Tag Archives: Blogging Tips

Not enough people reading your blog posts? Here is what you can do

How to write and publish blog posts people love to read

How to write and publish blog posts people love to read.

You don’t write and publish your blog posts so that they can exist in a meaningless space just to improve your search engine rankings.

You want people to read them. Even your search engine rankings depend on people reading your blog posts.

If they don’t read, they don’t respond, they don’t convert, and they don’t share your content.

The Google algorithm knows when people do or don’t read your blog posts and accordingly it increases or decreases your rankings.

Very few people read complete blog posts

Very few people read complete blog posts.

Here is the problem:

  • 8 out of 10 people read just your headlines and nothing else.
  • Average attention span on the Internet is down to 8 seconds from 12 seconds that it used to be a few years ago.
  • 55% people coming to your blog spend less than 15 seconds on particular blog posts before moving on.

Why is it so? Why don’t enough people read your blog posts?

To understand why people don’t read your blog posts, introspect. Do you read every blog post you visit? How much of it do you read?

When was it that you completely read a blog post? Try to remember what the reason was. What compelled you to read the entire thing instead of quickly skimming or moving on to something else?

There was something that hooked you.

Did it entertain you? Did it give you information you need to solve a work related problem? Did it satisfy a strong ideological opinion you subscribe to? Was it a review you need to go through before purchasing expensive item?

15 Reasons Why You May Read a Blog Post With Great Interest

Why you may read a blog post with great interest

Why you may read a blog post with great interest.

You may read a blog post for various reasons. Listed below are 15 compelling reasons why you may spend your time reading a blog post in its entirety. There is a reason why I have expressed all the ideas with subheadings and bulleted points (it makes the text scannable)

15 compelling reasons why you might read blog posts, written in a conversational tone:

1. Seeking Practical Information and Tips:

  • You read blog posts to find practical information and actionable tips on various subjects.
  • Blogs offer insights, hacks, and strategies that you can apply to your life.

2. Learning New Skills and Hobbies:

  • You turn to blog posts to learn new skills or explore hobbies that interest you.
  • Blogs provide step-by-step guides, tutorials, and resources to help you develop your interests.

3. Finding Inspiration and Motivation:

  • When you need a dose of inspiration or a motivational boost, blog posts can be a great source.
  • Blogs share stories, personal experiences, and uplifting content that resonate with you.

4. Solving Problems and Seeking Advice:

  • Blog posts are your go-to for finding solutions to challenges you’re facing.
  • Whether it’s troubleshooting technical issues or seeking advice on personal matters, blogs offer helpful insights.

5. Exploring Your Passions and Interests:

  • You read blog posts to delve deeper into your passions and explore your interests.
  • Blogs cater to specific topics, providing in-depth content and allowing you to immerse yourself in what you love.

6. Seeking Entertainment and Relaxation:

  • Sometimes you just want to relax and enjoy engaging content, and blogs can provide that escape.
  • Blogs offer entertaining stories, humorous articles, and enjoyable reads to help you unwind.

7. Staying Informed and Updated:

  • Blog posts help you stay informed about the latest news, trends, and developments.
  • Whether it’s industry insights, current events, or emerging ideas, blogs offer fresh perspectives.

8. Getting Product Reviews and Recommendations:

  • Before making purchasing decisions, you rely on blog posts for genuine product reviews and recommendations.
  • Blogs save you time and money by providing honest insights and helping you make informed choices.

9. Connecting with Like-Minded Individuals:

  • Blog posts create opportunities for you to connect with others who share similar interests.
  • Through comment sections and online communities, you can engage in discussions and build connections.

10. Personal Growth and Development:

  • You read blog posts focused on personal growth to learn and develop different aspects of your life.
  • Blogs offer self-improvement tips, advice on well-being, and strategies for achieving your goals.

11. Exploring Travel Destinations:

  • If you’re passionate about travel, blog posts are a treasure trove of destination inspiration and travel tips.
  • Blogs provide firsthand experiences, itineraries, and recommendations to help you plan your next adventure.

12. Gaining Professional Insights:

  • Blog posts offer valuable insights and industry knowledge relevant to your professional growth.
  • You read blogs to stay updated on trends, learn new skills, and gain perspectives from experts in your field.

13. Parenting and Family Guidance:

  • As a parent or caregiver, you rely on parenting blogs for advice, tips, and support.
  • Blog posts cover topics related to child-rearing, parenting challenges, and fostering strong family relationships.

14. Exploring Health and Wellness:

  • Blog posts focused on health and wellness provide guidance on maintaining a balanced lifestyle.
  • You read blogs to find tips on fitness, nutrition, mental well-being, and self-care practices.

15. Enjoying Thought-Provoking Content:

  • Blog posts often delve into thought-provoking subjects, sparking intellectual curiosity.
  • You enjoy reading blogs that offer unique perspectives, deep insights, and engaging discussions.

Why is it important to make it easier for people to read your blog posts?

Why it is important to make it easier for people to read your blog posts

Why it is important to make it easier for people to read your blog posts.

Listed below are some important reasons.

