Taking the planet's hyper-fast globalization into consideration, we must face facts that clear communication across all available channels is already a critical survival ability for humans.
Learning how to write quickly and honestly is an under-exercised muscle in the human arsenal.
Until a search engine can properly face-scan a few quintilian faces on video files, writing remains the most measurable communication format, and the blog post remains the backbone of the written word for all peoples, personally and professionally.
Mastering this writing craft will make you an efficient, effective communicator...
Why is blog writing a valuable skill?
Most search engines lean hard on written words for identifying answers to the queries users submit when they punch things into, say, Google. Knowing which words, where the words ought to be on a page for effective implementation, and what it means for your written material is integral in creating a complete blog post quickly. Knowing how to write means knowing WHY to write.
If you write something, in this case a blog post, and nobody reads it, it does not exist. It's a paper airplane thrown into the Grand Canyon. You can distribute the link to friends and family through whatever channel you chose, but you'd ideally like that blog post to be discovered organically by visitors in search of an answer, correct. Why do you write? If it's for your own indulgence, that's great! If it's to have your work discovered, make it discoverable.
To make it discoverable, you must address the SEO component. The association your work develops with certain words and topic clusters over time in subsequent blog posts bestows recognition toward your expertise on that topic.
Comprehend the SEO structure and you'll become discoverable. Becoming discoverable means you're an effective communicator. Effective communication is better than the alternative, which is a dog barking at the moon.
As you learn to write blog posts efficiently and effectively, always recall why that blog post exists: to communicate a message to an intended audience.
How do you write blog posts efficiently?
Okay, how do you pull the blog post's reason for being into line? Begin with structure. I've written about how to write short sentences and content outlines in the past. In the case of blog posts, you need an outline. If we're aiming to create a straightforward 500-word post, carve it up into three basic sections:
- Why -- meaning, why is what you're communicating important?
- How -- meaning, how does it work, how can it be done, or how does it's why fit together?
- What -- meaning, what does the final product look like, usually an example to help you recognize proper from improper technique?
You'll notice you're reading the "how" section right now. Neat!
We're talking about how to write a 500-word long blog post in 45 minutes. You should already know why this is a good skill to have, as I brought up the communication benefits and your knowledge on a topic earning recognition. If neither of these things are important, than the blog post doesn't have to be a blog post, and may fit a more appropriate content medium.
Since you do intend to write a blog post, and you know why, and we discussed the why / how / what structure, it's time to understand the keywords at the content's core. You'll want to select a keyword or keyword string that drives the blog post. Include it in:
- Blog title
- Blog URL
- Meta description
- Image alt-text
- Within the content body
It's important to point out you should not spam the keyword in the post, meaning, don't use it more than 5 times in the blog body itself. Search engines know better than to honor a post that's spamming the term over and over. Just include it in the places listed above and be judicious when it's included in the main body. Furthermore, don't write only about one keyword day after day. Extend the keyword with extra phrases, or shrink it down with fewer words. Shuffle the words around. Come up with permutations.
Consistency and regularity will strengthen your domain's authority on a search term more effectively than crafting one impeccable blog title once.
A few more tips:
- Include images every 200-300 words if you can to break things up
- Set aside time to write
- Don't start writing without a why / how / what or a selected keyword -- your 45 minutes don't begin until you do
What's your end product look like?
If you've really done it right, you can write a predictable amount with a clear intention over the course of a regular amount of time. This means your work is to the point, it has a purpose, and it is attractive to your site's visitors.
This blog post took roughly 30 minutes to write. Before starting the clock, I knew:
- Why I was writing it, including why it'd be relevant to the reader
- How I was going to connect its three parts, including what I'd like the reader to learn in each section (keeping 2 sentences to guide me for each of the 3 sections)
- And What the keywords were, including it in the title, URL, and throughout the body
Hopefully you found your way here to learn how to write blog posts of a certain length in a certain time and the lesson will be self-evident!
