Find the perfect subject
To start with, we suggest you write on something you love or that interest you. It will then be easier to spend time on research and on reading articles on other blogs or websites in order to remain up to date. Whether it is travels, food or new technologies, start with what you like most. You will then be more motivated for a longer period of time than if you have a mandatory topic. You will also be able to write many different articles easily.
Do research
The second step to write a blog article in an effective way is to know your topic well. To do so, take the time to do some research on the internet or even in magazines or books. The more you know your topic, the more it will be easier to write on it. You will also waste less time during the writing process if you do your research before. You do not need to go back to school to become a master on your topic; however, you should be able to answer most questions your visitors could have. Take also the time to ask you these questions when you look for info: Who is my targeted audience? What would they want to learn about my topic?
Develop a plan
When you know your topic well and you know what will be your article’s theme, we strongly suggest you develop a plan by choosing your main title and your subtitles. You can also make a summary of each paragraph or a list of useful sources to make sure that you write your article quickly and effectively. Do not forget to take the time to create a catchy title since only 8 people out of 10 will read your title but only 2 out of 10 will read the paragraphs. It is then important to write a title that will catch people’s attention instantly.
Think about your indexing
There is one last step before you can start to write. Indexing is all actions you take in order that your website ranks favorably on search engines. In fact, your blog articles can help your indexing as it can harm it. First, choose between 3 and 5 keywords that are related to your main topic and that are searched by people on Google. Put these words in most of your paragraphs. It will then be easier for search engines to understand what is your text about and to index it correctly. Make sure, however, to create good content. If the reading of your article is not effortless or if your reader realizes that you overuse your keywords, this will harm your credibility, as well as your indexing.
Moreover, according to statistics, the ideal number of words an article needs to have for good indexing is now more than 2000! If you do not feel up to it, start with a lower goal, like for example, 1000 words. A 1000-word article with good content is better than a 2000-word article with mediocre content. Finally, you can also foresee to use backlinks in your article, whether it is other articles from your blog or references from interesting websites.
Write!
You are now ready to write your article! You will see that it is easier to write since your research is done and that your plan has been developed. Take this opportunity to be somewhere calm and conducive to creativity. Follow your plan and fill all the sections. It might happen that you are more inspired to start with the conclusion; therefore, why not start with it? If you do not feel like writing or if you have the blank page syndrome, you can stop. In fact, you could take a little break in order to do something else and when you feel like writing again, go back to work.
Proofread what you wrote
Take at least a few hours off between the writing of your article and its proofreading. It is at this step that you must proofread what you wrote to make sure everything makes sense and to avoid grammar or spelling mistakes. It would be a shame to leave a few errors in your articles. It would then harm your credibility and professionalism. Moreover, ask a friend or a family member to proofread your text too before publishing it if you have the chance. This can help you a lot.
Add visuals
One of the ways you can make your article more attractive is to add some visuals to it. Whether it is pictures, graphics, or even videos, the addition of these elements can make your texts more dynamic. Keep, however, a balance between your paragraphs and your visual content. Furthermore, regarding pictures for instances, we like to use websites like Pexels that offer free of right photographs. This will help you articles to be noticed, especially if you share them on social media like Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Analyze your results
The last step of this list is simply to analyze your results a few days after your article publication and promotion. Write down, among other things, the engagement rate and the data available on tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console. It is important to know this information because it will give you an overview of who your audience is, where they are from, and what their interests are. You will then be likely to see trends or which articles are the most read. If you take the time to analyze your articles results, it will help you be more competitive.
To conclude, this list helps me a lot when I need to write articles for WebSelf’s blog. Simply start with a topic you love, do research, prepare a plan, and write! You then need to promote your article since the trend now is not to aim for the content but on the distribution of this content (content is king but distribution is queen!) As time goes by, you will see that it will become easier to go through these steps and write awesome articles. In the meantime, we hereby confirm that it is still pertinent to have a blog in 2019.