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How to Write a Good Blog Post: A Complete Step-by-Step Process

You pull up a blank document, ready to write a blog post, but the white emptiness stares back. How do you begin?

We’ve all been there, staring into that vast white space, wondering where to start. I’ve felt that subtle anxiety too. Yet, with the right approach, that daunting task can turn into a delightful journey. With an established process, writing becomes less about filling the space and more about connecting deeply with your readers.

Dive into the steps in this post and uncover the secrets to crafting a blog post that truly engages and resonates with your audience.

Table of Contents

How long does it take to write a great blog post?

Step 1: identify your topic, original research, topical research, competitive research, how-to guide, feature article, product review or comparison, link/article roundup, expert roundup, step 4: create an outline, introduction, body content, step 6: pen a headline, step 7: edit and proofread your content, step 8: add your meta data, step 9: publish your post, it’s all about practice.

As you get into writing blog posts, you might wonder how long you should take to write a good one. Are you taking too long? Should you spend more time?

Orbit Media Studios found that bloggers take an average of four hours and one minute to complete a blog post in their 2022 survey . For reference, these folks wrote an average of 1,416 words per blog post.

But think of this number as an estimate. It takes everyone a different amount of time to write a blog post based on factors like:

• Personal writing speed: All bloggers write at a different pace, and they’re all valid.
• Subject matter knowledge : It’s faster to write about a subject you know over one you don’t.
• Topic complexity: Most people will need more time to write about piezoelectric ceramics than how to blow a bubble with gum.
• Research requirements : It’ll take longer to put together a blog post that weaves together original interviews than one with a few online sources.

Plus, Orbit Media Studios discovered that bloggers who spend more time on their blog posts get more success. Thirty-three percent of respondents who spent six or more hours per blog post reported “strong results.” Compare that number to the 22% benchmark.

You’ll see that the first steps to writing a blog post involve careful preparation. Start by choosing a topic to write about.

Get as specific as possible when you pick your subject. Specificity lets you differentiate your content from blog posts on similar topics and helps you cover an idea in-depth. Let’s say you want to write about how to cook a steak — you could narrow that down to how to cook a T-bone steak on a grill.

After you decide on a topic, establish the angle you want to take. Going back to our example of how to cook a T-bone steak on a grill, you could come from a scientific angle. For your blog post, you could consult a scientist on why certain techniques make a better steak.

Step 2: Do your research

Now that you know what you want to write about, you can research your topic . Blog post research falls into three categories:

Original research comes from data you generate yourself by consulting other people. Not every blog post needs to have original research to have high-quality content, but it can contribute to truly unique writing.

Try these tactics to get one-of-a-kind sources for your post:

• Surveys: Use a free tool like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to ask people questions on a large scale. Find people who know about your topic at your organization, subscribed to your mailing list on the subject, or in an online community.
• Polls: Polls work well for asking a broad audience a single question. Many social media and communication apps have built-in poll features, such as Twitter and Slack.
• Interviews: Ask experts on your subject for an interview over email, on a video call, or in person. Reach out to your colleagues and network to see if they know anyone. You can also use a service like Help a Reporter Out to get expert quotes.

Topical research is the research you conduct around the internet. Use your preferred search engine to find online sources with these traits:

• Authoritative: The author or website should have plenty of experience or credentials on the topic. When applicable, they should use solid research to back up their claims.
• Recent: Aim for resources written three or fewer years ago when possible.
• Helpful: When your reader clicks through to your source, they should get value out of it and understand how it connects to your article.

This type of research often flies under the radar for newer blog post writers. Competitive research involves evaluating other articles on your subject. By understanding the other content out there on your topic, you can find ways to improve upon it.

Don’t just look for what ideas the other blog posts include. Instead, think about what they’re missing. Maybe they don’t cover a point you feel is important, or you could format your content more clearly than them.

Step 3: Choose the type of blog post you’ll write

With knowledge of your topic on hand, it’s time to decide how you’ll present it. Some popular blog post genres include:

List blog posts organize information into a list with headings naming each item. They often come in the form of numbered lists with a title featuring the number of items, such as “5 Ways to Fold a Towel.”

When you write a list blog post, you don’t have to make your list the only content. HelpScout’s 13 Best Practices for Improving Online Customer Service introduces online customer service, then digs into its items.

A checklist blog post provides a checklist for readers to follow to perform a task.

These posts often provide a simplified checklist to follow and then provide more details for each item, like our blog post checklist .

A how-to guide walks the reader through the steps it takes to perform an action.

These blog posts rely heavily on lists and images to help readers understand each part of the process. Melly Sews’s how-to guide to sewing a flat-felled seam uses both.

An interview blog post showcases an interview the author has with someone who has insights to share about the article topic.

You can go about one of these blog posts in two ways. Either list out your questions and answers in a Q&A format or use your interview answers to tell a story. Notion did the latter in Three-time YC founder and first-time mom finds flow in Notion .

A feature article brings together original research and interviews to explore a subject. Since features often involve interviews, they can overlap with interview blog posts.

Some blogs take a feature-first approach to posting, such as Microsoft’s Unlocked blog. One example of one of their features is Can an alphabet save a culture?

In the context of blog posts, an essay presents the author’s argument or opinion. The writer uses research and evidence to back up their points.

Media Strategies Aren’t as Crazy as They Seem from the Animalz blog features real-life examples that back up a unique perspective.

News posts share news from your community or company.

On business blogs, a lot of news posts relate to company and product updates, like SparkToro Now Has 50% More Podcasts from SparkToro.

A case study tells a success story about a product or service. It generally focuses on one event or customer.

This type of blog post requires original interviews with the customer involved so you can get their perspective on your work. With some products, you can share the results of how you helped the customer. Take Buffer, a social media scheduling tool, sharing posts from its customer in this case study as an example.

Product reviews and comparisons evaluate the usefulness of products for the reader. Reviews focus on a single product, while comparisons compare the features of multiple products.

Some of these product posts come in the form of a list ranking the best products in a category, like Zapier’s email newsletter software roundup .

Link and article roundups bring together links to online resources or articles on a specific subject.

Some of these roundups are more purchase-focused, such as Good On You’s roundup of eco-friendly fashion deals .

Expert roundup blog posts present opinions on a topic from multiple subject matter experts.

This format can overlap with other formats, like in Databox’s blog posts that synthesize expert opinions into lists. The Heroes of Business Transparency is one example.

Many people skip or rush through this step even though it’s just as important as the actual writing. A detailed blog post outline gives your article structure and lets you evaluate your overall argument before you write out the full post.

It also helps combat writer’s block. At the outline stage, you only have to get a basic idea down, taking off the pressure of writing a complete idea. Then, when you get to the writing stage, you’ll have your outline to reference when you don’t know what sentence to write next.

Follow these steps to write an outline:

• List each section and subsection of your blog post. Each section could cover a list item, a point in your argument, a step in a process, etc.
• Add up to three main points per section. Here’s where you’ll start forming the ideas you’ll cover. As you practice making outlines, you might find it helpful to get even more detailed at this stage.
• Include any links and examples you want to include for your points. Place your sources where you plan to reference them so you can add them easily in the writing stage.

Here’s a hypothetical outline for a blog post by my cat on why I should feed her a second dinner:

You can go more in-depth with your points in your outline, but here’s how the formatting should look.

I recommend writing your outline in a separate document and copying any headers and links over to your draft document. It can be tempting to write your outline and fill out your draft from there, but your document will get disorganized quickly with this approach.

Step 5: Write your post

Onto the writing itself!

Make sure to follow web writing best practices when you write your content.

People read 25% slower onscreen, and they skim rather than read. Web text should be short, scannable, and structured as linked, topical pages. Nielsen Norman Group

Shortening or “chunking” your content helps readers skim, so try to keep your sentences to 25 words or fewer and paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Make sure to follow the style guide for your blog if you have one as well.

A blog post consists of three main sections that require different approaches:

Integrate your blog post’s angle and an emotional hook into your introduction. This technique establishes what makes your post unique from the start and draws in the reader.

For example, in this blog post, I’m trying to provide a comprehensive process so you never feel lost when writing. I explained that angle in the second paragraph of my intro.

As for the emotional hook, try putting yourself in the reader’s shoes or telling a story. I used the example of staring at a blank page wondering what to do next because I’ve been there and know others have, too.

You could also use the Animalz technique of using an unexpected hook and referencing it throughout your blog post. This method takes practice and careful thought, but that hard work really pays off.

Whichever hook you use, keep your introduction concise — about three paragraphs or fewer. An intro that goes on too long can lose the reader’s interest.

A quick side note: You don’t have to write your introduction first if it comes easier to you after you write the rest of your post. Mark it for later and revisit it when you have more context to work with.

Your body content consists of all the words between the introduction and conclusion.

As you write this part of your post, try to cover all the information important for your reader to know. If you have a word limit to stay within, consider linking out to resources on complicated sub-topics.

Speaking of linking, include links to other posts on your blog and trusted sources throughout your body content. Search engines prioritize websites that link relevant pages to each other. Plus, it works as a way to cite your sources when you use outside information.

Just make sure that any site you link to is relevant to your post. Adding links for linking’s sake will make it harder to establish authority and search engine performance.

Lastly, make sure your writing is crisp, clear, and concise by keeping paragraphs three sentences or less, and each sentence 25 words or less .

Here’s an example of a well-structured post’s body content.

Time for the grand finale. You have multiple ways to go about writing a conclusion, such as:

• A summary: Summarize the key points you covered in your post.
• A takeaway: Provide a takeaway from the ideas you presented in your post. You could go back to the angle you established at the beginning, for example.
• A redirection: Connect your blog post to another post on your blog and direct your reader there for further reading.
• A bonus tip: Offer one final tip for the reader to use as they apply the knowledge in your post.

When it feels appropriate, you can also add a call to action to subscribe to your newsletter, try your product, or perform another transactional action. Connect your call to action back to the rest of your conclusion so it doesn’t feel pigeonholed.

After you finish writing your first draft, give it a headline . You can write the headline before your post if you like — there’s no hard and fast rule. For this blog post, we’re writing the headline after the content so you have your draft on hand to inspire your headline.

Follow these steps to craft a top-notch headline for your article:

• If you write blog posts with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, grab the top keyword for your article. This keyword should have a direct relation to your subject.
• Write down 25 versions of your headline to give yourself plenty of choices to consider. Make sure your keyword feels like a natural part of each headline if you include it.
• Narrow those 25 options to your five favorites.
• Choose a “winner” from your five finalists.

CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer Studio can help you identify what headlines will hook readers and work for SEO. It has a Google Chrome extension and WordPress plugin. If you don’t have a plan that supports plugins, the extension provides a prompt alongside your WordPress headline.

Every blog post needs editing to shine, no matter how talented the writer is. Give your content plenty of this TLC to create quality results.

Start with a basic spelling and grammar check using your word processor’s tools. Then, you can use a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway for more in-depth fixes. While Grammarly performs an advanced spelling and grammar scan, Hemingway checks sentence structure, like so:

After you perform these checks, you should still read through your writing manually. Your human eyes will catch mistakes the computer misses. Plus, your editing should focus as much on the quality of your ideas as it does on your spelling and grammar.

We provided some tips to make the manual editing and proofreading process easier in an earlier WordPress blog post. I also suggest asking yourself these questions as you go through your content:

• Do my logic and arguments make sense?
• Did I use my SEO keywords? Did I insert them naturally?
• Do I notice any words being used frequently that I can mix up with adjectives?
• Did I vary my sentence structure for more dynamic reading?
• Will my blog post be readable for my average reader?
• Did I follow my blog’s style throughout the post?

Your blog post’s title tag, meta description, and URL all influence how people find and understand it.

The title tag and meta description are the title and description you see for a page in search results. By default, WordPress uses your headline as the title tag and your excerpt as the meta description. But, if they aren’t the proper length for search results, they can get cut off.

It’s best practice to write a separate title tag and meta description so you know they’ll look good. In WordPress, you can edit this data by changing your post’s code or using a plugin .

Yoast and All in One SEO are two popular plugin options. These plugins add a box below your content in the WordPress editor where you can manage your title tag and meta description. They also guide you through writing those search specs well.

Your URL slug is the unique string of words that appears at the end of your URL.

For example, this blog post’s URL is:

Its slug is:

That’s the part of the URL that’s different for each blog post.

WordPress pulls your URL slug from your headline, but that slug usually isn’t optimized for search results. According to Ahrefs , a good slug follows keywords and summarizes the essence of the blog post.

