How to Write a Good Blog Post: 7 Practical Steps for Modern Bloggers

If you don’t have a process to write a blog post, you’ll find it hard to get started and will probably waste time staring at a blank page for hours.

Additionally, you’ll probably find that you frequently have to rewrite sections of your blog post or the final post might not fit the keyword you were targeting.

In this post, we’ll outline an effective strategy to write a blog post that ranks for the intended keyword and delivers insightful ideas that convert visitors into loyal readers.

Any writer at work can use this simple process to learn how to write a good blog post — as many blog posts as they need, actually, without tears or frustration.

Instead of thinking like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, think like a gardener.

1. Generate Content Ideas

Any time you sit down to write without a solid idea of what you’ll be writing about, you’re setting yourself up for frustration and wasted time.

You’ll be better off going for a short walk and bringing a pencil and an index card. On your walk, write down any article ideas that come to mind. (Not necessarily the one you’re writing.)

Productive writers know they have to catch as many of their ideas as they can — both the good ones and the silly ones.

An “idea seedling” can be a post idea, but it can also be a theme for:

• A content series
• A kind of customer you want to speak to
• An analogy
• A real-world example
• A statement of your values
• A funny story

Capture all of them. Make a habit of carrying something with you that can capture notes. Most of us can use our phones and an app. But go with whatever works. My friend Victoria makes a great case for 3×5” index cards.

If you find that you’re constantly running dry on ideas, boost this habit. Make a commitment to capture at least five ideas for content every day — even stupid or boring ones. The more content ideas you capture, the more will come.

2. Create Dedicated Writing Time

Schedule time in your calendar to write the same way you might schedule a meeting.

During that time, turn off electronic notifications, and optimize your environment to allow deep work. For some people, that might be complete silence in an office space, and for others, it might be a coffee shop.

Identify what works for you and then optimize your surroundings for complete focus.

3. Outline Your Content

For blog content, I like to start with some subheads. They form an inherent structure (kind of like the framework you’d grow a tomato plant on) that you can quickly eyeball to see if the final version will be relevant and useful.

They also come in handy for writing scannable content that can catch a reader’s attention quickly and entice her to take the time for a more thoughtful read.

Other writers find a mind map really helpful at this point. Mind maps don’t work well for me, but if they’re your cup of tea, go for it.

Once your framework is in place, you can start anywhere. You don’t need to start at the beginning to write a good blog post — just jump in where you feel moved, and draft a paragraph or two.

You probably won’t be ready to complete the draft yet. (If you are, just move to the next step.) But capture any words or phrases that occur to you. Expand any points, make a few notes of stories or examples, and track down the links you’ll want to refer to.

4. Write Your Draft

Once you have an outline, all you need to do is fill in the content.

At this stage, don’t stress too much about grammar, usage, spelling, word choice, or even logical flow.

Get your thoughts on this topic out of your head and into some words, and then we’ll figure out what to do with them.

If you end up with some tangents that definitely don’t fit into this piece of storyselling, those become new idea seedlings. Move them over to your idea seedling system whenever it won’t interrupt your writing flow.

5. Add Experiences And Examples

Once you have some ideas down and an initial draft, go back and add depth to the post by including specific examples to support each point.

Additionally, to make your blog post stand out from AI, it’s important to add personal experiences (either your own or the experiences of others).

Personal experiences and examples help the reader better understand what you’re trying communicate and can give them more inspiration.

You can also mention specific pieces of advice that aren’t very effective and better alternatives.

6. Edit Your Blog Post

Once you have a bunch of words typed into your framework, you’re ready to prune it. Everyone who knows how to write a good blog post is also an excellent content editor.

What’s the main idea of this post? (It’s often different from what you thought it would be when you started.)

Which parts of this post have a lot of energy? Could you move them to the beginning, to create a more powerful introduction?

Which parts of this post belong somewhere else? Remember, they’re idea seedlings, so you don’t lose them by cutting them out of this piece.

Read what you have aloud. As you become a master of how to write a good blog post, the weird stuff, the odd word choices, and the random tangents will start to jump out at you.

My pruning time is two to three times longer than the time I spend writing the original draft.

Take it through as many pruning sessions as you reasonably can. It usually works better to do a pruning pass, then let the post rest for a little while and come back to it with fresh eyes.

When I prune, I look for:

• Words that can be cut without losing meaning
• Ideas that can be cut and developed into additional work
• Words that haven’t been used correctly, or that could be replaced by something more precise
• Complicated sentence structures that can be streamlined
• Fancy language that can be made plain

You’ll have your own list you develop over time.

7. Improve Your Process

A thorough edit is important for creating quality work, but there comes a point when you reach “good enough,” click Publish, and move on to the next idea so that you can stick to a schedule.

That’s why you need to pair your creativity routines with a content calendar. Ship it, learn from it, start the next piece.

Writing and gardening happen in cycles. There’s always something new coming up.

If you get stressed out about a writing piece that didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be, that’s a sure sign you need to be writing more to uncover how to write a good blog post.

Worrying about your writing is not writing. Kicking yourself for all the ways you fail to measure up is not writing. Even endless edits are not writing.

And once in a while, a piece that you weren’t incredibly excited about turns out to be a fan favorite. We aren’t necessarily terrific judges of how well a particular piece of writing will work out for us.

Capture some more ideas. Start growing the next one. Write until it’s done. Prune until it’s pretty good.

Then keep going.

Want to learn more about blogging that works? Grab our free ebook below …