Estimated Reading Time: 2.5 minutes (no sweat)
Creating quality content for your blog can be an overwhelming task, especially if you’re not an experienced writer. You will find that the more you write, the easier the exercise becomes. This is the system Glen Gilmore (Twitter @unilyzer) uses to write articles for the Unilyzer blog.
TIP #1: Plan Your Articles
Map out 20 -30 article titles ahead of time. This keeps your topic mix fresh and helps avoid writers block. If you know the direction you’re going, you don’t have to re-think each time you sit down to write a blog post. This is also a good time to plan keyword placement. Make sure your articles are informative, but also have a 2-3% keyword density to maximize your search engine optimization. Investing time in crafting your blog post titles. Spend some time and think about a title that will attract and captivate the imagination of your target audience.
TIP #2: Build Off Other Content
You don’t always have to reveal earth shattering news or tips on your blog. It can be just as effective and valuable to your audience to make recommendations, product reviews, or point them to other informative websites. One example of this is embedding a YouTube video in your blog post, commenting on the video, and then add some suggestions or recommendations of your own. The key is sharing information or videos that your audience will care about, not any video will do.
Embedding a YouTube video can be pretty simple!
TIP #3: Have a Point and Get To It Fast
Blog posts should be at a max 500 words. The key is drawing your audience in with the first 1-2 sentences. Replace the lengthy introduction paragraph with one sentence. The second sentence should be your thesis, argument, or point that you are trying to make.
TIP #4: Use Simple Language
Most of your audience will be people who want to learn something from your article. Short sentences are attractive, easily readable and understood. Like getting lost in translation the point you so anxiously wish to make can be lost by the time the reader finds his way to the end of a long sentence. (If you didn’t notice… this last sentence is an example of what not to do.)
TIP #5: No Excuses, Just Do It Already
Writing and procrastination have a tendency to go together. The worst thing you can do is not update your blog on a regular basis. Blogging 4-5x per week will yield amazing SEO benefits. Stop putting it off until tomorrow and start typing something now. You’ll get better with each blog you write!