How hard could it be to write a blog post? If a teenager can do it, you can too… right? Well writing a blog post isn’t hard at all, but writing a great blog post is very difficult.
Over the past few years I have started 2 blogs. Although my first blog was a Technorati 100 blog, the content was crap. Readers didn’t care to read the content or engage in the conversation (comment on the blog).
Quick Sprout on the other hand isn’t a Technorati 100 blog, but you actually read the content and engage. I constantly am getting great feedback from you and requests to write more content.
Now I know I am not the best writer out there and I still have a lot to improve upon, but I feel that I have a good formula when it comes to writing blog posts.
Here is how you can write blog posts like me:
Get out of your old ways
Do you remember writing term papers in high school or college? If you don’t, lucky you! If you do, then writing blog posts is going to be a difficult task for you. You have to ignore all of the things that your professors taught you about writing.
You aren’t here to write a term paper, you are here to create a conversation!
If my blog posts sounded as if I was talking at you instead of to you, wouldn’t you get bored and irritated with me? Make sure you do the same and talk to your readers and not at them.
Know what you want to write about
Before you start writing the first word, you have to know what the last word is going to be. I don’t mean this in a literal fashion, but you have to know how you are going to start off your blog post, the points you are going to convey, and how you are going to wrap everything up.
If you are one of those people that likes to wing things and be spontaneous, that’s great. As one of those people, I have realized that it doesn’t work too well with blogging. All it will cause is you to spend more time writing than you need to.
Plus, I am pretty sure you are already strapped for time. Right? So why waste more of it.
Create an awesome title
So are you ready to start writing now? Wrong! Until you can come up with an awesome title, you shouldn’t start writing your blog post. You could have the greatest content, but if your title sucks, most people won’t end up reading it.
To come up with some cool titles, I tend to look at 3 blogs:
- Brian Clark from Copyblogger has written some cool blog posts about titles.
- Leo Babauta from Zen Habits usually uses cool titles for his blog posts. Although his blog isn’t about blogging, it is a great place to go to for some inspiration.
- And last but not least, Darren Rowse from Problogger also uses catchy titles.
The approach I use when browsing these 3 blogs is to not only look what titles they have used, but also how many comments each blog post recieved. What I am doing here is correlating how readers feel about a particular title because blog posts with good titles usually get read more, which means more people comment on them.
Hook your readers
You only have a few seconds to grab people’s attention. If you can’t grab someone’s attention within the first few sentences you write, you have lost them.
The way I hooked you into reading this far was through:
How hard could it be to write a blog post? If a teenager can do it, you can too… right? Well writing a blog post isn’t hard at all, but writing a great blog post is very difficult.
If you look at the paragraph above, you’ll notice that I have done a few things:
- I created a conversation with you.
- I showed you that anyone could write a blog post, which makes you feel that you can do it to (which you can).
- I enticed you to read further by alluding to the fact that not everyone writes great blog posts.
In the second paragraph I use social proof, so that if you are new to Quick Sprout, you don’t think I am just an Average Joe who is giving advice.
Over the past few years I have started 2 blogs. Although my first blog was a Technorati 100 blog, the content was crap. Readers didn’t care to read the content or engage in the conversation (comment on the blog).
Showing you how I was a top 100 blogger, helps you take my advice a bit more seriously. And at the same time, telling you that I screwed up shows you that I am not perfect and that you can always improve.
Now everyone has different writing styles, so I don’t expect your introductory paragraphs to be like mine… and that’s fine. As long as you use some of the elements I used, your readers will be engaged.
Get into the nitty gritty details
For a moment, take a quick break and go to some of your favorite blogs. The chances are these blogs are pretty popular. What you’ll notice when reading these popular blogs is that most of them contain very detailed content.
They don’t just cover the basics; they actually get down into all of the little details. Sometimes they go into it so much, that it seems like they are holding your hand and walking you through whatever they are talking about, step by step.