No need for a plugin or fancy coding to edit your URL slug. Go to the Block tab in the right-hand menu, then edit your URL using the URL option. Save your draft or update your blog post to save your new slug.

Now that you have your meta data set up, you can finalize your content for publishing. Copy and paste your blog post from your word processor to your WordPress post. The formatting will carry over to the block editor.

Or, you may have written your blog post within the blog post editor. I generally don’t recommend this approach in case you accidentally click “Publish,” but I know some writers get by just fine doing it. You do you.

If you paste your content from a Google Doc or another online text editor, go through your post and re-upload your images from your computer. The images you paste from another source are kept on your editor’s website, and you’ll want them on your WordPress site for safekeeping.

Once you establish a solid process for writing your blog posts, the next step to mastery is practice. As you adjust your system to your workflow, you’ll know what to do next instead of hoping words will magically appear on your blank page. And we’ll be with you as you practice. Just use this guide to help keep you on track.

Pair your airtight writing process with a good topic generation system , and you’ll become an unstoppable blogger. We can’t wait to see what you write!

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About the author, melissa king.

Melissa King writes actionable blog posts about content, marketing, and productivity for tech companies. Find more of her work at melissakingfreelance.com.

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How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide [+ Free Blog Post Templates]

Review a step-by-step guide plus useful templates to learn how to write an effective blog post for your target audience and customers.

6 FREE BLOG POST TEMPLATES

Save time creating blog posts with these free templates.

Updated: 01/31/24

Published: 01/31/24

Anyone can connect with their audience through blogging and enjoy the myriad benefits that blogging provides: organic traffic from search engines, promotional content for social media, and recognition from a new audience you haven’t tapped into yet.

If you’ve heard about blogging but are a beginner and don’t know where to start, the time for excuses is over. Not only can you create an SEO-friendly blog , but I’ll cover how to write and manage your business's blog as well as provide helpful templates to simplify your blogging efforts.

What is a blog post?

How to start a blog, writing your first blog post, what makes a good blog post, blog post examples, how to write a blog post.

Let's get started with an important question.

Blogging may mean different things depending on your niche — so let’s begin with this definition.

A blog post is any article, news piece, or guide that's published in the blog section of a website. A blog post typically covers a specific topic or query, is educational in nature, ranges from 600 to 2,000+ words, and contains other media types such as images, videos, infographics, and interactive charts.

Blog posts allow you and your business to publish insights, thoughts, and stories on your website about any topic. They can help you boost brand awareness, credibility, conversions, and revenue. Most importantly, they can help you drive traffic to your website.

But in order to begin making posts for a blog — you have to learn how to start one, first. Let’s dive in.

• Understand your audience.
• Check out your competition.
• Determine what topics you'll cover.
• Identify your unique angle.
• Name your blog.
• Create your blog domain.
• Choose a CMS and set up your blog.
• Customize the look of your blog.
• Write your first blog post.

1. Understand your audience.

Before you start writing your blog post, make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience. To do so, take the following steps.

Ask yourself exploratory questions.

To discover your audience, ask questions like: Who are they? Are they like me, or do I know someone like them? What do they want to know about? What will resonate with them?

Jot down your notes in a notepad or a document. This is the time to brainstorm audience attributes from scratch, no matter how out of left field they may feel. You should also think about your audience's age, background, goals, and challenges at this stage.

6 Free Blog Post Templates

• "How-to" Post
• "What is" Post
• Listicle Post

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Carry out market research.

Doing market research sounds like a big task, but in truth, it can be as simple as accessing a social media platform and browsing user and blog profiles that match with your potential audience.

Use market research tools to begin uncovering more specific information about your audience — or to confirm a hunch or a piece of information you already knew. For instance, if you wanted to create a blog about work-from-home hacks, you can make the reasonable assumption that your audience will be mostly Gen Zers and Millennials. But it’s important to confirm this information through research.

Create formal buyer personas.

Once you’ve brainstormed and carried out market research, it’s time to create formal buyer personas . It’s important because what you know about your buyer personas and their interests will inform the brainstorming process for blog posts.

"Buyer personas aren’t just for direct marketing. They can be a handy way to keep a human in mind while you’re writing. If you’ve got other marketing or sales teams handy, coordinate your personas," says Curtis del Principe, user acquisition manager at HubSpot. "Chances are that your existing customers are exactly the kind of people you want to attract with your writing in the first place. Your sales and service teams can also have great insight into these people’s needs and pain points."

For instance, if your readers are Millennials looking to start a business, you probably don't need to provide them with information about getting started on social media — most of them already have that down.

You might, however, want to give them information about how to adjust their social media approach (for example — from what may be a casual, personal approach to a more business-savvy, networking-focused approach). That kind of tweak is what helps you publish content about the topics your audience really wants and needs.

Don't have buyer personas in place for your business? Here are a few resources to help you get started:

• Create Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Template]
• Guide: How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business
• [Free Tool] Make My Persona: Buyer Persona Generator

2. Check out your competition.

What better way to draw inspiration than to look at your well-established competition?

It’s worth taking a look at popular, highly reviewed blogs because their strategy and execution is what got them to grow in credibility. The purpose of doing this isn’t to copy these elements, but to gain better insight into what readers appreciate in a quality blog.

When you find a competitor’s blog, take the following steps:

Determine whether they’re actually a direct competitor.

A blog’s audience, niche, and specific slant determine whether they're actually your competitor. But the most important of these is their audience. If they serve a completely different public than you, then they’re likely not a competitor. That is why it’s important to define your buyer personas before taking other steps in the blog creation process.

Look at the blog’s branding, color palette, and theme.

Once you determine that they’re your competitor, it’s time to take note of their techniques so that you can capture a similar readership. Colors and themes play a huge role in whether you seem like part of a niche — for instance, a blog about eco-friendly products should likely use earthy tones instead of bright, unnatural colors such as neon yellow or pink.

Analyze the tone and writing style of the competition.

Take note of your competition’s copywriting. Is it something you feel like you can successfully emulate? Does it ring true to the type of blog you’d like to create? What do readers most respond to? For most, creating a tech blog might be an excellent idea, but if journalistic, review-based writing doesn’t work for you, then that might not be a good fit. Be aware of what you can feasibly execute or hire freelance writers.

3. Determine what topics you’ll cover.

Before you write anything, pick a topic you’d like to write about. The topic can be pretty general to start as you find your desired niche in blogging .

Here are some ways to choose topics to cover.

Find out which topics your competitors often cover.

One easy way to choose topics for your blog is to simply learn what other blogs are writing about. After you determine your competitors, go through their archive and category pages, and try to find out which topics they most often publish content about. From there, you can create a tentative list to explore further. You might find, for instance, that a competitor only covers surface-level information about a subject. In your blog, you can dive more deeply and offer more value to readers.

Choose topics you understand well.

No matter what type of blog you start, you want to ensure you know the topic well enough to write authoritatively about it. Rather than choosing a topic you’ll need to research as you write, think about those that come most naturally to you. What has your professional experience been like so far? What are your hobbies? What did you study in college? These can all give rise to potential topics you can cover in depth.

Ensure the topics are relevant to your readership.

You may find that you hold deep expertise in various topics, but how relevant are they to the audience you understood back in step one?

Del Principe suggests checking in with sales and service teams as well. "What kinds of things do they wish customers already knew? What kinds of questions do they get asked a thousand times? What kind of objections come up from potential customers, and how do they address them?"

If you’re not serving their needs, then you’d be shouting into a void — or, worse, attracting the wrong readership. For that reason, after identifying the topics you can feasibly write about, ask yourself whether those are subjects your audience would like to explore.

Do preliminary keyword research.

Keyword research is the process of searching for topics using a keyword research tool , then determining whether there is demand by looking at each topic’s (or keyword’s) search volume. If you found the perfect topics that are the perfect cross between your expertise and your reader’s needs, you’ve struck gold — but the gold will have no value unless people are searching for those terms. Only then can you capture the audience that is waiting out there.

4. Identify your unique angle.

What perspective do you bring that makes you stand out from the crowd? This is key to determining the trajectory of your blog’s future, and there are many avenues to choose in the process.

Here’s how you can find your unique selling proposition in crowded blogging niches:

Write a professional and personal bio.

Knowing your own history and experience is essential to determine your unique slant. To get started, write a professional bio that explains, at length, who you are and which experiences most inform your blogging efforts. While I could write a lengthy exposition about my childhood, that history isn’t essential unless I’m launching a blog about raising children.

What unique experience makes you a trusted expert or thought leader on the topic? You can use your answers to that question to find your angle. Use this information to populate your “About me” page on your blog and share more about yourself.

Determine the special problem you will solve for readers.

Your readers won’t trust you or return to you unless you actively help them solve a problem. As you try to find your angle, think about ways you can help your audience surmount challenges typically associated with the topics you’ve chosen for your blog. For instance, if you’re creating a blog about sustainability, then you might help readers learn how they can compost organic materials in their home.

Choose an editorial approach.

Will you share your opinions on trending debates? Teach your readers how to do something? Compare or share original research? The editorial approach you choose will in part be informed by the topics you cover on your blog and the problems you’re helping your readers solve. If your blog is about marketing trends and your goal is to keep marketers up-to-date on the latest changes, then your editorial approach should be journalistic in nature. This is only one example of how to choose a technique.

5. Name your blog.

This is your opportunity to get creative and make a name that gives readers an idea of what to expect from your blog. Some tips on how to choose your blog name include:

Keep your blog name easy to say and spell.

No need to get complicated at all with your name, though it might be tempting, since there are so many blogs out there. While choosing a unique name is essential, it’s also important to choose one that is easy to memorize for readers. It should also be simple to remember as an URL (which will come into play in the next step).

Link your blog name to your brand message.

The more related your blog’s name is to the topics you cover, the better. For instance, DIY MFA is all about writers doing their own Master of Fine Arts in writing at home. The brand’s message is all about delving deep into one’s writing practice without needing a formal degree. Try to do something similar for your own blog name: Alluding to your blog’s message, value proposition, and covered topics in one sweep.

Consider what your target audience is looking for.

Your blog name should tie directly into what your readers want to achieve, learn, or solve. DIY MFA is about writers who don’t have the money for graduate school, but who still want to develop their writing skills. The HubSpot Marketing blog is — you guessed it — about marketing trends and tips.

It’s okay if your blog name feels “too straightforward.” Straightforward names accurately communicate what you’re about and effectively attract the right audience.

If you still need more assistance, try using a blog name generator . One last tip: Make sure the name you come up with isn’t already taken, as it could lessen your visibility and confuse readers looking for your content.

6. Create your blog domain.

A domain is a part of the web address nomenclature someone would use to find your website or a page of your website online.

Your blog‘s domain will look like this: www.yourblog.com. The name between the two periods is up to you, as long as this domain name doesn’t yet exist on the internet.

Want to create a subdomain for your blog? If you already own a cooking business at www.yourcompany.com, you might create a blog that looks like this: blog.yourcompany.com. In other words, your blog's subdomain will live in its own section of yourcompany.com.

Some CMS platforms offer subdomains as a free service, where your blog lives on the CMS, rather than your business's website. For example, it might look like this: yourblog.contentmanagementsystem.com. However, to create a subdomain that belongs to your company website, register the subdomain with a website host .

Most website hosting services charge very little to host an original domain — in fact, website costs can be as inexpensive as $3 per month when you commit to a 36-month term.

Pro Tip: You can connect your custom domain to free hosting with HubSpot’s free CMS or in premium editions of Content Hub. This includes access to built-in security features and a content delivery network.

Here are five other popular web hosting services to choose from:

7. Choose a CMS and set up your blog.

A CMS (content management system) is a software application that allows users to build and maintain a website without having to code it from scratch. CMS platforms can manage domains (where you create your website) and subdomains (where you create a webpage that connects to an existing website).

HubSpot customers host web content via Content Hub . Another popular option is a self-hosted WordPress website on a hosting site such as WP Engine . Whether you create a domain or a subdomain to start your blog , you'll need to choose a web hosting service after you pick a CMS.

Pro Tip: You can get started for free with HubSpot’s free blog maker . Our free CMS offers everything you need to get started– including hosting, a visual editor, and hundreds of free and paid themes to choose from.

Start using HubSpot's Free Blog Making tool to publish blog posts.  

8. customize the look of your blog..

Once you have your domain name set up, customize the appearance of your blog to reflect the theme of the content you plan on creating and your brand.

For example, if you're writing about sustainability and the environment, green might be a color to keep in mind while designing your blog.

