Monetization Magic

Colorado Website Development

Write Your First Blog Post (Part 2 of 2)

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In the first part of this article, we discussed finding and using keywords as well as how to utilize the Six Servants to give your post a structure so that the reader can determine if the post is appropriate for them.   We will now discuss how to move your reader forward as you lead them to your desired destination.

Lay Out the Path to Your Destination

Your reader will need to know how to get from point A to your desired destination.  Lead them step by step to the finished product.  Point A is simply where on the path your reader is now.  Your desired destination is where your reader will be once the information you have is transferred to them.  At the end of reading your article, you will want to include direction (hopefully to more of your content) to more information or the next logical step to take to get to the next level in their journey.  As your blog post unfolds, your reader may need specific tools/information to take them to the next step along the way.  Equip your reader as you proceed just as the Google Keyword External Tool was introduced at the beginning of this blog post.  Your blog post takes the reader on a journey from Point A to your desired destination with you leading the way.  The question you want to answer along the way is “The reader will leave with an understanding of…”.  If this question is answered with “I have no clue”, that’s a great opportunity for your to rewrite that area to gain clarity for the reader.  Here is a simple outline for you to follow:

o  Answer the Six Servant questions for the reader.  Give them a reason to want to read your article.

o  Describe Point A

o  What tools does the reader need at this point?  Where do they find the tools?  What is the tool used for?

o  The reader will leave with an understanding of…

o  What is the next logic step along the path?  Describe the next logical step.

o  What tools does the reader need at this point?  Where do they find the tools?  What is the tool used for?

o  The reader will leave with an understanding of…

o  Summary

o  What are the next possible steps once the desired outcome is achieved?  Where can the reader possibly go from here?  Why would the reader want to revisit your blog?

Key Points to Keep in Mind

Use the rule of 21 W’s.  You will want to create a template with 21 W’s to determine how wide to make your posts for easy reading.  A good rule of thumb is to put 21 W’s on your page as your guide to how wide to make your post.

Keep your posts to about 300-350 words.  Anything long can be broken up into a series for easier reading.  That way the reader can choose if they wish to continue reading or not.

At each point along the way, you will want to give a subheading to describe what that section of the article is about.

Summary

You now have a framework around which you can structure your blog posts.  By using the Six Servants and Laying Out the Path to Your Destination for your readers, you will have a well written, concise blog post that creates value for your reader.

Now that you have your first blog post written, you will want to publish it.  I will describe publishing a blog post in my next posting, Publish Your First Blog Post, with a video example.

Write Your First Blog Post (Part 1 of 2)

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This post series describes how to write your first blog post and gives you a two-part structure to use so that your blog posts convey your intended message.  This will help you to organize your ideas and focus on your topic.  You can write your blog posts using any word processor such as Microsoft Word, Wordpad (free),  Open Office Writer (free), Notepad (not ideal, but useable).  You want to center your blog posts around keywords so that Google can drive traffic to your website.  You can obtain your keyword list from the Google Keyword External Tool.  It’s very simple and easy to use.  Refer to your keyword list and simply pick a keyword.  As you write your article, you will want to utilize your keywords in your article.  A good rule of thumb is to make no more than 10% of your words keywords.  So if your article is 300 words long, you will want no more than 30 key words.

This article will give you a plan so that you will have a two-part structure upon which to build your blog posts.  Within your structure, you will refer to what I call the Six Servants.  These Six Servants are concepts which are likely very familiar to you.  They are:  Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.  Yes, you probably know these servants well; however, we will be expanding these concepts to assist you.  Just as you use a map when taking a long trip, so too, we will build a map for you to follow.  Only this map will become a tool for you as you learn to insert and delete items to guide you to your desired destination which is to have a well written article that is of interest to your readers.

Utilizing the Six Servants

The Six Servants can be enhanced to assist you in creating the first part of your structure.  The information obtained from answering the following questions will assist you in creating the foundation to your article.  For example, upon writing this article, I may have used the following questions:

Who will be reading the article? Bloggers who either haven’t written their first blog post or bloggers who have written blog posts that are not receiving the traffic that they would like to realize on their blog.

What tool/new information will be transferred in the article? I’m introducing the Google Keyword External Tool and a two-part structure to create a structure for the blog posts.

When will they be reading this article? They will be reading this article when they have a blog started and need more information on how to create blog posts in an orderly, organized fashion.

Where on their path will they be when they use this tool or knowledge? Blog writers will utilize these tools every time they create a blog post.  This information can also be used in product creation.

Why will this information be important to them? This information is important to them if they wish to drive more traffic to their blogs from the search engines.

How can they obtain more information about this topic?  How can they integrate this knowledge to their particular situation? I’m currently giving an example of how I’m using this tool and structure to write this particular blog post to make it easier for my reader to see how to put it into use.

Next we will discuss how to create a logical path for your readers to follow as they read your blog post.