Enhanced User Experience:

  • When you make your blog post easier to read, you improve the overall user experience for your readers.
  • They can navigate through your content smoothly, find information effortlessly, and stay engaged longer.

Increased Engagement:

  • Easier-to-read blog posts tend to capture and hold readers’ attention.
  • By presenting your content in a reader-friendly manner, you encourage readers to engage with your post, leave comments, and share their thoughts.

Improved Comprehension:

  • When you make your blog post reader-friendly, you help readers better understand and grasp your message.
  • Clear language, concise paragraphs, and logical flow contribute to improved comprehension.

Higher Retention:

  • By optimizing readability, you increase the chances of readers remembering and retaining the information you provide.
  • This can lead to a stronger impact and a higher likelihood of them returning to your blog for future content.

Better Accessibility:

  • Making your blog post easier to read ensures that it is accessible to a wider audience.
  • Consider using legible fonts, appropriate font sizes, and sufficient contrast to accommodate readers with visual impairments or reading difficulties.

Enhanced SEO:

  • Search engines value reader-friendly content, as it aligns with their goal of providing valuable information to users.
  • By optimizing your blog post for readability, you improve its chances of ranking higher in search engine results, increasing visibility and organic traffic.

Increased Social Sharing:

  • Reader-friendly blog posts are more likely to be shared on social media platforms.
  • When your content is easy to read and understand, readers are more inclined to share it with their networks, expanding your reach and driving more traffic to your blog.

Establishes Credibility:

  • When you present your content in a clear and organized manner, it enhances your credibility as a knowledgeable source.
  • Reader-friendly blog posts reflect professionalism and expertise, building trust with your audience.

Encourages Repeat Visitors:

  • When readers have a positive reading experience on your blog, they are more likely to return for more.
  • By consistently making your posts reader-friendly, you create a loyal readership and foster a sense of community.

Better Time-on-Page:

  • When readers find your blog post easy to read, they are more likely to spend more time on your page.
  • This increased time-on-page signals to search engines that your content is valuable and engaging.

Reduces Bounce Rate:

  • Reader-friendly blog posts help reduce bounce rates, as readers are more likely to stay on your page and explore further.
  • Engaging content, clear headings, and a well-structured layout keep readers interested and encourage them to click through to other posts.

Builds Authority in Your Niche:

  • By consistently publishing reader-friendly content, you establish yourself as an authority in your niche.
  • Readers recognize your expertise and are more likely to seek your blog as a go-to resource for reliable information.

Enhances Mobile Experience:

  • With the increasing number of users accessing content through mobile devices, optimizing readability for mobile screens is crucial.
  • Reader-friendly blog posts adapt well to different screen sizes, ensuring a seamless experience for mobile readers.

Supports Skimming and Scanning:

  • Reader-friendly blog posts make it easier for readers to skim and scan the content.
  • Clear headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs enable readers to quickly find the information they need, improving overall usability.

Promotes a Positive Brand Image:

  • Making it easier for people to read your blog post demonstrates that you value your audience’s experience and respect their time.
  • This fosters a positive brand image, making readers more likely to engage with your content, trust your brand, and become loyal followers.

Investing time and effort into optimizing readability pays off by providing a better experience for your readers, increasing engagement, and driving the success of your blog.

Some key ways you can make it easier for your readers to read your blog posts

How to make it easier for people to read your blog posts

How to make it easier for people to read your blog posts.

Making your blog post reader-friendly is crucial because it directly affects the overall user experience and engagement.

When you visit a blog, you want to find content that captures your attention, keeps you interested, and provides value, right? Well, your readers are no different.

Think about it this way: when I land on a blog post, I want to be able to quickly skim through it and get a sense of what it’s about.

If it’s a massive block of text without any breaks or headings, it becomes overwhelming and discouraging for me to even start reading it.

But if the post is well-structured, with clear headings, subheadings, and paragraphs, it becomes much more inviting.

When you make your blog post reader-friendly, you’re essentially making it easier for me, your reader, to consume the information.

You’re organizing your thoughts and presenting them in a coherent manner. This allows me to grasp the main points, follow your arguments, and understand your message.

Another aspect of reader-friendly blog posts is using a conversational tone. Just like we’re having this conversation right now, when I read a blog post, I want to feel like I’m having a friendly chat with the writer.

If the language is too formal or technical, it creates a distance between you and me, making it harder for me to connect with the content.

By using a conversational tone, you can establish a more personal connection with your readers.

It helps you relate to them on a deeper level and makes the reading experience more enjoyable. It’s like having a knowledgeable friend sharing valuable insights or information with you, rather than a dry and impersonal textbook.

Here are 20 ways you can make blog posts reader-friendly.

1. Clear and Concise Writing:

  • Use simple and straightforward language to make your blog post easy to understand.
  • Avoid jargon or complex terminology that may confuse readers.

2. Use Subheadings:

  • Break your blog post into sections with descriptive subheadings.
  • Subheadings help readers navigate your content and find specific information quickly.

3. Short Paragraphs:

  • Keep your paragraphs short and focused.
  • This makes it easier for readers to digest the information and prevents overwhelming blocks of text.

