There is no format when you write a blog post, but when you create content for the internet, you need to consider how Google will pick it up. You want Google to like it so that more people see the content, which is the purpose of a blog.
Heading
Make sure your title ‘says what it does on the tin’. When you write for print, you can be fancy and more creative, but if the blog post is about how to prune roses, the title needs to be ‘How to prune roses’. Also, think about what people will need to put into Google to find your blog post. If they want to know about subjects to take at A-Level for a philosophy degree, then the blog post needs to be ‘What A-Level subjects to take for a philosophy degree’.
Being clear with your heading means that the blog post will have the relevant keywords in the URL (link).
Example: yourwebsite.com/how-to-prune-roses
This will also help more people find your content in a Google search.
Sub-Headings
You will need subheadings every 250 to 350 words. I suggest, when you have a topic for a blog post, consider the subheadings before you start writing. Overall, your blog post needs to be at least 400 and about 1,000 words. So, plan your content with subheadings which will make the writing so much easier. You won’t be overwhelmed or get ‘writer’s block’.
If your blog is about pruning roses, your subheadings may be:
When to prune your roses
Equipment to use
Pruning Technique
Follow up care
Paragraphs
Under each subheading, make sure your paragraphs are short and no more than 150 words. I suggest about 3 paragraphs under each subheading. It is so much easier to read online.
Your opening paragraph needs to include the keywords you have chosen for your blog topic and heading. You could start with:
As autumn approaches, the top question I get asked is how to prune roses.
Sentences
Keep your sentences short. You want to ensure your content is easy to read and if you ramble on, people won’t stay on your blog post and read it to the end, and they won’t click on anything else to explore more of the website.
The guideline for blog sentence length is no more than 20 words. Rather start sentences with ‘And’ and ‘But’, than have them go on for too long. This is also acceptable now. So don’t feel you are breaking writing rules if you start sentences with words you were taught never to use with a capital letter.
Images
Make sure the images add value to the content and are not just to make it pretty. Each image needs to be labelled with the keyword/s so that it can also appear in a Google image search and lead people back to your blog posts.
But each blog post will need a feature image. But, make sure this ‘marries’ with the content and is labelled with the keywords/keyphrase. And of course, you need to have permission to use the image too, either from the people in the image, the photographer, (or both), or you have downloaded it from copyright-free websites.
Keywords / Keyphrase
Try to inject your main keyword/ keyphrase into your blog post at least 3 times (including in a sub-heading) for a blog of between 500 and 1,000 words. This will also help Google find your content.
It may seem redundant, but we want Google to scan your content for that keyword (or keywords) and put your blog post in front of a lot more people. And people often just scan online content, so there is no need to worry about it sounding too ‘clunky’ with the keywords repeated.
You will notice above, in the example of subheadings for the ‘how to prune roses’ blog, that the keyword/keyphrase is in one of the subheadings too.
Links in your blog post
- Outbound / external links
Google likes you to have an outbound link on every post. This means a link to drive traffic to another website. In the example of the blog post about pruning roses, the outbound link could be to the Royal Society of Horticulture. You could weave it in at some point in the content such as:
According to the Royal Society of Horticulture…
And make sure you hyperlink the words Royal Society of Horticulture with the link. Google does not like ‘naked links’ that appear like this: https://www.rhs.org.uk/
If you are not able to weave an external link into your content, you can add it at the bottom with something like:
For more information about roses, have a look at the Royal Horticulture Society website and hyperlink it.
- Internal links
You also want to encourage people to stay on your website longer, by clicking on things and browsing. This increases your website’s ‘dwell time’ and that Google will love too! Consider a link on your own website that you can hyperlink to. Again, you can weave this into your content:
Students in the Biology department grow their roses in a polytunnel (and hyperlink to the biology department or to another blog that talks about how to erect and use a polytunnel).
And as with the outbound / external link, if you can’t weave it into the content, add it at the bottom with something like:
Find out more about roses in the blog post: How to graft roses (and hyperlink to the relevant blog post on your website).
Super Blog
Every now and again, it is a good idea to write a longer blog of up to 2,000 and more. This helps Google to notice your website as an authority.
A super blog needs the keywords/keyphrases a few more times than say 3 times for a standard 400 – 500 word blog post. You will also need more subheadings and relevant images between the text is good, but only if the image enhances the content.
Have fun
The most important part of blogging is to enjoy it. If you feel it is a drag, your writing won’t come across as light and easy to read. Blogs are about information and stories. Blogs should be easy and enjoyable to read. Inject your personality and find your own groove.
This will get you started. But remember, your blogging, like anything, take confidence and practice. You just need to get started. You will evolve, and so will your blogging.
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You will notice that after a while when you write a blog post, these points will come naturally. This content is also now over 500 words, so perfect length for a blog post too.
