If you are looking to start blogging or considering the best blogging platform to use then you are in the right place. I personally love the WordPress platform for so many reasons.
I have worked on hundreds of websites and blogs and I can say from being in the backend of different platforms and getting to experience specific features WordPress by far is not only the most friendly for beginners but it has some incredible capabilities for SEO.
In this post, I am going to take you by the hand and teach you how to write a blog post and publish it in WordPress. Not only will I cover how to publish in WordPress but also the process behind a good blog post.
Creating a good blog post will involve various key elements that lead to success. From keyword research to conducting competitive analysis, I will explain to you the crucial steps you need to follow to make sure your posts stand out.
Incorporating the key aspects I will be explaining in a moment will enhance your visibility and attract more organic traffic online. So how exactly do you write compelling content on WordPress? Let’s get started.
How to Start Writing a Blog Post- Best Practices
In my experience, I have learned that to write successful posts on WordPress, it is crucial to follow best practices that will ensure your posts are well-structured, engaging, and properly optimized for search engines.
Here are four main best practices I use to write my WordPress content:
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research is among the most important aspects of blog writing. I always tell my clients that doing thorough keyword research before writing any piece of content cannot be overlooked. Why?
People are actively searching specific terms on search engines and if you are not using the right keywords in your posts, your competition will win most of the clicks.
It is, therefore, important that you research your keywords before writing your WordPress content. Consider the search volume, relevance, and competition when researching your keywords.
I prefer focusing on long-tail keywords that have less competition and are more specific. They easily help to target a specific niche audience and give you better chances of ranking higher.
The good news is that there are many keyword research tools online you use. I use tools like Moz Keyword Planner, Rank Math, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner for my research. You might want to try one or two of these, but there are many others available online.
2. Competitive Analysis
I have found that analyzing the content your competitors create can help you identify helpful content strategies, weaknesses, and strengths. With this knowledge, I easily come up with unique blog ideas that help me to create valuable content that actually ranks.
The competitive analysis comes with a raft of benefits. It will help you understand the type of content that’s going to resonate with your readers. You will also be able to know the gaps that need to be filled.
Also, it allows you to identify new WordPress blog ideas and the angles your content should take. It helps you discover possible outreach opportunities that will potentially lead to new relationships within your niche or industry.
There are many WordPress SEO tools available for us to use for competitive analysis. I particularly like Ahrefts, SEMrush, BuzzSumo, and SurferSEO.
These tools will give you important insights including their valuable backlinks, social media engagement, and their top-performing pages so you can refine your WordPress accordingly to keep you afloat.
3. Rough Blog Draft
Another aspect I find valuable when creating blog content is creating a rough blog draft. Starting with a rough blog draft before creating the final version allows me to easily brainstorm ideas, come up with a structure, as well as define content purpose.
However, we must not forget the importance of keeping the readers in mind even when creating a rough blog draft. You must understand the needs, pain points, and preferences your audience has so you will be able to easily address them in the content you provide.
One of the ways I use to make my blogs more relatable is by including data, examples, and storytelling. This way, my readers can easily relate to the content I write and find it helpful.
Rough drafts also help you to organize your thoughts, save you time in the long run, and ensure there is a logical flow of ideas. When creating my drafts, I often find gaps that require further research or content. This way, I am able to give my audience information that is actually helpful.
4. Internal Linking
You probably already understand the importance of connecting relevant posts or pages within your blog. It will not only improve user experience but make navigation easier and help search engines to understand the hierarchy and structure of your content.
Search engines will also crawl and index your blog more effectively. In general, your SEO improves with proper internal linking in place.
Placing your internal links strategically also helps to guide your readers to related pages or content. This increases their interaction time on your blog and greatly minimizes bounce rates.
Again, there are many tools you can use to help you with internal linking. One I like to use to speed up the process is called Linkwhisper. This tool automates the entire internal linking strategy for me. It suggests relevant anchor texts as well as target pages, saving me a lot of time and effort.
How to Set Up Links in Your WordPress Blog Post
As I have mentioned above, linking is a crucial aspect of creating blog posts that stand out. Including both internal and external links provide additional resources to your blog, enhances your user experience, and boosts your SEO tremendously.
So how exactly do you set up the links in your blog? Here’s how:
- Highlight the text to which you want to add the hyperlink
Once you have your content ready, select the text to which you want to add a link. This may be a keyword, phrase, or any other relevant text.
- Copy and paste the URL into the box that will be on the highlighted text
After you have highlighted the phrase or text, a toolbar is going to appear above the text editor. Find the link icon and click on it. Paste the URL you wish to link to in that box and enter.
You can also do this by pressing “Ctrl + V” on your computer (or “Cmd + V” if you are using a Mac) to paste the URL on the highlighted text.
- Edit the hyperlink settings
Often, the hyperlinks will open on a new window, but your WordPress may be set such that it opens the links on the same tab. You can change this in the hyperlinks settings so that links open in a different window. This avoids distracting your readers so they remain within your blog.
I must mention that it is crucial to link to authoritative and relevant sources especially when setting up external links. Be sure to accurately describe your linked content with appropriate anchor text.