Image Source

If you already manage a website and are writing the first post for that existing website, ensure the article is consistent with the website in appearance and subject matter. Two ways to do this are including your:

• Logo : This can be your business‘s name and logo — it will remind blog readers of who’s publishing the content. (How heavily you want to brand your blog, however, is up to you.)
• “About” Page : You might already have an “About” blurb describing yourself or your business. Your blog‘s "About" section is an extension of this higher-level statement. Think of it as your blog’s mission statement, which serves to support your company's goals.

9. Write your first blog post.

Once you have your blog set up, the only thing missing is the content. While the design and layout are fun and functionally necessary, it's the content that will draw your readers in and keep them coming back. So how do you actually go about writing one of these engaging and informational pieces?

You’ve got the technical and practical tidbits down — now it’s time to write your very first blog post. And nope, this isn’t the space to introduce yourself and your new blog (i.e. “Welcome to my blog! This is the topic I’ll be covering. Here are my social media handles. Will you please follow?”).

Start with “low-hanging fruit,” writing about a highly specific topic that serves a small segment of your target audience.

That seems unintuitive, right? If more people are searching for a term or a topic, that should mean more readers for you.

But that’s not true. If you choose a general and highly searched topic that’s been covered by major competitors or more established brands, it’s unlikely that your post will rank on the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs). Give your newly born blog a chance by choosing a topic that few bloggers have written about.

If you need help, you can also use AI to help you create a blog post quickly. 

1. Choose a topic you’re passionate and knowledgeable about.

Before you write anything, pick a topic for your blog post. The topic can be pretty general to start. For example, if you're a company that sells a CRM for small-to-enterprise businesses , your post might be about the importance of using a single software to keep your marketing, sales, and service teams aligned.

Pro tip : You may not want to jump into a “how-to” article for your first blog post.

Your credibility hasn’t been established yet. Before teaching others how to do something, you’ll first want to show that you’re a leader in your field and an authoritative source.

For instance, if you‘re a plumber writing your first post, you won’t yet write a post titled “How to Replace the Piping System in your Bathroom.” First, you’d write about modern faucet setups, or tell a particular success story you had rescuing a faucet before it flooded a customer's house.

Here are four other types of blog posts you could start with:

• List (“Listicle”) : 5 ways to fix a leaky faucet
• Curated Collection : 10 faucet and sink brands to consider today
• SlideShare Presentation : 5 types of faucets to replace your old one (with pictures)
• News Piece : New study shows X% of people don't replace their faucet frequently enough

If you're having trouble coming up with topic ideas, a good topic brainstorming session should help. In the post I’ve linked, my colleague walks you through a helpful process for turning one idea into many. Similar to the “leaky faucet” examples above, you would “iterate off old topics to come up with unique and compelling new topics.”

This can be done by:

• Changing the topic scope
• Adjusting your time frame
• Choosing a new audience
• Taking a positive/negative approach
• Introducing a new format

And if you’re still stuck, let’s take a look at some first blog post idea examples.

First Blog Post Ideas

The difference between [niche topic] and [niche topic], explained by a [niche expert].

• The Difference Between SEM and SEO, Explained by a Marketing Expert
• The Difference Between Sedans and Coupes, Explained by a Car Mechanic
• The Difference Between Baking and Broiling, Explained by a Professional Baker

The 10 Best and Worst [Niche Tools] for [Niche Activity]

• The 10 Best and Worst Writing Software for Fiction Writing
• The 10 Best and Worst CRMs for Nurturing Prospects
• The 10 Best and Worst Family Cars for Cross-Country Roadtrips

8 [Niche Activity] Common Mistakes (+ Ways to Fix Them)

• 8 Non-Fiction Writing Common Mistakes (+ Ways to Fix Them)
• 8 Salmon Broiling Common Mistakes (+ Ways to Fix Them)
• 8 Car Maintenance Common Mistakes (+ Ways to Fix Them)

9 Proven Tips for [Niche Activity]

• 9 Proven Tips for Checking Plumbing Problems under Your Kitchen Sink
• 9 Proven Tips for Writing a Non-Fiction Bestseller
• 9 Proven Tips for Doing DIY Car Maintenance

Why We/I Switched from [Niche Tool] to [Niche Tool] (Comparison)

• Why We Switched from Pipedrive to HubSpot (Comparison)
• Why I Switched from Microsoft Word to Scrivener (Comparison)
• Why We Switched from iMacs to Surface Studio (Comparison)

[Niche Tool] vs [Niche Tool]: Which [Tool] is Best for You?

• Zendesk vs Freshcaller: Which Call Software is Best for You?
• Air Fryer vs Convection Oven: Which One is Best for You?
• Mazda Miata vs Toyota Supra: Which Sports Car is Best for You?

The Ultimate Roundup of [Niche Activity] Tips and Tricks

• The Ultimate Roundup of Novel Writing Tips and Tricks
• The Ultimate Roundup of Macaroon Baking Tips and Tricks
• The Ultimate Roundup of Solo Traveling Tips and Tricks

Want some real examples of blog posts? See what your first blog post can look like based on the topic you choose and the audience you're targeting.

2. Target a low-volume keyword to optimize around.

Finding a keyword with low searches in Google (I recommend sticking to about 10 to 150 monthly searches). These topics offer less competition and should therefore allow your new blog post to rank more easily.

To choose a topic, you can either do a traditional brainstorming session or carry out keyword research. I suggest the latter because you can actually see how many people are looking for that topic.

Now, don’t be intimidated by the term “ keyword research .” It’s not just for marketers, but for new bloggers, too. And it’s really easy to do.

To jumpstart your keyword research, first begin by identifying the general topic of your blog.

Say you’re a plumber. Your general, high-level topic might be “plumbing” (67K monthly searches).

Next, put this term into a keyword research tool such as:

• Ubersuggest
• Wordtracker

When you run this term through the tool, a list of related keywords will appear. Scan the list and choose one with a lower search volume. For this example, we’ll use “under sink plumbing” (1.4K monthly searches).

Run that keyword in the keyword research tool again. Look at the related keywords. Find one with a lower search volume. Do that again.

For this example, we’ll settle on “plumbing problems under kitchen sink” (10 monthly searches). That’s the topic for our first post.

TLDR ; Choose a low-volume, low-competition keyword that will ensure your first post ranks.

For more help on keyword research, here are more resources you can use:

• How to Do Keyword Research for SEO: A Beginner's Guide
• How to Perform Keyword Research and Rank
• Top Tools For Finding Long-Tail Keywords

3. Google the term to understand your audience’s search intent.

You’ve got your topic — now, you need to check that the user’s search intent would be fulfilled by a blog post.

What does that mean?

If someone is looking for “plumbing problems under a kitchen sink,” they might be looking for a tutorial, a diagram, an article, or a product that can fix the issue. If they’re looking for the first three, you’re good — that can be covered in a blog post. A product, however, is different, and your blog post won’t rank.

How do you double-check search intent?

Google the term and look at the results. If other articles and blog posts rank for that term, you’re good to go. If you only find product pages or listicles from major publications, then find a new topic to cover in your first post.

Consider the term “under sink plumbing bathroom” (30 monthly searches). It seemed like a perfect fit because it had low monthly searches.

Upon Googling the term, I found product carousels, product pages from Home Depot and Lowes, and guides written by major publications. (You’ll also want to avoid topics that have been covered by major publications, at least for now.)

TLDR ; Before writing your first blog post about a low-volume topic, double-check the user intent by Googling the keyword. Also, don’t forget to take a look at who’s written about that topic so far. If you see a major brand, consider writing about another topic.

4. Find questions and terms related to that topic.

You’ve got a highly unique topic that’s been covered by just a few people so far. It’s time to flesh it out by covering related or adjacent topics.

Use the following tools:

• Answer the Public : When you place your keyword into this tool, it will give you a list of questions related to that term.
• Google : Google is your best friend. Search for the term and look under “People also ask” and “People also search for.” Be sure to touch upon those topics in the post.

You can also use these keyword research tools we mentioned above in step one.

5. Come up with a working title.

You might come up with a few different working titles — in other words, iterations of approaching that topic to help you focus your writing.

For example, you may decide to narrow your topic to “Tools for Fixing Leaky Faucets” or “Common Causes of Leaky Faucets.” A working title is specific and will guide your post so you can start writing.

Let's take a real post as an example: " How to Choose a Solid Topic for Your Next Blog Post ."

Appropriate, right? The topic, in this case, was probably “blogging.” Then the working title may have been something like, “The Process for Selecting a Blog Post Topic.” And the final title ended up being “How to Choose a Solid Topic for Your Next Blog Post.”

See that evolution from topic, to working title, to final title? Even though the working title may not end up being the final title (more on that in a moment), it still provides enough information so you can focus your blog post on something more specific than a generic, overwhelming topic.

6. Create an outline.

Sometimes, blog posts can have an overwhelming amount of information — for the reader and the writer. The trick is to organize the info in a way so readers aren‘t intimidated by length or amount of content. This organization can take multiple forms — sections, lists, tips — whatever’s most appropriate. But it must be organized!

Featured Resource: 6 Free Blog Post Templates

Download These Templates for Free

Let's take a look at the post, " How to Use Snapchat: A Detailed Look Into HubSpot’s Snapchat Strategy. " There‘s a lot of content in the piece, so it’s broken up into a few sections using descriptive headers. The major sections are separated into subsections that go into more detail, making the content easier to read.

To complete this step, all you really need to do is outline your post. This way, before you start writing, you'll know which points you want to cover and the best order to do so. And to make things even easier, you can download and use our free blog post templates , which are pre-organized for six of the most common blogs. Just fill in the blanks!

7. Write an intro (and make it captivating).

We've written more specifically about writing captivating introductions in the post " How to Write an Introduction ," but let's review, shall we?

First, grab the reader‘s attention. If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs — or even sentences — of the introduction, they’ll stop reading (even before they've given your post a fair shake). You can do this in a number of ways: tell a story or a joke, be empathetic, or grip the reader with an interesting fact or statistic.

Then, describe the purpose of your post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be experiencing. This will give the reader a reason to continue reading and show them how the post will help them improve their work or lives.

Here‘s an example of an intro I think does a good job of attracting a reader’s attention right away:

“Blink. Blink. Blink. It's the dreaded cursor-on-a-blank-screen experience that all writers — amateur or professional, aspiring or experienced — know and dread. And of all times for it to occur, it seems to plague us the most when trying to write an introduction.”

8. Build out each section of your outline.

The next step — but not the last — is actually writing the content. We can't forget about that, of course.

Now that you have your outline or template, you're ready to fill in the blanks. Use your outline as a guide and expand on all points as needed. Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources. When you do, always try to find accurate and compelling data to use in your post.

If you‘re having trouble stringing sentences together, you’re not alone. Finding your “flow” can be challenging for a lot of folks. Luckily, there are a ton of tools you can lean on to help you improve your writing. Here are a few to get you started:

• HubSpot's AI Blog Writer : Tools like HubSpot's AI Blog Writer can be a valuable asset for beginners and seasoned bloggers alike. It simplifies the process of creating SEO-friendly and engaging blog content, which is crucial for connecting with your audience and enjoying the benefits of blogging.
• Power Thesaurus : Stuck on a word? Power Thesaurus is a crowdsourced tool that provides users with a number of alternative word choices from a community of writers.
• ZenPen : If you're having trouble staying focused, check out this distraction-free writing tool. ZenPen creates a minimalist “writing zone” designed to help you get words down without having to fuss with formatting right away.
• Cliché Finder : Feeling like your writing might be coming off a little cheesy? Identify instances where you can be more specific using this handy cliché tool.

You can also refer to our complete list of tools for improving your writing skills . And if you're looking for more direction, the following resources are chock-full of valuable writing advice:

• Copywriting 101: 6 Traits of Excellent Copy Readers Will Remember
• How to Write Compelling Copy: 7 Tips for Writing Content That Converts
• How to Write With Clarity: 9 Tips for Simplifying Your Message
• The Kurt Vonnegut Guide to Great Copywriting: 8 Rules That Apply to Anyone
• Your Blog Posts Are Boring: 9 Tips for Making Your Writing More Interesting

9. Publish and promote your first post any way you can.

As a new blogger, you likely don’t have a social media following yet. Thankfully, you don’t need a huge following before you can create a promotion strategy.

A promotion strategy is your master plan for how you create, post, and engage with your social media content. It helps you take advantage of social and digital technologies to share your business, or in this case, your content. Having a solid promotional strategy offers your audience from different marketing channels more ways to find your blog posts.

