Writing An Outstanding Blog Post In 5 (ok, make that 6) Easy Steps
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Dave Olson wrote a really interesting list of ways you can write an outstanding post, the idea started from Liz at Successful-Blog, and she usually gets an incredible response from her readers, so she must be doing something right hehe, so i thought i could join in this “bloggy tag” :)
So how do you write an outstanding blog post?
We all have our own little ways of doing things (and please share your own “ways” with us!), so there’s no bulletproof way to write a good (or oustanding) post. But, me and Shane (zoomstart) agree that “yeah baby yeah” moments are awesome! (*Shane, i can’t believe the most relevant way i came up with to link to your post, was to use “yeah baby yeah” haha)
Brainstorming - Creative Zen
I must have at least 30 or 40 unpublished blog posts waiting in my wordpress admin, not because i don’t want to publish them, but because they’re not finished, they’re “raw” ideas. Best way to find ideas, i think, is brainstorming. Take a notepad or something, and just start writing (more infos about that in my creative zen post). Say you write for about half-an-hour, what are the chances you’ll come up with something interesting? What if you write for 2 hours? Ok, you get the idea, get your thoughts on paper, and then on to step 2.
Do Some Basic Research
Ok, so you have lots of material, and many things to write about, now what? Do some simple research on google with keywords related to what you wanna write. Another good tool is technorati (or even your own blogroll, or feed reader). Find other blog posts that are relevant to what you’re about to publish, and link to some of them with the right anchor text! It’s a win-win kinda thing! If you’re not too familiar with the topic of your next article, you might want to consider not writing it, or at least get to know the subject better, and do extensive research if needed.
Break It Down Into Manageable Pieces
You have your main post idea, you did some research, now you’re ready to write! Good! Take your “main topic”, and try to come up with some nice (sub)headlines. It’ll be easier for you to write the post, and it’ll be easier for your readers. People love lists, and organized posts. So give people just that! Break your post into sections. And then write one paragraph at a time.
Typos - Correct Those Little Mistakes
Typos and mistakes are things you want to avoid, so read your post 2 or 3 times before hitting the publish button. Sure you’ll find many typos and mispells on SWR, it’s normal, we’re human. But there’s a huge difference between “your” and “you’re”. So make sure you correct those before publishing your post.
Ask For Opinions
This is an “optional” step, but when in doubt, it’s better to have someone else read your post before you publish it. Especially if you’re about to publish something that is somewhat controversial, or could be considered as bashing. Better be safe than sorry. A fresh perspective is always good, and sometimes you just can’t be objective, since you’re the one who wrote the thing. Ask a friend, a co-worker, another blogger to read your post before you publish it.
You Know You Want To
Hit Publish! As simple as that, just hit that little “publish button” there, and voila! You’re done. Now wait for people to start commenting (if your blog doesn’t receive a lot of comments, i’d suggest you invite your readers to comment by asking ‘em questions) :)
Of course, those steps won’t help, if you don’t have passion or purpose. Like Dave wrote: live, feel, think, write, edit. I try to write like i talk, and I find it helps me a lot. In the end, a lot of people read a blog because of whos behind it.
So, how do YOU write an outstanding blog post? :)
Yeah Baby Yeah!
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35 Responses to “Writing An Outstanding Blog Post In 5 (ok, make that 6) Easy Steps”
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Great ideas. You really have 30 or 40 un-published posts? You must never run out of ideas! That’s a feature in Wordpress that I just recently started using. I have always just sat down to write a post when I had an idea, and then left it alone until next time. Now I keep probably 4 or 5 partial posts at a time.
As for the typos, man, I ususaly have to re-read a post half a dozen times before I hit publish or it will look pretty bad. hehe
Hi Anthony! yes, maybe even more than 40, but most of them are just ideas, or sometimes i’ll find 2 un-published posts that are quite similar, so i then merge the two. But i prefer just sitting down, and writing a brand new post from scratch, when creativity flows it feels much better. :)
[…] Writing An Outstanding Blog Post In 6 Easy Steps - How to write an outstanding blog post in 6 easy steps (Started by Liz) […]
Thanks for the step by step guide. What I’ve been doing now is just to wait till the muse hit me and then start writing. If I write halfway and stopped, when next I want to continue on it, I will find my mind going blank, so I’d to discard it and wrote a new thing altogether. Guess I live for the moment eh.. :D
Hi Joezul! hehe living for “the moment” is always a nice way, keeps you on the edge! I find when i have a deadline or if i’m overwhelmed (not too much though) i tend to write more, how paradoxical is that? :)
Hey Jon, solid tips all the way through.
I think the big secret to writing great posts is in the ZEN. The fact that you have 30 or 40 half finished posts says it all. Just write.
Write down your best ideas and your worst ideas. Write a grocery list. Write an ode to brushing your teeth. Just write.
Write a hundred things and guaranteed you’ll find at least one gem in the pile. The next pile will have 2. And then 4. And then 20. Just write.
Somewhere along the way someone will read what you wrote and say “yeah baby”.
