Blogging 101: The Basics of Content Creation

Blogging 101: The Basics of Content Creation
Blog writing has been a popular pasttime since the early 2000s. The advent of personal internet access made online blogs accessible, and now anyone with a smartphone or computer can log on and start putting content out into the world. But not all content is good content. How do you write a good blog article? This question haunts writers across the world, but we’ve discovered a solid process that will help any writer start creating their best contet today.
BRAINSTORMING
Any writer will tell you that the best blogs begin with a good idea, but ideas are often the most challenging part to develop. Parsing out the good ideas from the bad is a challenge in itself, but that can also be the most inspiring part of the writing process. The following are some effective brainstorming techniques that help focus your ideas into a good blog topic.

1. Start Big

To get the creative juices flowing, you can’t rule out anything. Put yourself in front of a blank page and challenge yourself to write everything down. Even if it feels silly or off-topic, getting everything down at once could jog a different idea. Once you’ve got all your ideas on paper, you can move forward.

1. Pick Passions

It’s a fact of nature that people write better content about things they’re passionate about. Think back to your elementary school days. What were you more excited to do, a book report on a book you didn’t like very much, or a science project on a topic that you were really intrigued by? The more interested you are about a topic, the more passion will be evident in your content, and the more exciting it will be for a reader.

1. Narrow Down, but Not Too Much

Once you’ve picked a general idea that interests you, try to get as specific as you can while honoring your word or page count. Broad topics (for example, How to Camp) often mean writers try to cover too much ground in one blog post, which means that the content is often too general and isn’t very useful to the reader. On the other hand, very narrow topics (for example, How to Backpack Through Desert Backcountry) limit themselves because they only reach a very niche audience and are thus useful to only a specific, small number of readers. It’s best to try for the middle ground and pick a somewhat narrow topic, but one that’s applicable to a wide variety of readers (How To Camp - Backpack Style).
DRAFTING
Once you’ve brainstormed your way to a blog topic, the next step is to begin writing the content itself. Some writers find creating an outline helps them plan out their content, but others prefer to just sit down and get to work. Either option is good, but what matters most is that you just start writing. Many writers struggle with this due to an impending sense of perfectionism, or the desire to write a perfect draft on the first try. In fact, the opposite is true. Good blog posts often go through several rounds of editing, first by the author, then by a peer, then finally by another editor or administrator before they get posted. Don’t be afraid of drafts, and definitely don’t get rid of previous drafts; comparing each work to previous edits helps you catch mistakes and map the progression of your ideas from start to finish.
EDITING
Editing can be very tricky, especially when you’ve just spent a lot of time creating the content and are now faced with critically revising it. One of the best tips for writers is to walk away from their piece after they finish writing it and before they start to edit it. When you write a post, you spend so much time with the content that it becomes easy to miss little mistakes like typos or odd grammar. Taking a break from your work gives you fresh eyes, so that when you edit it you can identify more of the minute errors you missed when you were writing it. Take a break, run the piece through SpellCheck, and then sit down and read it over again.
Another good thing to look for while in the editing phase is the quality of your content. Good blog posts should strive for Evergreen content, that is, content that is durable and remains relevant for some time. For example, a blog post on popular Halloween costumes for 2020 will be popular and useful, but only up until Halloween of 2020. Once that Halloween has passed, the content will be outdated and people will stop reading it. However, if you write a post on popular Halloween costumes for children, people will continue to read that for many years to come. Try to avoid highly seasonal or popular culture-related references in the majority of your articles and stick to broadly relatable content to ensure your posts stay popular well beyond their initial posting.
MEDIA
Many bloggers have begun incorporating other types of media into their posts. Photos, gifs, videos; all of these add color and life into traditional black and white text. These media additions are especially useful when you’re writing content geared at younger age groups. Millenials, Gen X-rs, and children are drawn to engaging and illustrative content, so adding in a few demonstrative pictures or linking an informational video can do wonders for drawing in readers. Even older readers are starting to enjoy them; videos of news media and other tutorial-style images are very popular for people who struggle with reading, especially on a screen. This additional media can enhance your content, but be careful not to overpower it. Try to keep your image based media to no more than thirty or forty percent of your total article to ensure the most attention is paid to your post.
THE FINAL TOUCH
When you’ve finished drafting, editing, and reviewing your blog post, take one more look at it. Read it out loud, read it to a friend, read it printed out; all of these steps help give you a fresh perspective on the piece and ensure it’s to the exact quality you want it. When you feel ready, go ahead and post it! You can be confident that your blog is catchy, unique, and interesting, and it’s sure to draw readers in for years to come.

