Guide to Writing a Blog Article Step by Step
Knowing how to express your knowledge to your blog audience is important, but doing it strategically is essential...
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2 years ago
Knowing how to express your knowledge to your blog audience is important, but doing it strategically is fundamental.
In this article, I want to offer you a series of techniques to help you optimize your blog articles so that you can achieve your set goals and thus succeed with this digital marketing strategy.
How to Write a Blog Article?
Everyone knows how to write, it’s something we are taught from a young age in school and at home, but doing it in a strategic way to achieve quality content that attracts your desired audience is not so easy, and not everyone has the same knowledge.
That’s why, in the following lines, I want to share the points you should consider when writing an article for your company’s blog.
Preliminary Steps to Write a Good SEO Article
If you want to write professionally for your blog and increase the chances of success, it’s not enough to have an idea and know how to put it into your text document.
You are entering a battle where there are already thousands or millions of articles online discussing the same topic, so to stand out above them, you will need to follow a strategic plan that you will see now and know how to present your point of view.
Set a Goal
If you don’t have a clear goal, the party is over, or worse, you will waste your time on something that won’t give you any benefit. And that is deadly in business, so before anything else, you should ask yourself:
- What message do you want to convey to your audience?
- What is the purpose of your article? To generate leads, traffic, loyalty, branding…
Content writing specialists include this phase of the strategy in their writing services, to help you create the best possible content based on your goals.
Create Your Buyer Persona
You cannot write anything if you are not clear about the type of audience you are targeting. You must analyze your target audience and create the necessary buyer personas that align with your business and the purpose of your blog.
What are the interests, needs, preferences, or concerns of your future readers you are addressing?
Once you understand your audience, you will be able to better tailor your content and thus naturally generate qualified organic traffic for your business.
Analyze Your Competition
The wheel has already been invented; I doubt you will write something that hasn’t been said before, so it is vital to analyze your main direct and indirect competitors who already have blogs and see what types of posts work best for them.
Additionally, it will help you find new content ideas, understand how they are addressing these topics, and identify the weaknesses in their posts to create a unique touch for your future articles.
Tools like Semrush or Ahrefs are great allies for analyzing your competitors' blog content.
Keyword Research
To start creating a professional blog, you need to gather, analyze, and research all the keywords that align with your business idea.
If you are just starting or have been publishing on your blog for a while but have low authority, avoid keywords with a high level of competition, as these are harder to rank for because, in many cases, large companies are ranking for them.
The ideal keyword to address in an article is one that is focused on your target audience, has a good search volume, and has low competition.
Should you discard keywords with low search volume? I believe not. If that term is related to your business model, go ahead with that keyword!
There are many free tools or those with free versions to obtain keywords:
- Google’s own search engine.
- Google Bard.
- Ubersuggest.
- AnswerThePublic.
- Etc.
Create an Editorial Calendar
All that influx of keywords you have entered and filtered in the previous point needs to be organized. And this is where the editorial calendar comes into play, which will help you plan and organize your ideas to create the right content at the best time of the year.
Steps to Know How to Write a Good Blog Article
Once you have completed the previous steps, now is the time to start the process of writing an article for your blog.
Next, I will list the steps I consider when figuring out how to write an article online.
Gather Information from Your Competitors
Even if you already know or have knowledge of the topic you are going to discuss, I recommend researching the top 10 search results for the main keyword you want to address.
This way, you will know how they address their audience, how they present the information, what topics they cover… to then identify areas for improvement and offer a differentiating value in your content to stand out above your competitors.
Target a Specific Audience
If you have several buyer personas, never forget to adapt the type of content to that audience. You must adapt the tone, style, and level of complexity you use to address them, tailoring the content according to their characteristics.
Create the Article Structure
It is important to have a well-structured article, both to ensure that search engines view the article “favorably” and to help the reader have a comfortable reading experience.
In the article structure, you should also consider the search intents surrounding the main keyword.
If your keyword is “types of fans,” the H2 or H3 headings you include in the article should have the same intent, you will know this if the new keyword you want to introduce yields the same results as the main keyword.
How can I know the search intent of two terms like “types of fans” or “the best fans”?
The way to find out would be to open a browser window in incognito mode and type “types of fans” and in another tab type “the best fans”
Do the results differ?
This means they have different intents, so it is not advisable to discuss those two topics in the same article.
Check the Accuracy of the Information and Ensure It Is Updated
Creating an original and truthful article is not only an ethical issue that will help you gain credibility and authority over time within your industry, but plagiarism is considered a bad practice within Google’s guidelines and engaging in such acts can penalize your website in the eyes of the search engine.
Moreover, Google loves updated content; learn how to perform content curation for your blog and make the most of the articles you have generated previously.
