How to Write a Blog Post

You’re great at your job. Maybe you’re a highly organized office manager, an accomplished doctor, or a proud business owner. But, maybe you dreaded writing essays in grade school or experience writer’s block so the idea of creating custom content for your website is a little bit intimidating.

Sound familiar? Well, we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to be Charles Dickens or Jane Austen to write a great blog post. Blogs are typically short forms of content that are created to provide value to your audience, such as an educational how-to or an in-depth look at your specialty. Since they are tailored to your industry, these blogs will be on subjects you are already interested in. You may even be an expert!

Blog posts are an important part of your content marketing plan, so be sure to incorporate this into your agenda. Don’t know where to start? Read on to learn how you can write a killer blog post for your website.

Target Your Ideal Audience

Before picking up your laptop (or feathered pen, no judgements here), first identify your target audience. Who are you writing for? Who do you think is most likely to engage with your content?

This is likely going to be a particular kind of current or prospective client. If you are a chiropractor that specializes in sports medicine, then this could be an athlete or the family member of a budding athlete. Or, if you are an ophthalmologist, this may be patients with aging eyes or those at risk for eye diseases.

Get to know this audience. Ask about your clients’ lives when they’re in the office and take note of key traits. Engage with your audience on social media and take a look at which kinds of posts they like the most. Is your audience lighthearted? Do they prefer more information-driven content? This research will help you determine how to best write for your ideal client.

Brainstorm Topics

Every good blog post starts simply with an idea. Come up with a pool of topics that you think your audience would be interested in.

For example, if you’re a veterinarian, you may want to write about tick care, pet dental health, or how to care for animals in cold temperatures. Keep the seasons, trends, and holidays in mind when you are brainstorming topics because, sometimes, this can help you hone down on a relevant subject.

Once you have chosen a topic to write about, do a little research to get an idea of how you should organize your post. Other content online may help you decide how you want to organize the information. Just make sure you’re not plagiarizing any content and that you stick to your own unique style. You want to set your blog apart!

Draft a quick outline that spells out the key points you want to touch on in the blog. This doesn’t need to be too in-depth. Just write out the main focus of each section and any subpoints underneath.

Pro SEO Tips
Before you start writing the content, research keywords to implement into the copy. Keywords and phrases help both your audience and Google’s algorithm find your blog post online.

The Writing Process

Everyone has a different writing process. Some authors have even penned their strategies to help inspire other writers, but I bet you Stephen King’s is much different than J.K. Rowling’s. Some people like to put every idea down on paper before they begin, others like to edit as they go along. Figure out what works best for you through trial and error.

A good place to start is to make your outline into sections. The header of each section should clearly define what the paragraphs underneath are about. Many people skim content rather than reading it fully, so transparent titles and headers are a must. It enables the user to quickly navigate to the information they want.

Pro SEO Tips
Input keywords into your title, meta description, and headers to maximize their visibility.

Write about the appropriate topics under each section. In the first section, tell your audience what your topic is and what they can expect to learn from reading your post. You may even want to throw in a statistic or fact about why they should care about this subject.

In the following sections, detail the point you decided on in your outline. As you write, you will oftentimes get a feel for how to transition from one key point to the next.

Conduct research on anything you’re not sure about and cite information as necessary. For example, if you use a statistic in your blog post, be sure to cite the source. More general, well-known information does not need to be cited.

Typically, your blog posts only need to be between 500 – 800 words for short form and between 1,000 and 2,000 words for long-form. Any more or less and you are more likely to get skipped over by both Google’s algorithm and your audience.

Pro SEO Tips
Share your blog posts on your social media channels to encourage backlinks.

Why Content Marketing?

Content marketing can benefit your practice in several ways. Firstly, you are providing something valuable to your audience without the need to drive to your office. This will help current and potential clients see you in a positive light. Just like you rather not need a consultation before receiving a quote to fix your bathroom sink, your audience doesn’t want to have to come in for every curiosity they have.

Secondly, good content helps Google’s algorithm and your audience see you as a knowledgeable authority on particular topics. Backlinks to your content will help convince Google of your authority and enable you to rank higher on search engine results pages.

When you infuse search engine optimization into your content marketing, this will also help your website populate on SERPs. Sometimes, potential clients aren’t looking for your site directly, but instead have entered a query into Google. Your blog could provide the answer they were looking for and cause them to take a look at the whole site. They just might need your services.

Now, get to writing!