When I first started Quick Sprout I was writing decent blog posts, but for some reason the blog wasn’t growing in traffic. I couldn’t figure out why, but one day I wrote a very detailed blog post (unintentionally) and my traffic started to grow. Ever since then, I have been writing detailed blog posts and traffic has been going up.
I hope you’ll learn from my experience and not waste your time writing mediocre blog posts.
Wrap it up
Remember in school how your professors told you to summarize what you wrote in your conclusion? That works great for an essay, but it doesn’t work well in a blog post.
I take a 3-prong approach with my conclusions:
- Keep it simple stupid – good conclusions aren’t long, they are short and to the point.
- Add your final thoughts – don’t just regurgitate what you talked about within the blog post, but say something new and meaningful.
- Leave things open – if you want to get more comments on your blog, you have to leave your conclusion open. The easiest way to do this is by asking your readers a question.
Adding the final touches
Don’t you feel relieved that you are now done writing your blog post? I hate to break it to you, but you still aren’t done yet. You have to check for spelling, grammar, and most importantly flow issues.
We all make mistakes so not only should you check and double check for these issues, but you should have someone else read through your blog posts before you post it.
And after you do all of that, you have to find a cool picture to add within your blog post. Reading content off of a computer screen can be hard on the eyes, but if you add a picture within your blog post, it will make it a bit easier on your readers’ eyes.
Conclusion
The way I write my blog posts, may not fit your writing style. This doesn’t mean that you have to adjust your writing style, but you should take the elements I described within this blog post and incorporate them into your writing style.
And lastly, you’ll never perfect your blog writing skills. But don’t worry, no one else will either. There is always more room for improvement! So in that spirit, do you have any recommendations on how to write a great blog post?
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My favorite is K.I.S.S, and it has been for years. It reminds me of one of my friends, who when giving directions goes into stupid minute details when all you need is the basics like… you know, turn here, then there.
Great Post and good advice.
what is K.I.S.S?
K.I.S.S. = Keep it simple stupid
Apple brand and products’ user interface embodies this phrase perfectly. This methodology is the reason why my girlfriend and many other people probably go out to purchase their products. Their products allow consumers to get what they want– quickly and error-free (I’m talking to you, Microsoft).
lol! The concept is so simple it self, but unfortunately, most people stay away from it.
These days you can get in trouble for calling someone stupid at the workplace (even if it isn’t meant in damaging manner). Why is it that today so many people are hung up on being PC,prim and proper. I had a friend quit because his boss called him a retard; now he has been jobless for months. Yea it hurts but swallow your pride and keep making money the economy is too bad for everyone to take things so seriously. Can i say “Lighten up Francis!” or “Stifle Yourself” if you can’t.
You gotta be really careful out there, especially in this market
I learned it in a different way.
K.I.S.S = Keep It Short & Sweet
That also works great
Sorry to say this but obviously the boss whas right about your friend. He should of discussed this issue with his boss before quitting, then he would still have a job.
People can be too quick to make a decision… you need to think first!
Simple = usable and I advice companies and individuals on a daily basis the value of simplicity.
Because simplicity seems easy we believe it is easy to achieve. When it is not easy to achieve we give up too quickly.
A very common misconception. Great observation.
I think you are reading my blog Neil and learning from a fresh blog little over a year old. Some how I get that feeling Neil, some how.
What blog are you talking about?
Not quite sure what you are referring to Anti Matter, that statement and phrase has been around for years and I doubt Neil would try and rip-off your blog material.
Its a line that I’ve used for many years that has repeatedly been proven to be effective.
Ok, good i liked the way of writing a blog post really marvelous but what is grantee that traffic will come by writing such blogs.
There are many ways to drive traffic to your website.As far is longevity is concerned however, the organic traffic is the way to go. Results are not as quick to generate as pay for traffic, but organic traffic can bring traffic to your web site for weeks, months, even years to come.Above these basic guidelines will get you started to great content writing. Many great contents are bringing in substantial traffic to the writers website where in turn they have the opportunity to make money.You can see here at NEIL’s blog
If you write about what you’re passionate about, people will read it. Write great content first, then worry about traffic. Read more about social networking
There is no guarantee to anything in life. The same goes to a venture or blog. Perseverance is the key!
