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You have a beautiful blog design. You have all of the bells and whistles (aka plugins and widgets) all in place. However, now it is time to put your lovely blog to use. It’s time to write. However, there are a few things that you should do before you write your first blog post.
Know Your Niche
I am sure that you have already given some thought to this when you decided that you wanted to blog, however, it might be well worth giving some more consideration. A niche can be described as a subtopic. It is something that you plan to focus on with your blog. It is what will help you to stand out from the crowd. For example, there are a ton of mommy blogs out there. However, there are fewer single mom blogs, and even fewer blogs about single WAHMs. The goal, when choosing a niche is to choose something that will help you to appear more unique to the people who come across your blog. Usually, the smaller your niche, the better your chances are of reaching your target audience.
Know Your Audience
Speaking of your audience, you want to be sure you are clear about who you are writing for. Unless you are blogging purely for a hobby and don’t really care who reads it, you want to make a concerted effort to create content that your audience actually wants to read. So take some time to think about who your ideal reader is, what he or she enjoys reading, why they would be on your blog, and what kind of value you can bring to the table that would actually be beneficial to them. For example, using the aforementioned single WAHM blog, the ideal reader might be moms (especially single moms) who are interested in reading about how they can balance raising a child and working from home.
Know What You Want to Talk About
Once you know who your ideal reader is and what they would be interested in reading, you will have a better idea of just what you want to say in your first post. Your first post will set the tone for your blog, so you want to be sure to give them a good introduction to who you are, why you decided to create your blog, what kind of value you will be bringing to the table, and why they should stick around.
Know Your Voice
When you first sit down to write, it can be a bit intimidating. However, one thing that can help is to know your voice. Know how you want to come across to your readers. Do you want them to view you as being professional and informed? Do you want them to think of you as their virtual BFF? Perhaps something in-between. Knowing your voice can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable when you write.
Know Your Keywords
Keywords are such an important part of getting your content seen. I don’t want to overwhelm you too if you are just getting started. However, I would recommend doing some basic keyword research so that you can weave the in naturally in at least a few places. A little bit of time spent doing this can go a long way.
Know Your Call-to-Action
One great piece of advice when it comes to blogging is to never end a post without telling your readers what you would like them to do next. This could be signing up for your newsletter, checking out a freebie that you have offered, reading a related post, commenting on your post, sharing it with their network, or a wide variety of other things.
These are the things you need to do before you write your first blog post and once this list is complete you’ll be ready to sit down and create your bloggy masterpiece!
Tiffany Hathorn