4. Utilize Bullet Points and Numbered Lists:

  • When presenting lists or key points, use bullet points or numbered lists.
  • This format makes information more scannable and helps readers grasp important details.

5. Incorporate Relevant Images:

  • Use visually appealing images that complement your content.
  • Images break up the text, make your blog post more engaging, and aid in conveying your message.

6. Write in a Conversational Tone:

  • Imagine you’re having a conversation with a friend while writing.
  • Using a conversational tone helps establish a connection with your readers and keeps them engaged.

7. Highlight Key Information:

  • Use bold or italic formatting to emphasize important words or phrases.
  • This draws readers’ attention to essential points and improves readability.

8. Break up Text with Subheadings:

  • Break your content into smaller sections with clear subheadings.
  • This allows readers to skim through the post and find what they’re looking for more easily.

9. Incorporate Relevant Examples:

  • Use real-life examples or case studies to illustrate your points.
  • Examples make your content relatable and help readers understand complex concepts.

10. Provide Clear Transitions:

  • Use transitional words and phrases to guide readers through your blog post.
  • Smooth transitions help maintain a logical flow and improve overall readability.

11. Use a Readable Font:

  • Choose a font that is easy to read on both desktop and mobile devices.
  • Sans-serif fonts like Arial or Verdana are often a good choice for online content.

12. Include White Space:

  • Leave ample white space between paragraphs, images, and other elements.
  • White space helps readers focus on the content and improves overall readability.

13. Break up Text with Block Quotes:

  • Use block quotes to highlight important quotes or key insights.
  • Block quotes provide visual breaks and draw attention to significant information.

14. Add Relevant Headings and Subheadings:

  • Use descriptive headings and subheadings throughout your blog post.
  • Headings help readers understand the structure of your content and locate specific information.

15. Write Short Sentences:

  • Keep your sentences concise and avoid excessive length.
  • Short sentences are easier to read and understand, improving the overall flow of your blog post.

16. Provide a Table of Contents:

  • For longer blog posts, include a table of contents at the beginning.
  • This allows readers to jump directly to the sections they’re most interested in.

17. Use Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons:

  • Incorporate clear and compelling CTA buttons within your blog post.
  • CTAs encourage readers to take desired actions, such as subscribing, sharing, or commenting.

18. Add Relevant Links:

  • Include links to external sources or related articles within your blog post.
  • This provides readers with additional resources and enhances their understanding of the topic.

19. Proofread and Edit:

  • Ensure your blog post is free from grammatical and spelling errors.
  • Proofreading and editing improve the professionalism and readability of your content.

20. Encourage Feedback and Interaction:

  • Conclude your blog post by inviting readers to share their thoughts or ask questions.
  • Encouraging interaction creates a sense of community and helps build relationships with your audience.

Remember, making your blog posts reader-friendly enhances the overall user experience, improves engagement, and keeps your readers coming back for more.

Ultimately, making your blog post reader-friendly enhances the chances of your message being understood, appreciated, and shared.

It helps you build a loyal readership, encourages people to spend more time on your site, and increases the likelihood of them returning for more.

So, whether you’re writing about your passion or promoting a product or service, remember that a reader-friendly blog post is the key to engaging and retaining your audience.

How to make it easier for people to read your blog posts

How to make it easier to read your blog

How to make it easier to read your blog

How do you make it easier for people to read your blog posts?

Making people read your blog posts can be one of the biggest challenges you face as a blogger or as a blog writer.

Whether you write for your own blog or for your clients, you want people to read what you write.

It is not blog post ideation.

It is not publishing.

It is not even promoting your blog.

It is making people read your blog posts.

Everybody is in a great hurry.

There is an onslaught of content on the Internet.

7.5 million blog posts are published every day combining all the platforms.

Not just blog posts.

Humongous amount of content is published per minute.

With all this deluge of content, people read your blog posts only when it is absolutely essential for them to read them and if they don’t read them, they won’t be able to achieve something crucial.

Go to Google and search for “blogging tips” and see how many results come up.

How do you choose which link to click?

33% people click the first three links.

Even if a majority of people click the first three links, very few have the patience to read complete blog posts.

I’m not saying you just write points and skip the main content.

There is a way you can make it easier for people to quickly go through your blog posts.

People skim through blog posts, they rarely read

It is said that within the first 30-50 seconds your visitors should be able to make out what the blog post says.

They quickly see the headline.

This skim through the subheadings.

They go through the bullet points.

They read the quotes.

They view the pictures.

And then they quickly leave your blog to visit other, similar blogs.

Even if people don’t read the entire text of your blog post, you can format your blog post in such a manner that people consume the maximum amount of content.

Here is what you can do.

Present your main proposition through the headline

The headline tells people what your blog post offers.

It tells what they’re going to gain when they read your blog post.

It attracts people to your blog post.

It gives them a reason to scroll down and read the remaining text.

If the headline is not inspiring enough, they won’t stay.

Many people leave your blog just after reading the headline because the headline doesn’t captivate them, it doesn’t hook them.

