This Tutorial is Part of Atomic Blogging ( A Step By Step Guide to Blogging )
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How to write a blog post that is Search Engine Friendly
Tips to writing a blog post is to provide you a guide on how to write a blog post that is search engine and readers friendly.
Now that you have created a blog, one of the biggest challenges that lay before you is to provide valuable content on a regular basis that is search engine friendly and that can easily catch reader’s attention and keep them coming to your blog for more.
If you are yet to create a blog, then read the following articles and create a blog before proceeding on this article.
5 steps to creating a blog using the Blogger software
5 easy steps to create a blog with WordPress
Do not write a blog post just for the sake of writing one, whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well. And as for writing a blog post, why bother write one that search engine will not crawl and index and readers won’t get to read, because that is what will happen if you do not take the following tips into consideration when writing a blog post.
Tips to writing a blogpost #1
Know and use your keywords
What is the topic you are writing on? Note the keyword of your topic and endeavor to optimize your blog post with it. Optimizing your blogpost with your keyword simply means that you repeat your keyword (s) as much as possible in your content, but not just using it for using sake, it must all make sense. And use variations of the keywords.
For keyword help use Google adword keyword Tool
Tips to writing a blogpost #2
Use a catchy headline that appeal to your readers
Your headline is the most important part of your post, simply because it is the first thing your readers see. And it could determine whether your readers read your post or completely ignore it. So make it catchy, arouse your readers’ curiosity. And let it be a summary of your post in one sentence.
Tips to writing a blogpost #3
Make your point known from the first few lines
It is very necessary not to play around the bush of your topic at the first sentences, and keep the main point till the end of the article; because readers will never get to the end of that post if the point is not clear from the beginning. You do not have to beat about the bush just because you want your post to be long. If you do not have much to say on the topic make it as short as it gets, bringing out the point at the very beginning.
Moreover when you identify your keywords early in your article and make meaning of it, it helps search engines to know what your blog is about immediately it visits your blog, and makes the crawling and indexing of your blog quicker.
Tips to writing a blogpost 4
Write like you are talking to your readers face to face
One of the reasons readers prefer blog content is because it is less formal. So write your post like you are educating or giving advice to a friend. To be able to do that effectively it requires that you put yourself in their shoes in order to know what they are thinking about. What problem they have and what questions they might have in the area you are addressing and try to provide them the important answers in your post.
Tips to writing a blogpost #5
Use simple and clear words
Do not try to impress your readers with big grammar that they will not understand; use simple and clear English. People should be able to understand what you are saying without first consulting the dictionary. Feel free to use common expression that you can use with a friend and make it lively (humorous).
Tips to writing a blogpost #6
Use examples/ personal experiences when necessary
Readers pay more attention to a blogpost that seem to take them by the hand. To appear real to your readers, include your personal experiences relevant to that post, or use yourself as an example if you have once been in their shoes and tell them how you overcome the problem.
Tips to writing a blogpost #7
Express yourself freely
Do not just concentrate on writing on someone else’s idea; also give your opinion (s) in your post. When you do a research on a particular topic, you will see that almost all the ideas you get are the same. There is nothing you are writing on, that some else hasn’t written on before. So to make your post more interesting to the readers, express your opinions freely. Write what you think is obtainable not limiting yourself to what the so called guru’s say.
Like most bloggers think that a post should be concise since readers do not have enough time to read long posts. Well, though it has some truth in it, but my post are always long, because I think that if you want to help your readers solve a problem, you have to give details on how to go about it and I’m sure readers appreciate complete information.
But if you are writing a long post, make sure it is captivating and engaging that the reader just can’t stop reading until the end.
I think if you have something to say, say it, if you don’t make it concise. When it is just too long, have it in series/parts.
Tips to writing a blogpost #8
Use formatting techniques and links when necessary
If you are making a list, use bullet points to make it clear. Use font, italics or bold for emphasis. Give complete information by including necessary links that can give further information to the reader in that topic but do not abuse it by adding too many links. It is no fun opening 10 links from just one article!
Tips to writing a blogpost #9
Make it easy to scan your post
Break paragraphs and use sub-heading so it is easy for readers to scan through your post. Also use bullet points when making a list.
Tips to writing a blogpost #10
Check your spellings and grammar
Your post will be useless if people can’t understand what you mean in simple English. So it is very essential that you use a spell checker to review your post before posting, check for typographical errors and be sure your sentences makes sense before posting.
You could type your content in Microsoft word, copy and then paste on your blog, so it can help you to identify the errors in your content.
Use these tips as a guide when writing a blogpost and you will impress both search engines and your readers every time you post and have them rushing back for more.
Before choosing a blogging software to create a blog, make sure you first read these articles:
Blogging Softwares Review
Blogging Software – What should influence your choice
Remotely hosted blog vs. Self hosted blog
Then choose a blog Software and if you choose WordPress,that is wordpress.com, here is a short tutorial that will show you how to create a blog on wordpress.com.
Creating a blog on wordpress.com is free and it will take just a few simple steps to achieve.
