How to Become a Better Blogger

Blogging is a great way to market your interests, skills, or products to others through an online platform. They are also handy when it comes to advertising your business or products to people who you otherwise wouldn’t come in contact with outside of the internet. This article will cover how to become a better blogger, smart blogging, and writing blog posts.

Writing a Blog

Whether you’re new to blog writing or you’ve been writing for a while, there are also skills you can learn and work on to help improve your blog’s reach. As you get started writing your blog, there are several tips to keep in mind to help you write the optimal blog that converts readers into customers.

Know Your Audience

Before you even sit down to write, think about who you’re writing to and what they’re interested in. If you don’t know what they want, it will be hard to get their attention. If you’re first starting out on your blog, do some research to see what kind of audience you’re attracting, such as age groups, demographics, location, etc. If you’re a more seasoned, established blog writer, make sure you respond to comments you receive to figure out what your audience is interested in and what they would like to see you blog about. 

Include Catchy Headings

There’s a reason why the old phrase goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Humans are naturally more drawn to some things as opposed to others. If you don’t come up with a compelling headline, the chances of your blog post being read or shared are slim. If you can make a great first impression through your blog post headings, the chances of having success increase. 

Add Subheadings and Short Paragraphs to Break Up the Page

It’s important to know how to use headings and subheadings on your blog. Formatting and layout matters when it comes to writing the perfect blog post. An example of a bad post would be one with only one giant paragraph. No one wants to get trapped reading nonstop words with no break. 

Breaking up your blog post with subheadings and shorter paragraphs give the reader time to breathe and process. When you format your blog posts into subcategories with subheadings, your reader will have an easier time locating information. By using shorter paragraphs, you can help your reader work their way through your blog post. 

Keep in mind that blog posts are not novels, so the content should be formatted differently. One of the purposes of a blog post is giving your reader highly focused and quality information in a short amount of time. That’s why shorter paragraphs and subheadings are great tools to take advantage of when you’re writing blog posts.    

Take Advantage of Bullet Points

Think back to the last time you read an online article word for word. People tend to skim blog posts before they decide whether or not they want to read it. That’s why it’s important to make sure you highlight your best information. When you do so, your reader can quickly see that your blog post is worth reading.

Bullet points help your reader skim through the information quickly and easily. As you use bullet points, here are some tips to use when writing bullet points:

• Make sure you express clear benefits. You can consider your bullet points as mini-headlines
• Don’t write paragraphs in bullet points.
• Consider writing symmetrical bullet points, such as keeping them 1-2 lines each.
• Keep in mind that bullets are not sentences should be treated like headlines.

By using bullet points, they provide you with an excellent way to give your reader information quickly. 

Add Images

We, as humans, are visual creatures. In other words, our brain has the ability to process visual content quicker than text-based content. When you add images, videos, and other types of visual content, you are able to captivate your audience and increase the success of your blog.

There are a lot of resources out there where you can find high-quality, free images. However, if you want your blog to stand out, you should consider taking your own pictures or videos. This gives your overall website a more personal and unique look. 

Your photos should reflect what you’re about. If you use stock photos, you risk the chance of being too generic. Your reader wants to know what makes you different from the others, and the visual content you use will help get that message across. 

Optimize for SEO

If you’re unfamiliar with SEO (search engine optimization), it can be tricky. If you need help with your SEO ranking for your website, SEO Design Chicago can help you with all of your SEO needs.

A few things to take into consideration to improve your blog’s SEO ranking include:

• Add a meta title
• Add a meta description 
• Optimize for focused keywords
• Embed internal and quality external links to your other content
• Include images and other types of content
• Use related keyword variation

Include a Call-to-Action

Ending with a call-to-action is a great way to keep your audience interested and involved with your blog. 

You can include a call-to-action through a variety of ways, such as asking your blog readers to leave a comment, share your blog post, visit or follow you on social media, or purchase your products. 

Now that you have some examples of call-to-actions, writing a good call-to-action involves something that stands out and is easily distinguishable. For blog writers, one of the best ways to get your readers involved is by asking them to share your content if they liked what they read. They might be interested in your articles or product, but if you don’t ask, they probably won’t do anything.  

Smart Blogging

As you begin blogging, make sure that you’re working smarter and not harder. As you blog smarter, you will be able to improve your blog’s traffic, and, as a result, have greater success. There are several smart blogging tips you can utilize: 

• What are your conversion goals?: This could include goals such as building your email list or the number of people who inquire about your services. You might want to set goals for each individual blog post as well.  
• Remove unnecessary distractions: Each element of your blog post has a purpose. What is it doing for your readers? If an element isn’t doing anything for your readers and isn’t benefiting their user experience, then you should consider getting rid of it. Some unnecessary distractions might include search boxes, links, blog rolls, or ads, to name a few. 
• Build trust with your readers: When your readers trust you, they will be more open with what you have to say. Trust increases the likelihood of them subscribing to your email list and sharing your content. Trust can also come from the type of sources you include within your posts. 
• Optimize your blog to grow your email list: An email list is a great tool to take advantage of for your blog. An important key to remember is to make it easy for your readers to subscribe. 

