At this point, you\u2019ll have all the information you need and an outline of the subjects you want to discuss in your blog post so it is finally time to start writing. Here are some guideline to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
• Aim for 1000+ words. <\/strong>A higher word count helps Google to better understand what your text is about. And, generally speaking, Google tends to rank longer articles higher.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• Hook your readers with a great opening. <\/strong>If you can hook your readers with a good opening consider half your work to be done. Because if your introduction is boring, people wouldn\u2019t bother to read the rest. Many writers find it easier to write the body of the blog post first, and save writing the intro for last.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• Write like you talk.<\/strong> Don\u2019t overlook the style and tone of your writing. Both these elements can make a big difference. Writing like you\u2019re talking to your reader will make it feel a lot more personal and add character to your copy. After all, you\u2019re not writing an academic essay. Remember, nobody likes boring. Nobody likes stuffy. Have fun with it!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• Make it scannable. <\/strong>People usually don\u2019t read blog posts word-for-word. Instead, they scan them for the information they\u2019re looking for. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to format your posts in a way that\u2019s easy to scan. It\u2019ll help your readers to get the info they\u2019re looking for quickly, so they\u2019re more likely to stick around your blog. Here are a few ways you can make your blog posts scannable:\n
  \n
  • Use Subheadings: <\/strong>Subheadings help your readers to see the main topics of your post, and will help you to stay organized and on track when writing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Write Short Sentences: <\/strong>Short sentences are much easier to read. Long sentences can make it complicated to understand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Keep Paragraphs Short:<\/strong> When your paragraphs are too long, it\u2019s harder to read. I recommend using 2-4 sentences in most of your paragraphs, with some 1-sentence paragraphs to grab the eye.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Use Bullet Points: <\/strong>Whenever you have a list, you can use bullet points to make your message precise and clear and easy to scan, instead of listing items in a sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If you use these tips to make your text visually engaging, your readers will be more likely to read the whole post.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Use images for visual engagement. <\/strong>A simple image has the power to make a boring post much more fun and engaging. It breaks the monotony of words and offers a refreshing visual break to the reader keeping them engaged for longer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Add a featured image. <\/strong>Believe it or not, your readers won\u2019t waste more than 2 seconds to decide whether or not to click on your post. Adding an eye-catching featured image to your post is a great way to get more clicks, shares, and engagement. Shutterstock<\/a>, Unsplash<\/a>, and Pixabay<\/a> are great platforms to help you find an appealing image to use. You can also use Canva<\/a> or Photoshop if you want to edit them. Make sure you have the right to use the image you choose. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Proof-read, spell check and edit out any unnecessary content.<\/strong> Revisit your working title to make it catchy and a good reflection of the content of the post.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Step 4: End with a CTA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Conclude your blog post with a call-to-action that indicates what you want the reader to do next. Whether it\u2019s to ask your readers to leave a comment, share your blog post, follow you on social media, or purchase your product, make sure you clearly state what you\u2019d like them to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 5: Optimize for SEO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019m going to be quick here because there are millions (billions? trillions?) of \u201cgood SEO\u201d resources that can be found on this subject, some with their own bible (I\u2019m looking at you, Moz<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      But, as a baseline, make sure to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
      • Have a solid searchable title<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Use H1 Tags<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Fill out the meta description<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Add keywords<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Alt-tag your photos<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Re-write your url slug to be searchable, while removing stop points (and, or, to, etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • A good rule of thumb is, at minimum, three internal links and three external links.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Writing a blog post can be a lot of fun, but it\u2019s also a lot of work. You need to invest time in preparing your blog post, writing it, and even once it\u2019s written, it\u2019s important to make sure it gets the attention it deserves by sharing it. It might seem like a lot, but in the end, you\u2019ll see your content perform well consistently. And trust me, it will be worth it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

         Previous<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Sample Post<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Is your pup ready to get outside?<\/p>\n

        More than just dog walking, Gone to the Dogs offers forest hikes and strolls for pups of all sizes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[6,7,8,9],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-working-with-content","category-writing","tag-blogs","tag-content-marketing","tag-how-to","tag-search-engine-optimization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dgl223.wjurreit.imgd.ca\/assignment1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}