

People love new things.  New episodes of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, new clothes, new boyfriends. We all get off into it.

Because we love new things, there will always be a new diet, a new waist trainer, or a new product that comes around swooping up everyone’s attention.

Trending topics are irresistible to readers because everyone wants the scoop. They know they’re going to say something new and juicy that they haven’t heard before.

As a blogger, you need to have an opinion on these types of things but in your niche.

Even if your opinion is not favorable, your followers want you to discuss these things so they know where you stand. You are an authority on the subject to them and having an opinion matters!

The reason not to make this the focal point of your blog however is:

• Trends come and go. Trending topics are only trendy for a moment, it’s not searchable in the long term.
• This content may not serve any other purpose than a quick read. It may not help you turn your audience into customers.

You can also see topics that are trending with Google Trends or try running a search for “your niche + popular trends in [current/next year].”

4. Content That Matters

While you should be sharing your story and expressing who you are throughout your post, it can be hard to connect when every post is a “list” or “how to” post.

That’s why you should mix it up every now and then.

Some of your post should always serve the purpose of helping you build know-like-and-trust with your audience.

Here are some great blog topic ideas for a quick mix-up that are designed to help you CONNECT with your people:

• What’s your personal story? Tell the world in a timeline of dates posts. [See our About Us page].
• Share some of your favorite memes, pictures, and videos that make you laugh on the internet.
• Is there something about your industry that frustrates you? Talk about it.
• What are your goals (related to your niche) for the coming week, month, and year? Share them!
• Share your opinion on a controversial topic. You will generally isolate some but build a much deeper connection with many more.
• Write a blog post about the biggest mistakes you’ve made in your journey to [relate topic to niche].

The best part about writing blog post like these, is that it’s both Therapeutic and Fun to write. It will also help you create a deeper connection with your audience.

They are both good for your audience and your business.

Win-Win-Win (in my Jay Rock voice).

7 Best Blog Writing Tips for Beginners

Now that you know what to write about, let’s talk about some tips that will help you with writing your blog posts.

1. Plan out your blog content before writing your post

Okay, so now you have your topic chosen. It’s time to plan out what you would like to say in your post.

You could wing-it and “just start writing!” But that could lead to rambling which doesn’t touch on the key points that are of interest to your audience.

My preferred method is to simply open up a new blank Word document with my blog title at the top. I then write out the major key points that I need to touch on.

After settling on the most important points of interest for the article, I begin to fill in the outline with what I want to say about the topic.

It’s easier to write in a Word document rather than in WordPress because that’s what I’m used to. You can copy and paste the content over to WordPress when you finish.

Now that our structure is in place let’s jump off into the good stuff!

2. Understand who you are writing to

When it comes to communicating with your audience, understand who you are writing to. Be mindful of where they are in the process.

This doesn’t mean that you should assume your audience don’t know anything. But be mindful.

When you write and communicate, do it from your point of view, your experiences, and with your knowledge about the topic.

You generally know a LOT more than your audience does about that topic, so its easy to skip over the ‘smaller’ details that you feel are less important but that end up actually being crucial to your audience.

Assume that your audience knows very little to nothing about the topic you are discussing so that you don’t leave out any important details that they need to fully understand your message (and purchase your products!).

This becomes even more important when you are writing emails and sales pages.

Here is an example of one way you can incorporate this concept into your writing.

Don’t just tell them how to do it. Remind them WHY they need to do it. – Obviously, they should know why they need it but the reminder helps them understand you better.

It may feel a little like you are communicating unnecessary details at first, but you’ll begin to get used to writing in this way and your audience will thank you for it!

3. Write like you talk

A lot of bloggers try to be too “professional” when they write blog content and they get overly focused on sounding “official” or like an “expert.” This is not college.

While verb-noun agreement is important, you don’t need to sound like an uptight professor when writing.

I like to write in the way that I would communicate my thoughts to my wife or to my boys.

There is some level of comfort when speaking this way but it’s not as formal as if you were presenting at a conference breakout session.

Find your cool. Try to remain relaxed and confident in your writing. Put on some 90’s R&B and let your fingers flow on the keyboard.

Put on some jazz or an instrumental.

Next up on the list of blog writing tips ties into the point above but goes a little deeper.

4. Keep it real

We touched on this briefly above with choosing your blog topic, but now we are going to take it a step further.

Stop writing about what you think and write about what you know!

Writing a blog post is really just about pouring your thoughts out on a subject, but writing GREAT CONTENT is more about incorporating your actual experiences into the subjects you write about.

If you’re talking about photography and how to take great photos but you don’t even know what a Canon is, folks will read right through you.

Honestly, this is the most important point of this entire post and the reason I receive positive feedback and social shares.

The number one compliment I get is, you seem so “real” and “down to earth.” Believe it or not, people appreciate very honest and transparent people.

With so much buffoonery online, honesty and transparency is what EVERYONE should strive for – regardless of your blog niche.

It’s not enough to talk to your audience like they’re family, you should also treat the relationship with honor and respect.

You do this by getting deep, sharing personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings.

This is another reason you should be careful with the blog niche you choose.

The more knowledge and experience you have about a topic, the better you can communicate your thoughts and perspective to your audience.

Without a personal touch, you might as well be Joe Blow. There will be nothing that sets YOU apart from everyone else.

When I write articles, I first think about the topic(s) my audience needs the most help with. Then, before I start writing, I think about my own experiences with that topic and how I can turn those experiences into important lessons for my audience.

