Whether you’ve been in business for a while and realised you could do with some extra content on-site, or you’re just starting up and need content to give you some industry authority, blog posts might be just what you need for the job.
Blog posts are a fantastic way to kill several birds with one stone (sorry birds). We’re talking about being visible online for your target keywords, raising brand awareness, improving industry authority, building trust and reputation, sharing expertise, getting creative, and generating leads. When done well, a good blog section will boost your brand (and your SEO) to heights that can’t often be achieved without one.
The good news is, that useful blog posts aren’t hard to write if you’ve got a good guide to follow. So, here’s our guide for you. We’re going to give you six tips to help you start, shape, and write a blog post that benefits your brand or business in the best way. Let’s get stuck in!
1. Plan, plan, plan
First things first, plan what your post will be about.
Have a think about what you’d like to tell your readers, or what you think would be helpful for them to know about your business, industry, products, or services. Use an SEO tool if you have one to see what questions people are asking and what keywords people are searching for most to shape your blog post’s topic.
If you’ve already got a list of keywords you’re hoping to rank for on search engine results pages, that’s great – use the relevant ones naturally throughout your post. Avoid stuffing the piece full to the brim of keywords, however, or face the consequences from search engines deeming your work as spammy!
If you don’t have an SEO tool, don’t worry. A great place to start is to ask anyone at your business who interacts with customers what they are frequently asked about. Brainstorm topics with your colleagues, then take a look at what your competitors are talking about. Use Google to search various keywords related to your brand, products or services and scroll to the ‘people also ask’ section – here you’ll find what other users are searching for.
Here’s an example: if you search ‘cake decorating’, you might get questions like these, which have all been asked by other search engine users. You can use these to influence your topic, or even structure your entire post around answering one of the questions.
2. Pick your post style
Now you know what you’re writing about, what is the post going to look like? You’ll find endless styles of blog articles across the World Wide Web, but they can be boiled down into some generalised formats:
Informative posts
These essay-style articles give your reader all the details surrounding whichever topic you’ve chosen. It can be anything, from an introduction to a deep dive. It’s your opportunity to really get into the topic and show off your expertise.
Example: An introduction to the role of civil engineers
How-to guides
Pretty self-explanatory, but this kind of post teaches readers how to do something. A post like this helps build trust with your customers or clients, as it shows you’re happy to help or educate without asking them for money first.
Example: How to decorate a cake for kids who love superheroes
Listicles
Also known as a list article, these posts include… a list. This blog you’re reading now is a listicle, as I’m listing and numbering our tips for blog writing. Readers (and search engines) typically enjoy these posts because they’re easy to digest. They also work well as a visual post!
Example: 7 beautiful beaches to visit in North Norfolk
Case studies
This type of post gives you the chance to talk about a project you’ve completed. Go into detail and provide the kind of information that could inform or sway a prospective customer or client.
Example: Projection mapping an overnight experience at Stonehenge
Business and industry news
Whether something interesting has happened in your industry or you’ve got an exciting business update, a news post gets it out to your readers. Include your opinions and keep it personal to establish trust and familiarity.
Example: Ginger Pickle has won an award for having the best team ever
3. Research your topic
Chances are, you’re already an expert in what you do, so getting really stuck into your chosen topic won’t be hard. If, however, you’re writing a post for an area of your business you’re not fully sure about, or you’re a content writer and creating a piece for a client, then research is essential.
We always suggest getting the information right from the source. Speak to the professionals within the business or brand who could explain the topic in their sleep. Ensure you have good questions first so you can get the exact answers you need for your piece!
If speaking to the experts isn’t possible, the internet is your next powerful tool. Ensure your search queries are succinct and that the sites you choose to read are reputable, and please, do not get your information from AI without double-checking the sources first! LLMs such as ChatGPT have a strong tendency to hallucinate (make stuff up), so we advise sticking to informative websites.
4. Find your voice
Hopefully, you already have a brand voice, but if not, it’s time to get one. For those who don’t know what a brand voice is, it’s basically the personality of your business, specifically through communication with customers. This includes how you ‘sound’ over social media platforms, email marketing, and your website. Having a brand voice means writing with consistency using the traits you believe suit your brand.
Here’s an example: Old Spice, a well-known men’s deodorant brand, has a brand voice that is funny and plays on over-the-top masculinity. It appeals to everyone through its humour and exaggeration, which it uses in its socials, video marketing, website copy, and more. It’s essential to find your brand voice so that everything you create ties together while engaging the audience you’re looking for, just like Old Spice.
When writing blog posts, use that brand voice. Create lists of words you can and can’t use as part of your voice work, and use them when writing posts. By keeping with the same language that you already utilise across social platforms and your site, language that really showcases your brand, you’ll find that you build a level of familiarity that sticks in people’s minds, resulting in more trust and even reputation.
5. Watch your grammar
We’ll put it plainly: reading a poorly written piece of work can be painful. Typos aren’t professional, so keep an eye on your spelling and double-check your work. Bad grammar isn’t great either unless it’s part of your brand voice; some businesses, such as protein cereal brand Surreal, are known for being loose with grammar to aid in sounding more personable. Starting a sentence with ‘but’ is typically a no-go, but for brands that aim for ‘casual’ and ‘down to earth’ above all else, this kind of language can help them sound all the more human, like you’re talking to a mate.
6. Link to more
Do you already have content on your site that readers will find useful? Got product and service pages you want to point them to? Then link to them in your blog posts! Take the cake decorating blog post for example – if you’ve got a piping kit for beginners on sale, then this is the perfect page to link within your post. However, it must be done naturally.
When we say natural links, we mean ensuring the anchor text (the link’s text, the words you read and then click on) reads naturally. This means no ‘click here’ or ‘read more’ anchor text. If you are pointing to your service page for social media management, your anchor text could read like this: ‘We offer expert social media management services to help you grow your online presence.’ The anchor text is relevant and flows naturally within the sentence.
So, why do we do this? Well, first, because it sounds better! Reading something with a natural flow is much nicer on the brain than something janky or forced. Second, the anchor text actually describes what you’re linking to, which is helpful for both readers and search engine bots. Those little Google crawlers are going to be able to better understand the context of the link, which helps improve your site’s search relevance. Lots of anchor text like ‘read more’ can even lead to search engines viewing your post as manipulative, which can negatively affect its rankings.
How to write a good blog post
Let’s summarise:
- Choose a topic and what you’re going to write about.
- Pick a style and format for your blog post to best showcase its content.
- Research as thoroughly as you can using real experts and reliable internet sources.
- Ensure your post is written using your brand voice.
- Keep an eye on your spelling and grammar throughout.
- Add internal links to other relevant pages on your website or to your socials.
Follow our steps and we reckon you’ll be left with a top-notch bit of content for your blog.
Don’t fancy yourself a writer? No problem. Marketing agencies like us (hello) have the expertise and know-how to do all this stuff for you. We’ll do the keyword research, find the opportunities, identify the best posts to write, do in-depth research, and get the blog posts done. Easy peasy.
Give us a call on 01603 339048 for a chat about SEO and copywriting, or send us an enquiry using our simple online form.