Writing your own successful blog (and thus running a successful online business) is a dream for many. To realize this dream is not so difficult at all. This article is not only about learning to write a blog, but I provide a guide with the most essential elements to make a blog really successful.
Blog writing
The most important thing in blog writing and thus in successful blogging is logically the blog article. It is not enough to write useful blog articles. They have to be outstanding blog posts, really legendary ones.
WHAT IS A LEGENDARY BLOG ARTICLE?
That’s easily defined: Legendary content attracts new and old readers, spreads through social media channels, gets other bloggers to recommend you, understands your readers added to your email list, adds value, inspires, helps and changes the lives of your readers. In the best case, all at once. But nice and slow …
1) Look into the head of your audience
In the beginning, ask yourself which articles you like to read, what you get out of them, how they are structured. Look for the elements in an article that appeal to you, that make you come back or click “Like.”
One thing is clear: your readers and you are very similar. You are interested in the same topic. You have (or have had) the same problems taking the same hurdles. It’s only natural to look into your head first. Once your first articles have appeared, it becomes easier.
You get feedback. Readers write to you, comment, share. Pay attention to this and note any questions and problems that may be brought to you and provide solutions.
Also, be aware of what articles (whether your own or from other bloggers) are shared and liked. What are the factors that make these articles viral? Recognize the patterns behind them.
2) Outstanding Headlines
An article stands and falls with the heading.
Here the decision is made whether the rest of the article is read or whether your readers see the piece as a waste of time from the beginning. Four factors are helpful here. The headline should:
- Attract attention – Build your online business: How your dream holiday can help you.
- Make curious – The 29 Laws of the hamster wheel and why they do not attract anyone’s attention
- Polarizing – 10 ways you’re guaranteed to sink your money
- Play the content – The 12 myths that keep you from your passion
One thing is already quite clear with these headlines. Enumerations, i.e., so-called “list posts,” are an excellent way because they make it clear to the readers what they get and also make it easier to “read across.” More about this below.
One question comes up again and again with headlines: When should I write the headline? Before I have written the article or when it is finished? The simple answer is that there is no rule of thumb.
I always write my headlines in front of it. I have a list of headlines that is also my collection of ideas. Rarely do I change the headline after rewriting the article. Other bloggers swear by not writing the headline until the piece is finished.
Just find the way that works for you.
3) The structure & dramaturgy
There are several ways to structure blog posts. I’m sure I’ll post more articles on this topic. Therefore only in the overview: I like to write my items in a 3-act structure, comparable to a play or film.
The first act is the introduction to the topic and the definition of the status quo, the second act is the confrontation, i.e., the pointing out of the possibilities for the solution and the third act looks a little into the future, summarizes or seems provocative and motivational.
A similar possibility is the structure of Leo Babauta, star blogger of zenhabits.net, who divides his articles into the “Intro”, the description of the problem, the “What”, i.e. the understanding of the change, the “How”, i.e. the suggested solutions, and the “Conclusion”, where he proposes: “Always end a post with something memorable.
4) The tonality of your blog posts
An important factor in blog writing, if not one of the crucial ones, is the way you address your readers, the so-called tonality. I have a recommendation for that:
“Write as you speak.”
Don’t try to make your language seem “more serious” or “more professional.” Do not use words in your texts that you do not use colloquially, do not write sentences that you would never say in this way.
All rules and tips for finding your audience’s personal address are obsolete if you simply write how you speak. This has considerable advantages because it is authentic, lovable, honest, and promotes the recognition of your texts.
We will then go into more detail in the writing tips.
5) The added value
“Don’t write an article that doesn’t add value or benefit readers.
I have nothing more to say about that.
6) Length
Often people philosophize about the length of blog articles. Some bloggers swear by writing short essays. By “short” I mean pieces that have between 250 and 400 words, such as articles by Seth Godin, one of the most successful bloggers of our time.
Others recommend writing articles that are more than 2,500 words long. A simple solution for you: Experiment, pay attention to what works and what text lengths you feel comfortable with.