The headline of this blog post is quite straightforward: How to make it easier for people to read your blog posts.

There is no ambiguity.

You exactly know what the blog post is going to tell you.

If you want to learn how to make it easier for people to read your blog posts, you are going to stay and make some effort to read.

Otherwise, you will leave.

End of story.

Write single-sentence paragraphs

Single-sentence paragraphs are less intimidating than big chunks of text.

Just capture one thought in one sentence.

Have one sentence in one paragraph.

Use lots of white space that gives the impression that one is having to read less.

Sentences with lots of white space are also easier to read on mobile phones.

Express important points through subheadings

You may like to read: How to use subheadings to make your writing more effective

You can see that this blog post has multiple subheadings.

The subheadings are in a larger font type compared to the body text.

They immediately stand out.

They convey to you the main point of the smaller text.

By merely going through the subheadings, you can make out all the important points that I’m discussing in this blog post.

You should write the subheadings in such a manner that by merely going through them, your reader can get the complete gist of what all your covering.

Avoid covering too many topics in a single blog post

I have seen many bloggers do that to write longer blog posts.

There is an SEO rumour: the longer your post is, the better are its chances of ranking higher on Google.

Google says it is not true.

Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t).

Nonetheless, just to make sure that a blog post is more than 1000 words, or more than 2000 words, bloggers include many redundant topics that don’t belong to that particular blog post.

Even I have done that many times.

But now I’m going against my own advice.

Write smaller blog posts.

Stick to the main topic.

Give enough information.

Don’t needlessly extend your blog posts.

I will give you my own example: I never read complete blog posts on other blogs that run into 2000-3000 words.

I just quickly look at the information I’m searching for and then move on.

Make the most important point in the beginning itself

Just to make sure that your readers don’t miss out on the most important thing you want to convey to them, say it in the beginning itself.

If you feel that you need to create a narrative and then after you have made people read a few hundred words only then you will come to the main point, you are mistaken.

People may not go that far.

Hence, whatever you want to say, say it within the first 100 words

Use bulleted lists

Bulleted lists

  • Are easier to skim through.
  • Need little text.
  • Allow you to make pointed observations.
  • Are easier to remember.

Some bloggers use very long sentences in bulleted lists, which is not advised.

They even use complete paragraphs which, again, is not advised.

Try to keep each bullet points not more than 5-10 words.

Use block quotes to highlight important points

If you scroll up a bit, I have quoted from a Google link using block quotes.

In case you want people to notice a chunk of text while quickly skimming through your blog post, enclose it within block quotes.

It immediately becomes visible and catches attention.

Use images to make important points

Very few people miss images.

Insert the images around your key points so that when people view the images, they also read your important text.

In fact, whenever you are making an important point that you don’t want people to miss, use a relevant image above or below.

People may not read your complete blog post if they really don’t want to, but the tips mentioned above will help you make them read most of your blog post.

6 tips for writing meaningful blog posts

Tips on writing a meaningful blog post

Tips on writing a meaningful blog post

This blog post talks about tips on how to write meaningful and captivating blog posts that are human-centric.

The main points covered in this blog include

  1. Write down the purpose of your current blog post
  2. Keep your title, headline and the text, aligned
  3. Do enough research to make your blog posts authoritative
  4. Write an outline first
  5. Don’t unnecessarily stretch your blog
  6. Make your blog post easily readable

In my previous post I wrote about Google’s “helpful content” algorithm update.

Once this update is active, websites that focus more on search engine rankings and less on the relevancy and quality of content, will lose their rankings.

If search engine rankings from Google matter to you, then you must write and publish content (that also includes blog posts) that is relevant to your readers.

This means writing meaningful blog posts that solve a definite purpose and deliver value to the visitors.

What is the purpose of publishing blog posts?

Search engine traffic matters.

I will be frank here: most of the clients who approach me to write their blog posts have search engine optimization as their first most priority.

Yes, as they read more about Google algorithms, they understand the importance of quality and relevance of their content and hence, they want to publish meaningful blog posts.

But by the end of the day, their primary objective of publishing blog posts is to cover enough topics to improve their search engine visibility, or SEO.

Even Google must know that websites need search engine traffic to get business.

For example, if someone needs a blog writer, he or she is going to search for “looking for a blog writer for my business” on Google.

For this person to find my link, I must publish a web page or blog post describing my blog writing services.

Therefore, to an extent, one needs to write in a manner that makes it easier for Google to make sense of the content and then rank it accordingly.

In the realistic world, there are two reasons why businesses publish blog posts:

  • To give visitors a valid reason to visit the website or the blog as often as possible and through that, become familiar with the website and what it offers.
  • Improve search engine rankings.

Google prefers blogs (or websites) that have lots of content.

When you have covered multiple topics in your niche, it gives you content depth.

It conveys to Google that you have, sort of, developed an expertise on the topic, and therefore, your content should be highlighted for related search terms.

These are the reasons why businesses publish regular blog posts.

What I often suggest to my clients is use the language that is used by the target audience.

This automatically optimizes the blog content.

