How to Start a Blog, and How to Create a Blog Post People Will Want to Read

Ever wondered how to start a blog? Yes, it usually involves using WordPress, the best blogging platform. But that’s a given. The real question is how to create a blog people will read.

But first, let’s consider the “why” behind blogging.

Did you know… B2B marketers who use blogs enjoy 67% more leads than those that don’t? Or marketers who have properly optimized blogs are 13 times more likely to boast a positive ROI? Or that companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website?

How to Start a Blog, and How to Create a Blog Post

If you have ever had any doubts about the benefits of blogging for business, the above statistics from HubSpot should banish them. There are many advantages to starting a blog. Here are three key blog benefits that can help your business surge ahead of the competition, in terms of visibility, positioning and profits.

1. Low-Cost Marketing

One of the most obvious benefits of blogging is affordable marketing. Small businesses can especially do well with blogging even if they have a very limited marketing budget. They can simply set up a blog for almost nothing and start generating traffic with fresh, well-optimized content. It is a fact that organic search engine marketing is the most cost-effective way of marketing on the web, supported by a high return on investment (ROI).

2. Customer Relationship Building

Another benefit of blogging is that it can help your business interact directly with your customers. A quality post lets you connect with your customers and engage them in a discussion about your product or service. This engagement strengthens your customer relationships, which is absolutely valuable for your business.

3. Favorable Search Engine Position

Search engines love quality blog content! Properly optimized, keyword-packed content can boost your search engine ranking. This means your website gets more visibility, which is the very point of search engine optimization, or SEO.

Try WordPress, the Best Blogging Platform

Most people have heard about WordPress but don’t know how to start a blog. If you have a WordPress website (Manaferra stats show it’s over 42% as of 2021), you already have the best blogging platform built into your site.

Just login, click on Posts, and click Add New. Of course, there’s more to it than that, but even novices can get started with these simple steps. What’s more important is what you blog about in your posts (articles).

So, How to Create a Blog Post for Business?

Ideas for Wordpress, the best blogging platform

When you blog for your business, keep in mind that you are not only creating helpful content that customers will value.

You are also helping potential customers discover you through a web search when they have a problem in need of a solution.

Here are a few tips that may come handy.

Look to Your Customers for Ideas

If you need ideas for blog posts, think about your customers. What do they want to know about? What excites or troubles them about what you sell? What questions do they frequently seem to ask you? What stories about customers might be interesting and informative for other customers to hear? It’s not just about how to start a blog, it’s making the content of your posts relevant.

Make Your Post Title Interesting

Your blog title should grab attention. For best results, it must be something your target market is actively searching for on Google. You should, therefore, keep it neither too general nor too specific.

Blog Post Length

When it comes to blog length, there is not one definitive answer. It really depends on your industry, what you’re blogging about and your SEO goals. If it’s primarily to position you as an expert and provide content value, 300-500 words should work. How to create a blog that the search engines favor is another matter. It depends on your competition for the particular keyword(s) you are optimizing for. All other things being equal, the greater the competition, the more content you will need—perhaps 700-1,200 words.

Blog Content

Here are some things you can include in your blog content in order to optimize SEO and make the post easy to read and more aesthetically pleasing so it engages a wider audience.

  • Choose a relevant keyword(s) which your audience searches on (research this if you can…)
  • Focus on your target audience when writing.
  • Create posts that associate with your business.
  • Break up the post with bullet points, subheads, images, etc.
  • Double check the content for any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.

You may also want to learn about how to create a blog that’s easy to read from a design viewpoint. Read our post about making content easy to read.