It has been said time and time again that content is the most important thing a blog has. Ever heard the famous “content is king” phrase? Well, it’s 100% true. You have probably heard that phrase so much that you’re getting sick of hearing it. But how many of us truly treat our content like a king?
There are so many more things we would rather do than writing blog articles. I myself would rather spend an hour tweaking my blog design than spending an hour writing. What you rather do besides writing blog content? I bet the answer to that question is the thing you do when you should actually be writing!
If you want to start giving your content more of a “king like” treatment, you have to review your writing process. You writing process is basically the steps you take from coming up with your idea, to hitting the publish button on your final post draft. It’s important to have a solid plan to come up with the best content as possible.
I can break down a good writing process in three steps:
- The planning/brainstorming stage
- The writing stage
- The touchup stage
This is the process I use for each and every article I write. Every blogger goes through this same process when they write, no doubt. But it all comes down to how you carry out each step. You can plan out every last detail, or you can go into writing without that many details. It’s up to you on how you choose to treat your content, and I hope for the sake of your blog you choose the right way.
1. The Planning/Brainstorming Stage
This is the most important part of your whole writing process, because you’re basically coming up with the template you will follow for getting through the other two steps in your process. When you are planning, you have to be as prepared as possible and try to nail every single detail.
What does it take to come up with any good ideas? Inspiration. Coming up with a great blog article is not easy to do when you aren’t inspired. Read other blogs in your RSS reader, sip on some tea and listen to music. Do something that will get you inspired and ready to start your brainstorming process.
One thing that gets me inspired to work is the place I work at. I have a desk for doing my web development work, and a separate corner in my room where I sit on my laptop and write. I only sit in this area when I have to write, and I really am relaxed here (picture below).
Click to see a larger picture
How to come up with many ideas for articles
The technique I use to map out my blog posts is a technique called mind mapping. It’s something we all learned in elementary school, but it’s very effective in coming up with a lot of great ideas for blog posts.
I wrote an article about mind mapping before, and I would highly recommend you read that post for a better idea of how to mind map. It really is the best way in my opinion to plan out a blog post, and it leaves you with a lot of great details to expand on later.
I use a whiteboard in my room to mind map my blog articles. Sometimes I use half of the board, sometimes I use the whole thing. It really beats using anything online in my opinion.
Click to see a larger view
2. The Writing Stage
This is the part of the process where you actually produce the content. It’s not always the most fun, especially if you’re low on time. But it’s definitely the part of your writing process that is the most satisfying to achieve.
When you’re writing, you need to stay focused. You can’t work in an area that has any distractions as you will most likely get less things done. You can still watch a football game and write an article, but you will work slower and you may not write at your best as your mind will be focused on the game and your article. You can’t afford to have a mind that is only half aware when it comes to writing — make sure you’re focus is 100% on your content!
You should always keep focus, but don’t be afraid to take breaks. Sometimes breaks are just what you need to get your head clear so you can write better. Usually we see break time as a time to relax. I don’t believe that should be the case when you are writing. When taking a break from writing, get up and walk around. Stretch your muscles and let your mind wander while you’re away from the computer. It will do you good.
Don’t just take breaks at any random time though. As in, don’t walk away from your computer when you are halfway through a sentence. Try setting break times for yourself by making checkpoints. For example, take a five minute walk after completing six paragraphs.
Always be sure to stick to the plan you initially created in step one. Improvise where you absolutely think you should, but I would advise you to stick to the thing you planned on doing going into writing. It will take a lot off your mind in the long run and will keep your goal a to what you want to talk about in your writing clearer.
What are your best tips for staying focused and productive while writing?
3. The Touchup Stage
This is the final stage of your blog article. The part where you spell check, add formatting, and fill in every other minor detail.
It’s probably the least time consuming stage of your writing process, but it’s a very important one nonetheless. There are quite a few things you can do to make your post really great after finishing writing it. What are the things you do with your articles at this stage of your writing process?
- Interlink - Interlinking adds depth to your blog and brings traffic back to older posts.
There is a great, free plugin that makes interlinking blog posts very easy and quick. It is called Internal Link Building, and is very simple to use.
- Images - Adding a few images to your article can really improve readability. It never looks appealing to publish an article that has paragraph after paragraph. Images are a great way to separate information and improve it’s appeal. Read how to setup blog post images like us.
- Formatting - Sometimes you don’t realize that you could have used a list to display information, or that you could have broken down a long line of paragraphs into a few different headings.
Are you for the Kings Treatment?
Content takes a lot of work, and requires a lot of pampering on your end to make it great. But, your blog will not be anything special if don’t make your content special. That’s all there is to it.