Like, Follow, and Subscribe! How to Promote Blog Content in the Age of Social Media
First, the world had MySpace. Then that gave way to FaceBook, then Youtube, now Twitter, Instagram, Vine, TikTok, and more. Keeping up with popular social media platforms is a dizzying task, but an important one, especially for writers looking to promote their work on a large-scale platform. Advertising is essential to blog success, so read on for our best advice on how to grow and maintain a social media following and use it to promote your blog content.

1. START SIMPLE

Many brands trying to begin a social media presence start creating profiles on every platform out there, balancing five or six new accounts at once in an effort to reach everywhere right away. Brands with a large staff and inventory might be able to manage that, but many starting blog writers will find themselves stretched thin. Starting in too many places at once can make it hard to meaningfully interact with any one platform, which is essential to building a successful and engaged following. Try to pick one or two platforms, like Instagram or Facebook, that allow long-form posts to build your main following before branching out.

1. STICK TO A SCHEDULE

One of the keys to developing good social media presence is constant, but not overwhelming, content. Many blog writers find it works best to create a schedule for when they post their content, whether it’s daily, twice a week, or twice a day. Keeping your content regular means that your posts will stay near the top of the algorithm and are more likely to appear in your follower’s feeds.

1. CURATE, CURATE, CURATE

Time and time again, social media users have shown that the quality of a brand’s feed matters just as much as the quantity of posts. Not every post on your social media should be about your blog, though of course you should feature your blog heavily. The key to drawing in subscribers is well-curated and attractive content, and it doesn’t have to all be by you. Share a snap of your favorite vacation spot, a pic of your morning coffee, or your favorite inspirational quote. Adding in snippets of outside content will help diversify your feed and make you personable in the eyes of your readers, not just a faceless writer. Be careful not to go overboard though. A high quality feed should have about 30 to 40% curated content and the rest original.

1. ENGAGE WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS

Follower engagement is a huge factor in scaling up your follower count. Include daily questions or trivia in your captions to get people to comment. Respond to comments, like other people’s comments, and follow back people who follow you. All of these things drive up engagement and make people more likely to continue following you and recommend you to others. Word of mouth goes a long way in bringing in loyal followers.

1. COLLABORATE (NOT JUST SHOUTOUTS)

Collaborating with other beginner or barely-established writers or pages is a good way to bring your voice to new audiences. Most people do this through shoutouts, which are either traded or purchased from other accounts. These can feel repetitive and often turn other users off from following you, so try not to inundate your page with shoutouts. Collaborations are another good way to promote your work. Reach out to similar pages and arrange joint posts or content. Share each other’s work and promote similar artists. Reaching into similar target audiences will help diversify your followers while broadening your audiences.
These tips may feel overwhelming, but they are tried-and-true techniques that will go a long way in promoting your content. As your following grows, you can spread to multiple social media platforms until you have an expansive and dependable following that will continue to support your blog.

 

[Nomad]

You need to choose a micro niche in order to make your content successful (generate traffic and revenue). However, the niche you choose should still have some traffic because there is no point in ranking for the keywords that do not get any traffic. You will also have to use secondary keywords, not just primary keywords. While building backlinks, try to build backlinks for internal pages not just home pages.