How to Edit Your Blog Post- Best Practices
Once you have your initial draft ready, the all-important step comes: editing the content. I advise my clients to always do the editing with fresh eyes. You want to have some time off your computer and come back later when you have rested and are good to go again.
Editing your blog allows you to refine the content, remove any inconsistencies and errors, and make sure that the information you are giving your audience is factual.
The first thing I do when editing my blog posts is proofreading. I proofread at least twice, removing any glaring errors as I go. I understand that even the best-written blog can greatly benefit from a thorough review, so I never ignore this part.
By reviewing your content at least twice, you will catch any grammatical errors, logical inconsistencies, and awkward phrasing. This significantly improves the readability and quality of your content.
I also use editing tools after thoroughly proofreading the content myself to polish the content. They include the following, among others:
Grammarly
You have probably used this tool. It spots and corrects spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in your text. The tool also gives you suggestions to improve sentence structure and word choice.
Grammarly comes with an intuitive interface that allows users to integrate it to word processing software or web browsers. It is a convenient tool that will not only offer you a valuable second pair of eyes, but also assist you in producing err-free and well-polished blog posts on WordPress.
SurferSEO
SurferSEO is another top WordPress SEO tool that will not only help you come up with polished blog posts, but also improve your content optimization and rankings on search engines. The tool gives users data-driven recommendations and insights for crafting engaging and highly-relevant blog posts.
It analyzes top-ranking pages for target keywords and offers the user a guidance on headings, keyword density, and word count. Use this tool to come up with content that meets SEO best practices and see your blog get better rankings and organic traffic.
CopyScape
This is another valuable tool that I like to use. It is a premium plagiarism detection tool. You understand plagiarism can harm your blog’s credibility, so CopyScape comes in handy to help you ensure the content you publish on your blog is original.
Running your blog post through this tool will help you identify any instances of copied or duplicate content from sources you used. You can then revise those parts of your text to maintain the integrity of your blog or website.
Make Your Blog Content Personalized
While the editing tools I have mentioned above will greatly help you polish your WordPress blog posts, I have learned that making your content personalized is important. You want to give your blogs a unique perspective and voice.
You should always inject your personality into your content to help establish a connection with your readers. You want to be creative here to make your posts relatable. You can share personal experiences, include storytelling, relevant examples, etc.
How to Publish a Blog Post in WordPress
Publishing your content in WordPress is the last step that will bring your blog post to the world. WordPress has a user-friendly interface that makes it easier for you to edit and publish your piece. So here is how to go about it:
- Log in to Your WordPress Dashboard: Go to www.yourblogname.com/wp-admin, replacing “yourblogname” with your domain name. You can use any web browser. You will be taken to WordPress’ login page. Enter your login details to access your dashboard.
- Add a New Post: Once in, hover over the “Posts” tab that’s on the left-hand side of your dashboard. You will see a sub-menu. Click on the “+ New” option to add a new post.
- Copy Your Blog Title and Content: Now go your Word document and copy the blog title and content and paste it into WordPress.
You can highlight the title and use the shortcut “Ctrl + C” then return to your WordPress editor and paste it on the title field. Repeat the same process for the content section.
- Click “Save Draft” and then “Preview” to See what Your Content Looks Like: The next thing you want to do is click on the “Save Draft” button. You will find it on the top right corner. Click on “Preview” and a preview page will open in a new window so you can make any desired changes.
Once you have edited everything to your liking, you can then click “Publish” to make your content live.
How to Add Images to a Blog Post in WordPress
To enhance engagement and visual appeal of your content, you should consider adding images. This is a straightforward process so let’s dive in:
Click the + icon below the block you are writing in and select the image button.
Next, choose to upload an image or select one from existing images in your media library. If you choose to upload an image, you will be prompted to select one from your computer.
You then want to resize the image within WordPress and then align it right, center, or left. To resize the image, you will need to click the image block. Find the resizing handles that will appear on the corners of the image. Click on them and drag the image to resize it accordingly.
How to Add Categories to a Blog Post in WordPress
Categorizing your WordPress blog posts will improve the structure and navigation of your blog. Good categories allow users to find related content and browse through topics easily.
- Access the Blog Post Editor: Log in to your WordPress dashboard. Find the “Posts” section and click on the post you intend to add a category to. You can also just add a new post.
- Locate the “Categories” Meta Box: You will find “Categories” on the right-hand side of the page. There will be a meta box there that will allow you to choose one or more categories to the post.
- Create a New Category or Choose an Existing one: If you have written content before, there will be a list of existing categories. Check the box next to the category you want to add or create a new category by clicking on the “Add New Category” button.
- Assign the Categories to the Post: After you have selected or created the relevant categories, click the “Publish” or “Update” button so your changes can be saved.
Make Sure to Use Rank Math and Other WordPress SEO Tools
I have always emphasized the necessity of using WordPress SEO tools such as Rank Math. These tools will offer you several benefits which include the following, among others:
- Effective SEO. They will help you optimize your content, metadata, internal linking, among other aspects of your content.
- Improved keyword targeting. SEO tools come with keyword research and analysis capabilities that will allow you to use only high-ranking keywords for your WordPress content
- Enhanced content readability. Some SEO tools will improve your content’s readability by helping you remove various errors in the text.
- Optimize schema markup and metadata
