Are you looking for an awesome list of blogging tips to get the most out of your content?
In 2020, it’s more important than ever to be strategic, creative, and consistent with your blog content! With these 82 blogging tips, you’re sure to find the inspiration to write, plan, and promote this year and beyond!
For your convenience, the blogging tips are broken down into categories: blog writing, blog planning, SEO for blog posts, and blog promotion. Feel free to skip around and explore what tips you need to help improve your blog marketing right now!
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Blog Writing Tips
Mastering the art of blog writing requires a lot of patience and practice. Below are some of the best blogging tips I have to offer for quality, ROI-based blog writing!
Tip #1: Write Irresistible Introductions
Get your blog content off on the right foot! Start with an introduction that hooks the reader on an emotional level. Consider the pain points of your ideal customer—what kind of information will deeply resonate with them? How can you make them trust you, or at least pique their curiosity, with the first one or two sentences?
Tip #2: Ask Questions
Want a quick tip to hook your readers? Begin your blog post with a question. Not only is this effective blog writing for introductions, but you can also use this approach throughout your entire blog post. Questions keep the tone of your blog light, conversational, and engaging.
Tip #3: Use Powerful Industry Statistics
Statistics are one of the ideal bits of information that you can use in your blog posts. Why? Statistics show that you’re credible and do your research before diving into your blog content. It can also enlighten readers with new information or even sway them to make a decision.
Tip #4: Start Your Blog with a Quote
Whether you want your blog to be a source of inspiration or a resource of insightful facts, quotes can add another layer of interest and depth to your content.
Tip #5: Leverage Storytelling
There’s no doubt about it—storytelling can shake up your entire blog content strategy! It’s a powerful way to connect with your customers and set yourself apart from the competition. You can implement storytelling to create suspense, introduce a new product, or help the reader feel a deeper connection with your company.
Tip #6: Keep Paragraphs Short
Imagine opening up your email to a large block of text. I bet the last thing you want to do is read it from start to finish.
When it comes to blog content, the concept is the same. Keep your paragraphs short and snappy for content that’s easy to skim.
Tip #7: Use Catchy Subheads to Break up Paragraphs
Not only do you want to avoid large blocks of text, but you’ll want a visually appealing technique to break up those paragraphs. Enter subheads! Each subhead has its own unique title that easily breaks up your content.
Tip #8: Write Subtopics Under a Single Headline
As you brainstorm your subheads, think of them in terms of subtopics. All subheads should correspond to the main idea of your blog. From there, break down the subheads into smaller topics to expand into further detail
Tip #9: Use Bulleted Lists
Who doesn’t love a helpful bulleted list? They’re easy to skim and help keep your blog organized. Since the majority of people scan online content vs reading it word by word, it’s in your benefit to make your content easy to consume—and quickly! Interestingly enough, people tend to scan web content in an F-shaped pattern.
Tip #10: Use White Space
It’s one of the blogging tips where you aren’t writing anything at all! Allow enough white space so your content isn’t cluttered.
Tip #11: Edit the Next Day
This is a rule that I’ve given myself. I never edit content on the same day that I write it. I like to return to my content with a fresh set of eyes. I also tend to catch more errors if I give my brain time to process what I wrote.
Here is one of my blogging tips videos where I explain additional editing tips for error-free copy!
Tip #12: Develop a Unique, Delightful Writing Style
Who wants to read boring content? With over 4 million blogs published each day, you can’t afford to sound like every other voice on the web. You can create a professional yet unique writing style by implementing storytelling and staying true to how you speak in person.
Remember that blogging is more conversational than other forms of writing, such as a case study, so don’t be afraid to be a little less formal (if this is the right approach for your audience).
Tip #13: Capture Your Workplace Culture in Your Content
If you’re having trouble determining what type of voice or tone to use with your blog, consider your workplace culture. What is the ideal vibe that you want your culture to showcase? Whether it’s playful or busy, you can use this as a stepping stone to capture the voice of your company.
