How to write a blog post on just about anything
These last few years have seen me ghost-write numerous 300 to 500-word blog posts on an array of different topics. Some were within my comfort zone; e-learning, education consultancy, and some, not so much. Think along the lines of door hinges and roof insultation.
One thing I’ve learned though is that you and your potential reader are in the same boat. You both want to find the answer to a query. It’s just that you are getting in first, doing all the hard work for the reader by researching and organising your words in a coherent and easy-to-read way.
What am I trying to achieve with a short blog post?
Firstly, you should accept the fact that you aren’t going to cover much ground in 350 words. Once you’ve added an introduction and a call to action at the end, you really don’t have that many words to play with.
Move your mind away from the long, detailed and thoroughly researched blog articles you can often find on the web. This is not the purpose of these short blog posts. These short blogs are there to help your website search rankings and help your customers find a quick answer to a specific problem. Yes, they should have value to your reader and yes, they should be well written. However, they are bite-sized introductions, so keep it light.
Where do I start when writing a short SEO-optimised blog post?
So, what’s the best way to approach a blog post where you really don’t have the required subject knowledge? The first thing to do is pick a query that needs answering and from that form a good blog title.
Do a small amount of reading on the subject by Googling a general theme. From there it’s possible that you already have some questions. If you put one of these questions into the search engine, Google handily offers you other questions that people have searched for. A good start is to base your short blog post on one of these questions. This has the bonus of helping your search engine optimisation (people are already searching for answers to this question), and there is an array of sites available for you to read and create your own uniquely presented answer.
How should I pick a short blog post title?
So, for example, your company sells lights. All sorts of light fixtures and fittings. Pick one type of light, maybe a bathroom light. What questions spring to mind? Something along the lines of, “Can I use normal light bulbs in a steamy bathroom?” If this is the sort of query that consumers search for in a search engine, then this could be the title of your blog post on your lighting business website.
How should I structure my blog post?
Once you have thought of the theme and title of your blog, you are going to have to structure your writing to make the most of the tight word count.
There are many ways to do this, I’ve outlined 2 here:
Option 1 – For a shorter style blog post (300 to 400 words)
Think of all the questions you have about the topic, as a novice. Don’t forget that you and the reader (at this point) are at the same stage. You are both discovering something new about a topic and the questions that you have are likely to be similar to your reader’s questions.
Write a brief couple of lines introducing the topic.
Pick 3 or 4 questions that you have about the topic and have these as your secondary headings. Search for the answer to these questions and write a short paragraph, in your own words of course, for each question. As a blog post, these answers should be generic. Don’t add anything about the business offering here, your reader has come to find answers, not be sold to.
Finish with a brief call to action, signalling to the reader what you would like them to do. For example, telephone the business, fill in a contact form etc. This isn’t a website page, so the blog post shouldn’t be salesy or too focused on the business. A brief call to action at the end is essential though.
Option 2 – For a longer style blog post (400 to 500 words)
This option for structuring your blog post works better if you have a few more words to play with. The same research stage still applies, and it is still worth thinking about questions that your readers will have about the topic.
Write a paragraph introducing the topic and outlining to the reader what the problem is that needs to be solved.
Summarise how conventional products don’t solve the problem, or cause problems.
Using the bathroom lighting theme as an example, the next stage of the structure is to detail what would happen in an ideal scenario. For example, the problem is that normal lighting isn’t suitable for a bathroom because of the steam. Problems could involve electrical damage and even fire. Ideally, you’d have special light bulbs that are resistant to steam.
Finally, give the reader a solution. With the light example - give some details on light fixtures that are suitable, and how wonderful your bathroom would be with them in it. Again, this is a blog rather than a web page so make it generic not salesy. One link to your product page would be fine but try to keep the text informational.
The end few sentences should give a call to action, as always. Perhaps to visit the website’s product pages on specialist bathroom light fixtures.
Don’t forget your keywords
I think it is important to check for and add any keywords after you’ve written your text. Readability and writing flow really should take priority. Have a list of 5 or 6 keywords or phrases that your readers will be searching for and try as best you can to add them into your text as naturally as possible. Keyword research is a whole other topic, but suffice to say your blog post will rank better in Google if you target a low competition keyword, or better still - a key phrase. Your primary keywords (or phrase) should be in your main heading and appear once or twice in the body text (ideally near the beginning of the blog). Secondary, or additional, keywords can appear in the subheadings.
Links to other information
To further help search engine optimisation (SEO), try to link to useful information within your own website. Perhaps to a product page or a contact us page. Adding a link to a quality external website is also a good idea. If you do include an external link, have the webpage open in a new window so that your reader can find your website easily again if they get distracted.
Final thoughts
Even though your blog will be short, and its primary purpose is to get visitors to your website, try not to be too obvious about it. No keyword stuffing or lazy writing. Write something that your readers would genuinely find useful and shareable – this is worth far more than a piece created solely with keywords in mind.