Here are the steps to creating a blog on wordpress:
STEP 1: Go to www.wordpress.com
Click on the “Sign up now” button to go to the account creation form
STEP 2: Create an account
After completing step 1, a form will be displayed for you to create an account on wordpress.com
Make sure you fill the form correctly. Choose a username and an alphanumeric password that you can remember, save them somewhere and click the “next” button to create your account.
STEP 3: Name your blog
When you have completed step 2 you will be taken to a webpage that will allow you choose a name for your blog. It will also give you the opportunity to create a title for your blog and choose the language you will use for your blog.
The name of your blog is very important. You must use a name that is short and simple. The name must reflect the purpose of your blog. The title of your blog is equally important; it must also reflect the purpose of your blog. For example if you want to blog about Indian soccer your blog name could be indiansoccer.wordpress.com and the title could be “Indian Soccer Blog”. Spaces are not allowed in the blog name but are necessary in the title. Do not forget to choose the appropriate language. After filling the form click the “signup” button.
STEP 4: Account Email confirmation
After completing step 3, wordpress.com will send a confirmation email to the email address you provided when you were creating the account.
Before you check your mail for the confirmation email from wordpress.com you can scroll to the lower part of the page and update your profile.
After you have updated your profile do not close the page, open another window or tab on your browser and use it to check your email for the confirmation from wordpress.com. If you see the confirmation email then you can close the page and go to step 5; else go back to the update profile page and you will see a form that will enable you update your email as shown above. Enter your previous email address and click the “update email” button. If after some time you still do not receive the confirmation email from wordpress.com you can try another email address if you have one. When you see the confirmation email, then proceed to step 5.
STEP 5: Activate your account
Open the confirmation email sent to your inbox from wordpress. Read through its contents. Click on the activation link or copy it and paste it in your browser. This will activate your blog account and when it has been activated, a page confirming it will be displayed.
Your blog is now ready. You can login with your username and password and start blogging.
This is the 5 simple steps of creating a blog with wordpress.
If you read the review on blogging as suggested above, you will realize that a blogger blog and a wordpress.com blog limits you in certain ways and if you are online to blog for profit, it is advisable you create a wordpress.org blog (server based). It requires you buy a domain name and hosting.It takes more time to create and the steps involved is a little longer but it is worth it, if you really want to maximize profit from your blog.
To create a successful and profitable server based blog, i suggest you get Atomic Blogging 3.0, it takes you by the hand through every steps of creating a server based blog and tells you how to automate some of your blogging tasks. It contains alot of blogging resources too.
I hope this article and previous ones has taken care of the problem of creating a blog. My following articles will discuss how to make postings on your blog and how to monetize your blog.
Till then,think positively
Before choosing a blogging software to create your blog, make sure you first read these articles:
Blogging Softwares Review
Blogging Software – What should influence your choice
Remotely hosted blog vs. Self hosted blog
Then choose a Software and if you choose blogger, follow the step by step tutorial below to create your blog. It is free to create an account with blogger and it takes just minutes to set up.
STEP 1: Go to www.blogger.com
The first thing you need to do is to visit blogger.com and click on the link ‘Create a blog’ as shown below
This will take you to the registration form.
STEP 2: Fill the Registration Form
After completing step 1 you need to fill the registration form that appears and this will create a google account for you.
You must use a valid email address for this registration. Also make sure you use a secure password of at least 8 characters which contains alphabets and numbers. Save your user name and password somewhere you won’t forget and click “Continue”.
STEP 3: Name your Blog
After completing step 2, a page opens where you can set the title for your blog. Make sure that the title of your blog does not contain any spaces, apostrophes, colons, or other special characters. Click the “check availability” link to find out if that name is available. If the address you wish to use is not available, consider including dash (-) in between keywords or play around with it, still keeping your keywords until you get an available address for your niche.
Note: Endeavor to use your keywords (niche) in your blog address or URL and blog title. This helps search engines to immediately know what your blog is about when crawling it and index it. With the right keywords in your blog address, title and in postings, your blog could easily rank well in search engines.
When you have an available address, click on the “Continue” link.
STEP 4: Choose a Template:
After completing step 3 you will see a page that has a lot of templates you can use to setup your blog.
Select the template that you like to use by clicking on it.
I advice you use the Minima Template. It is easier to work with. It is already automatically highlighted so just click on the “Continue” link.
STEP 5: Your Blog has been created:
After completing step 4, blogger automatically creates your blog and you will see a page telling you that your blog has been created.
You can then click the “Start Blogging” link to start adding content to your new blog.
But before you start posting, take some minutes to customize your blog. Click on setting and select formatting.
Study your blog and edit as necessary.
This tutorial is a 5 step demonstration of how to create a blog using blogger. However there is a lot more you can do with your newly created blog but that’s beyond the scope of this tutorial.
If you want to get to the peak of blogging, get Atomic blogging 3.0 by Alvin Phang Here It discusses in a step by step tutorial how to go about creating a professional and profitable blog
