How To Write Better Blog Posts

Have you ever read a blog that was updated every single day, if not more than once each day, and thought, “How in the world do they always have something to write about?”

The secret?  You have to be a good writer and always have a resource list of ideas.

The ideas are the easy part.  You can get those from watching television, reading other blogs in your niche, and so many other places.

But being a good writer isn’t always so easy.  Most people aren’t good writers.

Luckily, there’s a secret formula that when used, can make you a good writer, maybe one day, even great.

Here is that 5 step process you should go through every time you want to write.  I call it bubble mapping.

1. Pick A Topic

Picking a topic doesn’t mean writing out the title of your post and going from there.  In fact, the title of your post shouldn’t even be written until you’re finished writing.  You want your title to be creative, search engine friendly, and to cover the broad range of ideas in your post.

So what does pick a topic mean?  Just what it sounds like.

Figure out the absolute general idea you want to present.  Examples are:

1. Twitter
2. Blogging
3. Making Money Online
4. Cars

Then take that one idea and brainstorm a more specific thing you want to discuss about the first idea.

We’ll use my last post as an example.  Let’s say I chose “Blogging” as my general idea.  Now I would choose the more specific idea of “building traffic by commenting”.

This gives me my topic.

Now that we have a topic, we display it on our Bubble Map like so:

2. Brainstorm Main Points For Your Topic

Brainstorming your main points isn’t too difficult.  You simply think of the major points you want to cover when writing about your topic.

In my current example, I have three major points I want to discuss for this particular topic:

1. Be The First To Comment
2. Target Big Name Bloggers
3. Find The Top Commentators Lists

I would then take these three and map them out using our Bubble Mapping chart.

3. Craft The Details Of The Story

Another very easy step in our simple blog writing process is to write down 2-3 details for each main point you have listed.

You can actually use as many details as you’d like, but I wouldn’t use any less than two.

The details for each main point are answered by simply asking the following six questions:

1. Who
2. What
3. When
4. Where
5. Why
6. How

Fairly simple right?  This is basic stuff you were taught in grade school and never thought you’d need again.

Once you answer the question, you want to make sure you follow with the three Ds to really flesh them out.

Details, Details, Details

We would then add our detailed, details for each main point in our Bubble Mapping chart.

4. Create An Introduction

Now that you know you main topic, the main points for that topic, and the details of each main point, you almost have a full blog post ready to be written.

All that remains is to set the stage by writing an introduction.

Just as you were taught in school.  With any writing, you

1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
2. Tell them.
3. Tell them what you told them.

So your introduction should tell your readers what you plan on discussing.  Briefly cover you main topic and brush over a few main points.

You can also add short stories to get their imaginations going, or tell a joke to get their attention.  All basic speech writing techniques from English class.

Once your introduction is written, we simply turn our bubble mapping chart into text on a page, and move on to our final step.

5. The Clean-Up Process

The clean-up process consists of the following steps:

1. Proof-read and correct spelling and grammar mistakes
2. Find any way in which you can make a reference to a previous post.  This is called deep-linking, which we’ll discuss at another time.
3. Find any way in which you can to monetize some of your content.
4. Tell the reader what you want them to do next.  This simply consists of asking a question about their thoughts and allowing them to answer you in the comments, or giving them an assignment.  You want your readers to become active & a part of your community.  So give them a reason to be.

Once your clean-up phase is complete, you will find you have written a very complex post in no time, with little to no effort at all.

Just remember that no one wants to read long paragraphs that seem to go on forever.  So split them up into smaller paragraphs and use headings to separate each main point.  Doing this will increase the chances a visitor will read what you have to say.

Is there another method you use to help you write blog posts? Can you add a step in this process that could make it even simpler?  I’d like to hear from you.

Past Articles in the “Building A More Successful Blog In 30 Days” series

1. Set Goals To Build A Successful Blog
2. The Anatomy Of An About Me Page
3. Not All Goals Are Created Equal
4. Guest Blogging Your Way To Success
5. Participate In Forums For A More Successful Blog
6. 7 Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid
7. Build Your Traffic By Commenting On Blogs