Consistently investigate what gives other people energy. Be the fan that fuels it.
Darren Rowse
What is a Blog?
Blog also called a weblog, is a version of a website. It is a type of website that structures the content in the form of categories and posts. The blog represents information in reverse chronological order. It is a platform where the writers or the group of writers share their views.
Information on the website has longer life as compared to the post. Since blogging consists of posts, the information conveyed is short-lived. The boundaries between blogging and websites are murky. Although all blogs are a type of website, not all websites are blogs.
The current discussion will be more focused on WordPress as the platform.
Structure of a blog
Compared to a website, blogging is a better way to organize and present a large amount of information. The blog consists of the following elements:
Ideally, posts are published regularly basis. The most recent one is at the top of the pile. What it means is that there is an archive of the posts.
Posts are organised into categories to make it easier for readers to find them.
Tags can be used to sub-divided content. You can read more about the difference between categories and tags in the article Permalinks And Settings (The Stuff You Need To Know).
Header and Footer menus are links to the static pages. These static pages are such as About, Privacy, and Tools. The visitor should visit these pages to know about the details of using the information and other tools.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a tool to create alluring websites or blogs. Actually, WordPress powers over 38.8% of all the websites on the Internet. It is correct that more than one in four websites are likely powered by WordPress. On a technical note, it is an open-source content management system.
A content management system is a tool that makes it easy to manage the website’s content. WordPress CMS is based on PHP ,JavaScript ,and MySQL technologies. It basically provides a WYSIWYG editor for creating articles.
WordPress consists of themes and plugins to modify the look and feel of the website.
- Themes – These primarily change how your website looks.
- Plugins – These primarily change how your website functions. Plugins can be something small, like a contact form, or huge, like creating an eCommerce store.
Currently, there are over 50K free WordPress plugins and 5K free WordPress themes.There are also premium options available.
Tips for writing a Blog in WordPress
In the article, I have assumed that the blogging platform is already set for final use. This means that themes and plugins are already set. Before embarking on the journey to write, make sure that the Grammarly plugin is installed in the browser as an add-on.
1. Plan your blog post
The entire process of writing a blog sometimes takes more than a couple of hours. It is very important to plan your post. The planning consist of the number of words the blog post will consist of. Additionally, it will also consist of the main information one wants to convey and how this information will be structured like heading and sub-headings. Above all, it is very important to pick topics that actually interest you.
2. Crafty headline
It is very imperative that you create a catchy headline. The headline analyzer in WordPress helps you to analyze the headline and how catchy it is? The people generally look at the first three and the last three words of the headline. One must strive to get a headline score of more than 75 (You have to use the plugin by monsterinsights which gives you a free headline score). You can get get a score of more than 75 with headlines with more common yet powerful words to deliver the message.
It should be small so that the search engine does not trim it. The best practice is to write the headline first then write your content as described below as per my experience.
3. Write your post
There are multiple approaches to writing a blog. One can either sit in sessions or do everything in one go. Even if you are using multiple sessions make sure that the sessions are long enough so that you do not forget the different nuances of the article. In WordPress, the writing is easy as it WYSIWYG editor. Each article consists of several blocks. One can select the block type by typing forwards slash ( / ) at the block level.
It is very important to have an introduction. Here are the ways you can write an improved introduction.
In the end, we should have the conclusion stating the gist of the discussion present in the article and what we can infer.
4. Readability score, SEO score and tools
A good introduction should have the keyword phrase which basically a word or a group of words on the basis of which the article is optimized. In WordPress, one can write the keyword phrase in the SEO section (Using Yoast SEO plugin). While writing makes sure to subdivide the article into header and subheader, having small length paragraphs.
The article should score well on both the readability and SEO front. Try to ensure that both the readability score as well as the SEO score is good. For increasing the readability score, use more transition words. Moreover, instead of passive voice, use active voice. Below tools helps in ensuring both SEO and readability score is good and also other aspects of the blog.
| Yoast SEO: For enhancing the SEO score and readability. The WordPress instance should have the Yoast SEO plugin installed. Grammarly: For checking the grammar. As discussed, it should be installed before commencing writing. Hemingway Editor: For enhancing the readability score. Plagiarism checker online tools: For checking plagiarism; check tools like smallseotools, duplichecker, EduBirdie. |
A detailed discussion on readability and SEO score is another topic of discussion in itself.
5. Use images to enhance your post in WordPress
Writing for the web is entirely a different ball game as compared to writing for print. People generally lack interest in reading a blog that is lengthy and without visual stimulation. This is the main difference between Reddit or Twitter which are microblogging platforms. Hence, the images should convey the message by the blog. Make sure to use a suitable number of images in a blog to attract more readers to the article. The thumb rule is that in the article of 1000 words, use 4 to 5 images.
It is better to use diagrams, charts, infographics, tables, and any other visual assets that can help your readers understand abstract or complex topics and understand the points you’re trying to make.
Image configuration
There are two types of images: the featured image and the blog image. Every blog under WordPress should start with the featured images and the rest of the blog can use the normal blog image. For easy loading of the pages, consisting of the images, use low size and high-resolution images.
It is suggestive to use copyright-free images from sites like pixabay, Unsplash, etc. The blogger should strive to make the look and feel of the article enticing. Well. that the topic of a separate discussion.
6. Proofread the article
It is said that writing an article is easy but it is difficult to edit an article. Once the writing is done, look for the following again:-
- Sentences and phrase repetitions.
- Grammar mistakes.
- Look for long sentences and trim it down.
- Paragraphs should also be short and sweet.
All the above steps can be easily be done using the tools as described above.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive world, a company needs to have a digital presence. Blogging is one such means to enhance the digital presence through digital marketing and getting listed in SERP’s. In this digital journey, do not forget about WordPress as a blogging platform.
- 12 Tips to Optimize Your WordPress Blog for the Best Performance - December 11, 2020
- How To Improve Readability of WordPress Blogs? - November 25, 2020
- A WordPress definitive guide: How to blog using WordPress? - November 21, 2020