“Yeah”, you’ll say … yeah.
Hey Shane, exactly, just have to write, anything, everything, just write stuff!
yeah! well, yeah! somewhere along the way someone will read it and say something, that’s all i want! :) (ok, maybe not just that, but feels good to hear/read people, especially if it’s “yeah baby”)
(wordpress->admin->manage->posts->edit) hehe
Excellent post, honestly I have so much to write and so many things I would like to share that I just get drained of thinking how to put everything in order. What I did was a big list of titles of things I want to write (up to 50) and every day I write about another thing I know that it is not even on the list!
Thanks for existing and keep going!
GS
Hi Gustav, welcome to SWR, make yourself at home! :)
Same happens to me, i make a long list of topics i wnna write about, then i start writing and what i write is not on that list. well i guess you gotta write when inspiration strikes!
A very similar process to how I write my articles - particularly planning the sub headings in advance. This really helps me clarify my main points.
Also there can be no forgetting the proof reading before hitting that ‘Publish’ button!
- Martin Reed
Martin, i agree, and then you just gotta hit that publish button, or else nothing’s gonna happen hehe proofreading is really important that’s for sure.
hey Jon, guess what… I actually get some good writing done by following those steps. Come on over to my blog and see the results. Thanks. :)
Hey joezul, excellent! glad it could help! :)
You spelt “whether” wrong. I suggest you read this part “Typos - Correct Those Little Mistakes” ;)
Hi Travis, welcome to smartwealthyrich! Thanx for pointing that out, if you read the whole post i wrote “it’s normal, we’re humans” ;)
take care
Hi,
Great tips. You make it sound so..easy lol!
Sham
http://enhancelifethinktank.blogspot.com/index.html
Hi Sham, well it’s not exactly easy, but you just have to find your own way. Once you’re comfortable, it just gets easieré
Thanx for stopping by Sham! Make yourself at home!
Jon this is a great post. As a blog owner coming up with great posts don’t always come easy. I’ll try this outline from now on.
Good luck!
Hey Daniel, glad you liked the post! Just gotta remember one thing: whatever you write, just write ;)
Hi Jon,
Good post, as ever!
I think one of the most difficult bit is the part on checking through your mistakes.
The thing is that sometimes you are too used to your article that you become ‘blind’ to ‘em. Sometimes, try as I might, there will be some mistakes that will escape my eye.
That is why, when I come out with a really formal and important piece of article, I will get a third party to vet through first. Sometimes third parties see things the clearest.
Cheers mate!
Jag
Hey Jag, thanx a lot! Yep, just like Travis (see comment up there) pointed out, i wrote wether instead whether, gotta have someone else to read it, especially if it’s an article or a long text, since we can easily “loose the focus” and let some mistakes through.
I find that when you browse the internet, i allways find random stuff to blog on.
Hi Andy! Welcome to SWR! Please make yourself at home! :)
Same happens to me, just a simple search on google with some relevant keywords and you can find some stuff to write about.
This is a pretty site my friend. It’s almost like a less pretty version of Chris Pearson’s own site, it’s one of the most beautiful designs there is. Nice one.
Good post too ;)
Armen, welcome to SWR, make yourself at home! glad you liked the post! pretty interesting blog you have yourself!
[…] Jonathan from SmartWealthyRich wrote an informative article about Writing an outstanding blog post in 5 easy steps. […]
Hey Sandra, thank you very much for the link and mention :)
[…] after following the advice from my friend Jonathan here, I ended up with 3 neat little pieces that I feels to be OK. Guess what, I churned out that sonnet […]
Good thoughts and all relevant. I find titles to be very important and I spend a lot of time on them. I wrote a piece on my blog called Naked Art. I made it clear in the opening paragraph that this was about performance art and nothing to do with pornography. 6 months later the phrase “naked art” remains responsible for 16% of entries to my website. I wrote another piece last week with the words “Marilyn Monroe” in the title….I was reviewing an auction of Andy Warhol paintings. Traffic doubled in 3 days. I think it’s important not to decieve with titles but the right title does make a huge difference.
Hi Adam, excellent point you bring, titles are extremely important, i get a load of traffic from google for the words” no thanx”, which is part of the title of one post i wrote a couple weeks ago. The right titles definitely makes a huge difference.
Excellent post you have here. Actually, I use many of the steps personally. I also love to plan a story board, a long series of related post that links together, before starting to write. It sort of creates a chain of stories/post that attracts people to come back to check for updates everyday :)
[…] pop on over and take a look at Writing an Outstanding Article. It’s worth the read. […]
Hi Karenlim, welcome to SWR!
Good idea, this way it makes people want to come back and read the rest of the serie. and adds more value, and it can then be turned into an ebook or something. hummm yep good idea ;)
[…] you grab my RSS Feed? If you like my stuff of course! Or you can also read this other post on how to write an outstanding blog post, not that I consider my post to be “outstanding”, but still you might find the […]
[…] Writing An Outstanding Blog Post In 6 Easy Steps - How to write an outstanding blog post in 6 easy steps (Started by Liz) […]