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The first question that pops up in beginner bloggers’ minds after they have just created their blog is, what should my first blog post be? The question seems easy enough, but it isn’t easy to answer.
Saying “write your best” is the typical advice you’ll get. And while that is good advice to follow, why not give a little more guidance in order to make sure you create a blog post that works for your business.
If you’re reading this post, I’m going to assume that you’re staring down at a blank screen, a blank piece of paper, or you haven’t chosen a topic for your first blog post yet.
While blogging can seem like a challenging task, there are certain steps you can follow that will make the process much more manageable.
This article will explain what your first blog post should be and how you can write an awesome blog post to convince the new audience to come back for more.
What Is A Blog Post
A blog post is a piece of content that provides quality information for your readers. It can include text, images, links, videos, and any other media that you think will help your readers.
A blog post is usually found on a personal or company website. It is a way to create fresh content and draw traffic to your website.
Blog posts are typically informal and written like an article instead of formatted like a short story. They should contain good grammar and spelling and be free from errors.
How To Start A Blog
There’s a lot to consider when starting a blog. I’ve been blogging for over two years and have learned a lot. Here is my advice for anyone looking to start their blog:
Choose A Name For Your Blog: The name of your blog is the key to helping people find you on the web and differentiate you from others. It’s also the first impression people will get off your blog, so choose wisely! Check out this list to help you select a catchy blog name.
Pick A Blog Topic: As a new blogger, you want to choose a topic that you won’t get bored with. You want something simple enough to come up with fresh content regularly. This post will help you find a blog niche, “How To Find Your Blog Niche: The Ultimate Guide.”
Web Hosting: To get a website on the internet, you have to have a web host. It’s the company that puts your website up on the server where everyone can see it. DreamHost is a great option that costs less than 2$ to get started.
Choose A Blogging Platform: Next, choose a blogging platform. There are many different options, but the best choice for most bloggers is WordPress.org. WordPress.org allows you to easily customize your site, add features with plugins, and do just about anything else without coding.
Pick A Theme: Choosing a theme for your WordPress site is similar to picking out an outfit to wear. You want to choose something that fits the occasion but is also a reflection of your personality and style. WordPress offers a lot of free themes.
Types Of Blog Posts
Your website can use several different types of blog posts to keep your audience engaged. To help you find the right one, I’ve created a list of the most effective blog posts.
The “How To” Post
The “How To” post is an instructional post that shows readers how to accomplish a specific task. The best ones are full of step-by-step instructions and contain images and videos to help readers understand the process.
The “What Is” Post:
This is another popular type of blog post that provides a simple explanation of a topic. The best “What Is” posts offer a definition and then expand on it by giving more information or relevant examples.
The “Why” Post:
A “Why” post explains the benefits and advantages of something. These posts are great for convincing people to try your product or take advantage of one of your resources.
The List Post:
List posts are simply a list of items, tips, resources, or ideas related to your topic with short descriptions for each one. They’re very easy to consume and scan through, which is why they’re so popular among readers. This is an example of a list post: 100+ Catchy Pinterest Board Names.
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Ask Yourself These Question Before Writing Your First Blog Post
What Is The Purpose Of Your Blog?
Your first blog post is crucial. It sets the tone for your blog, gives readers an idea of what to expect, and paves the way for future posts.
Think about who will be reading your blog and why they will be visiting your site. Then, write down some post ideas that fit your audience’s interests and needs. Finally, choose one idea, write an outline, and then fill in the gaps.
It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a travel blog, a tech blog, or even a business blog. To start a successful blog, you need to ask yourself what your blog’s focal point is.
Additionally, When you know the purpose of your blog, it’s easier to decide on the topics you’ll cover. For example, if you want to get more traffic to your eCommerce store, it’s probably best to stick with topics related to your products or niche.
What Is Your Target Audience?
One of the most important questions you should ask yourself when writing your first blog post is who your target audience is. Is your blog going to be aimed at teenage girls? Middle-aged men? Married couples?
Your audience will make a difference in how you write and the topics you cover. And it will help you to focus on their specific needs and pain points. Your content needs to appeal to your readers for them to follow your blog.
