You heard it here first – writing your first blog post is as simple as 1-2-3! Some “First Time Blogging” guides include 9 – 20 steps, and this can be intimidating to someone who has never penned a blog before. This article isn’t intended for seasoned blog writers… this is meant to encourage new bloggers to GO FOR IT! 

Why Just 3 Steps for Writing my First Blog Post?

Chances are, your first blog is not going to win any awards. If you continue to blog after your first post, then I fully expect that you will look back on it in 6 months and hate the fact that you actually published that garbage! The funny thing is that no one expects a freshly launched blog to be amazing, so use that in your favor and push through the blog-writing barrier. Plus, your first article probably wont reach that many viewers… so don’t let your fear of judgement stop you from publishing your first article.

Why should I blog?

Blogging is an amazing way to reach your customer base (or people who share your interests) in a new and informative way, but the real reason to write a blog is that your articles will work 24/7 towards improving your websites Google ranking! As your rankings improve your readership will grow. As your Blogging improves, your articles will start being shared. Your shared articles will start showing up on other websites and social media pages which will organically grow backlinks to your site. All of these actions contribute to your website earning more and more Google Street Cred, which improves it’s overall ranking! Win Win!!!!!

Three Little Piggies,

As promised, in simplified form, the three steps to writing your first blog are:

• Pick a topic.
• Pick a great title.
• Write your article.

It really is that simple. It’s true that there are many advanced techniques to use when writing a blog article but breaking the process down to brass tacks will help neophyte bloggers launch their blog with confidence. Learning is a journey that starts with the first step. Confidence and knowledge will be gained after writing a few basic articles, and then aspiring authors can start adding more advanced techniques to up their blogging game.

Without further ado, let’s dive a bit deeper into the three steps required to write the first article for your blog.

Step 1 – Pick a topic for your article.

That seems simple enough… and it is. Blogs are most often written to promote a product or service, or to provide information on an interest or hobby. Regardless of your blogging goals, you should always write about something you are an expert on for your very first blog. If you own an automotive paint shop, then you might want to write an article on the proper care and maintenance of a car’s paint. If you are into horticulture, then you might want to write an article on how to properly cut flowers for use in a vase. The point is to pick something you know about so you can write an article that does not require a lot of research on your part (leave that to seasoned bloggers!).

Step 2 – Pick a great title.

This one is easier said than done. Great titles take a while to come up with so kick the process off by picking a working title. Don’t fall in love with it just yet as it is probably going to change before long.

There are few “technical” requirements for titles, but definitely try to keep your title under 56 characters – much longer than that and readers tend to lose interest. Shorter titles look better on Social Media, and that increases your article’s chances of being shared.

Another rule of thumb to abide by is to make sure only one “H1” title is used, and that it is used for the main title. Titles inside the body of your blog should be a mix of H2-H6 titles. Like an H1 title, there should only be one H2 title. 

Lastly, be sure to include at least one keyword in your main titles (H1 and H2) – keywords are the words that search engines use to figure out if your article has relevant information for a given Internet search. If so, your article will be listed as a “hit” in the search results. For your reference, the H1 and H2 titles in this post include the target keywords of “First”, “Blog”, and “Post”. 

So, let’s stick with the anology of the Automotive Paint Shop that has decided to blog about the virtues of waxing one’s car properly. They started out with a working title of “Car Waxing 101”. This title is okay – it has met the technical elements (under 56 characters, including spaces, and includes the target keywords “Car” and “Waxing”) but it isn’t overly appealing. So they start a brainstorming session to generate some more ideas:

• How to Wax Your Car Properly. – this is a good title, but it is still limited in its appeal.
• 5 Steps to a Show Car Quality Wax Job! – Getting better, great appeal, but keyword usage is thin.
• Prevent Vehicle Rust Forever! 5 Car Waxing Tips & Tricks. – BINGO! This one has a BOLD opening statement, 56 characters, broad appeal, and a great mix of keywords – Vehicle, Rust, Car, and Wax.

The perfect title starts with identifying the keywords that will be used to search for the content of the article, plug them into a working title and then re-writing the title several times. There is a science to creating great titles, but you don’t need to get that deep just yet. Instead, try to include one or more of the following elements in your title:

1. Make a bold claim or statement.
2. List the number of steps in your “How To” article. (but don’t be BORING)
3. Challenge “normal” ideology.
4. If all else fails, fallback to a comparative “X vs. Y” title format.