Posted by Lola P
Featured image by Life-Of-Pix

Have you ever had a teacher make you write a blog post and you just don’t know where to start? If so, this is the blog post for you!

Unlike some people, any blogs or papers that I tend to write are both awkward and unorganized, so naturally when I found out I had to write a blog for my whole class to read I freaked out. After hours of research, I realized it may not be as hard as I once thought. I came to the conclusion, you really only need to ask yourself two questions. “Where to start?” and “What makes a good blog post?” After asking these questions and following these tips I found writing a blog post that was interesting, organized, and helpful way easier than I ever imagined. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help you too.

Where to start?

The first step in writing anything is to pick a topic. For some this can be a difficult task. Think of topics that you have plenty to say about. Remember, if you don’t find your topic interesting, your readers probably won’t either. Start making a list of topics and narrow it down to three ideas. Need more help? Check out this video on “ How to pick a good topic” Next thing you need to do is start researching.

Start looking into all three topics and choose the one that you feel you could write the most about or the one that is the most interesting. Once you have chosen your topic, you’re ready to start researching.  One tip for people who choose a popular topic, is be sure to add your own spin on things. Darren Rowse, also known as the Pro Blogger, states “One trap that many bloggers fall into is producing blogs posts that simply regurgitate what others are writing on their blogs. If the topic I’m wanting to write about is one that others are also covering one of the things that I attempt to do in this phase of choosing topics is to find a new angle. How can you bring your own spin to the topic?”, in his article on “How to Choose a Topic for your Next BlogPost.”

When researching, it’s extremely important to make sure your sources are reliable. You dont want to give out false information. It’s also important to cite all of your sources. If not you will be committing plagiarism.

Collect as much information as possible and write them all down including where you received the information. I recommend using note cards because it makes the organization process much easier. Once you have collected as much information as possible, its time to start the outline.

Starting the outline

You now should have a bunch of information sitting in front of you but don’t worry because once you get things organized it won’t look so bad. First, start by grouping your information together that can all fit under one topic. For example, if you are writing about the process of making chicken nuggets, you could group your information into groups such as, what happens in the factory, what they are made of, and the delivery process. Once you have went through all of the note cards, some may not fit in any category and that’s okay. You can choose to discard those cards or set them aside and see if you can fit them in later. If you have an over abundance of facts, you may choose to discard the ones with less importance or combine two of them together.

Next, choose which groups are going to be your intro paragraph, your body paragraphs, and your concluding paragraphs. You can either choose to number each of your note cards in the order you are going to write them in, or you can write out an outline. Once you have done that its time to start writing a rough draft.

Writing the rough draft

Writing a rough draft is just taking the outline and putting words in between to make everything flow smoothly. Make sure that you know your audience, as this can change the way you present your information. For instance, if your topic would be most interesting to teens, then make sure it is written so they can understand it but if it is for adults it should be more sophisticated and professional depending on the topic.

Once you have all your information in an outline it is time to write a title and an attention device. These two things could be the reason someone decides to read your blog post or move on to another. Writing a good title can be tricky because people tend to want to just write the main idea in bold. Now this may be fine for a research paper for school because your teacher has to read your paper even if the title does not draw them in, but in a blog post nobody has to read your post so its important to catch their attention. Jeff Goins, from Goins Writer, explains that when it comes to title and headlines, “People just gloss over it without taking much time to consider it. In their minds, it’s the cherry on top. No, friends; it’s not. The headline is the sundae.” in his article “5 Easy Tricks to Write Catchy Headlines.” Creative titles could be word plays or even provocative. Both are very successful ways of drawing attention. Blogs like, “The Gameological Society” and “The Atlantic” are great at using these techniques to write their titles.

Now if your title is successful at drawing someone in they make go on to read the first sentences of your post known as the attention device. Now even if your title is good and they start reading, it doesn’t mean they won’t stop at a boring attention device. The attention device is meant to draw people in further, or catch their attention as the name implies.

The attention device can be anything from a question, a fact, or a short story that relates to your topic. The attention device should leave your readers wanting to read more. If you have trouble writing either of these things you can save them for last and then you can read through your post and decide a fitting title and attention device.

After you finish those two things, you can finish your intro paragraph. Personally, I would suggest putting your main points in the intro paragraph so everyone will remember the key things in your post and know what to expect throughout the rest of the post. Now that your rough draft is finished, its a good time to look over it and see if its as good as it can be.

What makes a good blog post?

After completing your rough draft, look through it and make sure it’s a good length. Nobody wants to read a novel when it comes to blogs so make sure your post is long enough to get all your points across but not so long that it takes forever to read. If your post is too long, try cutting out unimportant sentences or run on sentences.

Another way to shorten a post is to combine similar things together. If your post is too short, try looking for more information. Do not add in useless sentences just to take up space because it will make your post more boring and less likely for people to finish reading. It’s always better to have a post that is a bit shorter and helpful than a long post with useless sentences and hardly any information.

Make sure your post stands out from all the rest. Another helpful tip for people with a controversial topic is be sure to show multiple views. It’s alright to express your views, however nobody only wants half of the story.

The last tip is to add videos or images in your post. Find ones that are interesting and helpful to your post. Do not use images or videos that do not add to your post. For example, if your post is about the process of making chicken nuggets, Do not add a picture of a chicken nugget. Everybody knows what a chicken nugget looks like, therefore it adds nothing to your post. Instead use a picture of a machine used to make chicken nuggets or a video of the process, that way most people will learn something new from them. An important part of writing a successful blog post is for it to be interesting and something most people can learn from.

Finishing touches

Always make sure to read through your final post before posting it. Check for any mistakes or places that sound awkward. It is helpful to have someone, like a family member, friend, or teacher, to read through your post because they may find something you may have missed. Last but not least, don’t forget to cite your sources. Congratulations! You have just created a both interesting and informative blog post! Last thing to do is post onto a blog and now the whole world and hear your interesting thoughts and learn something too. For more information on how to write a good blog check out: How to

How to Write a Simple Blog Post

The Perfect Blog Post