It’s also important to know what kind of tone you want to use in your writing. Friendly and informative are two examples of appropriate styles for most content.
For example, if you run a business blog and sell a fun product or service, then a funny tone may work well. If the product or service is technical, it might be better to use a more formal style.
What Is Your Goals With Your Blog?
When you’re first starting out, it’s tempting to post about everything under the sun. But if your goal is to create a successful blog, it’s best to make sure that every post is in service of your overall purpose. Otherwise, you risk confusing your readers and yourself.
Some people want their blogs to be a way to express themselves and connect with like-minded people.
Others hope to use their blog as a portfolio piece; they might be looking for a writing job or trying to build an audience for a book they plan to publish in the future. And still, others would like their blog to become a business, generating leads and revenue.
So, before you start writing, ask yourself: What are my goals for this blog? Your answer will help you figure out your plans for the blog.
How To Write Your First Blog Post
Think Of A Few Ideas:
Now it’s time to start thinking about what you’ll write about.
There are a number of ways you can go about this. The easiest way is to think about the kinds of questions people ask about in your niche and then provide an answer for them in blog form.
You can also make a list of the most common problems your target audience has and write about how to solve them. It’s best if you can do this in an educational way and give away some of the best secrets from your industry. This will help build trust with potential customers.
Here are a few example topics to help you understand better:
A product guide in your niche: This can be as simple as a list of your ten favorite products or as comprehensive as a basic buying guide.
Create a how-to guide: For example, How to Make a Paper Crane or How to Write a Brand Mission Statement (depending on your niche).
Interview an expert or thought leader in your industry: Asking the experts questions your target audience is looking for.
Research The Topic:
Study the top-ranking posts on Google of your chosen topic. Make a list of these sites and read each one. Note what you like about the writing style and post format, but also note any holes in their content.
Can you write something more comprehensive? How would you do it differently?
Another way to do research is using a tool like BuzzSumo to help you find the most shared content of your topic. Make a list of these articles, again noting the strengths and weaknesses of each one.
Look for patterns in this data. How can you emulate the strengths of the most popular articles while avoiding the weaknesses?
You should now have a good idea of how to write your own piece based on what has already succeeded with an audience.
Create A List Of Keywords:
Keyword research is one of the most important, valuable, and high-return activities in the search marketing field. Ranking for the right keywords can increase your website authority.
By researching your market’s keyword demand, you can learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO and learn more about your customers as a whole. It’s not always about getting visitors to your site, but getting the right kind of visitors.
The first step in keyword research is to start a list of all the words and phrases you think your potential buyers might be typing into a search engine.
The second step is to Google the topic and collects a handful of keywords from there.
Here’s how you can do it:
Go to Google and type in your topic and while you are typing you will find a bunch of related keywords in the search bar, note down the ones you think you can add inside your content.
Scroll down a little and try adding these long-tail keywords inside your post if possible.
There you have it. You should have a few keywords for your topic by now. If you want some more, check out my course, “ Free Keyword Research Course.” The course costs nothing but can boost your site traffic.
Prepare An Outline:
Outlining your article before you begin writing can help you organize and shape your thoughts into a well-structured piece. A good outline will address all the main points you want to cover in your article while keeping it short and sweet.
Outlines can be as simple as a list of topics or a more detailed summary of each paragraph’s main idea. The goal is to determine what sections you need and in what order they should appear.
Here are a few tips for creating a great outline:
Identify your audience: What is the purpose of your article? What do you want your readers to learn or be able to do when they’re finished reading?
Brainstorm points: Before beginning your first draft, list all the points that should be included in the article. Choose the main point for each paragraph, then use bullet points or numbers for additional supporting points.
Create an introduction and conclusion paragraph: The introduction should grab the reader’s attention and set up the rest of your article; think of it as a preview of what’s coming up next. Your conclusion should summarize the whole post.
Basically, your outline will depend on the length of your article; if you’re writing a 500-word article, there’s no need to create a lengthy outline with dozens of sub-topics.
However, when writing a longer piece, such as an e-book, it’s important to include as many details as possible so you don’t forget anything along the way.