 

How to Write Better Blog Posts

Your overall blog will mean very little to your reader if your individual posts aren’t interesting to your audience. If you’re stuck on how to write better individual blog posts, here are a few tips:

• Prepare a plan: What do you want to achieve in your blog? What are your goals? If you know your purpose and make a plan, writing better and well-organized blog posts becomes easier. 
• Focus on your content: Produce quality content that your audience has an interest in. 
• SEO matters: If you want to improve your blog’s traffic, you’re going to need to pay attention to SEO. For more information, SEO Design Chicago can help you with all of your SEO needs for your blog. 
• Be concise and quotable: No one wants to read a blog post that rambles. Make sure you get your point across quickly since people’s attention span is getting smaller these days. Being quotable includes clear and clever quotes that can be easily shared on social media platforms, that can help generate new readers.  
• Produce new ideas: Take time to think about new ideas. You want your readers to read new content–not the generic content they can access anywhere. 
• Speak with authority: As you write, learn how to do it with confidence in your expertise. Take time to do research so that you can show your readers that you know what you’re talking about. 

Ready to Become a Better Blog Writer?

Now that you know the basics of what you can do to improve your writing, you are ready to apply these skills to your own website. SEO Design Chicago can answer any additional questions you might have concerning becoming a better blog writer. Whether you need help with producing content, SEO questions, or formatting questions, our team of experts can help with all of your questions. Or, if you would rather, you can always hire a professional blog writing service to help create your content for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Better Blogger

1. How long should my blog posts be for optimal engagement?

Blog post length should be determined by the depth of your topic and your audience’s needs rather than a specific word count. Generally, posts between 1,000-2,000 words perform well for SEO and provide enough space to cover topics thoroughly. However, focus on delivering quality, focused information rather than hitting a word count. Remember that blog posts aren’t novels – break up longer content with subheadings, bullet points, and images to make it scannable and digestible.

2. How often should I publish new blog posts to maintain reader engagement?

Consistency matters more than frequency. Whether you post daily, weekly, or bi-weekly, stick to a schedule your audience can rely on. Most successful bloggers publish 1-3 times per week, but the key is producing quality content consistently rather than posting frequently with mediocre content. Focus on creating valuable, well-researched posts that serve your audience’s interests rather than rushing to meet an arbitrary posting schedule.

3. What’s the best way to find topics that my audience actually wants to read about?

Start by engaging with your existing audience through comments, social media interactions, and email responses to understand their interests and pain points. Use tools like Google Analytics to see which of your current posts perform best, and look at the questions your audience asks. Research your competitors’ most popular content, use keyword research tools to find what people are searching for in your niche, and consider surveying your email subscribers about topics they’d like you to cover.

4. How do I know if my blog headlines are compelling enough?

Test your headlines by asking yourself: “Would I click on this if I saw it in my social media feed?” A good headline should clearly indicate the benefit readers will get, create curiosity or urgency, and be specific rather than vague. You can also A/B test headlines on social media to see which versions get more engagement. Headlines that include numbers, questions, or powerful words like “ultimate,” “essential,” or “proven” often perform well.

5. What types of images work best for blog posts, and do I need professional photography?

While professional photography can enhance your blog’s appearance, it’s not essential for success. High-quality stock photos from free resources can work well, but try to choose images that are relevant to your content rather than generic. Original photos, even taken with a smartphone, can help your blog stand out and feel more personal. Screenshots, infographics, and simple graphics created with tools like Canva can also be very effective for explaining concepts and breaking up text.

6. How can I build an email list through my blog without being pushy?

Offer genuine value in exchange for email addresses through lead magnets like free guides, checklists, templates, or exclusive content that relates directly to your blog topics. Place opt-in forms strategically but not overwhelmingly – consider using exit-intent popups, inline forms within relevant blog posts, and simple sidebar forms. Make the signup process easy with minimal required fields, and be clear about what subscribers will receive and how often you’ll email them.

7. What are the most important SEO basics every blogger should know?

Focus on these fundamental SEO practices: write compelling meta titles and descriptions for each post, naturally incorporate your target keywords throughout your content, use descriptive headings (H1, H2, H3) to structure your posts, include internal links to your other relevant content, and add external links to authoritative sources. Optimize your images with descriptive file names and alt text, ensure your blog loads quickly, and make sure it’s mobile-friendly. Most importantly, prioritize creating valuable content that answers your audience’s questions – search engines reward helpful, comprehensive content.