Tip #14: Be a Little Unpredictable
While you don’t have to go out of your way to do something dramatic, being a bit unpredictable keeps your blog content interesting. Think of offering the unexpected in terms of going out of your way to make the reader’s experience even more delightful!
Tip #15: Showcase Your Personality
You were taught since you were 5 that you’re unique. Leverage this in your adult life but showcasing your personality through your blog content.
Tip #16: Scale Back on the Jargon
Unless you’re blogging for a highly technical audience, you might want to chill out a bit on industry jargon. It can cause your audience to tune out and ultimately lose interest.
Tip #17: Use Power Words
This is one of my favorite aspects with wordplay. Power words are essential for marketing because they make the reader feel something toward your message. Below is a list of power words that you can use in your blogging, headlines, and even email marketing or social media.
Tip #18: Craft Exceptional Headlines
A well-crafted headline can make or break the success of your blog. Don’t rush through the process of perfecting your next blog headline. Implement power words, use list formats, how-tos, and guides.
Tip #19: Use Headline Tools and Analyzers
Sometimes we all need a little help when it comes to writing the perfect headline. Two tools I recommend to help get the job done are CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer and Advanced Marketing Institute’s Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer.
Tip #20: Write 2-3 Variations of Your Headline for Split Testing
When it comes to marketing, split testing can help you understand your audience better and craft better headlines in the future. You can use different variations of headlines, such as one for the main blog post and another for the meta description. This can help you gauge click-through rates.
Tip #21: Focus on Human Readers Above SEO
We all know SEO is important, but human readers come first above all else. If your blog content isn’t satisfying to humans, it surely won’t perform well in the search engines.
Tip #22: Create Curiosity with Your Content
Curiosity is a major theme in content marketing. You can create curiosity with your blog content by playing on fears, such as the fear of missing out. You can also focus on writing interesting (but not misleading!) headlines that make it almost irresistible to read more.
Tip #23: Tease a Little Bit
While never misleading your audience, you can always tease a bit through your headline or within the blog post. This helps draw the reader further into your blog to get the answer that they’re seeking.
Tip #24: Vary Your Sentence Structure
When writing for the web, especially blogs, you don’t want to stick to a strict sentence structure. Implement both long and short sentences throughout your blog post.
Tip #25: Add Extra Spice with Descriptive Words
Paint a picture for your readers! Be descriptive where it makes sense so they can picture the exact message that you’re trying to portray.
Tip #26: Show Your Genius with Metaphors
True story: Aristotle said that mastering the metaphor is a sign of genius. Here are 14 Metaphor Examples to Paint Vibrant Pictures with Your Words.
Tip #27: Spill all the Details
Many business owners are afraid of giving away industry secrets, tips, and tricks. They think it will cause the reader to not hire them. Believe it or not, being transparent and spilling all the details can do the exact opposite! Don’t be afraid to give away free information.
Tip #28: Strive for Comprehensive Content
When you want to make yourself stand out with your blog, you truly have to do it better than anyone else in your industry. Find the top-ranking content for keywords you want to rank for and make it even better than the competition. Make your blog posts the very best on your chosen subject. Make it so good that the readers won’t have to go anywhere else to learn more information.
This takes work—a lot of work. But the payoff can result in leads, sales, and so much more!
Tip #29: It’s Not All About Word Count
I’m not going to say word count isn’t important. Long form content is still one of the best blogging techniques to get more social shares and higher rankings in the search engines. However, you don’t always have to adhere to a specific word count. Below, you’ll find 5 key questions to ask yourself for determining the ideal blog length.
Tip #30: Use the SHINE Approach
The SHINE concept stands for:
- Specific
- Helpfulness
- Immediacy
- Newsworthy
- Entertainment Value
Weaving these elements into your blog writing can help your blog stand apart from the competition while providing value to your audience.
Blog Planning Tips
Now that you have some smart blog writing techniques under your belt, let’s discuss the next section of blogging tips: planning your content calendar!