Proofread Your Article:
Proofread your article before publishing it. Nothing screams unprofessional like a blog post riddled with typos, grammatical errors, and misspellings. Your readers will not take you seriously if they see mistakes in your writing.
Here are some tips for proofreading your content:
Read your copy aloud: This helps you catch errors you might not see on the screen. It also enables you to read at a natural pace. Reading your work aloud will make it easier to spot awkward sentences or unusual phrasing.
Look for one type of error at a time: First, check for any words you’ve misspelled or incorrectly used, like “there” instead of “their.” Then check for punctuation errors.
Have someone else read it over: It’s easy to overlook mistakes when you’ve been staring at the same article for hours. If possible, get a second pair of eyes on your work before publishing it.
It is also worth mentioning that there is a big difference between proofreading and editing. Editing has more to do with content, while proofreading focuses on the technical aspects (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.).
Additional Tips To Make Your First Blog Post Outstanding
Focus On Readers Experience:
Your readers are your most valuable asset. They’re the reason you write, and they’re the reason your blog exists. Just because you’re writing a business post doesn’t mean you can forget about them. That’s why the reading experience is such an essential part of how to write a blog post that converts into leads.
Maintain Your Audience Trust:
The way to build your audience’s trust is to be authentic and transparent. As a writer, this means sharing things that are personal and true. Trust is a currency in content marketing. The more people trust you, the more likely they are to read, share and comment on your content.
Write An Attention Grabbing Subheading:
A good subheading is a bit like a good headline: It should give readers more information about the article, persuade them to read it, and possibly convince them to take action.
For instance, if you were writing an article about how to improve your credit score, a good subheading might be: “Are you making these common mistakes that are ruining your credit score?” Then you’d go into detail in the article about things that people do that ruin their scores.
Add Your Personal Touch:
A personal touch is when you share your example of how you did something and what the outcome was.
For example, if you’re writing about how to write an article, you can add a personal touch by showing how you wrote an article in the past, increasing your traffic. It makes the article more interesting, and your readers will trust you more.
Stay On Topic:
When you have a lot to say about your topic, keeping your writing on point can be tricky. Keep on the topic by beginning with an outline that refers back to the topic, so you do not deviate too much from it.
Another helpful trick is to write in a voice that you enjoy reading. If your article sounds like a conversation between friends, you’ll likely stay on track.
What Should Be The Ideal Length Of Your First Blog Post
If you decide to write longer blog posts, your content will be more in-depth.
By having more in-depth content, you are giving your readers the opportunity to fully understand what you are writing about. This can be a great way to gain new readers as they will see that you have done a lot of research and put a lot of effort into writing your blog post.
Additionally, the longer your blog post is, the more likely it is for search engine crawlers to find it.
Google loves longer content as it shows that you know what you are talking about and that you can provide more information than other articles on the internet.
If you have a 500-word article, there is a good chance that some other website has written about the same topic with more information than yours.
Few Words Of Thought
The basics are the same: set your blog up, write content, and publish that content. However, you can go heavy on certain areas—don’t get bogged down with marketing and keep it simple on design features.
Set up social media accounts and start writing immediately. You will learn what works and what doesn’t work. The feedback you receive from your readers will give you an idea of what they like, dislike, wish was included, or wish was excluded. Just remember to keep writing!
Also, if you have any questions or suggestions, leave a comment. We will discuss them together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What Your First Blog Post Should Be?
Your first post should be about why this blog exists in the first place: what inspired you to start writing, and why people should care enough to keep reading it. Who knows? You may stumble on a theme that will carry you throughout your blogging career.
Q: How Do You Write A Welcome Blog Post?
If you’re starting a new blog, you may be wondering how to write a welcome blog post. After all, this is your first official introduction to your target audience. You have a lot riding on this first impression.
But don’t stress about it too much. A welcome blog post doesn’t have to be earth-shattering or even that long.
A successful welcome blog post will do a few things:
Introduce yourself and your background.
Explain why you’re starting the blog.
Give a brief outline of what the reader can expect from following your blog.
Q: When Was The First Blog Posted?
The first blog post was published in 1994 by Justin Hall while he was a college student. He has been credited as one of the earliest bloggers.
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