These are the type of things you need to think about when you write your blog post.

5. Write good blog post but don’t go overboard on length

A super long post doesn’t always imply “good” when it comes to writing blog posts. 

Longer articles do generally rank higher for Google SEO because it means that people are spending more time on your page, and Google takes that into consideration in their algorithm ranking.

BUT…

If you fill your content with cotton candy just to hit some fairy-tale number for Google SEO, people will bounce from your website and this will INJURE your ranking on Google.

There is no silver bullet.

Most of my blog posts are at least 1,000 words, but I try to keep many of them closer to 1,500 – 2,000 for Google SEO.

With that being said, when I write, I write. I’m not checking for actual length or how many words.

Let it flow.

Check your word count when you’re finished.

If you obsess over how many words you got while you are writing, you’ll end adding fluff to your articles.

Once you’re finished writing, take a look at the word count. If you’re below 1,000 words, look for areas you can expand upon and provide more details to help support your key points.

During this overview, remember the point from above: Your audience is at the beginning stage and you’re somewhat like a veteran.

Don’t add cotton candy to your post to hit numbers. Only add additional value to your content for your readers or nothing at all.

6. Make your content easy to read

Make it plain. The only thing to touch on for those who love English is APA and MLA is out the window

Are you writing a dissertation?

No???

With that said, your articles should not be in block or full paragraph form. Again, this is not college.

People are constantly consuming information all day, whether that be at the gym, at work or at the nail shop.

Competition for attention is only intensifying, so it’s important to not only catch people’s attention but to also KEEP IT.

Most people aren’t mindlessly browsing through articles like they would a casual stroll while walking a dog.

They’re surfing through many different articles and scanning the information for things that interest them.

This means that your content needs to be easily readable and eye-catching so that the reader can tell immediately whether your content is worth their time. Ways to do this include:

• Using proper heading tags to make headings larger (this also helps for Google SEO)
• Including a table of contents or overview of key points at the beginning of your article
• Bolding, italicizing, and/or underlining important text
• Making sure hyperlinks are in an easily identifiable color
• Spacing out sentences into shorter paragraphs (rather than large blocks of text)

These are all strategies I incorporate into my articles. The last point is especially important and one that many people overlook.

When you were little, you were taught to write longer paragraphs that separated different ideas. In blog posts, you should write in a conversational tone because it makes your content easier to read.

7. Ask for comments

Comments are good forms of social proof that help you understand what your readers are responding to.

Comments also signal to Google that the content is popular and engaging. That helps with Google SEO.

I admit it can be difficult to get the comments on your blog posts, so you need to jump start it however you can.

Ways you can do this include;

Ask for comments:

• “If you enjoyed this post or have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below!”
• “I’d love to hear your thoughts on [insert topic]! Please feel free to leave me a comment below the article!”

Ask a question: 

• “What do you think about [insert topic]? Please feel free to leave me a comment below the article!”
• “Did you enjoy this article or feel like you have anything else to add? I’d love to discuss it with you in the comment section below this article!

This small call-to-action can help to increase the number of comments you get on your posts!

After You Finish Writing Your Blog Post

Below are a few other blog writing tips that I incorporate into my articles to make sure that the blog content is the best it can be!

1. Include a shareable image in each blog post

If you don’t make it as easy as possible for your audience to share your blog content, they won’t bother.

I use a combination of a shareable images along with Social Media Warfare, a social media plugin.

My cornerstone blog posts include a tall image for Pinterest because that is my best source of traffic.

In addition, we use Social Media Warfare to include a Pinterest “Save” button that hovers over the image as well as professional-looking social media icons on our posts.

It’s a free plugin, but there is also a paid version!

2. Optimize Your Images

Site speed is incredibly important for both sales and SEO, and the larger your image files are, the longer it will take your website to load.

There are two steps that you need to take to optimize your images BEFORE uploading them to WordPress:

1. Resize: Make sure that the image is not larger than it needs to be to display how you want it on your site. You can use a free web-based app like WP Smush for this.
2. Compress: After resizing, you need to compress the file size to the smallest possible size you can get it to without reducing the quality below a level you’re comfortable with. You can do this through free sites such as Optimizilla or WP Smush.

It’s super important to take these steps before uploading pics so you don’t slow down your site with too many plugins or large images.

3. Make your blog posts SEO-friendly

Whether you plan on getting Google traffic or not, you should do what you can to “covertly” rank better in the Google algorithm.

If you do this, you will naturally begin to get more Google traffic over time.

The best way to learn more about how to do this is by downloading the Yoast SEO plugin. There is a free and paid version, but you shouldn’t need anything more than the free version.

4. Proofread and edit

Because you’re writing your blog posts in more of a ‘conversational’ tone, it’s a lot easier to make grammatical errors in your post.

I know that when I’m zoned out, I type super-fast because my mind is racing and I tend to make a lot small grammatical errors.

ALWAYS read over your content at least once before pressing publish. I recommend proof reading it in preview mode first then one last time before you actually publish the article.

Remember that its much harder to catch your own mistakes when you know what you wrote and what the article says already. If you can get another pair of eyes on the post, that’s good to.

I think that’s about it. I’m pretty sure I covered just about all you need to know. These are the best and most important blog writing tips that I personally use when writing blog posts. If you think I glazed over or forgot to cover something specifically for you, please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments below!