8 Quick Blog Writing Tips

Today I decided to write about one of the most highly requested topics among our BLAM partners, and that is advice on blog writing. Hopefully, this post will be helpful to people who consider starting a blog. Just to clarify that I am by no means an expert in blog writing. I am simply going to share with you a few tips which I find useful for my weekly blog writing and tend to work well for me.

It is worth noting that blogs have changed dramatically since I first started blogging as a hobby during my teens. Back then most blogs acted as personal journals and bloggers would not expect an audience other than a few friends. The Web 2.0 and the social media revolution caused the emergence of content-based websites, user engagement increased tremendously and blogs naturally became an essential traffic generation tool for any business.

So my advice to new bloggers can be summed up in the following points:

1. Consider your objectives. Before you start writing, it is best to consider a few things with regards to your business’s overall objectives. Why do you want to start a blog? What do you want your blog to convey? How is your blog going to help you grow your business? These are essential questions you might want to ask yourself before you start planning your first post as the answers are going to dictate the general topic, approach, tone of voice or any key areas you want to emphasise within your posts.

2. Find a topic that interests you and your audience. It is a no-brainer that your blog should be of interest to your audience. However, equally important is that the topic appeals to you as well. As far as I'm aware, nobody has ever written a great piece about a subject they considered boring. Combining topics and adding your personal touch will definitely make your writing more enjoyable, so feel free to expand on your main subject to tailor the post around your personality.

3. Write about what you know at first. If you are a new blogger, I would recommend that you start writing about familiar subjects at first. Drawing examples from your work, background, and personal experience is much easier and pleasant to talk about and it can definitely increase your word count quite effortlessly.

4. Research to back up your theories. If you are writing a blog on your company’s website, then you probably already have a good knowledge on the topics you are planning to write about. Quite often, however, bloggers deal with entirely unfamiliar subjects. Recently I had to write an industry related piece for a cocktail bar, something completely out of my area of expertise. In that case, knowing how to properly research the topic is vital. I would recommend reading academic journals and interviewing industry experts if possible. Always make sure that your sources are reliable to avoid humiliation.

5. Start by outlining your ideas. Now on to the actual writing. I always start my posts by outlining the core structure first and then moving on to adding the main point in each section. That will help you start visualising the outcome whilst organising the pieces of information in separate sections for easier writing.

6. Expand your initial points. Having the key points in place means your work is halfway done. Now all you need to do is start elaborating on each idea until you have a paragraph or so. Explaining one point at a time is much simpler than trying to come up with a whole piece at once.

7. Check cohesion. Once you are done writing, try reading your article out loud. This will help you edit your paragraphs to make the piece sound more coherent and make sense as a whole. If you like the way it sounds, you are good to publish! Chances are your first post is not going to be perfect, so try to avoid wasting too much time editing, be brave and hit publish – a blog doesn’t have to be perfect; it’s more about what you say than how you are saying it.

8. Be prepared to invest time. I am sure it is not the first time someone tells you that blog writing requires time. Different people have a different perception of time, however. So just to give you a rough idea, a blog article can usually take anywhere between a day up to a whole week to write in most cases. Exceptions apply depending on a number of factors, such as post length, blogging experience, the amount of research you are willing to do, the topic itself, etc. In any case, I would advise against rushing it. Choose a quiet and motivating environment with minimal disruptions, relax and let those creative juices flowing!

Once you get used to the process, it does certainly get a lot easier. My advice is to not be discouraged if your first attempt disappoints you. With time and practice, you might even discover that you actually appreciate writing and find yourself a new interest – I certainly did!