Tip #31: Never Begin Blogging Without a Plan
I read a lot of productivity books. I also like to listen to organizational and productivity podcasts. I’m far from a neat freak, but I do believe in proper planning to implement blog marketing.
Never move forward with your blog without a plan. No matter how tempting. Don’t do it! This can lead to loads of wasted time and a little-to-no ROI.
Tip #32: Make the Commitment to be Consistent
The first step in planning blog posts is making the commitment to stick to it. Blogging is a long-term strategy. In fact, according to the Marketing School Podcast, it can take a year or even more to begin seeing results!
Consistency is one of the essential ingredients to blog marketing success. Check out my blogging tips video below to learn how to blog consistently:
Tip #33: Don’t Overcommit
When you’ve made up your mind to move forward with blogging, the next tip is to resist the urge to overcommit. You know what your schedule allows or does not allow you to do each week in terms of blogging. If you’re hiring blog writing services to outsource the task, then it’s a different story. Otherwise, you might want to try to start out small and grow as your schedule allows.
Tip #34: Batch Content to Avoid Burnout
It’s no secret that I write a lot of content. One of my best kept blogging secrets to getting it all done is by batching my content. I know how long it takes me to write a chunk of words—-say, 500 words. I then dedicate that amount of time to sit down and write 500 words spread out across so many days until I meet my goal.
Tip #35: Use a Content Calendar
A content calendar is essentially your Bible to following through on your blog marketing plan. The most basic tool for this is an Excel spreadsheet. You can customize this exactly as you want it with all the necessary details such as publishing dates, headlines, and keywords.
However, if you’re sharing your content with a team, this might not be the best approach. Tip #35 gives another solution!
Tip #36: Use Cloud-Based Applications for Teams
Some cloud applications you can use for content calendars includes Google Sheets. This is almost identical to using Microsoft Excel, except your team can use it at the touch of a button without emailing back and forth. CoSchedule can also help fulfill your need for a cloud-based content marketing calendar.
Tip #37: Create Categories for Topics
As you’re creating your content calendars, don’t forget to include categories for your blog topics. Categories help keep your content organized while ensuring that you’re not using the same type of post over and over. Some content categories include how-to posts, guides, and lists.
Tip #38: Follow Trending Content in Your Industry
Following trending content in your industry allows you to stay on top of potential blog topics. You don’t want to directly copy trending content, but you can certainly use it to piggyback and create new topics of a different angle. Always remember to add extra value! Try following content with tools such as Buzzsumo or Google Alerts.
Tip #39: Use the Google Keep App for Quick Topic Brainstorming
When brainstorming blog topics on the fly, consider adding Google Keep to your phone. There is also a desktop version. This tool allows you to quickly make checklists or write down notes and store them for the future.
Tip #40: Have a Plan for Every Post (Goal Setting)
If you want to make blogging as cost effective as possible, you’ll need to make sure you’re setting goals for every post. In the video below, I explain what a few common goals and how to measure the success of your blogging efforts.
Tip #41: Keep a List of Reliable Research Resources
Who has time to search around for blog topic ideas all the time? I know I sure don’t. This is why it’s helpful to keep a few resources that you can turn to time and time again for topic ideas. You’ll find some of the most reliable resources below.
Tip #42: Publish on Monday for Traffic
While traffic is a vanity metric, you might still be concerned about getting eyeballs on your blog content. If this is the case, it’s suggested that you publish your blog posts on Mondays at 11am.
Tip #43: Publish on Thursday for Links
When you’re concerned about building links, Monday and Thursday at 7am are the recommended days and times. Link building is helpful with SEO for blog posts and it’s also useful for branding.
Tip #44: Watch Your Competition’s Blogging Schedule
If you haven’t paid any attention to your competition’s blogging schedule, it’s time to get started. This will give you an idea of what you’re up against and how you can use your own blog to differentiate yourself. It’ll also help you fill in any gaps of content that your competition is missing.
