How to Write the Perfect Blog Post + Free Blog Post Template

Whether or not you’re new to blogging, a writing refresher is never out of place. And this one was one that I hadn’t even thought of until the other day when my hubby simply asked “How do I write a blog post? Where do I even start?” You know what…that’s a good question! Here’s your quickie crash course on how to write the perfect blog post.

Don’t have a blog setup yet? Check out this step-by-step tutorial here. 

Blogging 101: How to Write The Perfect Blog Post

Come Up With a Brilliant Topic

First thing’s first, what is it you want to talk about? When brainstorming blog post ideas, think about your business, what you know and how you can help your customers. If you make handmade scarves, you might write a blog post on the many different ways to tie a scarf. If your business is in wedding planning, you may want to share some of your best tips for wedding planning success. Yes, I’m asking you to share your brilliance for free. This does three things:

1. It establishes you as an expert
2. It helps create trust with potential clients
3. It boosts your SEO, bringing in more traffic, which leads to more clients!

Practical tip: I tame the idea machine by keeping a running list of blog topic ideas in Evernote. Need more sources for ideas? Check out this post. 

Write an Introduction

Introduce your reader to your topic and give them a preview of what’s to be covered in your blog post. Just be careful of getting overly wordy in the intro and get straight to the meat of the article as fast as you can. For more on how to write great introductions, check out this post. 

Outline Supporting Ideas

Now that you have your topic in mind, let’s break it down into smaller supporting nuggets. Let’s go back to the scarf example: what are all the different ways you can tie a scarf? Well, this YouTuber has 25 ways! After you write your introduction, you’ll want to list each way you can tie a scarf. An easy way to do this is by making each way to tie the scarf it’s own subhead topic.

Expand on Those Ideas

Now that you’ve got a small outline of your post, it should be pretty easy to fill in and expand on your ideas. If the French Knot is one of the scarf styles, you’d expand by telling readers what that looks like and how to recreate it.

Include a Short Summary

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the fact is, some people just don’t read. I know, you’ve poured your heart and soul into your post and can’t believe someone would do that, but it’s true! That’s why it’s so essential that you break up your post into subheads for all the scanners out there, and include a short summary at the end of your post if you can. This way people who have raced ahead to the bottom can still benefit from your takeaways.

End with a Call to Action

Hooray! You’ve successfully finished writing an awesome blog post! So, now what do you want the reader to do? This is where you’ll include your call to action which can be as simple as asking a question for readers to comment and/or prompting them to join your mailing list or follow you on social media. In other words, where do you want your reader to go next once they’re done reading your fabulous blog post? Always lead them to more by using plugins like Link Within that will post related post contents and ask questions to create engagement with your community. Sometimes, people just need a little nudge to know what to do next.

Edit Like a Badass

Writing is just the beginning, editing is where the magic happens. Be sure to not only spell check but also scan for readability and check your grammar. I recommend stepping away from your post for at least a day before going through the editing process. Cut the fluff and don’t be afraid to edit ruthlessly!

Practical tip: I love Grammarly to check my posts for grammar mistakes.

Bonus Blogging Tips

This is just the bare bones basics of an easy format to follow when writing a blog post. But to separate yourself from the masses, you’ll want to beef it up. Here are a few ideas on how to do that:

• Include beautiful photos, including one vertical image for Pinterest!
• Create an infographic
• Pepper the article with expert quotes
• Cite research studies/top influencers
• Include fun facts and statistics

RELATED: Ultimate List of Blogging Resources 

Perfect Blog Post Template

Phew! With this little recipe, you should be well on your way to writing perfect blog posts every time. Remember, an intro, a few subheads a summary and call to action is really all you need. And if you want a refresher at any time, I’ve created a free blog post template for you to download below.

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