How to write good blog posts?

Writing a blog post is a little like driving; you can study the highway code (or read articles telling you how to write a blog post) for months, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing like getting behind the wheel and hitting the open road. Or something.

“Wait for it… wait for it… BASS DROP.”

Now that I’m done thoroughly mangling that vague metaphor, let’s get down to business. You know you need to start blogging to grow your business, but you don’t know-how. In today's article, I’ll show you how to write a great blog post in five simple steps that people will actually want to read. So let’s get started:-

• Step 1- Planning

          First, a disclaimer – the entire process of writing a blog post often takes more than a             couple of  hours, even if you can type eighty words per minute and your writing skills           are sharp. From the seed of the idea to finally hitting “Publish,” you might spend                   several days or maybe even a week “writing” a blog post, but it’s important to spend             those vital hours planning your post and even thinking about your post (yes, thinking             counts as working if you’re a blogger) before you actually write it.

        Long before you sit down to put digital pen to paper, you need to make sure you                    have everything you need to sit down and write. Many new bloggers overlook                       the planning process, and while you might be able to get away with skipping the                  planning stage, doing your homework will actually save you time further down the                  road and help you develop good blogging habits.

• Step 2- Writing a Great Headline

         Everyone and their grandmother have an opinion about headlines. Some say you                   should be as specific as possible (to avoid misleading your readers and manage their             expectations), while others recommend taking a more abstract approach. Vague                     headlines might work just fine if you’re Barkha Dutt, but for most of us, being                       specific is better. There are two main approaches you can take to writing blog post                 headlines. You can either decide on your final headline before you write the rest of                 your post (and use your headline to structure your outline), or you can write your blog           post with a working title and see what fits when you’re done.

• Step 3- The Writing Part

         So, you’ve done your research, settled on a headline (or at least a working title), and             now you’re ready to actually write a blog post. So get to it. Similarly to headlines,                 there are two main approaches to writing a blog post. You can either sit down and                 write an entire draft in a single sitting (my preferred workflow), or you can chip away           at it gradually over time. There is no right or wrong answer here – only whatever                   works for you. However, I’d recommend getting as much done in one session as                   possible. This makes it easier to stay focused on the topic, minimizes the chance that             you’ll forget crucial points, and also lets you get the damned thing out of your hair                 faster.

• Step 4- Using Image Effectively 

         Writing for the web is an entirely different animal than writing for print. Oftentimes,             people simply don’t have the time, will, or ability to focus on lengthy blog posts                   without some visual stimulation. Even a well-formatted blog post consisting solely of           text is likely to send your reader screaming back to Reddit or Twitter within minutes,             which is why it’s so important to include images in your posts.

• Step 5- The Editing Part

         Actually writing a blog post is hard. Editing a blog post is harder. Many people                     mistakenly assume that editing is simply striking through sentences that don’t work or           fixing grammatical errors. Although sentence structure and grammar are both very                 important, editing is about seeing the piece as a whole and, sometimes, being willing             to sacrifice words (and the hours it took to write them) for the sake of cohesion.

Lastly one should always express his thoughts in his blogs as the blog will reflect the writer's personality. Follow all the points and I can bet that you'll definitely ace at writing blogs.