Optimize the Title
To capture attention or make a good impression on the user and also on search engines, it is important to write an attractive title that does not mislead regarding the type of content the reader will find.
Another point to consider is that search engines have a space limit for displaying a title in search results, and this varies depending on whether the reader sees it from a smartphone or a computer.
Websites like seomofo.com or the WordPress Yoast SEO plugin will help you check that you don’t exceed the title limit.
Work on the Meta Description
The meta description is a small piece of this big puzzle that we SEO-oriented text writers need to work on. This section is valuable for helping search crawlers understand what the content we are writing is about.
It also indicates to the user in a more specific way what our content is about.
While it is not a key SEO factor when optimizing an article, it is good to work on it because the search engine may or may not display the meta description we create in the search results.
As in the previous case, the platforms I mentioned also serve to work on this section and optimize it.
Improve Your URL
Another screw that needs to be tightened for your blog machinery to function perfectly is optimizing the web link of your article.
Ensure that it is a short, clear, relevant, and user-friendly URL for search engines and for the reader’s eyes, as in some cases (like mine, for example) users also look at the URL to see what the article is about.
A good URL for the article “What types of fans are available in the market?” would be “types-of-fans”
An undesirable URL would be: “What 5 types of fans are available in the market to buy 13456!”
Create a Hooking Introduction
The introduction of your article is your opportunity to capture your readers' attention from the start. Use a creative and engaging approach that sparks their curiosity and motivates them to keep reading. You can start with an intriguing question, a shocking statistic, or an anecdote.
The key is to generate interest and establish the relevance of the article from the beginning. The first impression is crucial, so take time and effort to create an introduction that engages your audience and motivates them to continue exploring your content.
You can address their pain points, explain what doubts you will resolve, etc.
Craft an Organized Body
In addition to having a good structure for your SEO article, it is advisable to introduce clear and concise paragraphs throughout the article.
This will provide clear and easy-to-read information to the reader. You can present the key points of content in the form of lists or bullet points. This way, you will show the user the key information you want to convey in a very visual manner.
Including images to strengthen the written information greatly helps in better understanding the topic being discussed. It also helps give the reader a break and not “drown” them in too much text.
Introduce Keywords or Semantic Words
At this stage of writing, it is essential to include significant keywords or semantic words that will help improve the article's ranking in search engines.
These keywords should be related to the main topic of the content and reflect the user’s search intents. It is important to use them naturally and avoid “keyword stuffing”, as search engines penalize these practices.
A good strategy is to use synonyms and variations of the keywords to broaden the article's reach and attract a more diverse audience.
Complete the Article with Related Content
To enrich the article and provide value to readers, it is essential to complement the main content with additional and related information. This can include statistical data, practical examples, relevant case studies, and links to other useful resources.
Including related content not only improves the reader's experience but also shows search engines that the article is a complete and reliable source of information.
Moreover, it helps keep visitors on the website longer, which can positively impact the article's ranking.
Categorize the Article
An important strategy for optimizing a blog's structure is to properly categorize each article.
Categories provide a clear and logical organization of content, facilitating navigation for users and search engines.
When categorizing the article, make sure to choose a relevant and precise category that reflects the main topic of the content.
Internal and External Linking
Both external and internal linking is an essential strategy for improving SEO and user experience in a blog article.
External linking involves including links to high-quality and authoritative external sources that support and complement the article's information. These links provide greater credibility to the content and help establish connections with other valuable websites.
On the other hand, internal linking involves linking the article to other pages and blog posts within the same website. This helps distribute the “link juice” and improves navigation for the user, allowing them to access related content effortlessly by choosing the ideal anchor text for that article.
Additionally, internal linking helps strengthen the website's structure and improves page indexing by search engines.
How to Write the Conclusion in an Article
The conclusion is a vital part of the article, as it summarizes and reinforces the key points made throughout the content.
It is important to write a concise and persuasive conclusion that motivates the reader to take a specific action, such as sharing the article on social media, subscribing to the newsletter, or continuing to explore the website.
In the conclusion, you can reiterate the article's objective and highlight the relevance of the content for the reader. You can also add a call to action, inviting the reader to leave comments, participate in a survey, or download an additional resource. A well-structured conclusion creates an effective closure for the article and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
Some authors are against including this section in their articles; I do it simply because often, when entering an article, I go straight to the end to see if the important points discussed interest me.
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As you can see, writing is something everyone can do; in first-world countries, we are fortunate to acquire that skill from a very young age. Now, doing it in a strategic and solid way is another matter, as you have seen.
By following each of the mentioned actions, you will gradually start producing articles for your blog strategically and efficiently.
I have given you the advice; now it’s your turn to put it into action. If you think I missed any steps, please add them in the comments, so we can all learn and create an even more complete article. Thank you in advance if you decide to participate in this article.
