Quality Content

You’ve likely heard before that “content is king,” and it’s true. Quality content is what will build your following and bring opportunities for profit and expansion. You want the posts on your blog to provide value to your reader and to be interesting to read. It should also be professional and free of distracting errors. Readers will usually forgive the errant typo or verb disagreement, but it’ll be harder to convince your reader to trust you if you consistently have issues with English mechanics.

The spelling and grammar checker on your word processor will catch most errors; even if you’re confident in your writing ability, run it on every post before it goes up to eliminate silly typos and errors. If you know, spelling and grammar are tough for you, get a copy of The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. Give it a read then keeps it at the desk where you’ll be working, to consult when needed.

The ideal length of a typical blog post is around 300-700 words. It should have a headline that makes the reader want to click on it (though be wary of “click bait” style titles that are intentionally misleading). The content should have a logical flow, with major ideas clearly highlighted in bulleted lists or separated paragraphs. 

When you first start your blog, all of the posts you put up should be directly related to your niche. You want to convey your brand from the start, so readers know what to expect from you. You also want to demonstrate your knowledge about the field you’re writing in—to establish your expertise with the topic, and show readers why they should care about your opinions. 

Your first 10-15 posts should be directly related to your niche. Some very successful bloggers do occasionally go off-topic, but that should wait until you’ve established your identity. 

Core content

Blogging expert Yaro Starak talks about something called a “pillar article” in his advice columns. Chris Garret calls it “flagship content,” while Brian Clark calls it “cornerstone content.” All of these experts are describing the same basic thing: the articles that give your reader a clear conception of your niche and your opinions about it. 

Core content articles should be on the long side—around 500-1,000 words, depending on the format. These posts should not be time dependent; a reader who sees the post a year from now should still find it to be relevant. These posts are the most likely to receive backlinks from other websites and ideally will continue to bring in new readers long after you initially post them. 

So they don’t get buried in your archives, it’s a good idea to list these posts in a separate area, whether that’s a drop-down menu or links in a sidebar—this lets new readers easily access the most useful content. You can also reference these articles yourself in future posts to help new readers find and read them.

The more of these core content posts you include on your blog, the better. Five is a good minimum, and you should include at least two in your first ten posts. The ultimate goal of any good core content post is to teach your readers something, whether it’s a skill related to your niche, an explanation of a concept, or an opinion piece that will help them see your niche in a new way. If you’re not sure what kind of article to write, some core content options are listed below, and might help give you an idea of where to start.

Glossary pages are lists of terms related to your niche that you define for the reader in your own words. Glossary pages are often a useful tool if your niche is related to technology, finance, law, or any other field that has very specific or esoteric terminology. They’re also a great format for getting backlinks because other blogs might reference your page if they don’t have glossary pages of their own.

Step-by-step how-to articles teach your reader how to do a task or make a product, often with pictures at key steps. Recipe posts on cooking blogs fit into this category and are probably the most familiar example, but this article style applies to almost any niche. Think of something in your industry that you know how to do and your readers might not—the key thing here is sharing your knowledge of something with which you’re experienced. 

Whitepapers are similar to how-to articles but go into more depth. A whitepaper is typically a 2-10 page document that teaches readers about a concept or topic related to your industry. It should be an all-encompassing solution to a common problem in your niche. Rather than being a single long blog post, it’s often best to present whitepapers as PDFs readers can download. You could also type the content into several blog posts and link them together in a series.

List articles are excellent core content because people love to read and share them, and they can be good for stirring up a conversation in your comment section. They can take a few forms. Advice lists give readers tips on how to accomplish tasks (“4 ways to get better sleep” or “5 things to do before you get a mortgage”). Ranked lists are ideal for pop culture or product-based blogs, which can also link to products sold by an affiliate to increase the article’s profitability. Informative lists share knowledge with the reader (“most under-rated horror movies” or “surprise benefits of green tea”) and can be useful in any niche.

Opinion pieces and editorials are most often seen in political and social commentary blogs, and can be especially useful for stirring up controversy in your comments section. These pieces should start with a clear thesis statement, whether that’s a theory, an opinion, or an argument. Back up your argument with well-presented arguments and make sure the thought is unique—remember, you want to add new value to your industry, not rehash the same ideas presented elsewhere. Also, make sure your opinion reinforces your established brand.

SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and how important it is to getting good results in search engines is still up for debate in the blogging community. The idea of SEO is that by using keywords in the course of your posts, you can get higher rankings on results lists when users search for those terms, meaning you’ll get more visitors to your site. Nobody debates that this is something that will help you; what blogging experts disagree on is how much you have to focus just on your keyword density. 

If you are writing good content that’s strongly related to your niche topic, your posts will naturally be very keyword-dense without you putting in any special effort. An over-emphasis on keyword density can make your posts feel repetitive or stilted. Putting way too many keywords in your posts also makes you look like a spammer (called “keyword stuffing”) and makes search engine spiders ignore you if you’re guilty of it.

The most important places to emphasize keywords in your posts are in the page header and the title tag. When you’re naming your pages, make them search engine in a friendly way by giving them names that clearly express what the page is about rather than an in-house classification system. Keep the content itself focused on the idea and don’t worry so much about getting terms shoved in there—if it’s on the topic to your niche, it will come up in search results naturally. A better way to optimize your search engine ranking is to link back to your own pages periodically. 

The more links a page has to it, the more likely it is to show up higher on the search result list. Just like with the keywords, don’t over-do it. Reference past posts when it’s logical to do so, not just for the sake of SEO.

Finding your voice

Many people make the mistake of wanting to present a perfect image of themselves to their readers. While you do want to present yourself as someone the reader can trust, you also want to show them that you’re a real person. There are thousands of blogs out there about every topic imaginable, and ultimately your personality and opinions are what will make your blog the one readers want to read.

Be willing to share your failures, challenges, and struggles. It will make you more relatable, and the reader will ultimately trust you more if they know you’re the kind of person who can admit to your mistakes. 

A good blog post should have the tone of a conversation between friends. If you’re not sure just how to do this, there are a couple of tricks you could try. Try imagining that you’re talking to a person in your life, like a sibling or a friend, when you write your posts. How would you explain concepts in your field so that your sister can understand them? Use the same language when you’re writing that you’d use out loud in friendly conversation.

Especially if you’re not a trained writer, terms like “voice” and “tone” can sometimes be hard to wrap your head around. What does a “friendly tone” mean? Imagine yourself again speaking to that same friend about the topic you’re covering in your post, but instead of going straight to your keyboard, record yourself answering the question out loud. Listen to the recording. 

Transcribe the sentences you’re especially fond of, then fill in around those lines trying to match that tone. Once you’ve written the post, read it out loud again, then go back and change the places that feel awkward or too formal. As you get more comfortable with the writing process, you’ll be able to get that conversational tone straight on the page.

Consistency and trust

One of the most important things is to build the reader’s trust. Make sure your content is always factual and original. If you make a habit of parroting or even outright copying someone else, your blog is adding no new value to your reader’s life. Your opinions should be yours, and you should be prepared to stand by them. If your readers feel like you’re reliable, they’ll be more likely to give you their loyal readership. 

You can also be dependable for your reader by posting on a regular schedule and not missing posts when you can help it. Some bloggers post daily; others post on select days of the week. Twice a week is a good frequency when you’re just starting out. You’re posting often enough to give people a reason to keep coming back, but you still have time for the other aspects of your blog, like finding advertisers and communicating with your readers, without making you feel overwhelmed.

Blogging success story: Hero Brown

Hero Brown is the founder of MuddyStilettos.co.uk, “The Urban Guide to the Countryside” for rural areas in England. Brown started the blog as a hobby in 2011 when she moved to rural Buckinghamshire and couldn’t find any good information on the area. By 2013, it had become her full-time job, with 5,000 subscribers, 6,500 followers on Facebook and Twitter, and 15,000 unique readers every month. 

Brown’s background was in magazine editing, and she brings that into her personal style on the site. In an interview with Forbes contributor Hester Lacey, Brown said of her blog, “I think of Muddy Stilettos as an online magazine. It’s well-researched, well-written and I’m constantly thinking about my readers. Lots of blogs by their nature are a kind of stream of consciousness. I came at it more from an editorial angle.”

Brown is also very dedicated to being trustworthy for her readers, especially in whom she chooses to have as advertisers on her site. “I could earn more money from advertising if I was less fussy,” Brown says later in that interview, “but if I don’t keep that high-quality bar, the whole reason for reading Muddy Stilettos disappears.” By thinking about her audience and keeping their needs in mind, Brown has made a very successful product with Muddy Stilettos that only continues to grow.