Writing is still my favorite activity after 27 years. I used to do that in a diary for myself; now I’ve been sharing my anecdotes, tips, struggles and random thoughts on my blog for a few years. Writing for a blog is of course a bit different than entrusting your thoughts to a diary. That’s why I thought it would be fun to answer a frequently asked question after many articles: “How do you write a blog?”. These are my 11 best writing tips based on my own blogging experience.
1. How to write a blog? Write first, then delete!
I think it’s best to let him first burst all his thoughts on paper like a madman before I create order in the chaos. I first think of my approach and subheadings, and then enthusiastically start writing without even glancing at the word counter. Nothing is as nice for a creative flow as writing in a wild way .
Sometimes, 2500 words suddenly appear on paper, including all sorts of crooked formulations and mistakes. Don’t worry: at least half of those words don’t survive my rewriting round. I then look very critically at every sentence. Then I start deleting and “killing darlings” and eventually – after a few rounds – an article appears that I am happy with. I often do a final check for spelling mistakes just before posting. You can best spot them if you let your text rest for a while.
2. Make it personal
Chances are slim that you are the only one writing about this one topic. But people come to you because they are curious about your opinion or experience. That is what distinguishes blogs from other types of articles. Therefore, try to give your blog articles a personal touch . Share your vision, use your own writing style and also feel free to discuss your own struggles and anecdotes. Yes, precisely those juicy details and also the clumsy actions that you have taken before you were where you are now. If only to protect your readers from making the same mistakes.
3. You don’t have to be an expert
I don’t really like unsolicited advice and I try not to share it on my blog. I am trained as a Dutch language and literature writer. Not as a psychologist, coach, sustainable living guru, clothing stylist and interior expert. So I know for sure that what I say is never the way. It is a way. I also try to let that shine through in my texts.
That’s why I prefer to write from my experience rather than pretend that my tips are “the way”. I prefer to just share what works for me. Furthermore, I also like to be honest when something doesn’t go smoothly for me. We’re all only human. Sometimes it’s nice to know that someone else is too, I think.
4. Make it easy
In my work as a copywriter, my mission is to make difficult language easier. On my blog, too, I like nice, clear language, sentences that aren’t too long, and no unnecessary complexity in terms of word usage . The thing is: you can write sentences like this, where at the end of the sentence, where you almost think you’ve reached, you don’t remember what the first word was, and where you have to read each sentence over and over again to understand it. That’s it. But you can also just keep it short. Then you know for sure that your reader won’t stumble over your sentences.
I myself strive to write at B1 level . B1 is the language level where you use words and sentences that are familiar to many people. Probably also to your reader. The communication agency Proven Context has an informative article about the different language levels online. From A1 to C2. In that article you will also find useful example sentences for each language level. I myself became a lot wiser from it.
5. Get straight to the point in the intro
How do you write a blog? That starts with a good intro of course. Often it is nice and short and sweet. People read very quickly on the internet. Sometimes they don’t even read at all, but just let their eyes wander over a text until they come across an interesting word somewhere. The intro is your chance to entice your reader to read on . Instead of wanting to put the whole story in the introduction (I often wanted to at first!), you can also just make the reader curious in a few sentences. An anecdote, a situation sketch or a provocative question is a nice way to start.
Funny detail: I almost always write my intros after I have written the whole article. If I know exactly what the article contains, I can introduce the article in a much more targeted way.
6. Make sure you have a cracking good head
Not to be missed in an answer to the question “How do you write a blog?”: come up with a killer headline. When I look at the articles I do and don’t click on in Bloglovin’, it usually has to do with the headline above the article. That’s the first thing you see as a reader before you decide whether to spend the next few minutes of your life on this particular blog article.
Therefore: a cracking good headline is always a good idea. Preferably one that covers the load, is provocative and also different from those of other bloggers who have previously written about the same subject. These are a few tips that I learned during my Dutch studies about writing headlines:
- Use numbers in your headline (not “writing tips”, but “11 writing tips”). This way your reader knows immediately what to expect.
- Make your title distinctive. Probably enough other bloggers have already written about your blog topic before you. What makes your writing tips different from those of others? Maybe that they are super quick to apply? That you write awesome texts with them? Or that they are meant for outfit bloggers? Put that in your title too.
- Use words like “how” and “why” in your title.