Tip #45: Amplify Your Competition’s Blogging Efforts 10x
It’s not enough to be as good as your competition. You have to be better—much better. While you don’t necessarily have to blog more frequently, you will have to put more resources into your content. Another option is to try the skyscraper technique where you build off of content that’s already successful but add your own twist.
Tip #46: Know Your Audience
Do you know your audience? If not, you’re at a major disadvantage in terms of getting the most out of your content. There are several ways to analyze your audience, such as surveys. Below are several reasons why you should take target audience analysis seriously for your blogging efforts.
Tip #47: Keep Content Promotion in Mind
This is where many businesses fall flat with blog marketing. Without a content promotion strategy, you might find it difficult to get much traction for your new blog posts. Even though you can rank organically for your content, it’s unwise to only rely on SEO to get your blogs in front of the right people. You’ll want to consider promotional strategies such as social media marketing and even influencer outreach.
Tip #48: Plan Your Posts by Season
When you’re stuck on planning blog topics, consider the current season. There is a seasonal aspect to many different types of businesses, whether you’re a landscaping company or a doctor. There is also tax season for CPAs or spring and summer when the housing market can pick up for real estate agent.
Tip #49: Get New Post Inspiration from Old Topics
It’s not always necessary to re-invent the wheel for new blog topics. Check your Google Analytics and determine blog posts that performed well during previous time periods. How can you piggyback off of these blog topic ideas to make content that’s relevant for today?
Tip #50: In a Pinch? Try Blog Topic Generators
Blog topic generators can help get you out of a pinch when you can’t come up with any good ideas. Some of the good blog topic generators you can use include:
Tip #51: Have a Couple Buffer Blogs Ready
If you’re afraid of falling ahead on your blogging, one of the first steps you can take is having a few buffer blogs in place. Even if you only can manage to write one blog in advance, it can give you peace of mind when work gets crazy and you don’t have time to blog for the week.
Tip #52: Stretch One Good Idea into a Series
A blog series can help you get more mileage out of your content. It helps you stay on track in terms of knowing what to blog about for the upcoming weeks. It also allows you to take a deep dive into your content and show off your expertise!
In my blogging tips video below, I share some ideas on how to create a blog post series.
Tip #53: Plan to Update Old Blog Posts
Are you updating your old content? If not, work this into your content calendar. Aim to update old links and update outdated facts. You can also add new keywords to pages that are already ranking for a potential boost in traffic.
Tip #54: Plan Out Your Workflow
When you don’t know where to start with your blog planning, it’s smart to have a pre-planned workflow in mind. It makes it easier to stay on track and know each step of your blog creation process.
An example of a blogging workflow is:
- Keyword research
- Topic strategy
- Writing the blog outline
- Writing the blog, SEO optimized
- Promotion plan
- Publishing
I personally begin most blogs with keyword research, although some exceptions may come with topics focused on branding or season.
Tip #55: Focus on High ROI Topics
One of the aspects of finding high ROI blog topics is by focusing on keyword intent.
When you understand the intent of the keyword, you can make the decision on how to implement it into your content. Some keywords are very well suited for blog posts while others are better for web pages/service pages. Understand what your audience is searching for and why can help you create the right type of content every time.
SEO for Blog Posts
Are you planning to use SEO to help get better ROI from your blogs? SEO for blog posts can feel like an uphill climb, especially as Google is always updating its algorithm. However, the following blogging tips can help you properly optimize your content.
Tip #56: Conduct Keyword Research
Google is smart when it comes to understanding what your content is about. However, keyword research is necessary to get the ball rolling for SEO. Not to mention, it helps keep you focused on the topic at hand and knowing what type of content to implement within your blog.
If you’re getting your feet wet with blogging keyword research, I personally recommend SEMRush. This is one of the most comprehensive keyword research tools that I’ve found. It also includes additional tools such as topic ideas and SEO content template.
