How to Write a Blog Post: The Definitive Guide

Last updated Nov. 16, 2023

Today I’m going to show you how to write a blog post that gets:

Hundreds of comments.

Thousands of social shares.

And first page Google rankings.

Let’s dive right in.

How to Write a Blog Post: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 1: Find a (Proven) Topic

Your blog post topic is HUGE.

Question is:

How do you find proven topics?

Use one of these 5 simple step-by-step strategies.

Udemy Courses

Udemy is a keyword research GOLDMINE.

Here’s why:

Udemy doesn’t just show you content that people are interested in.

Instead, you see content that people are paying for.

You can search for courses by category…

…or by keyword.

Either way, you’ll find content that people are PAYING to access.

For example, let’s say you run a blog about graphic design.

Head over to the design category in Udemy…

…and scroll down to their best-selling courses:

And within 5 seconds you have a list of proven topics:

3D Modeling
Designing and coding WordPress themes
After Effects tutorial
How to use Adobe Illustrator

Very cool.

Amazon Table of Contents

First, search in Amazon for a keyword that describes your blog.

Then, look for a book with lots of ratings.

(This shows you that people actually bought the book.)

Finally, click “Look Inside” to see the table of contents.

And just like with Udemy, you get a list of topics presented to you on a silver platter:

This leads us to…

Semrush “Top Pages”

Now it’s time to steal your competitor’s best topics.

First, grab a competitor and pop it into Semrush.

Then, hit “Traffic Analytics > Top Pages”.

And you’ll see the exact content that’s worked best for that blog (in terms of direct, referral, social, search, and paid traffic):

BuzzSumo’s “Evergreen Score”

You already know that BuzzSumo is a GREAT tool for finding content ideas.

(In fact, BuzzSumo is one of my favorite content marketing tools.)

And they recently added a VERY cool feature that makes this tool even more useful:

“Evergreen Score”.

Here’s how it works:

First, type a keyword into BuzzSumo just like you normally would.

By default, BuzzSumo shows you content that has lots of social shares.

But here’s the problem:

You can’t tell whether that content went viral for a day and quickly flamed out…

…or if it’s still racking up shares and links years later.

That’s where the Evergreen Score comes into play.

It shows you content that people share and link to MONTHS after it first went live:

That way, you can publish content that brings you traffic for YEARS.

Conference Agendas

This is quickly becoming my FAVORITE ways to find killer topics.

First, head to a conference website in your niche.

Go to the agenda page:

And you’ll see topics that people are (again) paying to learn more about:

Pro Tip: Pop the conference agenda page into the Google Keyword Planner.

Choose “This page only”:

And you’ll get a list of targeted keyword ideas… straight from Google.

Chapter 2: Blog Post Templates

Now that you have a topic, it’s time to get started on your post.

And I have great news:

You don’t need to start from scratch, suffer from writer’s block, or stare at a blank white screen.

Instead, use one of the awesome blog post templates that I’m about to share with you.

#1: Expanded List Post

What It Is

A regular list post… but better.

List posts are a blogging mainstay. And for good reason: they’re a collection of bite-sized tips that people can use to get a specific result. The issue is: traditional list posts usually leave out key details.

(Like how to put each tip into practice.)

But the Expanded List Post is completely different.

With the Expanded List Post, you give LOTS of detail about each item on your list.

Why It Works

Normal lists posts make people do a ton of extra work.

For example, let’s say the first tip from a list post is: “Eat Eggs at Breakfast”

Well, that leaves out A LOT of important info, like:

What time should I eat?
How do I cook the eggs (hard boiled vs. scrambled)
What about organic and free-range eggs?
Can I eat anything with the eggs?

Well, the Expanded List Post answers all of those questions and more.

That way, your reader doesn’t have to fill in the blanks.

Real Life Example

A while back I published: “19 NEW SEO Techniques”.

And this Expanded List Post is one of the most successful pieces of content that I’ve ever published.

To date, my post has 14k social shares and 1,150 comments:

And backlinks from over 1K domains:

Ahrefs – SEO techniques – Referring domains

My secret?

Unlike most list posts, I gave people detailed steps for each and every tip:

#2: The Branded Strategy Case Study

What It Is

Your Branded Strategy Post solves a problem that your target audience struggles with.

And when you give this solution a “branded” name? You’re instantly seen as an industry expert.

There’s only one catch:

You need to prove that it works.

Enter: The Branded Strategy Case Study.

Why It Works

Your branded name gives people something tangible to link to.

It also helps establish you as an authority in your niche.

(If you created your own strategy, you MUST be an expert.)