Tips on writing meaningful blog posts

In the context of writing your blog posts, you first need to understand and acknowledge what “meaningful” stands for you.

Google defines meaningful content as content that provides appropriate answers to the questions people ask.

When people don’t immediately leave your blog post and they read a major portion of it, it indicates that they have found what they were looking for.

They are deriving value out of it.

They get the solution they are looking for.

They can understand and read your blog comfortably.

You genuinely mean to impart useful and relevant information through your blog posts.

Listed below are some tips you can use to write meaningful blog posts for your blog.

1. Write down the purpose of your current blog post

This is a two-pronged approach: your blog post must have a purpose from your perspective and from the perspective of your readers.

What do YOU want to achieve through publishing a blog post and making your readers read it?

What should your readers achieve or accomplish once they have gone through your blog post?

Of course, there is the obvious objective that you want the maximum number of visitors to turn your paying customers and clients.

But this isn’t how the real-world works.

Every blog post must have a singular purpose.

For example, the purpose of this blog post is to share with you my knowledge of how to write meaningful blog posts.

When you implement these tips, my purpose is that you should be able to publish your own meaningful blog posts or even if you hire me as your blog writer, you should have an idea of how I will be writing your blog posts.

Writing an introduction may help you remain focused.

In the introduction you can write why you are writing the blog post and what you want to deliver to your readers.

You may like to read: What is blog post introduction and how to write a great one?

2. Keep your title, headline and the text, aligned

Click bait headlines are frowned upon by Google, and much more after the recent update.

There is a difference between your blog title and your blog headline.

Your blog title is what appears in search results as a highlighted hypertext that people click to visit your website or blog.

The job of your blog post title is to bring people from the search engines to your blog or website.

The headline is the big text that appears at the top of your blog post.

This is the name of your current blog post.

Ideally it appears within the <h1></h1> tags.

The job of your headline is to present a compelling reason to your visitors to read your blog post further.

When I say there must be an alignment between your title, headline and the main text, what I mean is, don’t mislead people into reading something that does not exist.

I again come back to this blog post: my purpose here is to share blog writing tips with you.

I’m not promoting my services.

I’m not promoting an affiliate product (although, AdSense ads appear, they are automatic and they appear with every blog post here).

The sole purpose of this blog post is to adhere to the objective of the headline: tips on writing meaningful blog posts.

3. Do enough research to make your blog posts authoritative

If you are a big agency or an established consultant, you can conduct your own research and publish the data.

If not, there are many authoritative websites that give you authoritative data.

What I mean to say is, always use data and numbers instead of random expressions.

For example, instead of saying “millions of blog posts are publish on WordPress every month” you can say “70 million blog posts are published on WordPress every month” and then link to the source.

As of 2022, there are 600 million blogs on the Internet, worldwide.

Your readers find numbers reassuring.

They are double reassured when they find out that you have taken these numbers from authoritative websites.

It also tells your readers that you make an effort when writing an awesome blog post for them.

4. Write an outline first

An outline helps you a lot if you are working on a longer blog post of around 2000 words.

You may like to read: 6 steps to writing the perfect blog post outline

Writing an outline renders clarity to your blog post.

It makes your blog post readable.

It streamlines its flow.

An outline makes sure that you don’t miss anything important.

It is basically the order of your topics – one beneath the other.

An outline helps you keep your thoughts organized.

It helps you build a narrative.

It is not necessary that you write an outline of your current blog post every time, but if you build a habit of writing an outline before writing a blog post, in the long run it will benefit you a lot.

5. Don’t unnecessarily stretch your blog post

Google says there is no correlation between your search engine rankings and the number of words you use to write your blog posts (source).

Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t).

Many Internet marketers advise you to write huge blog posts like containing 2000+ words.

To achieve this, many bloggers cram their blog posts with lots of additional information that is not relevant to the topic the user has searched for.

Instead, create highly focused blog posts dealing with a single topic.

Yes, you can give some background information.

But if a blog post can be written in 500 words, don’t use 2000 words.

People find so much information overwhelming.

They don’t even read such long blog posts.

They leave midway.

Isn’t it better to write just 500 words that makes it easier for people to read and derive value from your blog post?

6. Make your blog post easily readable

Divide various sections under headings and subheadings.

Write short sentences capturing one idea in one sentence.

Avoid using complex sentences.

Use bulleted points whenever you can.

If possible, use single-sentence paragraphs.

Link to other relevant sections of your blog or website instead of repeating your content.

Two types of people read your blog posts:

Those who quickly scan.

Those who read completely, even the finer text.

You format your blog post for both types of readers.

Use simple language – preferably language used by your readers.

Avoid using complex words.

Don’t use passive voice much.

Most of the people may be reading your blog posts on a mobile phone.

It is easier to read smaller sentences and words on mobile phones.

If they find it difficult to read your blog post, even if your blog post is meaningful, mentally they will get distracted and exhausted and stop reading.

They may be in a state of distraction.

They may not have enough time or patience to read your blog post completely, sentence by sentence.

They should be able to understand what you are trying to communicate by simply going through the headings and subheadings, or at the most, including the bulleted points.

These are a few tips you can use to write meaningful and relevant blog posts.

As Google rolls out its update, it will become increasingly important that you deliver real value to your human readers and focus less on “search engine optimization hacks”.

Simply focus on delivering value in the language people use, and the SEO part should be taken care of on its own.

Can you immediately start blogging?

Can you start blogging immediately

Can you start blogging immediately

Yes, and it depends.

The starting part is not difficult.

Whether you want to host your own blog under your own domain or you want to use one of the existing blogging platforms, and depending on your Internet speed of course, you can start blogging within the next 10 minutes.

You can start both business blogs or personal blog based on your preference.

You can start blogging immediately in two ways:

  1. Install a blogging platform such as WordPress under your own domain name.
  2. Use a third-party blogging platform by simply opening an account with them.

Immediately starting a blog with WordPress

Installing the WordPress blogging platform may seem like a daunting task because it involves “installing”.

WordPress is a set of PHP files that you need to first download from WordPress.org, and then using an FTP program, uploaded to your web hosting server.

But it doesn’t have to be this complicated.

Most of the web hosting companies allow you to install WordPress on your server with a single click.

Well, single click is just a way of putting it; it takes a few clicks.

But the interface is quite friendly and even if you have never installed WordPress on your server, you can install it and start blogging immediately.

Web hosting companies like GoDaddy also offer dedicated WordPress hosting services.

If you opt for a WordPress hosting package, WordPress comes pre-installed.

Once you have made the payment, you are given a WordPress username and password.

You can immediately log into the dashboard and start blogging.

You don’t even have to install anything.

You don’t need to deal with FTP servers.

You don’t need an FTP program on your computer.

You will simply need to go to the URL recommended by the web hosting company and once you are on that URL, you will be able to log into the dashboard and start blogging immediately.

Don’t you need a custom WordPress theme to run a blog?

Not necessarily.

Yes, a theme matching your main website does look good, but the focus of my blog post is telling you how to start blogging immediately and for that, I’m going to skip the part of installing a WordPress theme.

The default installation comes with standard themes that you can use to display your blog.

After logging into the dashboard, you can use one of the default themes.

After that, there is a very neat WYSIWYG editor that you can use to write and publish blog posts.

There are many tweaks that you can make to your WordPress installation, but right now that doesn’t matter.

What matters is, how fast you can start blogging.

Even if you want to start a business blog and you don’t want to waste time getting a custom theme designed, the default theme is sufficient enough.

The important part is creating content.

It may take two or three months to get a nice theme but in the meantime, you should start writing and publishing blog posts as soon as possible, and this is the quickest way.

Don’t worry about the theme yet.

The content is the important thing.

Just set the ball rolling.

Immediately starting a blog with third-party blogging platforms

I’m not going to discuss multiple blogging platforms because that becomes confusing.

The difference between a self-hosted blogging platform and a third-party blogging platform is that when you use a self-hosted blogging platform like WordPress, it is under your own domain.

A self-hosted blogging platform like WordPress is good for your search engine rankings.

With a self-hosted blogging platform, when the traffic begins to build up, it comes to your own domain name rather than another website.

The only problem is that it may take you many months to build decent traffic.

This brings me to the topic of third-party blogging platforms.

One of my favorite third-party blogging platforms is Medium.com.

You can immediately open an account with Medium using your Twitter account or Google account.

In fact, it may take less than five minutes to start writing a post on Medium.

One of the biggest benefits of publishing your blog posts on Medium is that you can get exposure faster, unlike a self-hosted blog.

The Medium platform is ready-made.

People can follow you and receive notifications whenever you publish new blog posts using Medium.

You can build traffic faster on your Medium blog, but the only problem is that most of the traffic comes to your Medium blog instead of your own website.

For building faster visibility, Medium is a great platform.

If by chance your blog post is picked by their editorial team and featured on the homepage, your blog can get massive exposure in terms of hundreds of thousands of views, in a single day.

It also makes it easier to immediately start blogging.

What about other third-party blogging platforms?

LinkedIn allows you to publish articles using its platform.

Publishing LinkedIn articles or blog posts is a good way to build your leadership over the professional networking platform.

It is said that LinkedIn promotes blog posts and articles published on its own platform more than the usual smaller updates.

Aside from Medium and LinkedIn, there is also a WordPress.com, but somehow, I have never liked it.

It doesn’t look professional.

If right now you don’t want to immediately start blogging under your own domain the best options for third-party blogging platforms are LinkedIn and Medium.

You can use LinkedIn for professional blogging.

You can share your thought leadership blog posts using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn these days also allows you to run a newsletter.

This way, whenever you publish a post over LinkedIn, your newsletter subscribers immediately receive an email with the contents of your blog post.

Medium too has such a facility.

What do I recommend if you immediately want to start blogging?

If you ask me, I would highly recommend the self-hosted WordPress blogging platform.

It may seem difficult in the beginning, but it will be worth the effort.

Your search engine rankings will improve if you publish regularly.

All the traffic that your blog generates will come to your own website.