I agree with Niel on writing great content. Majority of the “pro-bloggers” always emphasize on the fact that content is king on Blog Planets.
Perseverance and the will to succeed definitely helps!
Right, as long as you right from your passion and not you empty wallets, you’re golden. Focus on the topics that interest you.
I my opinion great blog posts can be written by investing lot of time into it.
Make sure to proof read the article(as you said in the above article) and make sure you have added everything that you wanted to tell.
Many of us spend hours, everyday, on fulfilling our writing assignments including emails, articles, documents and other. It is necessary to keep it correct and professional.
So long as it’s your main source of income, yes. If you have a separate side job like most people do, create a schedule to do your assignments after work hours.
That is the exact challenge. How do you find the time to get a great post out
.
Yha right.Life is name of challenges n challenges lead towards success.your passion would let you help to find out time for your great post. don’t let down it:P
You simply make time
. The excuse “i don’t have the time” is bull. So many successful people in this world work with millions of dollars, yet they have the time to do 100x more than most people. create a schedule and follow it.
My blog posts sometimes take me up to 4-5hours to write. Provide good content and your readers will see the value.
I’m glad to hear it takes someone else that long, too. Posts of mine that involve lots of computer screenshots (”how to” articles) can take me 8 hours or so. And people wonder why I don’t post more frequently!
Exactly Kelly, but then there are people who post like crazy and post a bunch of crap. It’s stuff like that which makes it easy to tell the difference between the good quality sites and the bad.
Thats where the problem is.. People don’t understand that quantity of posts does matter but quality should not be sacrificed just for the sake of getting more posts.. Provide really useful content to your readers and they will surely like it.
That is why you only see quality content being promoted through out the web compared do a bunch of useless crap. Take a look at digg, mostly all well worked on articles.
Thanks for the post! Your right.. Its not just about web 1.0 talking at you, reporting info stuff it’s having a CONVERSATION with your audience and engaging them.
yes right Neil Putted out most logical point here ..Blogs are becoming ever more popular online and it looks like there is no slowing down. Internet traffic is at an all time high. If you want to get a lot of free blog traffic coming your way write a blog post that people find valuable.
Its only just begun.
Also in Seth Godin’s words conversations have a power to “Create Tribes”. Here is where he talks about it: http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html
Fantastic book! I do agree
In order to keep conversations flowing, you have to stay aware of each discussion in progress. Unfortunately, we are still in the early days of blogging, and many blogs do not include notification technology to let you know where there has been a new post. And even if a blogger receives notification that you have commented on his/her blog, does not mean that you will receive notification when that blogger replies to your comment. If comment email subscription is available, it is wise to subscribe. You may also choose to use tools such as del.icio.us or Cocomment for tracking comments online and subsequent follow up. But, ultimately, you may have to monitor for comments manually to make sure you keep the conversations alive.
It’s VERY important to stay on top of what you have going on, it shows how much you care for starters.
Right, like on twitter, answer questions, ask questions, create a conversation, a group, a society etc.
This is a very resourceful article. I have been blogging for a year and still find sites like your great influence for me to improve on.
Thanks
My blog didn’t take off up until just recently. It took me years.
Yaa the way Neil write posts, I feel he does a great amount of research and time..Its just impossible to write a quality post in half an hour or so. Even I do take 5-6 hours to write posts for my website.
Yep, you gotta do it if you want to make your readers happy. If your readers are happy, they’ll bring more readers.
Give value, value, value. Don’t just fill a blog full of affiliate links. Of course there is nothing wrong with affiliate links but offer value first. If a blog post is about a product, show readers how it can better their life and fix their problem. If a blog is on entertainment is there anything to blog about to give the reader a smile? The best blog writers give first, take second.
Isn’t it how life works in general. It is only by giving that we shall receive
.
It’s a shortcut people try to take…which almost always results in failure.
