Maintaining your own blog is a challenge. After all, you don't just want to write a blog post that nobody reads. You want to achieve something with your content. To make unread articles a thing of the past, I'll show you in simple steps how to write a "perfect" blog article that will captivate your readers.

How do I write the perfect blog post?

In order to write a really good blog post, the preparatory work is particularly important. If you just start writing and try to achieve the highest possible word count in an extremely short space of time, it is highly likely that the quality will fall by the wayside. In this context, Robert Weller from toushenne explains very well why writing with a system is so important.

In order to write an article with real added value for your readers, it is not enough to simply deal with the predominant topic of your blog. Rather, you should have answers to questions such as "Who are my readers?" or "Why am I writing this article at all?" ready. But more on that in a moment. So let's start with the first step:

Step 1 - Set goals for your blog article

Before you start writing, it's important to set a specific goal for your post. What do you want to achieve with your blog post?

There are various options that you can set yourself as a goal:

• Establish or further expand your status as an expert in your field
• Present your service or product
• Increase your reach and number of subscribers
• Generate subscriptions to your newsletter

It is important that you know in advance what you want visitors to do after reading your blog.

Your intention, your goal, should be at the forefront when writing a blog post and run like a red thread through the text. You guide the reader to a specific topic and explain to them along the way how to achieve your goal.

Step 2 - Get to know your target group

Before writing your blog post, you should take a closer look at your target group.

Who are the people you are writing for and who you want to read your posts?

You don't want to waste your time targeting the wrong people. The better you know the people behind the screens, the better you'll be able to create your post.

Regular, interesting content will turn your blog into a source of information that your readers will want to consult. You provide your visitors with relevant content, take them by the hand and help them to solve a problem.

You are an expert in your field and should present this knowledge in such a way that your readers can derive the greatest possible benefit from it. You can do this by answering your readers' questions competently.

You can use the "Answer The Public" tool, for example, to find out which questions are asked most frequently in your subject area.

Step 3 - Find the right topic

If you run a blog yourself, you probably know the situation: the blank text document is open, but you just can't think of a good topic. In fact, constantly finding topics is one of the biggest challenges for many blog operators. Especially when it comes to niche topics, the feeling quickly arises that all aspects of the topic have already been covered.

An obvious tip for the necessary inspiration is to read the latest magazines and topic-specific blogs. After all, you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time.

In addition, specialist Facebook groups or Twitter threads offer an interesting insight into the questions and topics that your target group is currently dealing with. If your head simply feels empty and blocked, a short walk can sometimes help you to be open to new ideas again.

The best ideas often come to you when you're not actively looking for them. It's best to be open to new blog article ideas at all times and record your ideas and thoughts in writing - for example in a note app. You can then use your notes to create new blog posts with real added value for your readers.

If you need a little more help finding topics: The marketing pros at Chimpify, for example, have put together 41 blog article formats that can help you come up with ideas. If you're looking for something a little more creative, check out these 18 idea generation techniques from HubSpot.

Step 4 - Discover your own style

Give your blog posts a personal touch. Because your writing style is what makes your articles authentic and individual - regardless of whether you are a solo blogger or write for a company. After all, your readers want to know who is talking to them.

A short author biography under each article is a great way to give your content more personality. In the best case scenario, the reader can imagine the person or company behind the article and identify with it. Of course, how much you reveal about yourself also depends on the topic and target group of your blog.

To give your texts a special recognition value, you should find your own style and stay as true to it as possible.

Step 5 - The balance between reader expectation and SEO

The content: crucial for readers

You write your blog post primarily for your readers, not for search engines. When your readers click on one of your posts, they have certain expectations. For example, they want to be entertained, informed or are looking for an answer to a specific question. Added value for the reader is therefore a crucial keyword.

Your website visitors are on your blog for a reason. They want to benefit from investing their precious time in reading your blog article. So fulfill their wish by answering their questions competently.

In addition to the technical content, you should of course not ignore the keywords.

The keyword: decisive for the search engine

Search engines show posts with relevant content in the search results. The better the keywords (= the search intention) and the content of your post are matched, the better chance it has of appearing in the search results.

Therefore, optimize your post for keywords that are relevant to the topic. A good keyword is characterized by a high search volume (number of monthly search queries) and the lowest possible competition. If you have an idea for a keyword, simply enter it into the Google search and see if the search results match it. If it's a blog post, you've come to the right place.

A very helpful - and free - keyword tool is "Ubersuggest" by Neil Patel. You can enter your keyword there and see, for example, the distribution of search queries over the last 12 months as well as the probability of ranking in the top 20 with the keyword. You can also view similar KWs or keyword suggestions and much more. To illustrate that there are seasonal differences for many topics, I have included the keyword "parasol balcony" as an example:

If you pay attention to the above points, your post has a real chance of appearing in the search results.

Step 6 - Define the structure

Define a rough structure for your blog post in advance. In order for your post to be found online, it must be constructed in such a way that it is equally interesting for readers and search engines. Planning includes:

# Heading

First of all, think of a suitable headline. This should be a promise to your readers that you fulfill in your text. How will readers benefit from reading your text? You should choose an exciting title that encourages further reading, contains the main keyword and consists of around 6 words.

# Introduction

In the introduction, write what your blog post is about and explain the topic while pointing out important arguments. Don't give too much information up front, but rather design the introduction in such a way that it encourages readers to read on. A guideline for a good introduction is around 50 words. The keywords of the article should be placed at the beginning if possible.

# Subheadings

Choose appropriate subheadings for your article. These should divide your text into different sections and give readers an overview of the entire article.

# Let's go! The writing of the blog post begins

The preparatory work took a lot of time. This will now be rewarded when you write your blog post.

You can now incorporate all the tips and information you have previously collected into your unique blog post tailored to your target group.

Step 7 - Ensure good legibility

Internet users are fast. The blog post is therefore often only skimmed. If the important information cannot be found straight away, all it takes is one click and the user leaves your site and calls up new information.

Therefore, when writing, make sure that your article is easy to read.

• Keep the sentences short
• Structure your article in sections with subheadings
• Dedicate a separate paragraph to each new thought
• Check the text for spelling and grammar

Blogging the right way: Checklist for the perfect blog post

You've done it: you've written an almost perfect blog post. To be on the safe side, ask yourself the following questions before publishing your blog.

• Does the title arouse interest?
• Does your headline convey to the reader what they can expect from the text?
• Have you thought of everything you wanted to include?
• Are you not off topic or is there superfluous information?
• Do you have a consistent reader approach?
• Are all sentences grammatically correct?

If all the criteria are met, then you can add a call to action for your readers. Tell them what you want them to do. This is because you usually have to point out the desired action to your readers so that they share the blog post and comment on it.

You can then publish your perfect blog post - i.e. a post that responds to the search intention of your target group, is sensibly structured and creates real added value for your readers - with a clear conscience.

Conclusion: Good blogging takes time

Writing the "perfect" blog article is a challenge in itself. If you haven't written your own article yet, it's best to first consider whether setting up your own blog makes sense for you or your company. After all, maintaining a blog takes a lot of time and work.

If the answer is "yes", then it's best to start planning and brainstorming straight away. If you follow the above steps a few times, creating a new blog post will become easier each time.