7) The next step
Blog writing is always in win-win situations. Often it is preached that it is only about the benefit for the reader. If you’ve delivered added value and benefits with a blog post, then you’ve done your job.
I think that’s wrong. Because a blog post must bring something to your reader, And; A blog article must also bring something to you. And no, I don’t mean reader numbers, likes, comments and other numbers that are just fancy figures and say little about success.
A blog article must bring the reader closer to your product. A blog article is always a step to turn readers into customers. Always, always, always. From your blogs just for fun at Freud.
Without telling the reader:
If you want more in this direction, then get Freebie X, Y, or Z.
If you’re serious about A, B, or C, then my Super Best Product Ever product brings the solution.
And not only at the end of the article, so the 08/15 Call-to-Action, which already throws every reader into a vegetative state. But logically and for the reader visible into the section inserted.
I have quickly compiled the factors for you, which I find again and again in authentic blog articles. So a crash course for “writing well.”
BLOG WRITING – THE WRITING TIPS
Don’t worry so much about what others think.
Putting every word on the scales, thinking about how the readers can understand this, or always being politically correct, brings you to one sure of victory: namely to bad blog articles that seem like an excellent trance induction and simply take up space in your WordPress database.
“Just stay yourself, be an individual, and don’t give a damn what other people do.”
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Don’t file around too much with lyrics.
Your blog article is not the Nobel Prize laudation or the US President’s State of the Union speech, and you don’t have to compete with every Ernest Hemingway article.
You write an article to help people, not to pass the Secondary education in the United States with distinction.
I know that from PR texts in companies. Everyone contributes, files, kills, defuses, formulates and in the end comes out a lifeless desert of words, which nobody reads and which above all does not do one thing: move something!
Throw away the synonym dictionary
Honestly, who uses the word “head” instead of “head”? Nobody would say the word “cheered” instead of “funny” in real life. By the way, from now on, I won’t write blog articles anymore, but a transcript, a treatise or an essay.
Please use the words you would otherwise use in your daily life.
You don’t have an educational mission (unless you have a blog that tries to “write better”). Otherwise, your educational desires are limited to communicating the eye-opening novelties to your fanbase. (Seriously? That was a sentence now? You know what I mean.)
Write how you speak
Good writing: The easiest way is to write as you speak. The reader may/should/must feel that he is talking to you. Your readers have to recognize your language and think “Oh, that’s typical again” and smile a little …
Get to the point
Endless introductions, artificially inserted headlines, pseudo-personal content that doesn’t help the reader (nobody cares what you had for breakfast), and much more.
The blogger landscape is full of such articles. Please don’t do that. Please be worth the time of your readers and writers as much value as you can put into one sentence.
If you have a tendency to “waffle,” then after you’ve finished the text, take it up again. Have the word count displayed by Scrivener, Word & Co, and shorten by a third. The document will be better later. Promised.
Writing is not a big deal.
Many (even I used to) make writing such a mystical gift, which is not placed in the cradle of everyone, where it is love-hate and where many of us need to overcome to write the first sentence.
First: Create a writing routine.
Second, the writer’s block is a myth.
Use an emotive word
No, you don’t have to keep writing “fuck,” “shit,” or “asshole.” There are blogs that make real progress with this strategy, such as the Middle Finger Project.
But here and there a word that the reader doesn’t expect (even with asterisks like in the headline) can’t hurt. Let the readers raise their eyebrows and perhaps evoke emotion and let them think.
Did he/she really just write “fuck” now?
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“Your articles + emotion = your blog will be remembered.
Write for yourself. 10 years ago.
You probably know the concept of the reader’s avatar. So that you make the ideal reader in your head, equip him or her with all possible qualities and thus have a real person for whom you write. But how about writing for yourself?
And that’s for your “I” in the past, where you had all the hurdles and problems that you solved for your readers in front of you. I can say one thing:
With this person (the most crucial person in your life, by the way) in mind, the texts get a different quality, and you will simply write well.
Blog articles have to be read. That’s what they are for. Please, please, please, please do your best to make your blog article legendary (of course these tips also apply to your email marketing or autoresponders).