Tip #57: Don’t Get Stuck on Traffic Volume
When you first start your keyword research, you might find some sky high weekly search volume numbers for a particular keyword you want to use. While this might seem like you hit the jackpot, don’t rely only on search volume for your keyword selection. There are many other factors to consider that will ultimately impact your SEO success with your content.
Tip #58: Consider Keyword Competition
A keyword’s competition is a major indicator of how easy (or difficult) it will be to rank. Carefully read the scaling system for competition from your keyword research tool. For example, SEMRush’s competition gauge is 0-1. A score of 1 means that the keyword is incredibly difficult to rank for, if not impossible.
Tip #59: Go Longtail
It can take a long time to find a good list of keywords to use for your blogging. Longtail keywords are some of the best terms you can choose with SEO for blog posts. There is often less competition with longtail and since they’re so specific, they may result in a higher conversion rate.
Tip #60: Keep it Natural
Once you have your keyword ready, don’t try to force it into your content. This can make your blog posts very awkward to read, which won’t resonate with your audience at all. Instead of trying to cram in the keyword as much as you can, try to use it sparingly throughout the post. A rule of thumb is to use the primary keyword around 2% density, but using it naturally is always best.
Tip #61: Add Keywords to Alt Tags for Images
Don’t forget to add keywords to other elements of your blog post aside from the blog content. It needs to be included in the alt text for your images. If you’re using WordPress, you can easily add this when editing through the image gallery.
Tip #62: Internally Link to Your Other Blog Posts
It’s good SEO practice to internally link to other blog posts. This helps Google organize your content and make it understand any other related topics on your blog.
Tip #63: Internally Link to Your Service Pages
Another smart idea is to link to service pages through your blog posts. If the goal for your content is to sell certain products or services, you’ll want to make it as easy as possible for the customer to access what they need.
Tip #64: Link to Other Credible, Outbound Sources
Not only is it important to link to internal pages, but outbound links are also important. According to Moz, outbound/external links provide even more SEO power than internal links since Google counts it differently. In the chart below, you can see how external and internal links stack against one another.
Image source: MozTip #65: Place Your Primary Keyword in the Headline
It’s one of the basic blogging tips, but don’t forget to add your keyword in the headline of your blog post!
Tip #66: Optimize for Humans, Not Just SEO
With all of the SEO techniques for blogging, you don’t want to forget that optimizing for humans is the most important goal above all else. After all, Google’s algorithm is catered to please humans!
Tip #67: Use Header Tags
Header tags are smart for organizing your blogs and giving them visual appeal. However, they’re also useful in terms of SEO. The most popular header tags used for blogs are H1-H4.
Tip #68: Optimize for Voice Search
In 2019 and beyond, it’s important to keep voice search optimization in mind. Why? It helps users feel empowered by getting instant information. It’s also a popular, hands-free method to use while driving. And let’s not forget the fact that 50% of all searches will be conducted via voice by 2020.
One way to optimize for voice search is by blogging with a Q&A style. This helps pull out keywords phrased as questions that can be asked naturally by a user on a mobile device. If your website brings the best information and answer, it can be offered as an answer/solution.
Tip #69: Add Categories to Your Posts
Categories keep content organized. It’s helpful for SEO because it keeps your content structured. Google views category pages almost like landing pages and helps direct search intent. Stick to no more than 8-10 categories total and make sure all the all the blog posts that you write fit under those categories.
Tip #70: Include Video
Video makes your blog content more engaging, which can help increase user retention and time spent on page. These are a few of Google’s ranking factors that contribute to your overall SEO rankings.
Tip #71: Use Stop Words for Awkward Keyword Phrases
Some keywords make it a bit awkward to work into your blog post. For example, “dog grooming Pittsburgh” doesn’t flow right in everyday conversation. One of the fixes is to use stop words to make the keywords sound natural without compromising SEO.
Blog Promotion
One of the important pieces of the puzzle for blogging is its promotion. Promotion should be a significant aspect of your blogging efforts! Without it, all of your efforts can quickly go down the drain.