If you are a good communicator, this should all just be common sense. Blogs are a tricky proposition. Plenty of people that wrote great term papers in school are not good communicators using either the written or spoken word. There are also many great writers that can’t hold a conversation to save their life. And of course there are those that you can talk with for hours that don’t have the first clue of how to achieve the same effect through writing. Therein lies the challenge of blogging: combining all the aforementioned talents by offering engaging information and conversation with well-written articles and posts.
Excellent comment!
Whenever you are over the Internet, there can be thousands of audience online listening to you or are interested in your writing/products but unless you have good communication skills the readers/buyers wouldn’t be attracted to listen/read to at least whatever you are saying.The best i can mentioned here is Barack Obama.His good communication skills and friendly nature gave his tremendous success.
That’s the power of the internet. Anyone able to learn the right chops has to ability to prevail on the internet.
Very insightful Kevin. That is a challenge that many will begin to over come throughout time and experience.
I have about 10 blog posts I want to write, all of which I have started the title and a few sentences so i can remember what it is I need to write about.
The reason none of them have been posted come back to this article, exactly what I needed to get over a hump that I hit. I often weary of writing long blog posts and messages, but have learned from you that really, if someone wants to and is truly interested they will spend the time to read it.
Just like I did.
Mo
twitter.com/malkady
Creating a direct but catchy title really gets the attention of the readers. Though there are thousands of blogs on the net that are quite similar to some blogs of particular niche, creating a unique title will always do the trick to beat them.
Article title is very important. It is the very first thing that your website visitor will see when they want to read your article. Neil’s tips has shown you how you can write “simple” and “catchy” title so you can easily grab your website visitor attention.
Title is VERY important as it’s usually the only thing people see.
You need to place your focus on 1 at a time my friend.
Thanks to you, Neil.
I like this article, just startet blogging about one month ago, read a few articles about blogging and other stuff which helped me to get some detailed informations on improving my writings. Your post did it too, hope you keep going.
Kind regards
Florian
Is value-flows.de where you blog? If so you have done a good job encapsulating it in the google translator in your hyperlink so that people on this blog can read your blog in english!
I’m glad to hear to you jumped on board
How is it going so far?
Traffic is growing sneaky, but I’m looking straight forward and won’t stop until I will reach some goals i have set on myself.
That’s excellent, be sure to keep us updated with your status.
I am sure you have outlined most of the tips in your post. I am a blogger and therefore need to update my blog daily. After reading this, I know exactly how to improve. Many thanks for the information Neil.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Just apply it and you’ll sooner or later see the results.
Ah your words of encouragement boost me up. My blog has been going upwards since two weeks and I’m also starting to get traffic….
Great, so focus on where your main traffic is coming from and optimize it.
Thanks a lot, Niel.
Once I commented in one of your blog post as you are an encyclopedia of small things. Happy to say you proved again.
I’m like encyclopedia-brown, the old school book.
Good post Neil.
I was directed to your blog by someone over at shoemoney.com (might have been in a post by Shoe).
My problem has always been making myself write, I always find reasons and excuses not to write anything (must take the dog for a wlak, that toilet bowl won’t clean itself, etc)
It would be nice if you could produce a post about that kind of thing in the future.
You need to figure out something your passionate about so that doesn’t become an issue.
As always a great and inspirational post. Thanks, Neil!
I do what I can Tara
Really informative and useful, I am checking out the other sites you mentioned for titles and I think that they will help out.
Thanks
Neil has the best sites for recommendation. I don’t know if he has a delicious account we can all tap into to get what he is reading or marks as fav.
where do you pick up pictures for you blog posts? You have the best contextual pictures you use. Please educate and advice.
Google images.
Just be createive
Neil do you have a del.icio.us or another bookmarking account where we can know what your fav links and daily reads are?
Harnish please have a look on BlogRoll. Neil has mentioned his favorite sites. Just chill
This is a perfect, concise, guide on how a business should go about creating a successful, worthwhile blog. It is so hard for many to grasp the no-self-promotion idea, but it’s really necessary to get interest in what you have to say.
Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
When you speak about “Know what you want to write about”, personally I like to draw out a mind map, to see how I am going to layout the post, and to draw out some topics/points that I would like to hit upon on my post. And I always spend the time to re-read my posts constantly before hitting that publish button, and alot of times I may even read it again once it’s published.
Till then,
Jean
The map itself becomes not only committed to memory but is actually stored in the brain as a neural pathway. This pathway radiates out to the cosmic mind with its full intention and then the coincidences and enlightenments start to happen ….. and where it gets really funky is when you embed your timeline into the map.
That’s always a great idea as many readers can be turned off from spelling/grammar errors
Hey… it was a gr8 post…loved it, can you blog more on this.. like how to write down summaries of videos or how to re write an old information…converting it into a new one..??
Thanks for the feedback, I’ll definitely look into it and considering doing tat REAL soon!
Thanks for the great tips Neil, it is true that i need to ignore all of the things that my professors taught me about writing… sometimes I am confused in writing my post because the way I write my post is the way I make my news report way back to college and most of my trainings and subjects in college are all about news writing and scientific writing.. that’s why I don’t have a lot of readers. but as what you’ve said there is always room for improvement.. wish me luck and surely I will follow your advice.
There are a lot of blogs out there that teach you writing skills, persuasion, etc. Use those as tools!
Is it a manual for good blog writing or what? You can either write or you can’t. For the later category there may be tips; which are plenty here. Or maybe I’m too disillusioned and depressed. What difference would it make; my ramblings.
If you can provide your readers (Potential) with interesting content, people will read and your blog can grow.
Make sure you check for grammar and spelling. For example, the second sentence in this blog post has an error:
“If teenager can do it, you can too… right?”
You’re missing an “a” before teenager.
I use Gramlee: http://www.gramlee.com
You may have been quite confident on what you are writing, but are you sure it is written perfectly enough? Little do you know that somewhere along those sentences and those catchy lines are embarrassing wrong grammars. This affects your efficiency and reputation to people reading your writings. That is the least thing that you would wish to happen right?
Fantastic resource, thanks for that link!
GOOD POINT NEIL: HOOK YOUR READER.
Make sure your writing is accessible and engaging.Your beginning is not the place to try out some experimental stylistic device or to stump your readers with a puzzle. You want to make your readers think, but you don’t want them to feel stupid or say, “Huh?” If the reader feels frustrated and confused right away, you can bet they won’t sign up for 300 more pages of it.
Exactly, you want to grab your readers attentions span within the first few seconds of them going on your site.
Great advice Neil. Thanks.
This is definitely getting tagged and bagged for sharing.
Step 1: Create a blog.
Step 2: Write about how you created a blog.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.
LOL
Step 3: Do let to tell others peoples about your blog
Get others to market for you
yha you are right; however its not an easy task. Why people will go to market you until unless they don’t find their own interest.
Right, that’s why you need to get the right type of people to visit your site
Lol that is a good point how many blogs are there out there about how to make money blogging. Why don’t people actually start blogging themselves?
I remember when I first decided to blog, I hadn’t read anything about how to blog, blogging topics, niches -blah, blah, blah. Maybe…just maybe, that was a good thing. Right now, I just write about what I think is interesting or what I want others to know. Also, blogging can be purely academic if you want to blog about a specific topic – but frankly, I think that can get boring if you comparmentalize yourself so early on (in the bloggin world). I could be wrong. The blog-curious could also be overwhelmed, otherwise, with the amount of information available about blogging. Sometimes, if you have too much info – you can be paralyzed into not choosing anything.
lol, nicely posted. The answer is networking with other bloggers and get your message out there. Also add 3.5. This can take years!!!
sorry Neil did not your 3.5. point.what does it mean?
the 3.5 was in reference to the main comment above left by stevo:
Step 1: Create a blog.
Step 2: Write about how you created a blog.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.
So I added a 3.5 to his little chart saying that it will take years. then step 4 equals profit.
Ok, good i liked the way of writing a blog post really marvelous but what is grantee that traffic will come by writing such blogs.