Look back at the content on your blog and try to determine if you have been treating it like a king, or something of lower value. If content is what you don’t spend the most time on your blog, then you may have the answer to why you aren’t where you want to be.
40 Discussions
A good explanation of the 3 basic steps.Missing up any of them cannot attract / make readers to devolep interest in reading the article.But however planning plays a key role in building up a better article & touch up(usage of SEO) makes u stand in front line of search engines ,when these two accompanied with writing can bring up the best in u..
krish´s last blog ..Twitter Tools- Free Tools To Schedule Your Tweets
Awesome tips here! I really wish I had these writing tips when I first started out with my blog.
Eric B.´s last blog ..Nice Pull Quotes With CSS
Thanks for sharing the tips, but actually I dont have much time to think about all these steps while writing some contents, its always a hurry matter.
Very good point about how content is so important, and taht it takes time to make a well crafted blog post that others are going to find value in.
Jeff´s last blog ..Carp Fishing Rods
It does take time so its important to plan ahead to take the time that you really need to write a post you and your readers will enjoy.
Seth´s last blog ..How to Write Content Like a King
So this is a pretty good process, but it is just a start.
I’ve written probably 25,000 words on the topic of writing (not all on Website In A Weekend, some of it on There Is No Box tinobox.com/wordpress).
What I’ve found is that most “tricks” for fooling the mind into productive work… work until the novelty wears off. Then it’s time to think up some new tricks. I have whole bags of such tricks. Fortunately, you can reuse them after a while. For example, I use Google Notes about 4 times per year. Works for a while, then I stop using it when it doesn’t work for me any more. Same with the whiteboard.
Sometimes it works to write straight through… for a few weeks.
Then, writing in short segments through the day. And so on.
Also depends on the writing. If it’s “real” writing (i.e., not for a blog), the process is somewhat different. Lot more moving pieces for something going out for publication, plan accordingly.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Saturday Morning Surfing – Oversharing is *not* intimacy
Hi Alex,
Could I suggest that “relevant content is king” – most content is the web is useless to me.
but the stuff that’s relevant, that’s gold dust.
Ivan
Good post, but i think there is much more to the “Touchup stage” than just the post in itself such as internal linking, photos, etc.
Immediately after I have written something, I make searches on the topic, find other blog posts covering almost what I have written about that I can comment on and refer back to the post I have just written. I think this part, – when a post is done but you have all opportunities to market it, is often overlooked.
Lars, I do to. I’ve even formalized that process.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Happy Anniversary! Website In A Weekend is 1 Year Old
Formalized it how?
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..The Time Has Come. The Deal Is Done. It’s Time To Move!!
Blog Post Engineering.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..hRecipe – Semantic Recipes for WordPress (Google loves these)
I don’t know what that means, but I did come across – http://blogpostengineering.com/
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Theme Customization 4 – NEW Social Media Icons & RSS/Newsletter Subscription Box(s) Coming – You Need to Settle an Argument!
Interesting take on a done to death topic. I enjoyed it. Is making sure your content reads well and clean just as important?
lickshunmewah´s last blog ..7 Ways To Make Your Resume Outstanding And Get An Interview
Yep since late last year I started really focusing more on content rather than marketing. Its not really that I don’t write good content but what I know is I can produce better ones..
Good article..
Great content is very important, while taking care of the quality of grammar, punctuation and spelling is also a part of great content as ”Nothing destroys authority on a subject quicker than poor use of the language”
Exactly!
lickshunmewah´s last blog ..7 Ways To Make Your Resume Outstanding And Get An Interview
Great explanation of writing good content. All three steps are indeed useful to content writer or bloggers.
It’s necessary to make perfect plan before writing a topic and we should go through other blogs or articles on particular topic how others are writing.
Teaching us to write like me, eh Alex? *wink wink*
LOL
Hi Alex,
I am writing just to introduce myself. My name is Louie , and I also have a blog in the SEO, Web Develepment and Blog Tips niche.
The URL is http://www.dreamhousewebsolutions.com
I found your content very interesting, and I will definitely be recommending it to my readers. Your site ROCKS!
Best wishes,
Louie
You may be right that the whole step in this article can create the great (king) content but it seems really consume the time. I think it is better if we can compromise the time and the quality.
Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..My English is Poor Enough, Therefore I Blog
I am so Amazed by this Article. Well Written.
Great article, Alex. Mind mapping is a very great tool that I use in my blogging and I must say that it’s really really helpful.
Shirley´s last blog ..How Not To Lose Your Credibility And Image Through Crappy E-books
A great guide to on how to write some strong content. If content reads well then you are more likely to return in the future and show further interest in a website.