Here are more blog post promotion resources:

• 12 Tried-and-True Ways to Promote Your Blog Posts
• 10 Sites You Can Use for Free Blog Promotion
• 9 Link Building Email Outreach Templates That Actually Work
• Inbound Link Building 101: 34 Ways to Build Backlinks for SEO
• 11 Creative (But 100% White Hat!) Ways to Earn Backlinks

Before you write a blog, make sure you know the answers to questions like, “Why would someone keep reading this entire blog post?” and “What makes our audience come back for more?”

To start, a good blog post is interesting and educational. Blogs should answer questions and help readers resolve a challenge they're experiencing — and you have to do so in an interesting way.

It‘s not enough just to answer someone’s questions — you also have to provide actionable steps while being engaging. For instance, your introduction should hook the reader and make them want to continue reading your post. Then, use examples to keep your readers interested in what you have to say.

Remember, a good blog post is interesting to read and provides educational content to audience members.

Want to learn how to apply blogging and other forms of content marketing to your business?

Check out HubSpot Academy's free content marketing course .

Now, let's dive into some formatting guidelines to use before you publish your blog posts.

Blog Format Guidelines

• Include H2s to arrange ideas.
• Center your Images.
• Add alt text.
• Keep your sentences clear and concise.
• Use media with purpose.

1. Include H2s to arrange ideas.

When you begin typing your blog content, it’s important that you divide paragraphs into sections that make it easier for the reader to find what they need.

If you’re just starting out, then focus on the overarching H2s you want to talk about, and you’ll be able to branch off into subheaders and more naturally as you continue.

2. Center your images.

This is a simple practice that can help your content look more professional with little effort. Centering your images keeps the reader’s attention drawn to the subject — not searching for elsewhere.

Centering also looks better when translating from PC to mobile devices. As formatting transitions to small screens or windows, a centered image will remain the focal point.

3. Add alt text.

So those images you centered earlier, make sure you have descriptive alt text for them, too.

Image alt text allows search engines, like Google, to crawl and rank your blog post better than pages lacking the element. It also leads readers to your blog post if the keywords included are what they searched for in the first place.

Besides SERP features, image alt text is beneficial to readers by providing more accessibility. Image alt text allows people to better visualize images when they can’t see them, and with assistive technology, can be auditorily read aloud for people to enjoy.

4. Keep your sentences short and concise.

When you begin working on the body of your blog post, make sure readers can clearly understand what you’re trying to accomplish.

You shouldn’t feel pressure to elongate your post with unnecessary details, and chances are that if you keep it concise, readers will derive more value from your work.

5. Use media with a purpose.

Break up the monotony of your blog post with some multimedia content where seen fit.

Your reader will enjoy visiting a blog page with images, videos, polls, audio or slideshows as opposed to a page of black and white text.

It also makes it more interactive and improves your on-page search engine optimization (SEO).

Now, do you want some real examples of blog posts? See what your first blog post can look like based on the topic you choose and the audience you're targeting.

• List-Based Post
• Thought Leadership Post
• Curated Collection Post
• SlideShare Presentation
• Newsjacking Post
• Infographic Post
• How-to Post

1. List-Based Blog Post

List-based post example: 17 blogging mistakes to avoid in 2021, according to hubspot bloggers.

List-based posts are sometimes called “listicles,” a mix of the words “list” and “article.” These are articles that deliver information in the form of a list. A listicle uses sub-headers to break down the blog post into individual pieces, helping readers skim and digest your content more easily.

As you can see in the example from our blog, listicles can offer various tips and methods for solving a problem.

2. Thought Leadership Post

Example: how hubspot's customers are shaping the next normal.

Thought leadership posts allow you to share your expertise on a particular subject matter and share firsthand knowledge with your readers.

These pieces — which can be written in the first person, like the post shown above — help you build trust with your audience so people take your blog seriously as you continue to write for it.

3. Curated Collection Post

Example: 8 examples of evolution in action.

Curated collections are a special type of listicle blog post. Rather than sharing tips or methods for doing something, this type of blog post shares a list of real examples that all have something in common in order to prove a larger point.

In the example post above, Listverse shares eight real examples of evolution in action among eight different animals — starting with the peppered moth.

4. Slide Presentation

Example: the hubspot culture code.

HubSpot Slides is a presentation tool that helps publishers package a lot of information into easily shareable slides. Think of it like a PowerPoint, but for the web. With this in mind, SlideShare blog posts help you promote your SlideShare so that it can generate a steady stream of visitors.

Unlike blogs, slide decks don't often rank well on search engines, so they need a platform for getting their message out there to the people who are looking for it. By embedding and summarizing your SlideShare on a blog post, you can share a great deal of information and give it a chance to rank on Google at the same time.

Need some slideshow ideas? In the example above, we turned our company's “Culture Code” into a slides presentation that anyone can look through and take lessons from, and then promoted it in a blog post.

5. Newsjacking Post

Example: ivy goes mobile with new app for designers.

“Newsjacking” is a nickname for “hijacking” your blog to break important news related to your industry. Therefore, the newsjack post is a type of article whose sole purpose is to garner consumers' attention and, while offering them timeless professional advice, prove your blog is a trusted resource for learning about the big things that happen in your industry.

The newsjack example above was published by Houzz, a home decor merchant and interior design resource, about a new mobile app that was launched just for interior designers. Houzz didn‘t launch the app, but the news of its launching is no less important to Houzz’s audience.

6. Infographic Post

Example: the key benefits of studying online [infographic].

For example, when you're looking to share a lot of statistical information (without boring or confusing your readers), building this data into a well-designed, even engaging infographic can keep your readers engaged with your content. It also helps readers remember the information long after they leave your website.

7. How-to Post

Example: how to write a blog post: a step-by-step guide.

For this example, you need not look any further than the blog post you‘re reading right now! How-to guides like this one help solve a problem for your readers. They’re like a cookbook for your industry, walking your audience through a project step by step to improve their literacy on the subject.

The more posts like this you create, the more equipped your readers will be to work with you and invest in the services you offer.

8. Guest Post

Example: your bookmarkable guide to social media image sizes in 2021 [infographic].

Additionally, these posts give your blog variety in topic and viewpoint. If your customer has a problem you can't solve, a guest post is a great solution.

If you begin accepting guest posts, set up editorial guidelines to ensure they're up to the same standards as your posts.

So we’ve gone through the different types of blog posts you can make, but how do you consistently make quality blog posts that your viewers will enjoy?

• Draw from your buyer personas and what you know about your audience.
• Pull from your content strategy and/or brainstormed topics.
• Identify what's missing from the existing discourse.
• Choose what type of blog post you're writing.
• Generate a few different titles and choose the best one.
• Create your outline and designate keyword-rich H2s and H3s.
• Write your blog post!
• Proofread your post.
• Add images and other media elements to support your ideas.
• Upload your post into your CMS.
• Determine a conversion path (what you want your audience to do next).
• Add calls to action to guide your audience to take action.
• Link to other relevant blog posts within your content.
• Optimize for on-page SEO.
• Publish and promote the blog post.
• Track the performance of the blog post over time.

1. Draw from your buyer personas and what you know about your audience.

Before you start writing your blog post, make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience.

Ask questions like: What do they want to know about? What will resonate with them?

This is where the process of creating buyer personas comes in handy. Consider what you know about your buyer personas and their interests while you're coming up with a topic for your blog post.

For instance, if your readers are millennials looking to start a business, you probably don't need to provide them with information about getting started in social media — most of them already have that down.

If you haven’t developed buyer personas yet, I’ve found that it’s easiest to get started by gathering the information you already have about your audience and looking for trends. Sending out feedback surveys and interviewing followers can also be helpful.

Does your blog attract a specific age group? Does your audience live in a certain region? How do readers typically discover your content? Finding answers to these questions can help you get a better idea of who your buyer persona is.

2. Pull from your content strategy and/or brainstormed topics.

If you already have a pre-existing portfolio to look back on, it would benefit you to pull from those brainstormed post ideas or previous content strategy.

One thing that’s been helpful for me is specifically looking at content performance data when brainstorming ideas. In doing this, I’ve discovered which topics tend to resonate with my audience (and which ones don’t) and created content around them.

By focusing on your core blog topics, or clusters , you can establish yourself as a thought leader, gain the trust of your audience, rank better on search engines, and attract new readers.

3. Identify what’s missing from the existing discourse.

Fill in the gaps of the existing discourse in the topic of your choosing.

You want to meet a need that hasn’t already been met in your topic cluster. Otherwise, you run the risk of writing content for topics that are already over-saturated.

It’s hard to beat saturated search queries when you’re trying to rank against high authority publications — but not impossible if your content is answering the queries the competition hasn’t.

To discover what’s missing within a topic, I conduct a competitive analysis to see what my competitors offer in their content and how I can make my blog post better. Here are some things to look out for:

• Unanswered user queries
• Content depth
• Content freshness
• Media richness
• User experience

If your competitors are lacking in any of these areas, you can use that to your advantage and focus on them when writing your blog post.

Another way to differentiate your blog is by offering original data, quotes, or perspectives. Some of my best performing posts have come from getting a unique quote from an industry expert.

4. Choose what type of blog post you’re writing.

There are several types of blog posts you can create, and they each have different formats to follow.

Six of the most common formats include:

• The List-Based Post
• The “What Is” Post
• The Pillar Page Post (“Ultimate Guide”)
• The Newsjacking Post
• The Infographic Post
• The “How-To” Post

Save time and download six blog post templates for free.

5. Generate a few different titles and choose the best one.

Your blog title should tell readers what to expect, yet it should leave them wanting to know more — confusing, right?

This is why when you’re coming up with a blog post title that you should brainstorm multiple ones instead of just one. I find it helpful to share these titles with a couple coworkers to get their feedback and see which one is most engaging to them.

I’ve also enlisted the help of ChatGPT to generate sample blog post titles by inputting a prompt like, “Write a list of blog titles about [topic].” Even if it doesn’t give you exactly what you want, it can still get ideas flowing.

6. Create your outline and designate keyword-rich H2s and H3s.

When outlining, you need to center your main ideas with keyword-rich H2s and H3s. These are going to be your headers and subheaders that readers typically search for, and the information that Google crawls when indexing and ranking content.

I use keyword research tools, like Ahrefs and Semrush , to find the best words for my blog post. To find the right keywords, I focus on the following elements:

• Relevance to topic and search intent
• How authoritative my blog is on the topic
• The amount of search traffic my blog could gain

Remember, your outline should serve as a guide to make writing your blog post easier, so make sure you include all the important points you want to discuss and organize them in a logical flow.

7. Write your blog post!

I already told you how to build out your outline earlier in the post, so we'll quickly go over the main points once more.

You‘ve already outlined your main headings and subheadings, so now’s the time to add the body.

Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources. When you do, always try to find accurate and compelling data to use in your post.

This is also your opportunity to show personality in your writing. Blog posts don‘t have to be strictly informational, they can be filled with interesting anecdotes and even humor if it serves a purpose in expressing your ideas. It also factors into creating and maintaining your blog’s brand voice .

Don‘t be discouraged if you’re having trouble stringing sentences together, you're not alone. Finding your “flow” can be challenging, but there are many tools to ease the process. Software such as HubSpot's Free AI Blog Writer can help you generate copy for your blog post. You can even use it to outline and generate title ideas.

8. Proofread your post.

The editing process is an important part of blogging — don't overlook it. I tend to self-edit while I write, but it’s essential to get a second pair of eyes on your post before publishing.

Consider enlisting the help of The Ultimate Editing Checklist and ask a grammar-conscious co-worker to copy edit and proofread your post. I also really enjoy free grammar checkers, like Grammarly , to help proofread while I’m writing.

If you're looking to brush up on your self-editing skills, turn to these helpful posts for some tips and tricks to get you started:

• How to Become a (Better) Editor: 13 Editorial Tips
• How to Become a More Efficient Editor: 12 Ways to Speed Up the Editorial Process
• 10 Simple Edits That'll Instantly Improve Any Piece of Writing

9. Add images and other media elements to support your ideas.

When you're finished checking for grammar, shift your focus to adding other elements to the blog post than text. There’s much more to making a good blog post than copy, here’s some following elements to add in support of your ideas:

Featured Image

Choose a visually appealing and relevant image for your post. As social networks treat content with images more prominently, visuals are more responsible than ever for the success of your blog content.

For help selecting an image for your post, read " How to Select the Perfect Image for Your Next Blog Post " and pay close attention to the section about copyright law.