Real Life Example

A few years ago I was having a hard time building my email list.

And after trying a bunch of different strategies, I finally found something that worked.

Offering people VERY targeted lead magnets.

So I decided to write a blog post about my experience.

And I made sure to give my new strategy a name:

The Content Upgrade.

This simple little case study has racked up 4.82K backlinks from 851 domains.

And most of these links are a direct result of my unique, branded name:

#3: Tools of the Trade

What It Is

A “Tools Of The Trade Post” is a list of tools that you recommend.

To be clear:

These tools DON’T have to be software.

A “tool” can be a morning routine, a foam roller or a B12 supplement.

As long as the tool helps your reader solve a problem, you’re good.

Why It Works

Strategies are hard.

Approaches are tricky.

But tools are EASY.

(In fact, the #1 question I get is: “Brian, what SEO tools do you recommend?”.)

That said:

Finding the right tool can be REALLY hard.

That’s where your “Tools of the Trade” post comes in.

It’s a hand-picked list of the best tools… all in one place.

Real Life Example

A few years ago I published a blog post called: How to Learn SEO In Record Time.

It was a list of “tools” (resources) to help people learn SEO.

It didn’t go viral or anything. But it got over 2K shares:

#4: The Ultimate Guide

What It Is

A complete resource that covers EVERYTHING.

Why It Works

Your guide gives someone everything they need to know about a topic… in one place.

So there’s no need for people to read 18 different posts.

Once they find your guide, they have everything they need to know.

It’s also great for getting backlinks.

That’s because bloggers will link to your guide when they write about your topic:

Real Life Example

The first guide I ever published at Backlinko was: “Link Building for SEO: The Definitive Guide”.

(Since then I’ve updated the guide at least 50 times.)

Because my guide is SUPER thorough, other SEO and content marketing blogs were happy to link to it:

And share it on social media:

#5: The Complete List

What It Is

A Complete List is like an ultimate guide in list form.

So instead of a guide, you take every…

Tip
Item
Tool
Technique
Strategy
Example
Case study

…And put it in one place.

Why It Works

First off, Complete Lists have a legit “WOW” factor.

(A list of 200+ anything is impressive.)

Second, you’re curating scattered information on a single page.

Real Life Example

In 2015 I published “SEO Tools: The Complete List”.

It’s a MASSIVE list of over 175 SEO tools.

(Yup, I personally tried each and every one of them.)

But I didn’t just list a bunch of tools and call it a day.

I made sure to highlight my favorite tools:

And the post has been a traffic MAGNET for me.

In fact, 10,909 people visit that post every single month:

Chapter 3: Create an Awesome Headline

When it comes to writing a blog post, your headline can make or break your entire post.

So it’s important to nail this step.

And in this chapter, I’m going to show you how to write amazing blog post headlines.

Start Your Headline With These Phrases

BuzzSumo analyzed 100 million headlines.

So, what did they find?

That headlines that start with these 20 phrases tend to get the most shares:

Top phrases starting headlines (measured by average Facebook engagement)

For example, this post from my blog uses one of these tested phrases:

12-18 Words

Let’s look at another interesting finding from that BuzzSumo study.

They discovered that the sweet spot for headline length is between 12-18 words.

(At least when it comes to social shares.)

Add Brackets (And Parentheses)

This is one of my favorite headline hacks.

Why?

A study by OutBrain found that adding brackets to headlines can improve CTR up to 38%.

Brackets increase click through rate by 38%

And my real-world experience backs this up.

5 of my top 10 most popular posts have brackets or parentheses in the title:

In B2B? Use These Proven Headline Phrases

If you’re in B2B (like me), you know that clickbait titles don’t work that well.

Fortunately, the BuzzSumo study I mentioned earlier also analyzed a subset of B2B post titles.

And they discovered that these 20 phrases work GREAT in B2B:

Top B2B headline phrases (measured by average LinkedIn shares)

Optimize for EMV

Every copywriter knows that emotional headlines get LOTS of clicks.

And now there’s data to back this up.

CoSchedule published a blog post headline study.

Specifically, they analyzed a million headlines for “EMV”.

(EMV=”Emotional Marketing Value”)

And they found a clear correlation between high EMV and social shares.

Average EMV score for headlines based on shares

You can measure your EMV score using this tool from the Advanced Marketing Institute:

Advanced Marketing Institute – Headline analyzer

Just pop your headline into the tool…

…and you’ll get your EMV score.

I try to get my EMV score to at least 25%.

I even have a few headlines with an EMV score of 70%+.

Chapter 4: Craft a Compelling Intro

Topic? Check.

Headline? Check.