Tip #72: Find Out What Platforms Your Audience Uses
First, you’ll need to know exactly what social media platforms your audience is using. For example, if you’re a B2C company, you likely won’t find a lot of your clients hanging out on LinkedIn. But if you work in B2B, LinkedIn can be a goldmine for you! Carefully analyze social media usage for your audience, and if you don’t know what they use, don’t be afraid to ask your own customers.
Tip #73: Don’t Try to Be on Every Platform
One of the most counterproductive blog marketing efforts you can do is try to be on all social media platforms. It’ll lead to wasted time and effort when your audience doesn’t use the platform at all. This is why prior research is so important.
Tip #74: Use Blog Images Specific to Each Platform
Images are vastly important to bring in more traffic to your blog. In fact, tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than those without images! Keep in mind that each platform has its own unique dimensions for shareable images. You can find an updated chart for this here.
Are you wondering how to choose the best images for your blog content? Consider the following:
Tip #75: Promote Each Blog More than Once
Another short falling is when companies write a blog and only promote it one time. What a waste, right?
Don’t be afraid to keep promoting blog content weeks or months after it was published. As long as the content is relevant, you can continue to use it in your social promotion rotation.
Tip #76: Vary Your Publishing Times
You might be surprised that not all publishing times are created equal for blog content promotion. SproutSocial has an in-depth breakdown of what times to promote content on social media, broken down by industry! For example, the best times to post on Twitter for tech brands is Friday between 8am-9am.
Tip #77: Rely on a Mix of Blog Promotion Ideas
Whatever you do, don’t rely on just one technique to promote your content. From SEO to social media and email marketing, implement a mix of promotion ideas to build your audience and your brand.
Blog Content Repurposing Tips
Are you taking full advantage of your blogs with content repurposing? This is one of the best methods of getting the most out of your blog content. Here is how you can take full advantage!
Tip #78: Repurpose a Blog into an Ebook
An Ebook is a prime opportunity to republish and repurpose a blog series. Ebooks are viewed as a high value content piece that is perfect for repurposing, especially when you are short on ideas.
How do you go about repurposing a blog series into an Ebook?
- Decide on a topic for your Ebook. You can find good ideas by browsing your analytics for your best performing blog posts.
- Start with a table of contents, which can serve as an outline.
- Break your new Ebook down into chapters. You can also consider using subtopics as chapters, depending on the amount and quality of information.
- Add new information to the Ebook as needed, including updated statistics or new research.
- Finish off your Ebook with an attractive design. You can design Ebooks in programs such as Adobe Illustrator. You also have the option of finding a professional designer to polish off the look of your new Ebook.
Tip #79: Add Blog Content to Digital Newsletters
Newsletter content is typically shorter by nature, but there is still room to add some repurposed blog content. You can consider adding a condensed version of the blog in your newsletter and link to the full article on your website. You can also do a re-cap or roundup for your most popular blogs of the week, month, or quarter.
Tip #80: Use Blog Content Snippets for Social Media
Social media and blogging go hand-in-hand. When you’re stretched thin for social media content, turn to your blog for help. You can pull out snippets from your content that can serve you well for content over several weeks—sometimes even months!
To make your snippets stand out, you can put the content onto a graphic as a quote. This makes it more visually appealing and shareable.
Tip #81: Get Inspiration for Video Content
While there will always be room for the written word, video content still continues to captivate in 2020. In fact, it’s the top method for personalizing marketing content in the new year.
When it comes to your blog, you can take topics and turn them into videos that share the same or similiar content. The difference is that your customers can see and hear you. It gives your content tons of personality and showcases you as a thought leader who provides awesome, authorative content.
Tip #82: Repurpose on LinkedIn & Quora
Lastly, don’t forget to share your great content on places like LinkedIn & Quora. This helps answer customer questions, get extra eyeballs on your content, and blaze trails with blogging in 2020.
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