Visual Appearance

No one likes an unattractive blog post. And it‘s not just pictures that make a post visually appealing — it’s the formatting and organization of the post, too.

In a well-formatted and visually-appealing blog post, you'll notice that header and sub-headers are used to break up large blocks of text — and those headers are styled consistently.

Here's an example of what that looks like:

Screenshots should always have a similar, defined border so they don‘t appear as if they’re floating in space — that style should stay consistent from post to post.

Maintaining this consistency makes your content look more professional and easier on the eyes.

Topics and Tags

Tags are specific, public-facing keywords that describe a post. They also allow readers to browse for more content in the same category on your blog. Refrain from adding a laundry list of tags to each post. Instead, put some thought into a blog tagging strategy.

Think of tags as “topics” or “categories,” and choose 10-20 tags that represent all the main topics you want to cover on your blog. Then stick to those.

10. Upload your post into your CMS.

You filled out your blog post with all the optimized content you can, now is the time to publish it in your content management system.

I also use this step as an opportunity to double check my post for any errors that were potentially missed during the proofreading process. It’s especially important to preview your post before publishing to make sure there aren’t any formatting issues.

You can opt to post your content immediately, save it as a draft, or schedule when you want it to be posted live in case you adhere to a posting schedule.

11. Determine a conversion path (what you want your audience to do next).

A conversion path is a process by which an anonymous website visitor becomes a known lead. It sounds simple enough, but creating an effective conversion path requires a clear understanding of your target audience and their needs.

Having a conversion path is important because when you share your content on the web, you should have an idea of what your audience should do next, or in other words, provide them with a path forward.

The HubSpot Flywheel model is a great example of this as it shows how our organization gains and maintains leads.

12. Add calls to action to guide your audience to take action.

Call to action (CTA) are a part of a webpage, advertisement, or piece of content that encourages the audience to do something. You can add them to your blog post to guide your reader with “next steps” or a conversion path.

Different types of call to actions include asking readers to:

• Subscribe to your newsletter to see when you publish more content.
• Join an online community in your blog domain.
• Learn more about a topic with downloadable content.
• Try something for free or discount to convert readers to customers.

To get a better idea of how to make a CTA that readers want to click, we have a whole list of effective call to action examples for you to check out.

13. Link to other relevant blog posts within your content.

When you’re completing your blog post, you should link relevant content throughout it. An effective way to do this is to link within the same content cluster.

One thing I do to make finding relevant links easier is going to my search browser and typing “site:website.com: keyword.” By doing this, you can find all the posts you have published on that topic.

Keeping relevant content throughout your post can provide your readers with more helpful information, and potentially boost search engine rankings with corresponding longtail keywords .

But we’ll talk more about how to improve your ranking in the next step.

14. Optimize for on-page SEO.

After you finish writing, go back and optimize the on-page elements of your post.

Don‘t obsess over how many keywords to include. If there are opportunities to incorporate keywords you’re targeting, and it won‘t impact reader experience, do it. If you can make your URL shorter and more keyword-friendly, go for it. But don’t cram keywords or shoot for some arbitrary keyword density — Google's smarter than that!

Here's a little blog SEO reminder about what you should review and optimize:

Write your meta description.

Meta descriptions are the descriptions below the post‘s page title on Google’s search results pages. They provide searchers with a short summary of the post before clicking into it. They are ideally between 150-160 characters and start with a verb, such as “Learn,” “Read,” or “Discover.”

While meta descriptions no longer factor into Google‘s keyword ranking algorithm, they give searchers a snapshot of what they’ll get from reading the post and help improve your clickthrough rate from search.

Optimize your page title and headers.

Most blogging software uses your post title as your page title, which is the most important on-page SEO element at your disposal. But if you've followed our formula so far, you should already have a working title that will naturally include keywords or phrases your target audience is interested in.

Don‘t over-complicate your title by trying to fit in keywords where they don’t naturally belong. With that said, if there are clear opportunities to add keywords you‘re targeting to your post title and headers, feel free to take them. Also, try to keep your headlines short — ideally, under 65 characters — so they don’t get truncated in the search engine results.

"The first component of a good title is that it needs to be scannable. People aren’t reading every word of your thoughtfully crafted headline. If you’re following a search-focused strategy, make sure to include the keyword at the beginning," Del Principe says.

Consider anchor text best practices as you interlink to other pages.

Anchor text is the word or words that link to another page — either on your website or on another website. Carefully select which keywords you want to link to other pages on your site because search engines take that into consideration when ranking your page for certain keywords.

It‘s also important to consider which pages you link to. Consider linking pages that you want to rank for a specific keyword. You could end up getting it to rank on Google’s first page of results instead of its second page — and that isn’t small potatoes!

Write alt text for all of your images.

Alt text conveys the “why” of an image as it relates to the content of your blog post to Google. By adding alt text correlating to the topic clusters and keywords of the post, Google can better direct users’ searches to you.

Check that all images are compressed for page speed.

When Google crawls different websites, a page’s load speed holds weight in page ranking. Make sure the images you include throughout the page aren’t unnecessarily large to shorten the duration it takes to load.

Use apps like Squoosh to minimize the size of your images without losing the quality.

Ensure that your blog post is mobile friendly.

More than 60% of organic visits are carried out on a mobile device. As such, having a website with a responsive design is critical. In addition to making sure your website‘s visitors (including your blog’s visitors) have the best experience possible, optimizing for mobile will score your website some SEO points.

15. Publish and promote the blog post.

Share your post across all the marketing channels in your repertoire. The further the reach, the more of a possibility that readers will find it.

Channels to expand your blog post promotion strategy include:

• Social Media Marketing : Sharing your content on the most popular social media networks like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
• Email Marketing : Sharing the newest post with your email subscribers to find.
• Boosted Posts or Paid Ads : Allocating budget toward advertisement on search engines inorganically.
• Word of Mouth Marketing : Actively influencing people to read your content organically.

16. Track the performance of the blog post over time.

Your post is published for the world to see, make sure you’re keeping an eye on its performance over time so you can see if your blog post strategy is working well enough for your goals.

Here are some blog KPIs I like to keep track of:

• Total traffic per post
• Average CTR
• Average SERP position
• Traffic source breakdown
• Number of search queries per post
• Average comments per post
• Social shares per post
• New blog leads
• Conversion rate

There’s a plethora of website traffic analysis tools that you can take advantage of to better understand your audience’s behavior on your blog posts.

Quick Blog Writing Tips

If you’re feeling stuck as a new writer, don’t give up. It gets easier with practice. Whether you’re struggling with writer's block or wanting some ways to add depth to your content, here are some quick tips I compiled to help take your blog writing to the next level:

If you don’t know where to start, start by telling a story.

When you’re facing writer’s block, start with what you know. Not only will sharing personal anecdotes help you get ideas flowing, but it can also keep your readers engaged with what you’re saying.

Stories can simplify complex concepts and make your content more relatable. Plus, they add a human touch and help set the tone for the rest of your blog post.

Include interesting quotes or facts for emphasis on the subject.

When you back up your ideas with unique, expert quotes or share facts from reliable sources, it shows that your blog post is well-researched and trustworthy.

If you don’t know where to start with finding quotes, think about the people you know and their expertise. For example, I’m lucky enough to have incredibly knowledgeable coworkers here at HubSpot that I can reach out to if I need a quote.

I’ve also reached out to connections on LinkedIn to see if they can provide a quote or know someone who can. HARO can also be a great resource if you need a quote in a pinch.

Make your content skimmable; break it into digestible chunks.

There’s nothing that turns readers off more than opening an article and seeing a large wall of text. Think about it: most internet users have a short attention span and tend to skim through content rather than reading every word.

That’s why I recommend breaking up your blog post into smaller chunks to make it more digestible. You can do this by utilizing subheadings (H2s, H3s, H4s, etc.), bullet points, and short paragraphs.

Not only does breaking up your content make your blog post more visually appealing, it also helps readers quickly find the information they’re looking for without getting lost in a sea of text.

Paint a full picture with images, graphics or video.

Aside from aesthetic appeal, visuals can help convey complex ideas in an easier way and help readers remember the information you share.

I recommend reading through your blog post and putting yourself in your reader’s shoes. Is there anything you wrote about that would be better explained with the support of an image or graphic?

For instance, whenever I write about the pros and cons of something, I like to create a graphic that shows those pros and cons in a side-by-side comparison.

I also look at search engines results when determining what images to add to my post. Does the SERP for the keyword you’re targeting have an image pack? See if you can add in images and optimize them with alt text to increase the chances of appearing in those results.

Each sentence should convey a single idea.

Keep it simple, stupid. There’s no reason to write overly complex sentences that confuse your readers. Instead, opt to convey your message in a simple and accessible manner. At the end of the day, readers just want to find the answers they’re looking for, and writing in a straightforward manner can effectively meet this need.

I like to use the Hemingway App to make sure that my writing doesn’t get too dense.

Use active voice.

Although your writing should captivate the reader, you should avoid overwhelming them with fluff. Using active voice can help keep your writing clear, concise, and energetic while still getting your point across.

For example, instead of saying something like “the product was loved by customers,” write “customers loved the product.”

Ready to blog?

Blogging can help you build brand awareness, become a thought-leader and expert in your industry, attract qualified leads, and boost conversions. Follow the steps and tips we covered above to begin publishing and enhancing your blog today.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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How to write a good blog introduction

A content marketer shares her four-part formula for writing introductions—and creating more effective content..

The pressure is on. 

The spotlight is blazing, the microphone is on, and everyone is watching me expectantly. 

No, it's not an open mic night at the local coffee shop. It's just the inside of my brain every time I write a blog post introduction (like this one). Getting someone hooked from the get-go is essential if you want readers to see the content you worked so hard on to the end. 

At times, though, coming up with an interesting introduction feels like fishing in a dried-up well. For times like those, it helps to have a few formulas or thought starters up your sleeve to kickstart the process. 

Let's explore tips you can use the next time your creative brain has its OOO autoresponder on. 

What a blog post introduction needs to achieve

Understanding what an introduction needs to do helps you gauge whether you've hit the mark (and can call a draft "done"). I have three goals each time I start a blog post:

Excite readers and give them a reason to read more

Introduce a new perspective on the topic

Set expectations about what a reader will learn

Keep this in mind, though: your blog post intro should achieve these goals quickly. After you've written your introduction, read it through again and see if you can delete any sentences—or even paragraphs—without losing any meaning or effect.

A 4-part formula to make writing introductions easier

I've broken down the intro-writing process into four components. Review these best practices, try using the formula, and then adapt it to your writing style. 

First up: a line or two to catch someone's attention. If you struggle to come up with a great first sentence, wait until the draft is ready. Then write something that plays off an angle in the content.

Do use a personal story or analogy to make it interesting.

Don't state the obvious. Sentences along the lines of "We've all seen…" or "X is a well-established trend…" are redundant. 

Next, you need to let readers know why they should care about what you're about to say. Describe the issue, make a relatable joke, include an expert quote, or give some background on how the problem came to be. 

Do think about who will read the post and how the topic affects them. 

Don't lean on worn-out, over-dramatic, or outdated stats to build up the problem to be bigger than it is. 

3. Solution

Now it's time to address the reason someone would read your blog post in the first place—a solution. Set up the antidote to the problem, and go ahead and work your primary keyword in here. 

Do opt for clarity over cleverness here.

Don't abuse your keyword privileges by stuffing every search term into a sentence. 

4. Expectations

Finally, I like to include a sneak peek of what's coming up. Ideally, you can state what a reader will be able to do once they're through with reading. Readers want actionable content. 

Do focus on the positive outcome for the reader. 

Don't slip into the "five-paragraph essay" trap of saying "Today, I'll be writing about X,Y, and Z." 

Example blog post introductions

So far, we've just been talking the talk. It's time to see how four-part blog post openers work in the wild, putting my own writing under the microscope. 

Storytelling with ConvertKit

ConvertKit helps creators build their businesses, so I always try to put myself in the reader's shoes in the introductions . 

My goal: Help creators see themselves in the story and say "hey, that's me!"

What I wrote: "Your podcast downloads are climbing up and up every week, and you just landed a dream guest. It feels like your podcast is growing—and that's a wonderful feeling."

My goal: Have readers think critically about their business. 

What I wrote: "Do you know what's really making all the difference, though? Could you pinpoint what percent of customers converted because of your podcast? Are you aware of which promotional channels are bringing in the most listeners?"