You will own the content – all the blog posts are stored in a MySQL database and anytime you can take backup of this database and store it locally on your computer.

Even for self-hosted blogging platform, you don’t face many hurdles.

As mentioned above, WordPress hosting is available with every hosting service these days.

All you need is access to the admin/dashboard, and you can immediately start blogging.

Third-party platforms definitely have their benefits, but I would recommend that you first publish your latest blog posts on your own, self-hosted blog and then share them or syndicate them on the third-party blogging platforms.

7 immediate benefits of publishing a blog post every week

Benefits of publishing a blog post every week

Benefits of publishing a blog post every week.

Almost every month I publish a blog post prompting my readers to regularly publish blogs on their business websites. Blogs are automatic SEO magnets. They are structured in such a manner that you don’t need to do anything extra to improve your search engine rankings – provided you are using a standard WordPress theme that does not obstruct the Google crawler from accessing your content.

Ideally, you should publish a blog post every day. At least for SEO purposes. The more you publish, the faster your content gets crawled by search engines. You also cover more topics and increase your keyword. Talking about keywords, never overusing keywords when you are writing blog posts.

Since publishing a blog post every day may be an expensive undertaking when you need to hire a content writer or blog writer to write your blogs, my suggestion is, stick to a one-blog-post-per-week schedule and you should start experiencing some benefits immediately.

Just like everything else in life, there are caveats. Nonetheless, the fundamental factors that improve your search engine rankings as well as your conversion rate, is the quality of your content, the relevance of the blog posts that you publish. Stick to quality, stick to relevance, and everything else pretty much gets taken care of by itself, well almost.

1. A weekly blogging schedule improves your search engine rankings

Regular weekly blogging improves your SEO.

Regular weekly blogging improves your SEO.

Whenever I talk about search engine rankings, please always keep in mind that only the rankings that get you targeted traffic are worth considering. Improving your rankings for random keywords and search terms doesn’t help you much.

Carefully prepare a list of keywords around which you’re going to write and publish blog posts. Formulate all your titles and topics and headings and subheadings around those keywords. Never lose track of your keywords.

I have often seen that clients get happy because their rankings suddenly improve through regular blogging, but they don’t generate much business. This is because although the rankings are improving and also the traffic is increasing, the right people are not coming to the website or the blog. Hence, no business.

Anyway, how does publishing one blog post every week improve your search engine rankings?

You give Google more content to crawl and index. A greater number of your links are included in the search index. You are covering more keywords, especially the longtail keywords.

Consider the probability. What are the chances of you winning a lottery? Never buying a ticket, occasionally buying a ticket, or regularly buying a ticket? No, I’m not suggesting that you get addicted to buying lottery tickets and squander away all your savings. What I mean is, if you do more of something, provided you do something specific, the probability of a specific outcome increases.

The same way, the probability of your content appearing on Google search results increases if there are more links from your website in Google’s index.

Getting your content crawled by Google can be a big issue. Although the search engine is crawling millions of web pages, blog posts, images, videos, and social media posts, almost every hour, since it is crawling practically everything, it may take a month, or even more, for the Google crawler to visit your link.

Your website gets crawled randomly. There is no schedule. This is because the Google crawler doesn’t know when you publish content. Not everyone publishes a regular blog. Not everyone updates website content regularly. Hence, it is left on randomness to decide when your website gets crawled.

On the other hand, if you have a schedule and you stick to your schedule, Google learns to crawl your content based on that schedule. Hence, if you publish a new blog post every Wednesday, there is a greater chance that your website will be crawled every week, probably somewhere around Wednesday. If you publish a blog post every day, your website is going to be crawled every day.  If you post multiple blog posts every day and you go on doing that for months, your website gets crawled multiple times in a day.

Hence, regularity gives you a significant edge over other websites that don’t publish content regularly.

Again, publishing a blog post every day, or posting multiple blog posts every day, can be expensive if you need to hire a content writer, but even a weekly schedule brings you immediate benefits. Within a couple of months, you will see a marked improvement in your crawl rate and targeted traffic.

2. You get more subscribers for your mailing list

You get more email subscribers with regular blogging

You get more email subscribers with regular blogging.

Every business must build a mailing list. A mailing list is a list of email ids that people give you, knowingly, consciously, with their consent, and you use these email ids to keep them engaged fruitfully.

Most small businesses publish a newsletter to keep in touch with their subscribers.

You may like to read Why publish a newsletter for your business or organization.

The benefit of building your mailing list is that people agree to remain in touch out of their own choice. They come across your subscription box on your website/blog, they drop their email ID with their consent, and then you can regularly keep in touch with them. These people are interested to hear from you. They don’t mind if you send them emails. Every business wants to build such a mailing list.

I use my mailing list to broadcast the blog posts and web pages that I’m publishing on my website all the time.

When you publish a blog every week, you get more people to your website who are interested in your content and since they are interested in your content, they will subscribe to your newsletter so that they don’t miss your content.