No guarantee, so just blog about what your passion is…promote it through social networking and network with top tweeting people.
The most difficult aspect of the matter is to find appropriate images.
Picture is worth a thousand words
Finding a picture isn’t difficult, but being creative about it is bit challenging. If you find the write picture, it can make or break the emotion people have when they read your blog.
Is it legal to use copy paste pictures on our blogs?
Or should we buy
???
Make sure it’s not copyright. If it is, ask for permission.
I have been writing mediocre blog posts, and I am sorry Neil. Thanks for showing me how to create engaging posts!
Well I’m glad to hear that you’ve been inspired. Mediocre posts will get you mediocre results at best.
Great post and something that bears repeating. I’m asked this all the time. Thanks saving me the trouble of writing this up.
Glad I save you time
Just make sure you apply as much as you can, as quickly as you can.
Hi Neil,
I was watching your interview on Mixergy yesterday and decided to come here to see what else you’ve been up to. Your posts and your interviews are definitely different. You probably don’t have the time to do any video posts but you say what you think and you’re passionate which are two things sorely needed in the online space.
My in my first year running my own blog and while I’m not able to retire, it’s incredibly fulfilling. I only wish there was someone like you but for the little guy. I’d love to know how to take my site which ranks to drive even more traffic. I’ve learned a lot of SEO on my own even though I have a crappy pagerank (PR2), but I know I still have a lot to learn and am eager to discover.
Thank you for sharing, and please keep doing so. It’s obvious that the internet is a better place because of it.
Neil, I hope you and Chance get to know each other in person, if you haven’t yet.
Chance, like you, was one of my top interviews on Mixergy.
Thanks Chance, I appreciate that. Basic SEO applies still and actually goes a long way, so never give up on that. Your goal should be to focus and connect with even more of the successful people on the web. Twitter for example can help you rich tremendous levels of success. I’m sure this is all more than familiar to you, other than that, it just takes time.
The most important thing as Neil said while writing a blog post is the title which should be very catchy. Moreover, thorough research should be done before writing a blog post. Quality of post should be taken into consideration instead of the quantity.
Your title should indeed be very “sticky” and your content should back it up.
I like this post. I’m having no real visitors now and I’ve realised that I’ve tried to blog about things that I’m kind of half hearted about and it’s just not good enough and if MY heart isn’t in it I can’t really expect the hearts of my readers to be in it either.
I think passion plays a big role in blogging and that’s where I will be making a gradual change on my blog. What do you think? Do you think this is the right approach for me to take?
If your not interested in writing about something, you should absolutely stop. Writing about your passion shows, so if you can’t see that from your writing, Don’t expect your readers to either.
Hi,For those of you who post regularly, how long does it take to author a blog post? I guess I’m looking for half personal answers as well as if you’ve got an idea of how long it takes professional bloggers like those writing for Weblogs, Inc.
It can take several hours, depending on how well you would like to write it.
Thanks for the excellent advice.
I’ve been producing bloggery on being a London Cabbie for six months and you’ve come at the right time.
Unfortunately some of your sound advice re: plug-ins is of no use to we WordPress.com users.
Maybe I should just put my hand in my pocket and go self hosted.
What are you talking about, wordpress.com has a countless plugins
Great Post Neil,
This is the first time I have been to your site. I am currently devouring everything I can get my hands on when it comes to blogging and SEO. As a Financial Professional this stuff is very foreign to me. However, the more I learn the more engrossed I become.
I am not a natural writer either so this post really helped. I was always under the impression that short posts are better. Sometimes I find it difficult to get my point across in only 500 to 700 words. I am encouraged that you actually started seeing more success as your posts became more detailed.
Just practice as often as you can. If you want your blog to become successful, just be sure you are able to provide valuable information.
Yes once, I get the basic information that I want to get out on the blog as far as options for consumers to deal with debt, I am going to expand the blog into a personal finance blog with the theme of course being, getting and staying out of debt. The sky is the limit once I open it up as more of an educational personal finance blog.