My goal: Reassure readers since it could be a sensitive or frustrating topic.

What I wrote: "If you don't, you aren't alone. Making sense of how your podcast helps you grow your business doesn't come easily for podcasters both new and experienced. You deserve to understand how your efforts are paying off, though. That way, you know what to double down on—and what to cut loose."

Expectations

My goal: Reiterate that the post wouldn't just be a list of metrics without any next-step guidance. 

What I wrote:  "With a little strategy and set up you'll be on your way to tracking podcast success like the savvy creator you are."

Ideal outcomes with Great Question

The brief for this blog post noted that customer research recruitment is a roadblock for teams, so I aimed to illustrate that "catch."

My goal: Explain what you gain with research instead of saying "research is valuable."

What I wrote: "Customer research can offer a gold mine of insights. You gain new perspectives, confirm hunches, and get feedback on developments before you're too far down the rabbit hole."

My goal: Tease the ideal reality they could have, and introduce the monster standing in the way of the quest. 

What I wrote: " There's a catch, though—you need to have enough people participate."

My goal: Position research incentives as the hero in the story. 

What I wrote: "It would be great if customers wanted to be a part of your UX research out of the goodness of their hearts. Since that isn't a universally applicable strategy, we use customer research incentives to boost participation."

My goal: Preview upcoming sections that outline which incentives are best for various scenarios. 

What I wrote: "Instead of blindly throwing cash at a project, it's helpful to consider what type of incentive is best for your audience. Here's what you should know."

Intro inception with Zapier

My goal: Address the pressure I was feeling during writing that readers can relate to. 

What I wrote: "The pressure is on. The spotlight is blazing, the microphone is on, and everyone is watching me expectantly. No, it's not an open mic night at the local coffee shop. It's just the inside of my brain every time I write a blog post introduction (like this one). Getting someone hooked from the get-go is essential if you want readers to see the content you worked so hard on to the end."

My goal: Use imagery in place of saying "writing is hard."

What I wrote: "At times, though, coming up with an interesting introduction feels like fishing in a dried-up well."

My goal: Introduce the way to work around a mental block. 

What I wrote: "For times like those, it helps to have a few formulas or thought starters up your sleeve to kickstart the process."

My goal: Help people understand when the information could come in handy. 

What I wrote: "Let's explore tips you can use the next time your creative brain has its OOO autoresponder on."

The best way to improve your writing is to write more

If you don't read your blog posts from two years ago and cringe a little, you aren't pushing your writing forward enough. You wouldn't be here if you weren't a passionate content marketer, so now all that's left to do is get out there and write.  

Related reading:

Content refreshing: How to update old content and boost your traffic

How to write SEO-driven blog content

How to create a content brief (with template)

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Steph Knapp

Steph Knapp is a freelance B2B + SaaS content marketer that loves educating and empowering curious humans. When she's not typing away, you'll find her volunteering at the animal shelter and obsessing over a new hobby every week.

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Writing Academic Blog Posts

You might have been asked to write a blog post for a class, or maybe you’re interested in writing your own blog post for your personal blog, a school website, a community newspaper, or on one of the many blogging networks like Medium.com. Although personal blogs where people share stories about their lives are very popular, they aren’t necessarily the best way to communicate research: in that case, the Academic Blog post is a more appropriate genre.

What is it?

An academic blog post is a place for you to share your own unique take on a topic you have spent some time researching. Academic blog posts use evidence and analysis like an essay, but they’re written in more conversational, informal language. You may not need a formal thesis statement, but you should still present your perspective on an idea, issue, or current event.

Call to action: Blog authors often end their post with direct language that asks their readers to do something. The purpose of an academic blog post might be to inform, educate, or debunk misinformation, so the call to action might be something “Now you know how important it is to exercise your civic duty in your next municipal election” or “Remember that next time someone tells you that history isn’t important.”

What does it look like?

Because blog posts are online, you should make use of the multiple modes of communication at your disposal: not only can you use different fonts and formatting, but you can also embed links to other websites, include images, gifs, and even embed audio and video. In fact, the most engaging blog posts are the ones that make the most use of their digital space and embrace this multi-modal communication.

Tip: Avoid using more than 2 fonts. You could use a serif font (something with ‘tails’ on the letters, like Baskerville Old Face) for headings, because those fonts stand out, and a sans-serif font (something that is plainer, without any frills, like Arial) for the text, since they are easier to read on screens.

Readers of blog posts expect to see short paragraphs broken up with images, block quotations, or even headings. These can help your reader skim through the post before they decide whether or not to read it. You should also use simple, clear language – don’t be afraid to use personal pronouns (e.g. I, you, and we). These all have a place in academic blogging.

Block quotations: repeat an important sentence or quotation in a different font to emphasize the point.

What is it about?

Although academic blog posts can be about any topic that the author has researched, the real value lies in the author’s unique perspective on something they care about. The best blog posts offer insightful commentary on events that matter to the readers today. Think about what experiences, identities, education, or informed opinions you have and use those to help your readers understand a timely topic from a new point of view. For example, a Rec and Leisure student who plays in a women’s hockey league might have something insightful to say about the pay gap between professional women and men’s hockey athletes.

What Should I Read?

• Read lots of different blog posts.
• Research credible sources like newspapers, journal articles, and peer-reviewed books.

Why Should I Read?

• Reading widely will help you learn what blog style you enjoy. Will yours be funny, personal, formal, inspirational, educational, or something totally different? Check out the WCC Blog for some great examples. Reading posts on your topic will also give you real opinions to respond to.
• Research credible sources like newspapers, journal articles, and peer-reviewed books. Although blog posts can be personal, academic blog posts should use credible evidence to support opinions and arguments. Ask your instructor about quoting and citing.

What Should I Plan?

• Figure out who your audience is.
• Identify your main message and sketch out the points you need to make to support that message.
• Find pictures and develop metaphors and analogies.

Why Should I Plan?

• Even though blog posts are often public, you should still identify a specific target audience so that you can use what they know and care about to choose appropriate language, arguments, and explanations.
• Not all blogs have explicit thesis statements, but they do still communicate a central message that is relevant today. Many blog posts also include a call-to-action or a final statement to remind their readers of the point of the post.
• Use pictures, memes, and gifs as well as written metaphors and analogies to make your topic relevant to your audience. References to current events help your audience understand why they should be reading the post now.

What Should I Draft?

• Write a first draft.
• Test out different hooks to grab your audience’s attention.
• Brainstorm different snappy titles.

Why Should I Draft?

• Good blog posts usually have a strong opening statement to ‘hook’ the reader. This might be a funny or relatable story, an insightful question, a surprising fact, a personal confession, or something intriguing.
• Blog posts rarely have formal titles like you see in journal articles. Instead, they tend to be catchy and intriguing. Think about the titles that make you click on something to read or watch: they are simple, clear, and enticing.

What Should I Format?

• Choose appropriate fonts and formatting for different sections.
• Include links to other blog posts, websites, articles, and videos.

Why Should I Format?

• You can make headings, important concepts, and block quotations stand out by using a different font, size, and style (bold, italics, underlined, and even strikethrough).
• Linking to other online material not only shows your reader where you got your information, but it also tells them that your writing is relevant to other conversations.

What Should I Revise?

• Look over your draft and revise it for clarity, conciseness, and relevance.

Why Should I Revise?

• Bloggers tend to write in the active voice, because those sentences feel more urgent and personal. See our “ Active and Passive Voice ” resource. Like any form of writing, blogposts should go through multiple revisions. See our “ Revision ” resource.
• Get feedback from a friend, an instructor, or the Writing and Communication Centre: book an appointment !

The Thesis Whisperer: Starting an Academic Blog by Inger Mewburn:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylj85vD3kJo

Verbara, Marcos. (2018, Feb 7). Finding 'The Write Stuff': Creating an Academic Blog Post. SJSU Writing Center. Retrieved from:   https://sjsuwritingcenter.wordpress.com/2018/02/07/finding-the-write-stuff-creating-an-academic-blog-post/

Rubinstein, E., Ostrow, S., Rufo, J. & Williams, S. (2021) “Writing Academic Blogs” Hamilton College. Retrieved from:   https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/writing-academic-blogs

• Schools & departments

How to write an engaging blog

Find some specific resources to help you in the writing of your blog.

General best practice on writing a blog

(1) The importance of a title  -  Writing a catchy title  can help people get interested in your post. In an academic context especially, it might be good to show your audience that your content can be just as entertaining as a good book or social media. Make sure you reveal the theme of your content in those first words. Be wary: being catchy does not mean turning to clickbait. It is favourable if your reader knows exactly what they will be reading about in this context.  

(2) Spoilers can be good! -  This counts for more than your title. Don't tease your audience and wait to tell them exactly what they'll be reading about: state your theory, argument or theme from the very beginning. You might want to use headlines and summaries to give readers a little snapshot of what your writing will consist of. 

(3) ' You talkin to me?' -  Decide on a tone for your blog. It is true that writing for an academic blog is not like writing a dissertation. However, this does not mean it is the same as writing a caption for an Instagram picture of your holidays. It is crucial that you reflect on who your audience is going to be and adapt your tone to match that. Make sure your blog posts are honest and relatable – if people are reading a blog about your theme and not an article, it is to get a sense of the author as well: don't forget to be you.   

(4)  Make your content scannable -  How are you going to organise your thoughts? There are different ways to blog. Some might prefer to directly address the audience and mimic direct speech whilst others might want to narrate in a reflective manner. This is a decision you can make based on the type of blog you will decide to use. A key point to structuring and formatting your blog is to  make it scannable : people will get a visual idea of your blog before they even get to reading it.  

(5) 'Oh I just skimmed through...' -  Keep your paragraphs and sentences short: most people only read 20% of a page. Having fun with language can be fantastic but simpler writing will help people relate to what you are telling them whether they know about the subject at hand or not. Use headings to break your page up so it is easier to scan.  Find out more about how people read on the web . 

(6) What is that about?  - Asking your readers questions can be a great way of involving them. When writing, ask yourself 'why should they care?'. You don't only want to be recounting your thoughts, you want to be sharing it with other people. Making the reading experience more interactive will make people feel involved and interested. 

(7) Make it visual! -  Adding media  to your blog can be another great way of making readers relate and feel part of your experience. Visual tools can help your reader see what you are describing, but they can also give them the opportunity to relax from the reading effort. This is especially the case if your writing is a quite dense academic text. Images add an interesting opportunity for formatting, structure and narration. 

(8) Proof-read, get critical and edit! -  This is perhaps most people's least favourite part. Sadly for you it is essential: proof reading and editing your text will help you cut out pieces that aren't useful. Getting a friend/colleague to read it for you will give you another perspective on your work and enable you to assess whether you have written for the right audience. Do not be afraid to ask for feedback. Getting feedback should be a very constructive and helpful process.

(9) Archiving appropriately - There is nothing more confusing for readers who are looking through your content than having a monthly site archive and no search bar. Make sure people can find what they are looking for without having to click a million times. Categorising and tagging posts is not time consuming and can be really helpful for your audience.

(10) Don't let readers forget about you! -  Posting regularly and promoting your work is especially important if you want people to visit your blog regularly. Creating a schedule might help you keep on track – because posting regularly means you have write regularly. Thankfully, there are many ways for you to promote your work other than relying on loyal readers. Social media links and enabling search engines to index your blog can help so make sure that you explore your settings to maximise your crowd.    

Want to learn how to create a blog post step by step?  Try this Lynda course about writing a compelling blog post .    

Guidance for specific types of blogging

Do you need more personalised guidelines? We have put together some writing tips based on professional, research, community and learning & teaching type blogs. 

