Guest post by Lisbeth Larose.

It may seem surprising to you, but Writing a blog post is a process that’s very similar to decorating a House. Both activities require following a certain plan that consists of several steps. This method insures that you will successfully reach your ultimate goal.

Planning and topic research

Say you’ve just moved to a new house. Everything is well and good, you have somewhere to sleep and a place to cook, but you feel something’s missing. Your house just feels so empty. So you decide to decorate it with suitable furniture and eye-catching paintings etc. What’s the first thing you’ll do?

That’s right! You’ll search for ideas, just like a blogger searches for a topic nobody has covered before. You need to find examples or, if you already have some, you can use your imagination.

Once you found your perfect idea, it’s time to make it happen. Preparation is key to your success. Do some in-depth research on your blog subject and find suitable keywords, have multiple information sources to hand and set an appropriate post date.

Structure and style

When you’re decorating your house, you can’t just scatter furniture around your rooms and throw in a vase or two in random places. It’s a good idea to choose a certain style and stick to it all the way through. This will make your house less chaotic and certainly more appealing. Pick a classic, modern, or in-between style and no more than three colours.

With blog writing, it’s exactly the same. Make a decision on what the post will be about:

• Is it informational, educational or entertaining;
• Perhaps compile a list post;
• Maybe a how-to guide;
• And whether you include an Infographic or any other visual content.

So how will you present your idea to the general public or your target audience? Will it be conversational, funny or friendly, or business-like to inspire credibility?

Writing

You will also want your guests to feel comfortable and admire the results of your refurbishment skills. When writing a blog, your job is to get the reader’s attention, keep it until the end of your post, and make them want to share your content with their friends.

As you go about creating your post, there are several things to consider so that the finished product more readable and eye-catching. Every little detail counts:

• Eye-grabbing headlines that spark the reader’s interest;
• An excellent first paragraph that introduces the user to the subject;
• Use of different media such as images, video and audio;
• Cater for scanners with subheadings, bullet points and ordered lists;
• Remember to include a call to action at the bottom of the post.

Spell check and final improvements

Once you’ve finished writing, it’s time to review and edit your work. This is to see if you have managed to achieve the results you aimed for in the first place. Imagine you just mounted a TV on your wall and you have to check if it’s firmly fixed or adjust the angle. That’s exactly what you need to do when you finish your blog post.

As you re-read your work, you’ll possibly add extra bits of information that you’ve missed out or you’ve thought of some more ideas. Check your grammar and spelling, as well as the sources of your data and arguments, as focusing on excellence builds up trust from your readers. This will increase the chance of them subscribing to your blog and following you on social media.

Reach out to the public

Now you’ve completed your house refurbishment, you’d probably want to show off what you’ve done to the world. You use your smartphone to take a picture and post it on your Facebook wall. “Likes” flood in and you start feeling joy and a sense of accomplishment.

As a blogger, your main ambition is to be seen and admired by thousands of followers. Sharing your posts on your social media channels is only the beginning. As a hard-working writer, you value your time and effort to provide brilliant content.

So you expand your horizons, build relationships with other bloggers, reach out to blogging influencers and ask them to display your work. Find the right platforms to distribute your content and gradually you will gain a larger reader base.

If you can decorate a house, then you can surely write an awesome blog post as well.

About the author

Lisbeth Larose is the lead content creator for a property refurbishment company in London, called Fantastic Handyman. Her areas of expertise also include cooking and fashion.

The post How Writing a Blog is like Decorating a House appeared first on Fairy Blog Mother.