So I don’t anticipate running into the issue that you talked about with the blog before this one. Plus I will keep it to 1 or 2 posts a week so it doesn’t become a chore to write.
Yeah, but do choose something you like, else it’ll become a chore.
Is keeping a blog up to date important or one quality post normally enough to generate traffic and comments
Keeping a blog up to date is very important and also posting quality blogs is very important. Don’t do one or the other.
Neil,
Grandpa used to say, “write like you speak”.
He was big on being real.
I think you would have appreciated him, and he you.
Have a great day!
Mr. Twenty Twenty
That guy who changed his name to the number of perfect vision, to help inspire you to live yours!
That’s great insight! Write how you speak because people don’t want just information on the web, they want it to come from your style. Thanks, I’m glad you brought it up!
Hi Neil, I googled “how to start a blog” and clicked on your site. And I totally agree, if your writing does not have style (who u r as a person because of how u think) you will not have much success. Good Journey Neil…………
Thanks Lisa, that’s exactly how it starts. You need to write as “YOU”, thats why outsourcing isn’t that effective of a strategy, it’s not you.
I agree as well. It definitely makes a more enjoyable post to read when somebody is engaging you more and has the feeling that you are talking to them.
Engaging the readers, especially with a closing question, can really bring in more comments to a blog post. I have had great success with that along with choosing topics that people can actively respond to. When choosing a bad topic, people will often just respond with generic topics.
Great post as usual and keep up the great work.
Right, the quality of the actually content itself will be the determining factor.
I believe that having a great title for your blog post is absolutely critical.
When people see that you have posted something via RSS or twitter or some other social media they typically read the title and decide if they want more information.
So if your titles sucks it won’t matter how great your content is because no one is going to see it. We live in a world of information overload and people make snap judgments about your content based solely on your title. So choose a good title!
The other piece of advice I would give on crafting a blog post is to focus each post on one topic or idea. Keep it simple and don’t meander through a maze of topics.
Having a great title is SUPER CRITICAL since it’s the reason why people will click your post.
I really like your honesty telling “I am not the best writer out there” I read 1000s of articles and I could tell that your far better from the average.My personal opinion is people are bored short of time and “keep it simple and brief” is the best formula.One more thing if the author try to be more entertaining it is better.
Getting your readers hooked is difficult, but stay in a particular niche and write content that’s only in that niche. Readership will grow immensely.
My friend,I think nobody is great writer,except for professional writer.But important thing is that everybody can write freely his feelings and thoughts.If you can write your opinions freely and someone can think about what you right on your blog and participate your opinions with small article,I think it is enough to be good writer.
You don’t have to be a professional to be a great writer. In fact anyone can be a great writer, you just got to put in some practice.
I have writing on my blog for about a year. I post what I am interested in. Is this a good way to post or should I be more on one topic?
Randy
No you doing exactly what you should be. Write about what interests you and stay consistent.
These are some of the most basic tips, however, they are still the most effective. Focusing on each of these tips will really freshen up any blog’s image.
They are basic, but it is a step by step guide that you just need to follow if you want to launch something in the right direction.
write something that people wanted to know these days rather than just another “News”
Very true…. there are just way too many news sites out there. If you want to differentiate yourself from the rest, find out ways to do things uniquely instead of like everyone else.
Its really difficult to write good blog post. To be frank your blog posts of quicksprout.com are really interesting as i have not come across a similar site. Your contents are all unique and we learn new things while reading the posts.
Thanks Guildford… it is really hard because people are interested in spending 5-6 hours on each blog post… instead, they spend 20-30 minutes and throw it up on the wall hoping it will stick.
Thanks for posting tips on how to be a great blogger. I’ve been trying practically forever to be a good writer and blogger but I have yet to achieve that dream. Even so, reading this particular entry has given me more insights on how I can improve my blog. Thanks again…
Being a great blogger takes time… a lot of it. My blog took me almost 2 years before it started getting some momentum. Be patient!
I don’t usually reply to posts but I will in this case, great info…I will add a backlink and bookmark your site. Keep up the good work!