Blogging for professional development 

• Scrap the title - This blog, as opposed to research or community, is meant to represent you above all: your name is the best option for a title. 
• The importance of your blog structure  - Structuring your blog is especially important as you want to look professional, accessible and easy to contact. If content is hard to find, people are more likely to simply leave your page. Make your readers' browsing experience as easy as possible by inserting a header with different pages: a bio, contact details, role, track record.... Make sure your content is extremely scannable and potential employers can find your contact details at any moment.  
• Opting for a professional tone  - As you are showcasing your professional potential here, it is important that you match your tone to what you are saying. While you want to demonstrate a positive attitude and motivation it is important to show a reflection of what is acceptable within the workplace. 
• Writing a great bio  – This section might be the only one employers consult: it is crucial that you spend time writing a bio that is compelling and matches the sector you work in. While it might be optimal, for example, for a radio presenter to make multiple puns, a recently graduated student might want to write more professionally. This is your decision to make depending on what you believe will showcase your potential best. 
• Details -  It is crucial for you to include as much detail as possible in your pages and posts. Write the full titles of recent posts or studies, include the department or School and stay consistent with spelling and capitalising.  
• Formatting for clear, concise information -  There are many ways to make your content scannable whilst being precise: consider breaking long sentences into bulleted lists, for example. Use headings liberally. Make your blog look nice using other, non-text, media.
• Being employable also means being approachable  - Linking external professional profiles can be a great way to expand your readers' experience. Contact past schools and employers to ask if you can link them into your blog – this will help employers to get an idea of your past workspaces. 
• Remember your digital footprint -  These days, employers will not be afraid to do some research on potential employees: holiday photos might not be your most flattering facet so make sure you are aware of your digital footprint. Updating and editing your different social media outputs is an idea to consider. Want more information about your digital footprint? Learn about it through the [University's guidance page] on how to present yourself online. 
• Make sure you update your profile -  It would be a shame for you to forget to mention your latest achievement just as it would be a pity for an employer to come across information that is expired. Make sure you update your profile every month or so.  

Blogging for teaching, learning and assessment

• Consider platforms that might help you assess work - we have many different blogging platforms available to you. Some might be better than others depending, especially, on what assessment features you require. Consult our [Blogging Advice] for more information on what they offer.  
• Consider using dynamic and interactive plug-ins for embedded quizzes, forms... -  Our new blogging platforms offer many different ways for you to add a fresh dimension to your teaching/learning experience. You could create interactive quizzes or forms embedded within your blog. This is a way to chop up the reading experience and make viewers collaborate. 
• Monitor comments and published content -  In a learning and teaching environment especially, it is very important that rules are established concerning comments and content. Be aware to inform students of plagiarism and copyright laws as well as our [Take Down Policy] rules. A good way of doing this is to monitor content carefully. 
• Set expectations -  Using blogging as an assessment or reflective method for assessment can be best managed if you set time and word limits for your students. Help them understand what is required from them by outlining clear expectations. Why not write guidelines personalised to the particular task at hand? 
• Consider your privacy options -  It is worth thinking about whether you want the wide public to access your learning and teaching blog or whether you would prefer the content to stay within the scope of your class. [Read more] about our different blogs to know which privacy options are available to you. 
• Link interesting material  - Whilst a blogging platform is the perfect space for students to express themselves, it is also a platform for you to share additional content. Don't hesitate to illustrate by using multimedia or embedding interesting links. 
• Consider personal journals/diaries - Blogging can come under different forms. It could be interesting for you to set a journal/diary assessment to increase your students' literacy as well as expanding your grading methods. 
• Your blog does not replace the classroom  - Do remember that learning and teaching blogs should be an extension of the classroom, not a replacement of it.  

Make sure you consult our [exemplar Learning and Teaching Blogs] for an idea of how these work.

Blogging for research

• Decide how you want to hook readers - Making the description of your research clear while still being compelling is important: many readers will know very little about your research topic, so you should keep that in mind when writing for your blog. A good title will help draw readers in.
• Presenting your topics and projects clearly - This part goes hand in hand with a compelling title. It is important for your introduction or headline to be very clear: stray from complicated vocabulary and make your posts clear for anybody to understand. 
• Accessibility - Define complicated terminology or arguments that might not be self-explanatory. You might additionally want to embed images or videos to make your case more compelling and posts easier to read and digest...
• Referencing -  This is an essential part of all research blogs: fellow academics or potential employers will be expecting well-referenced sources to consult. Make sure you make the most of footnotes and bibliographies.
• Link additional material - Where did you get your inspiration? Are there any articles or videos people could consult to expand their knowledge on the subject you have raised? Adding a 'More Information' page is an optional possibility to expand your readers' experience. 
• Consider building a profile section -  If you are in charge of the whole blog, consider building yourself a profile section. This could be a space for your readers to explore your academic profile or consult external professional platforms such as LinkedIn.   

Blogging about community or student experience

• Be personal! - It may be possible for you to stray from the strict Academic style you might have to use in other blogging instances. Let a little bit of your personality shine through while staying professional. 
• Reflect on your own experiences –  This is an account of your personal experience. Try to base it on things that have happened to you rather than outside sources or peers' ideas. People want to read more about this community through your own eyes. 
• Remember you are writing for a group –  While we want the writer's tone to be explored, do remember you are writing about your experience within a larger group. Don't forget to reference your community, whether College, School, departmental, unit or student based.  
• Help people understand what your community is like from the outside - Explain specific terminology, abbreviations and sayings as others might not be aware of what these mean.     

How To Write An Essay Style Blog Post

As the Virtual Marketing Officer predicted in an  early 2009 post , social and digital content marketing  has become a very important—even critical—marketing investment for you and your law firm marketing team.

Publishing to the web is easy, writing well is not.

It’s easy to publish to the web. All you need is a blog or social media account. It is not, however, easy to write well. Writing well means not only avoiding spelling and grammar mistakes, it includes not BORING readers to death. Luckily there is a fairly straightforward fix for boring content: learn to write a basic essay. (Or, refresh your memory…)

If you work these 8 steps below you will have a better chance of producing something people will read. And, you’ll get better in the process. The more often you write, the more natural it becomes, and you won’t even have to think twice about writing an excellent post or article that connects and communicates with your audience.

How to write an essay in 8 steps

(1) Pick the topic: Preferably the topic is something you are genuinely interested in writing about. If you like the topic, others will “feel” your interest and be interested. The topic should also have a human angle. Even if you are writing on a piece of legislation, ruling, or other dry topic, you must conjure up the human side. For example, a cyber security topic could include a story about a business owner or IT director. A new employment law might allow you to fictionalize a workplace scenario. Or, a television show episode might illustrate a pertinent topic related to your practice.

(2) Be the expert: If you’re not an expert on the topic, do the research and become familiar with the issues. Think about the common problems or objections people have with this topic. Then ask yourself a dozen questions about the topic and answer them in writing. This activity will lead you to exactly what is important and what is humanly relatable.

(3) Pin down the main point: Your thesis, hook, or main idea captures the essence of why readers should care, why they should read your content. You must write this in one sentence, summing up concisely where you’re going to go with your essay and why. It’s practically impossible to write a good blog post or article without this type of anchor. The sentence you write does not necessarily make it into the article, rather it serves you, the writer, as you develop your article. When you feel yourself getting side tracked, e.g., introducing a B or C plot line, you go back to the thesis statement. Does the extra plot line help readers understand your main point, probably not. I’m an experienced writer and I do it all the time. As I write, I think of one or two other things to “add.” Yet, they rarely aid understanding. In most cases they would confuse the reader. But, if it’s something really good, I make a note and use it for another day, another topic.

(4) Build your outline: Make a list of facts, ideas, and examples that support your main point. Don’t worry about writing paragraphs, just write a simple statement on each. A series of single ideas that support your thesis. Then play with their order. Move them around: What is most important or least important? You’ll fill in the details later.

(5) Write the introduction: Now that you have the key pieces in place, its time to write. Start with the opening paragraph, or lead. The opening is where the reader will decide whether or not your article or post is worth their time. Is there a story that illustrates what you are writing about? That will be your best lead. It can be a personal anecdote—a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature—that illustrates your main point. Or, for a legal topic, you could use a case study, a current news story, a business example (it can be fictitious) or, use the results of a recent survey to illustrate your opening. The idea here is create human drama, something the reader might relate to. Avoid simply reporting details in the first paragraph. In cases where the topic is current, the media has already reported on it. Don’t waste your time rehashing. But, if you must get the details front loaded, try describing the situation in conversational terms. Honestly, there is nothing less inviting than an opening paragraph that reads like this:

On January, 7, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the court held that (add more legal jargon here), which reverses the U.S. Circuit Court’s ruling in the case that applies the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (“FSIA”) (case site here), on behalf of (full name of company) (full name of county where incorporated) (Date/Year).

Obviously, if your only audience is the legal profession, then go for it. But don’t expect a client to read it.

(6) Fill in the details: Each of the points in your outline (step 4) is a paragraph, or two. Use sub headings that tell the reader in one or two words the main point of each section.

(7)  Cut: Remove non-essential words. There are dozens of books and educational videos on how to do this. I’m not suggesting that you take out your personal voice, which for lawyers can involve legalese or flowery language, rather, look at every word and decide if it adds or detracts from the understanding and clarity of what you are attempting to communicate.

(8) Review your work: The best way to ensure you’ve written something worth reading is to read it aloud. Does it flow? Have you made your point? Is it free of spelling and grammar errors? Don’t depend on spell check. After you’ve done that, ask someone else, with a fresh set of eyes, to review it for you.

You may also want to read this post: Content Ideas for Lawyers 

Signing off for now…

Understanding marketing, business development and client development | Circus Style…

You may also like, blogs are social media. (law) bloggers should be more social., breakthrough secret exposed: use these five steps to increase blog roi, a legal thriller.

The part “How to write an essay style blog post in 15 steps” is very interesting and helpful. Please, don’t get offended, but in such a bulky article you didn’t mentioned different types of essays. As we know different types of essays and essay-like blogs have their own definite features that differentiate them out of all the other genres. In this article https://abcessays.com/en/essays describes almost all the types of essays and given tips as to their writing. For me it was very helpful, I hope you will like it also))

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Example of a Great Essay | Explanations, Tips & Tricks

Published on February 9, 2015 by Shane Bryson . Revised on July 23, 2023 by Shona McCombes.

This example guides you through the structure of an essay. It shows how to build an effective introduction , focused paragraphs , clear transitions between ideas, and a strong conclusion .

Each paragraph addresses a single central point, introduced by a topic sentence , and each point is directly related to the thesis statement .

As you read, hover over the highlighted parts to learn what they do and why they work.

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Other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about writing an essay, an appeal to the senses: the development of the braille system in nineteenth-century france.

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

In France, debates about how to deal with disability led to the adoption of different strategies over time. While people with temporary difficulties were able to access public welfare, the most common response to people with long-term disabilities, such as hearing or vision loss, was to group them together in institutions (Tombs, 1996). At first, a joint institute for the blind and deaf was created, and although the partnership was motivated more by financial considerations than by the well-being of the residents, the institute aimed to help people develop skills valuable to society (Weygand, 2009). Eventually blind institutions were separated from deaf institutions, and the focus shifted towards education of the blind, as was the case for the Royal Institute for Blind Youth, which Louis Braille attended (Jimenez et al, 2009). The growing acknowledgement of the uniqueness of different disabilities led to more targeted education strategies, fostering an environment in which the benefits of a specifically blind education could be more widely recognized.

Several different systems of tactile reading can be seen as forerunners to the method Louis Braille developed, but these systems were all developed based on the sighted system. The Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris taught the students to read embossed roman letters, a method created by the school’s founder, Valentin Hauy (Jimenez et al., 2009). Reading this way proved to be a rather arduous task, as the letters were difficult to distinguish by touch. The embossed letter method was based on the reading system of sighted people, with minimal adaptation for those with vision loss. As a result, this method did not gain significant success among blind students.

Louis Braille was bound to be influenced by his school’s founder, but the most influential pre-Braille tactile reading system was Charles Barbier’s night writing. A soldier in Napoleon’s army, Barbier developed a system in 1819 that used 12 dots with a five line musical staff (Kersten, 1997). His intention was to develop a system that would allow the military to communicate at night without the need for light (Herron, 2009). The code developed by Barbier was phonetic (Jimenez et al., 2009); in other words, the code was designed for sighted people and was based on the sounds of words, not on an actual alphabet. Barbier discovered that variants of raised dots within a square were the easiest method of reading by touch (Jimenez et al., 2009). This system proved effective for the transmission of short messages between military personnel, but the symbols were too large for the fingertip, greatly reducing the speed at which a message could be read (Herron, 2009). For this reason, it was unsuitable for daily use and was not widely adopted in the blind community.

Nevertheless, Barbier’s military dot system was more efficient than Hauy’s embossed letters, and it provided the framework within which Louis Braille developed his method. Barbier’s system, with its dashes and dots, could form over 4000 combinations (Jimenez et al., 2009). Compared to the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, this was an absurdly high number. Braille kept the raised dot form, but developed a more manageable system that would reflect the sighted alphabet. He replaced Barbier’s dashes and dots with just six dots in a rectangular configuration (Jimenez et al., 2009). The result was that the blind population in France had a tactile reading system using dots (like Barbier’s) that was based on the structure of the sighted alphabet (like Hauy’s); crucially, this system was the first developed specifically for the purposes of the blind.