- Address your reader in the headline by using ‘you’.
- Keep the title short and sweet .
Furthermore, I am a big fan of just being honest in the headline about what your article is about . I always feel a bit cheated when a vlogger puts “Big news: you didn’t expect this!” in the headline and that big news turns out to be the purchase of a new machine.
7. Write like you speak
Use your own writing style and don’t think you have to throw around fancy words that you will never use yourself. It can be a bit more light-hearted. Actually, just like you would talk (but then probably without the ‘euh’s and ‘ehm’s). That way you really don’t have to strictly follow the subject-personal form-subordinate clause-sentence structures that were once drilled into you in high school. It actually reads better if you alternate between short and long sentences . And starting a sentence with ‘or’ or ‘and’ is also fine. Even if your teacher used to urge you not to do that. Putting a period can actually help to add extra emphasis.
8. Be a structure junkie
“Be brief” is perhaps one of the most frequently heard answers to the question “How do you write a blog?”. There is some truth to it, but I don’t care. This article is also not exactly a “quickie” that I just threw out there. I do see the value of longer articles. Because why would you keep valuable information to yourself if your reader can benefit from it too?
However, you can make long articles easy to read by applying handy structure tricks. Especially on your mobile phone screen, a block of text will quickly seem like a whole block of text.
- Put a clear , self-explanatory heading above each paragraph (or every few paragraphs) .
- Number your headlines , especially if you’re sharing X number of tips.
- Add a blank line after every few sentences .
- Use images between the text for variety.
- Add bullet point lists if you like. Like the one you are reading now.
- If necessary, bold sentences to emphasize the main message of the paragraph.
9. Check for stop words
Let’s talk about my own biggest writing stumbling block: filler words. I actually throw them in there sometimes, at least every now and then. And with that sentence you’ve got them all at once. My own filler words are “actually”, “sometimes”, “in any case”, “so” and “so occasionally”. I undoubtedly have more, but these are the most persistent. I’ve recently started checking my articles specifically for those words with Ctrl + F before I put them online. At least I can filter those words out.
10. Make your text Google-proof
If you have written a blog, it is of course nice if people can actually find your article. If you share tips or experiences that people can google, it is best to take Google into account when writing your article.
Okay, if I just share a happy anecdote, I don’t do anything to make it more findable in Google. But for informative articles or articles with tips (like this one) I do my best to meet Google’s requirements. In other words: to write SEO. SEO means that you strategically incorporate a search term into your text , so that Google realizes that your text is about that search term. And so that you have a greater chance that readers will spot your article via Google and click on it.
You don’t have to figure all this out yourself. The free Yoast plugin is a lifesaver when it comes to SEO if you have a WordPress site. With this plugin, you get to see your SEO score and your improvement points for each article. A life-saver!
How exactly does SEO work? On my site RomyVeul.nl you can read an extensive article with SEO tips . Here are the most important tips in a row:
- Choose a specific search term . So not ‘home accessories’, but ‘ochre yellow home accessories’ or ‘home accessories for the bathroom’.
- Include that search term in your title, in your introduction and at least a few times in the text.
- Add the search term to the alt text of your image.
- Use the search term in at least one subheading. And always work with headings.
- Don’t forget to add a meta title and meta text . These are the texts that appear in Google search results and in which you can describe your article in about 150 characters.
11. Interact with your readers
The best and most beautiful thing about blogging for me is that it is not a one-way street. You talk to real people and sometimes they also respond (under the blog article, on social media or via a private message). That is what makes blogging so great.
That is why I also try to consciously interact. I end almost every article with a question. Purely because I am genuinely interested in how others see or experience something. Sometimes I also get valuable tips from the reactions of others. Plus: if you share 10 tips and your readers also give 5 useful tips, then together you help others with that.
Furthermore, I would always address your reader – even if it is only a few times in the text. But that is my personal preference. In doing so, you do not only make a blog a diary entry that someone can look at without any shame, but you also involve the other person.
The most important thing: do your thing!
But the most important answer to the question ‘How do you write a blog?’ is in my opinion “just do your own thing”. You have your own writing style and that makes you unique. These writing tips for blogging are also just my vision. So if you do want to write long sentences, don’t like subheadings or hate lists – then of course you can also just approach it completely differently. Write the way you want and above all, stay yourself. I think that automatically makes every article (even) more fun to read.