For some tips on writing a blog post see, What makes the perfect blog post?
Lucy ´s last blog ..SEO Tools: Lead Tracker
This article is a fantastic step by step of creating quality content. Of course there are ways to write very fast but in the end the article won’t come out in the quality than if we took the steps you mentioned. The fact is that most people don’t want to put this much effort and time into a post. They just want to get it done and think that publishing a lot of stuff is somehow going to be good for their blog. It’s better to have less articles but all of them be great than to have a bunch of not so good one. This was an excellent post. I’ll be tweeting and “deliciousing” it now
.
All the best,
Eren
Eren Mckay´s last blog ..Pear desserts recipes – fresh pear and chocolate
Clever post, Alex! It’s good to see the throne where most of this content is written. I also rotate between a desk and a chair when I’m working on my site. And I’ve been wanting to put my goals on my white board for awhile but I don’t have a dry erase marker.
I’m about to go check out that plugin. Interlinking is one thing I always forget to do.
Nick Tart´s last blog ..Interview: Andrew Fashion, $2.2 Million by 21 and Lost It All by 22
Great post, as you said the key to getting good traffic and subscribers is to have good content and write like its yourself, this is what im trying to work on for my blog
Robert´s last blog ..HP MusicStation – Unlimited Downloads For €10 A Month
Thanks! Great post!
Tony´s last blog ..66 Beautiful and Free iPhone & iPod Touch Wallpapers
Nice tips for blogging! I find that whenever I write articles with the TV on I always end up distracted and having to go back and edit most of my sentences. I agree that having either silence or calm music on in the background is the best way to write.
Blogger Den´s last blog ..Best Linkedin Groups for Jobseekers
Yes! Content is the king! I have learnt of it after joining the blogosphere for 3 months time. Thanks for your detail sharing!
Kok Siong Chen´s last blog ..9 Steps of Peritoneal Cancer Progression
Mind mapping is a great way to brainstorm ideas – especially in blogging. Also thanks for the Interlinking plugins. That sounds like one useful stuff for me!
Ashwin / Thoughts Unlimited´s last blog ..Looking to learn HTML5 and CSS3 ?
By the way – I think the Retweet button at the top of this post is broken. It doesn’t give the Post title by default and I had to add it while tweeting
If it was one of my mistakes – please ignore this comment!!
Ashwin / Thoughts Unlimited´s last blog ..Looking to learn HTML5 and CSS3 ?
Thanks for sharing such a useful information. I am definitely going to consider it next time.
signs and symptoms of diabetes´s last blog ..8 Myths and Facts about Diabetes
mind mapping is one of the key trick for having great writing, you delivered clear message on the above post. thanks
ysfirdaus´s last blog ..7 Tips to Promote Your Blog In The Early Stage
I find reading other blogs, and usually something in a comment from someone that triggers my next idea for a post.
Brian Inman´s last blog ..Gaming Blogs are Like Garage Sales
Doing some ‘weird’ things can boost your imagination and ideas of blogging, just try it out!
Reza Winandar´s last blog ..This is blog is now Do Follow
How do you write while sitting on your laptop? Don’t answer that…
Seriously though, good article man. To be honest though, whiteboards and all that jazz would drive me batty, lol. I get the idea and draft it immediately, with possibly a sentence or two to start it off…somehow it all stays in my head, lol.
On most articles, I spend more time on the touch-up then anything else..I’m a bit anal about things, this is quite OK with me.
To each their own I guess, it seems to work well for me and my readership, which is what it’s all about right?
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..The Time Has Come. The Deal Is Done. It’s Time To Move!!
Nice 3 simple steps. Me write and post only.
Jayce´s last blog ..How to install Garmin Mobile XT for Windows Mobile Phone?
Google Chrome and Firefox have a great extension available called Zemanta, which helps with interlinking and adding relevant images to your posts.
Great article.
One other way I’ve seen for making sure a blog matters (or is it blogs that matter that do this?) is to run crowdsourcing exercises (helps if you’re working on a bigger project, like a book). Tyler Cowen at MarginalRevolution.com or Grant McCracken at CultureBy.com do it pretty well. Okay, I guess they’re applying the For God’s Sake, Ask rule…
I enjoyed reading your article. I haven’t myself used mind mapping but I will definitely try it out. Btw. you mentioned an interlinking Wordpress plugin. Do you use it yourself? I tried some of these plugins and they are useful. But still I am not using them because otherwise they would highlight all of the keywords with a link and I wouldn’t want that to happen.
Julius Kuhn-Regnier´s last blog ..How to Make a Great First Impression Through Guest Posts
7 trackbacks