Whether you run a mom blog or you’re a freelance writer, there’s no denying that the process of writing a blog post can be time-consuming. And that’s a problem when you’re trying to maintain a consistent publishing schedule.
If you’re looking for ways to speed up the process, I’ve got some tips to help you go from blank page to published blog in five easy steps.
Keep a List of Keyword-Friendly Topics
For most of you reading this, the goal of your blog is probably to attract an audience and encourage readers to purchase a product or service. My guess is you’re not just writing for the fun of it (although I hope you’re enjoying the process too!).
One way to make sure your blog is helping you achieve your business goals is to keep a list of topics that are both keyword-friendly and interesting to your target reader. This will make it easier and faster to come up with ideas when it’s time to sit down and write. It will also make your blog posts more likely to show up on page 1 of Google search results.
Keywords are what people are searching for when they go online, so you want to make sure your blog posts are optimized for the search engines. But at the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice quality or alienate your readers by stuffing your posts full of keywords.
Finding a balance can be tricky, but it’s worth taking the time to figure out what keywords your target audience is using. Once you have a good understanding of that, you can start brainstorming blog post ideas that will help you rank in the search engines and attract the right readers to your site.
The best keywords are ones that are specific enough that you won’t have a ton of competition, but that are popular enough that people are actually searching for them.
You want to find keywords that have:
- Low keyword difficulty score
- High monthly search volume
- Strong buyer intent
Each of these factors is important, but if you’re going to prioritize one, make it keyword difficulty. You can have the most popular keyword in the world, but if everyone and their mother is already writing about it, you’re going to have a hard time ranking.
To get started, try using a keyword research tool like Ahrefs. This is one of the most popular options on the market, because it’s so accurate and user-friendly.
Just enter a seed keyword into the tool and it will give you a list of related keywords, as well as that helpful data on monthly search volume and keyword difficulty. You can also use this tool to spy on your competition and see what keywords they’re targeting.
Once you’ve found a few good keywords, add them to your list of topics to write about. When you sit down to write a blog post, you can refer to this list for inspiration.
Just include the main keyword in the title of the blog post, and try to use it a few times throughout the body of the post. Use other related keywords to help you rank for even more long-tail keywords.
Create a Template
If you write for a specific niche, most blogs will pretty much follow the same format. That’s why it can be helpful to create a template that you can use for each post. This will help you save time, because you won’t have to start from scratch each time you sit down to write.
Some industries have very long, comprehensive blogs, while others might have shorter, more to-the-point posts. There is no right or wrong answer here – it all depends on what is already ranking in your niche and what your target reader is looking for.
If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at some of the blogs that are already ranking in Google for your target keywords.
Study the format and structure of their posts, and use that as a starting point for your own template. Break down the core components of their posts and figure out which parts are essential and which you can leave out.
Some elements that are often included in blog posts are:
- Headline/Title (often called an H1)
- Sub-headlines (often called H2)
- Images
- Bullet points or lists
- Quotes
- Links
- Calls to action
Use those elements to create a fill-in-the-blank document that tells you what to write in each section of your blog post:
- How long is the title?
- How many words are in each section?
- How many images are included?
- Is there a specific format for the quotes or bullet points?
- Where are stats usually placed?
- How many backlinks or internal links are used?
Your template doesn’t have to be perfect, but having a general idea of what you want your blog post to look like will make the writing process much faster and easier.
Research and Outline at the Same Time
Many writers like to research first and write second. In my experience, this is a mistake.
When you’re doing research, it’s easy to get sidetracked and go down a rabbit hole of unimportant information. Suddenly, several hours have passed and you haven’t even started writing yet. You may even find you wasted tons of time gathering more information than you needed, or you didn’t cover all the bases like you should have.
That’s why outlining your blog post while you’re still in the research phase can be so helpful. You’ll quickly be able to see if you’ve covered enough information or if there are still some gaps that need to be filled.
Getting lost in research can happen so easily, but once you have researched enough to have a focus point for each H2, you can stop and move on to the writing phase.
I even recommend timing yourself during this research and outlining process. Set a timer for one hour and see how much progress you can make in that time.
This will help you stay on track and keep your research focused. Once the timer goes off, it’s time to move on to writing.
If you’re not sure how to write a blog post outline, here’s my simple technique:
- Pull up your blog post template
- Write a rough title/H1 that includes your main keyword
- For each H2, come up with a focus point or main idea that you want to cover (try to include a secondary keyword here too if you can)
- Use your own prior knowledge or do a quick Google search for each focus point to see what information is already out there
- Start filling out your template by adding 3 bullet points of information under each H2 to expand on later (this might include some quotes, statistics, or other data you want to share)
At the end of your hour, you should have a research document full of information and a basic outline for your blog post. The next step is to start writing!
Remember to keep your target reader in mind throughout this process. What are they looking for? What questions do they need answered? Google’s latest helpful content update really puts the reader first and you should too.
Use an AI Writing Tool to Write Your Draft
Some writers really bristle when they hear about AI writing tools. They think these programs will put human writers out of jobs. But I’m a big believer in the copywriting software, Jasper AI! In fact, when I became a mom, it literally SAVED my writing career!
Having a baby completely changed my schedule… Why does no one tell you that? 😉
I was cluster feeding and sleep-deprived. Sitting down to focus for more than 20 minutes at a time was next to impossible. But I still had bills to pay and clients that I didn’t want to lose…
And I kept seeing ads promising that “a robot could help me write better and faster…”
I was really skeptical of AI writing tools at first. I had heard horror stories of the software putting strange words in and not understanding context. I didn’t want to waste a ton of time and money learning how to use a software that was going to dump out crappy content.
But when I tried Jasper, it was a total game-changer!
Suddenly, I could get a draft of an article done in a fraction of the time it used to take me. And the quality was good…like, REALLY good!
I normally would have struggled to come up with creative ways to say things or to find the right word. But Jasper did all of that for me.
Projects that used to take days could now be done in hours.
AI writing tools still need human input and editing. But they can be a total lifesaver when you’re short on time. If you’re struggling with writer’s block, if you just don’t have a lot of time to write, OR IF YOU HAVE “mom-brain” like me, I highly recommend giving Jasper a try. It will totally change your life!
Edit and Revise
Like I mentioned, an AI writing tool like Jasper is a great way to get a first draft written quickly. But think of it more like a writing assistant. You’ll still need to edit and revise your draft before you hit publish.
When you’re editing your post, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Is the overall message clear?
- Do the H2s flow logically from one to the next?
- Are keywords sprinkled naturally throughout the post?
- Does the post answer the questions your target reader is likely to have?
- Does it lead to more questions that should be answered within the post or in a future blog?
- Is there enough supporting data to back up any claims you’ve made?
- Are there any grammar or spelling errors? (I use ProWritingAid to help me with this)
- Have you checked it for plagiarism? (I use Small Seo Tools Plagiarism Checker to make sure nothing is too similar to another source)
- Do you need to add any links to other articles or data sources?
- Do you need to source images or create graphics before publishing?
If you’ve done everything on this checklist, then you’re ready to publish. And there you have it…a blog post written from start to finish in just a few hours!
Blogging doesn’t have to be a time-consuming endeavor. By following these simple steps, you can easily go from a blank page to published blog post in no time!
Want to get paid to write blogs for high-paying clients? Learn how I started my freelance writing career! Click here to grab my FREE guide and 30-day success planner!