I’m Out!
Thank’s bud, glad you liked it that much.
This was the thing that I probably struggled most with…
I kept just writing things that I wanted to say, rather than making it interesting for the reader. It wasn’t until someone pointed out to me that I needed to make my posts actually relevant to the people reading them that I started to think of it in different terms.
Thanks for the structure. It’s going to make things easier.
It helps to know exactly what to do… step by step. One of the most important things you can do is build a solid foundation before you grow too fast.
Hey any one listening me out there, its a its. I have just loved the way you taught the way to blog out in a simple tutorial way. I have enjoyed reading it. It is best said that never try to make yourself proud of your own. I have liked what you said: There is still better environment of improving the writings in the blog and learn more, no one is going to be expert in blogging ever but will ever go on learning it. ….(:- -:) : : (;:;) . . . . . . . . . . .
I’m not sure what those dots at the end are, but yes, thank you. Becoming an expert in anything takes years and years to do… with blogging, it really just comes down to your unique style of writing… and CONSISTENCY!
Even an old guy can learn something new! Can a guy over 40 cut it as a Blogger using social network marketing? I believe I can. Thank you Neil for this wonderful Blog post. I have been strategizing how I might kick off a Blog in the next few weeks…..You have inspired me.
He sure can… in fact many have. Time is never the problem…else you would just go into a casket and wait, wouldn’t you?
Also write for people not for search engines…lots of SEO dudes know that
Yes because ultimately you want your articles to be attractive and enticing for people to want to read it.
I broke it down into 12 key steps that get you from the initial idea through to posting: http://writemindset.com/blogs/351/how-to-write-a-blog-post-in-12-easy-steps.html
Thanks for breaking it down like that and sharing it Simon.
I agree, that awesome title its big part of success! exactly ritght title forces the user to click on link.
I was looking on the internet to find some help on write good blog posts so that I can attract more visitors to my site.
This post was simply awesome.
It has given me so many ideas that I can’t wait to put it to use.
Many Thanks!
A.C.
Glad to hear it A.C. Now just make it happen and put it to work.
I am impressed! Every time I read about blogging I am told that it is one of the hardest way on the Internet to make a living. Here you are at such a young age doing what everyone is saying is so hard.
I mean to be a professional blogger like yourself is just so cool!
Thank you so much for this important format for blogging
I have about 10 blog posts I want to write, all of which I have started the title and a few sentences so i can remember what it is I need to write about.
That’s exactly what you should be doing, great job!
Great tips buddy. But if I am writing a blog post, I will research first before putting anything live.
That’s probably one of the most important things you can do!
This is a great article and it will educate many of my customers. Now a day a blog is a must specially if you want to speed up the search engine rankings.
I hope that it educates anyone having trouble with blogging.
It means keep it simple stupid. Checkout http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.I.S.S.
So this Trophy goes to you. congrats
.Anyway thanks for explanation. I came through 1st time with this word so i was little bit confused.
Seth says in ‘The Dip’;that what he’s sharing isn’t anything but the simple and obvious truth.It’s not about hard work paying off. it’s about giving up bad tactics, bad strategies and bad beliefs. Quitting them in essence. Giving up the things that don’t work and won’t work for you. Give up old and ingrained habits. Give up being part of 25 hobbies or scattering yourself over dozens of attempts at things.
When presented with a Mind Map, the left brain can be tricked into thinking that there’s a logical problem to tackle and may say, “I like structure, let me deal with that.” The right brain can then seize its moment and while the left brain is busy analysing the size, shape and detail of the map, it can unleash it’s full creativity – sort of under the radar. What actually happens is slightly less subversive. The map encourages the two hemispheres to operate in harmony – in ‘whole brain thinking’. When the map is complete, you get even more benefits.
It is generally agreed that the development of good reading habits and skills improve your’s ability to write. In fact, reading within a discipline help you to write professionally in your field.
Kind of ironic.
What is funny about it?
Better to know that you ain’t good at writing blog posts and the strenght to improve it than talking and laughing about people that they can not write good articles.