Now it’s time to grab your reader’s attention.

How? Your blog post introduction.

4-7 Sentences

Let’s face it:

No one likes long blog post introductions, like this:

That’s why I limit my intros to 4-7 lines… MAX.

For example, my intro from this post is only 6 lines:

In my experience, 4-7 sentences are more than enough to hook people…

…and get them excited for the content they’re about to read.

PPP Formula

The PPP Formula is KILLING it for me right now.

(The “PPP” stands for: Preview, Proof, Preview.)

Here’s a visual of the formula:

Now I’m going to break down each part of the PPP formula…

…and show you real-life examples of the formula in action.

First, you have the Preview.

This couldn’t be any more simple.

Just let your reader know EXACTLY what to expect.

That way, when someone lands on your post, they know they’re in the right place.

Here’s an example:

Next, it’s time for the Proof.

Here’s where you show people that you can deliver.

Specifically, you want to prove that you know your stuff.

You can show proof with:

Personal results
Years of experience
Number of clients
Credentials or certifications

Here’s an example:

Last up, we have the Preview… again.

The first preview was a high-level overview of your post.

The 2nd preview is a little bit different.

This preview is where you get specific about something from your post.

For example, in this intro, I preview the fact that the steps are actionable.

Transition

I like to end my intros with a transition sentence.

In my experience, this transition helps push people to read the next section.

Here’s an example:

Chapter 5: Write Your Post

Now it’s time to show you how to write SUPER engaging content.

Specifically, I’m going to share 6 strategies that can make your blog posts 10x better.

Starting with…

Short Paragraphs

Want people to read your content? AVOID giant walls of text.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Instead, stick to paragraphs that are 1-2 sentences long.

Like this:

Why is this important?

Short paragraphs are easier to read.

(Especially on mobile devices.)

Section Subheaders

I LOVE subheaders.

That’s because subheaders break your content up into easy-to-read chunks.

For example, my post “The Complete SEO Checklist” has A LOT of content.

(In fact, that post is 4,328 words.)

So I broke up the content into lots of little chunks. And added a list of bullet point links that take you to each section:

In fact, this single post has 9 subheaders.

Active Voice

If I could give people ONE writing tip for writing blog posts it would be:

Use the active voice!

Seriously.

The passive voice is just… lame.

On the flip side, the active voice is crisp and clear.

15-17px Font

You might have noticed that Medium.com posts are REALLY easy to read.

How do they do it?

They use 21px font.

If you’re using anything less than 15px, you’re losing lots of readers.

That’s why we use 18px font here at Backlinko.

Write Like You Talk

This is the holy grail of great writing.

But it’s not easy.

(Especially if you took English classes in high school.)

With that, here’s a tip:

Read your post out loud.

If it sounds weird, scrap that sentence.

This time, explain the same thing out loud.

You’ll probably find that the same sentence sounds A LOT better.

Lots of Visuals

Screenshots.

Charts.

Pictures.

Infographics.

Don’t be afraid to use a ton of visuals in every post.

For example, this post from my blog has 95 visuals:

Chapter 6: Add a Conclusion

Let’s cap things off with your conclusion.

And let me be clear about something:

Your conclusion is VERY important.

(Especially if you want lots of people to comment on your post.)

Fortunately, I’ve developed a simple, 3-step formula for writing AWESOME conclusions.

It’s called “The TAC Formula”.

Here’s an overview of The TAC Formula:

And now I’ll cover the detailed steps…

Start your conclusion off with the Transition.

Your transition is just like it sounds:

It transitions people from your blog content to the conclusion section.

Here’s an example:

"Now I'd like to hear from you" at the end of the post

Next, it’s time for the Ask.

Here’s where you ask your reader a VERY specific question.

In other words: don’t ask: “Let me know what you think”.

Instead, throw your reader a softball question that’s easy to answer.

For example:

Finally, end with a call to action.

You can ask your readers to comment…

…or to share your content on social media.

Chapter 7: Optimize for SEO

Next, optimize your post for SEO.

And the best way to do that?

Use the 5 on-page SEO strategies I’m
about to show you.

Short URLs

There’s no doubt about it:

When it comes to SEO, short URLs work best.

There are two reasons that short URLs outperform long URLs.

First off, your URL helps Google understand your page’s topic.

In fact, Google officially recommends short, descriptive URLs.

Second, people use URLs to help them decide what to click on in the search results.

And if your URL is insanely long, people are less likely to click on it:

Speaking of…

Meta Description

Nope, search engines don’t use your meta description for SEO. That said: your meta description is a GREAT way to get more people to click on your result.

Specifically, you want your meta description to: