How to Write a Blog Post – A Step-by-Step Guide

In today’s digital world, having a strong online presence is crucial to business marketing. And one of the most important elements of a digital marketing strategy is a business blog. But for those who don’t consider themselves to be writers, as well as for those unfamiliar with blogging and digital marketing in general, writing a blog post can be challenging. To help you get started, refer to this step-by-step guide for writing a blog post. And for more help with your blog and your content marketing efforts, call our digital marketing professionals at NUVEW. 

1. Identify Your Readers

Perhaps the most important phase in creating a blog post is knowing for whom you’re writing. Don’t make the mistake of putting something up on your blog without having identified your readers first. If you’re not sure who it is you’re targeting, think about your business, your products, and your services. Does your business serve men? Women? Youth? Those of retirement age? Homeowners? Renters? Consider all of the factors and demographics of your customers and then build your audience based on this. 

2. Brainstorm Topics

After you identify your target audience, the second step in creating a blog post is to brainstorm topics. Just like identifying your audience, brainstorming topics should be an exercise in reflecting on your business and the products and services you offer. You might want to divide topics into different categories, such as:

• News and events relevant to your industry/business;
• How-to posts (i.e. How to bake a cake);
• Frequently asked question (FAQ) posts; and 
• Evergreen topics – topics that won’t go out of style in the relatively near future. 

Create a big list of topics and then categorize them into the above. Try to have some different topics in each category. 

3. Create Your Outline

Choose a topic and start creating your outline. A good outline will have a title, headers, and a snippet of your main points. If you’re not a strong or experienced writer, having an outline that will help you to guide your thoughts can make a big difference. Writing an outline before you begin the bulk of the writing also helps you to determine whether or not the flow is sensible and will be understood by a reader. If possible, have someone you trust within the business review your outline before you begin writing. 

4. Optimize for Length; Proofread & Edit; Add Images

Now it’s time for writing and editing! The ideal length of a blog post varies, but anywhere from 400-1,000 words is usually ideal; any shorter than that and you’re probably missing important content and any longer and you may lose your readers’ interest. 

Once you’ve written the post, optimize for length and proofread and edit. It’s often valuable to step away from the blog for a day or so before coming back for edits; the space can give you a fresh perspective. As with your outline, if you have someone trusted who can give the blog a read-through, this is highly recommended!

Finally, before posting, make sure that you find a graphic, image, or video that you can attach. This can pique a reader’s interest and help search engines be able to find your blog.

Call NUVEW Today for Additional Help

Not ready to take on the blog-writing process on your own? At NUVEW, we can help. Reach out to our content marketing professionals today for blog writing and other marketing services for businesses.