This may not be an immediate benefit of publishing a blog post every week because a mailing list takes time to build, but it definitely kickstarts the process. As the proverb goes, “If there was a better time to start building your mailing list, it was a couple of years ago.”

3. Increase followers and visibility on social media

Fan following on social networks increases with regular blogging

Fan following on social networks increases with regular blogging

Entrepreneurs and businesses who share their own content on social media websites get more followers and enjoy better visibility. If you simply share content from other websites, although your followers will value that, the effect is not the same as publishing your own content and sharing your own knowledge and wisdom.

People who share their own insights get more followers and people take them more seriously. Chances of active engagement are also better. People may share your content on their own timelines, giving you more exposure.

Publishing a blog post every week on your business blog and then sharing it on your social media profiles also seed new conversation ideas.

4. You have more content to repurpose

You have more content to repurpose when you blog regularly

You have more content to repurpose when you blog regularly.

You may like to read How to repurpose old content.

Repurposing old content means reusing your existing content through different formats and different presentations. Maybe you can pick up a single paragraph from one of your blog posts and then post it on LinkedIn. Maybe you can create a small visual out of the same paragraph and then post it on Instagram.

Complete blog posts can be created out of small portions of your existing content. For example, I can write a new blog post from the point “Increase followers and visibility on social media by publishing content regularly”, that I have discussed above.

After a while it becomes self-fulfilling. The more content you publish every week, the more content ideas you have for different content marketing needs.

5. You share your human side with your readers

Regular blogging allows you to share your personal side

Regular blogging allows you to share your personal side.

In my case, there is not much difference between my writing style whether I’m writing for my main website or for my blog, but with most of the businesses, this is not the case.

The language that people use on the main website is different from the language they use on their blogs.

You can let your hair lose when you are writing blog posts. You don’t need to sound very official. Your language can be free flowing. It can be conversational. It can be friendlier.

This helps you make a connection with your visitors. You’re not some highflying executive or a salesperson just interested in making a sale. You’re interested in sharing your thoughts. You want to tell stories. You want to share anecdotes.

The trust factor is very critical on the Internet. When people come to your website and decide to do business with you, or decide to go away without doing business with you, you’re not there to talk to them personally. It is what you have written on your website or blog that does the talking. You cannot have conversations through monotonous and jargon-ridden interactions. There need to be friendly conversations to make people comfortable and to make them trust you. Weekly blogging on your website helps you achieve that.

6. You earn more backlinks

You get more backlinks with regular blogging

You get more backlinks with regular blogging.

I have never approached other websites to put my links on them. All the backlinks that I have gathered, I have gathered naturally. People come across my content on Google and social networking websites, find it link-worthy, and then link to it.

Almost everyone is aware that one of the biggest benefits of getting quality backlinks is that it improves your search engine rankings. Google considers backlinks as endorsements. Why would people link to your content unless it offers something valuable?

People want to share to authority content. For example, if someone writes about the benefits or advantages of publishing a blog post every week and then wants to backup with another link, the author can link to my present blog post on the same topic.

As mentioned above, one of the most popular and well-known reasons for getting backlinks is improving search engine rankings. After quality content, it is the quality of your backlinks that has the biggest impact on your SEO.

You also get additional exposure. What if hundreds of websites share your link? What if your link is shared by a news website? What if you are quoted by a business reporter and along with your quotation, he or she also publishes a link to one of your blog posts? You get a ton of additional traffic.

In fact, people who don’t want to rely on Google put lots of energy into getting high quality backlinks just for the sake of generating traffic from all those websites.

7. Establish yourself as an expert or an authority

Regular blogging establishes you as an authority

Regular blogging establishes you as an authority.

By publishing a blog post every week and sharing your knowledge and wisdom, you establish yourself as an authority on your subject.

I am a content writer. People hire me for my content writing and copywriting services. It definitely helps them decide in my favor when they see that I have published so much content on the topic of content writing and copywriting.

Prospective clients come across my blog posts on Google or LinkedIn, they come to my blog and see how much I have written on the topic,  they get impressed, and then they contact me for work. Most of my work comes through people who first see my blog.

Although I don’t offer my services as a content consultant, most of my clients want to know so much about what to publish and how to publish, that these days, I have started charging them for the time I spend talking to them. It deters some clients for striking up long conversations about their content, but it also encourages many clients to pay for my time for my consulting services.

Publishing a blog post every week isn’t very difficult even if you have to pay for every blog post. The advantages outweigh the cost. Of course, it would be easier if you could write and publish blog posts on your own, but then, you may be good at your profession, but it may not be possible for you to come up with high-quality content, especially on a weekly basis. I know a client who is an excellent writer and in fact, in her field, she writes better than I do, but she cannot be consistent. This is because she is not a professional writer. She is a technology consultant.

Anyway, although there are some great, immediate benefits of publishing a blog post every week, if you can afford it, at least for the first 2-3 months when you kickstart your content marketing campaign, try to publish a blog post every day. This gives you lots of content to offer to Google. Your website gets crawled every day and hence, new content becomes available to your target audience faster. You can maintain the buzz around your website on social networking websites. Your search engine rankings improve within 40-60 days.