A Beginners Guide To Writing Blog Posts

You are sitting in front of your computer, ready to write the best blog post of all time. Your audience has no idea what you have in store. As you start to type out your masterpiece, you realized something is missing. So, you comb the internet looking for ways to improve your blog posts and how to write a blog post, you even google "The anatomy of a blog post," and yet, you are still left questioning your work. Well, you have come to the right place.

In this blog post, I will be covering:

• The Key Components of a Blog Post 
• Brainstorm for a Blog Post with Mind Mapping
• How To Structure a Blog Post

The Key Components of a Blog Posts

A blog post can be made up of as many or as little parts as you want. For the sake of this post, I will be sharing with you how I break down the anatomy/components of a blog post.

01. A Catchy Title

Currently, we live in an era of skimming. Many blog readers are looking over content faster now more than ever. Part of this is due to the growing amount of content available. To keep up with this trend, make sure you place you key thought or main idea in the title and make it catchy so that it attracts the eye of the viewer and makes them slow down, take interest and consume your content.

02. An Appealing Cover Image(s)

Just like the Title, the cover image should be just as enticing. It should be relevant to the content within the blog, and it should be able to stand on its own. The cover should image, should be able to tell the reader just as much as the title can.

03. Introduction

I am a storyteller by nature, in other words, I do my best work when I show and not tell in my writing. When creating an introduction, paint a verbal picture for your reader, take them on a mini excursion giving them a small taste of what the rest of the post will be about. A practical way of doing this is by creating a relatable and or authentic situation, related to the blog post that the reader can apply to their own lives.

04. The Body

In this section of the blog post, you will find the meat and potatoes. This is where you will be expanding on your previous ideas and explaining your thoughts. The formatting in this section is up to you how you choose to deliver your content. However, I suggest listicles if you are not writing a narrative.

Ideas for formatting the body of your Blog Post

• Lists (Listicles)
• Pros vs. Cons
• Fact vs. Fiction
• If/Then Statements
• Examples
• Scenarios/ Stories
• KWL Chart
• Traditional Paragraphs

05. Conclusion

This is the wrap-up. Here is where you tie everything together and relate it back to your introduction paragraph.

06. Call to Action

Here, you will ask your audience to like, comment, follow, share, subscribe and or sign up for your email list. Whatever your call to action is, make sure that you have them at the end of each blog post.

07. Related Posts

Related posts help to keep your audience on your site. These can be within the body of the blog or at the start and end them.

Brainstorm For a Blog Post With Mind Mapping

Brainstorming for a blog post is no different than how you were taught back in grade school. There are a few ways to go about doing so, these are the methods that I use the most.

Mind Mapping

According to Mindmapping.com, A mind map is an easy way to brainstorm thoughts organically without worrying about order and structure. It allows you to visually structure your ideas to help with analysis and recall. To learn more about mind mapping, visit the site here.

The software that I used here is an online software called Mind Meister click here if you want to check it out.

Other Methods of Brainstorming

• Starbursting | Draw a 6 pointed star, on each point write who, what, then, where, how, and why.
• Freewriting | Write down a list of ideas that have no matter what they are, then organize them accordingly.

How to Construct a Blog Post

01. Come Up With An Idea

What are you going to write about? What questions do your audience members have? What problems can you solve for them? How can you further enrich them? What can you teach them? How can you inspire them?

02. Come Up With A Catchy Title

Make an introduction that will catch the eye of your readers and make them want to know more. Offer up solutions and be direct.

03. Introduction

What is your post going to be about? How can you further grasp and hold the attention of your audience?

04. Format The Body

• How are you going to deliver your content?
• Lists (Listicles)
• Pros vs. Cons
• Fact vs. Fiction
• If/Then Statements
• Examples
• Scenarios/ Stories
• KWL Chart
• Traditional Paragraphs

05. Conclusion

Wrap up the post and tie it into the introduction.

06. Post Links

At least 3 Internal Links
At least 3 External Links

07. Featured Image(s)

• Cover Image
• Recreate the title with a cover image
• Secondary Image(s)
• Put a relevant twist on the blog post. List the key ideas in an image or two.

08. SEO-Ready Images

Save the images with the title and needed keywords before placing it onto the blog.

09. Shrink Images

I use TinyPng in order to shrink and compress my png files.

10. Proof Read

I use ttsreader to proofread my blog posts. This is how I weed out any awkward sounding statements.

11. Call to Action

What would you like to ask in return for the information that you just gave your reader? Their email? A like, a share or a follow? How about a comment?

12. SEO Check

Make sure you are using keywords but not overusing them.

13. Cite Your Sources

Give credit where credit is due. Earlier I referenced a statement that was not mine, not only did I give credit in the text but I also linked back to the resource. This is what I mean by site your sources.