How to Write Optimized Blog Posts in Under 30 Minutes

Frank Isca
Posted by Frank Isca on November 15, 2011

howtowriteabusinessblogquicklyMaintaining a robust blog packed full of meaningful content takes time and dedication. We can speak from experience! This time commitment often turns companies away from making the decision to begin blogging, or it quickly becomes reality after they begin blogging and their blog becomes a deserted island with one or two posts. Writing great blog content, let alone blog content optimized for search, doesn't have to be a half day assignment. Here's some tips on How to Write Optimized Blog Posts in Under 30 Minutes:

Keep a shortlist of potential blog topics

Arriving at a topic that you feel comfortable writing about is half the battle when creating great blog content. Always complete this step before you sit down to write. Begin to create a shortlist of blog topics to have on hand, based on questions you receive from your customers and prospects, interesting news stories or topics in your industry that people are buzzing about, or working from your list of target keywords. You'll then have an endless list of possibilities to work with.

Mentally write your post first

On your drive to work or waiting in the drive-thru for your daily latte begin thinking through your next blog post and how you want to structure it. The more you mentally prepare what you want to write the quicker things will flow when you sit down at your keyboard. You'll be amazed at how productive this down time can be with formulating your post.

Start with a rough outline

As you begin to write your post start by creating a rough outline of the core components: a brief intro, the mains points of your post (people love subheads or bulleted/numbered lists), and a solid wrap-up that drives the point of your post home. This will help map things out as far as the flow of your post and then you can fill in the gaps. Also keep in mind that a blog post doesn't need to be a novel. It all depends on the topic but 300-400 words is plenty long for most blog posts.

Think like your prospects

Some writers like to start with their headline while others will do this last, regardless, it's important to think like your prospects when writing a headline optimized for search. In addition to incorporating at least one of your target keywords think how one of your prospects may type in a search related to your blog topic (which is often in the form of a question or "How to" statement). This will help ensure your post ranks well in search and is found by those you are hoping to target. Keep in mind to also work in your target keywords within the body of your post, blog tags, image file name, alt image tags, meta description, and meta keywords (if your blogging platform allows for this this type of optimization).

Like anything, the more you blog the easier it becomes. You'll become more efficient at writing each post and as you begin to see the impact a blog can have on your site traffic and lead generation efforts (to name a few benefits), you'll be hooked on consistent blogging. Start implementing these tips today and you'll quickly be writing optimized blog posts in less time.

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Topics: Content Marketing

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