While the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the sighted before its adoption throughout France. This support was necessary because sighted teachers and leaders had ultimate control over the propagation of Braille resources. Many of the teachers at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth resisted learning Braille’s system because they found the tactile method of reading difficult to learn (Bullock & Galst, 2009). This resistance was symptomatic of the prevalent attitude that the blind population had to adapt to the sighted world rather than develop their own tools and methods. Over time, however, with the increasing impetus to make social contribution possible for all, teachers began to appreciate the usefulness of Braille’s system (Bullock & Galst, 2009), realizing that access to reading could help improve the productivity and integration of people with vision loss. It took approximately 30 years, but the French government eventually approved the Braille system, and it was established throughout the country (Bullock & Galst, 2009).

Although Blind people remained marginalized throughout the nineteenth century, the Braille system granted them growing opportunities for social participation. Most obviously, Braille allowed people with vision loss to read the same alphabet used by sighted people (Bullock & Galst, 2009), allowing them to participate in certain cultural experiences previously unavailable to them. Written works, such as books and poetry, had previously been inaccessible to the blind population without the aid of a reader, limiting their autonomy. As books began to be distributed in Braille, this barrier was reduced, enabling people with vision loss to access information autonomously. The closing of the gap between the abilities of blind and the sighted contributed to a gradual shift in blind people’s status, lessening the cultural perception of the blind as essentially different and facilitating greater social integration.

The Braille system also had important cultural effects beyond the sphere of written culture. Its invention later led to the development of a music notation system for the blind, although Louis Braille did not develop this system himself (Jimenez, et al., 2009). This development helped remove a cultural obstacle that had been introduced by the popularization of written musical notation in the early 1500s. While music had previously been an arena in which the blind could participate on equal footing, the transition from memory-based performance to notation-based performance meant that blind musicians were no longer able to compete with sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997). As a result, a tactile musical notation system became necessary for professional equality between blind and sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997).

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Bullock, J. D., & Galst, J. M. (2009). The Story of Louis Braille. Archives of Ophthalmology , 127(11), 1532. https://​doi.org/10.1001/​archophthalmol.2009.286.

Herron, M. (2009, May 6). Blind visionary. Retrieved from https://​eandt.theiet.org/​content/​articles/2009/05/​blind-visionary/.

Jiménez, J., Olea, J., Torres, J., Alonso, I., Harder, D., & Fischer, K. (2009). Biography of Louis Braille and Invention of the Braille Alphabet. Survey of Ophthalmology , 54(1), 142–149. https://​doi.org/10.1016/​j.survophthal.2008.10.006.

Kersten, F.G. (1997). The history and development of Braille music methodology. The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education , 18(2). Retrieved from https://​www.jstor.org/​stable/40214926.

Mellor, C.M. (2006). Louis Braille: A touch of genius . Boston: National Braille Press.

Tombs, R. (1996). France: 1814-1914 . London: Pearson Education Ltd.

Weygand, Z. (2009). The blind in French society from the Middle Ages to the century of Louis Braille . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Bryson, S. (2023, July 23). Example of a Great Essay | Explanations, Tips & Tricks. Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/example-essay-structure/

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Shane Bryson

Shane finished his master's degree in English literature in 2013 and has been working as a writing tutor and editor since 2009. He began proofreading and editing essays with Scribbr in early summer, 2014.

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Blog Examples for Beginners: How to Write Your First Blog Post

Back in 2009, with fingers shaking, I hit publish on my very first blog post. I was fearful of what people would think. Would I get a negative comment? That left me with many questions.

It was hard enough figuring out how to start a blog , but now I had to find a way to share my thoughts consistently.

Would anyone find what I had to say valuable? Was I just contributing to the noise online? Did my message matter?

Maybe you have some of those same fears and doubts. If so, you’re in the right place. I have a simple first blog post template you can use. Follow these four simple steps and launch your blog to the world.

First Blog Entry Examples (with Template)

Before we get into the 4-step first blog post template, we need to answer two important questions first:

• Question 1. What tool will I use to start writing my blog posts?
• Question 2. How can I come up with a good idea to make a great post?

Where to Write Your Blog Posts

So, let’s talk about some blog writing tools you can use. It doesn’t matter where you write your blog posts as long as you have a simple repeatable process to follow. Here are six of my favorite writing tools.

1. Directly in WordPress

If your blog is powered by WordPress , you can always write your blog articles there. It keeps things easy and less complicated for you. Regardless of which writing tool you use, you’re going to need to eventually copy it into WordPress. Since you are just getting started, WordPress might be the best tool to begin with.

2. Google Docs

The nice thing about writing in Google Docs is that you have another place where your content is stored. That way if you ever lost your work , you have a backup. I also like to use Google Docs because it makes it easy to collaborate with others.

Google Docs is a great writing tool if you want to use add-on tools to make your writing easier. For example, I personally like to use two add-ons. The first one is Grammarly , which will check your grammar and spelling as you write. Even though I have an editor that combs over every blog post, it’s nice to have a built-in grammar checker as you write your draft post.

The second add-on is the SEMrush SEO Writing Assistant.

While outside the scope of this post, learning SEO (search engine optimization) is a great skill to learn as a blogger. It can give you a competitive edge over your competition. SEMrush’s add-on offers keyword suggestions I might want to include in my article to get more search engine traffic.

3. CoSchedule

I’ve been a fan of CoSchedule for a few years now. I even wrote a blog post review on my experience with it. Basically, it’s an all-in-one calendar for content, social media, email marketing, and more.

It can be a bit expensive for bloggers just starting out, but if you want to manage all of your projects in one place, it’s a great tool.

Have you heard of Kajabi ? It’s not just a blog writing tool but has many other powerful functions to support your blog business. I primarily use Kajabi to host all of my online courses, membership site, landing pages, and online store. If you want to sell digital products and build a blog, you can do both with Kajabi.

Kajabi would replace your monthly hosting cost and WordPress. Blogging on Kajabi is straight forward. As you can tell from the image below, you have a title and body section. Create your headline, write your blog entry, and hit publish.

5. Microsoft Word

This is the tool of choice for many bloggers when starting out. Most people are familiar with Word since it was the tool they used to write their papers in school. One word of warning: be careful about using copy and paste into WordPress. Sometimes the formatting doesn’t transfer correctly. Always paste your text into the text side (or HTML side) and not on the visual editor.

6. Evernote

Another popular writing tool is Evernote . The benefits of Evernote are two-fold. First, you can access it online and offline. If you are flying on a plane, you can work on your blog post even without internet access. Later, your document will automatically sync with the cloud.

Secondly, you can easily share it with others. Similar to Google Drive, you can share a link to your note or notebook in Evernote and collaborate together.

Remember this. Writing your post can happen anywhere. You can start with one of the six tools mentioned above, or go with your own. It comes down to personal preference. Whatever tool helps you be consistent with your writing is what matters most.

Blog Post Ideas for Beginners

Maybe your challenge is not where to do your writing, but what to blog about . Regularly coming up with blog post topics doesn’t have to be difficult. I believe your first blog post ideas should come from a place of passion.

Set a timer for five minutes. Write out as many answers as you can think of to the following series of questions:

• Why am I starting this blog in the first place?
• Who do I most want to help?
• What lessons from my own life can I share with others?
• What are the top three to five things someone should know in my niche in order to be successful?
• How will this blog help others?

The 4-Step Blog Post Template for Your First Blog Entry

After working with thousands of new bloggers, I’ve created a simple 4-step template to help you write your first blog post fast. Those four steps are:

• Step 1. Create a catchy headline
• Step 2. Write the outline before you start writing
• Step 3: Edit your blog post draft
• Step 4: Promote your blog post to the world

Step 1. Create a Catchy Headline

Post titles are super important for any blogger. Treat them like newspaper headlines. A headline on a newspaper makes or breaks the sale of that paper. Your headline should be catchy, interesting, and leave just a bit of curiosity.

When it comes to deciding on a headline, choose one of the following three strategies:

• The magic of list posts
• The power of “how-to” posts
• The blog announcement post

The magic of list posts. It’s been proven over time that we love lists. We want to know not only what’s on the list but what didn’t get included. We click on the headline because we know the article is scannable and we can see what is included in the list.

Here are a few examples you can use to create your own headline:

• 5 Quick Tips for __________
• 10 Things You Should Never Do When _________
• 5 Ways to __________ (without being pushy)
• 5 great things to do with __________
• 7 ways to be a ________ ninja
• 10 Reasons Not to _____
• 7 _____ Danger Signs
• 7 things _____ Should Never Do
• 21 Secrets the _____ Experts Don’t Want You to Know
• 10 ______ Facts You Need to Know

The power of “how-to” posts . Another strategy that will give you tons of blog post ideas is to cover the most important “how-tos” in your niche. Readers love practical posts that lead them to action. It feels like time well spent if I can take concrete action on something I just learned.

A few examples might be:

• How to recover from a _____________
• How NOT to get ____________
• How to Get _____ in Half the Time
• How to Beat the Fear of _____
• How _________ Will Save You Time, Money, and Stress
• How to clean ____________
• How to maintain _____________
• How to take care of _____________
• How to repair the __________________

The blog announcement post. The last strategy I want to share with you is a post you would typically only write once. This post will be a foundational article you will refer back to for years to come.

The two early strategies (list posts and how-to posts) are the formats I use 90% of the time week in and week out. You’re welcome to start with one of them to get your first post published if you would like.

The blog post announcement post is easy enough to write because it doesn’t require much guesswork. In a moment, I will share with you a simple writing outline you can use.

As far as a headline, go with something like: “How (name of your blog) Will Help You (insert the goal, promise or purpose of your blog).”

If you are still at a loss of how to create a catchy headline, then consider using the headline analyzer tool from CoSchedule. This tool will analyze your headline and give you a score. Don’t worry about trying to score a 100 on your headline. I usually try to get at least a 70.

Step 2. Write the Outline Before You Start Writing

Many aspiring bloggers are excited until it’s time to sit down and write. Why does it feel like all of my energy and creativity gets sucked about when it’s time to write?

See Post: 4 Proven Ways of How to Start a Blog Post

Other bloggers say they just want for inspiration to strike before they sit down to write. If that was true for me, I’d be waiting a long time.

Don’t wait till you feel like writing. Most writers I know don’t like writing, they like having written . There’s a big difference. Never forget the words of Harvard psychologist Jerome Bruner who said:

“You’re more likely to act yourself into a feeling than feel yourself into action.”

If you’ve successfully accomplished the last step of deciding on a headline, it makes writing much easier. The headline creates the outline for you. Once you’ve nailed down the outline, all that’s left is to fill in the text.

Let’s look at how to create an outline from each of our three examples above.

Create an outline for your list post. If you’ve chosen a list post headline, then you must first decide how many make your list. You can do as few as three or as many as 101. It really comes down to the purpose of the post.

I usually start by opening up my writing tool of choice and brainstorming as many examples as I can think of. Once I’ve created the list, I have my number and I have my outline.

Create an outline for your how-to post . If you decided to go with a how-to post, then the process will be slightly different. First, start with a beginner’s mind. It’s easy to skip a few steps because you think they are assumed.

We all have the curse of knowledge. We simply forget what it’s like to be a beginner.

When outlining a how-to post, you want to think in terms of steps. What’s the very first step I should take? Once I complete that step, what’s next? Repeat the same process until all of the steps are out of your head and on paper (or screen).

Now, you may end up combining steps and that’s okay. A how-to post will have a minimum of three steps. The maximum number of steps depends on the topic you have chosen.

Create an outline for your blog announcement post. If you chose option number three, then there is a specific format you should follow.

WARNING : Be careful not to make your first blog post about you .

Yes, you will be introducing yourself and maybe even sharing your story. But never forget that your blog is for others. You want to help, serve, or inspire.

The good news is that I already have an outline you should follow. The body of your blog post will include these subheadlines:

• State the goal of your blog
• How this blog will help
• Who you are

The opening of your blog post should state the goal of your blog . Why are you starting this blog in the first place? Is there a mission or cause behind your desire to start this blog?

Next, talk about how your blog will help the reader. What are some of the specific ways you plan to help others? Will you be publishing a weekly blog post? Will you launch a podcast? Will your blog include videos?

Finally, fully introduce you and your story. Always remember that you are not the hero of the blog. Your target audience is the hero. You are just the guide. Because of that, we don’t lead by touting our credentials or why we are qualified to help.

Still, people will want to know who is behind the blog so feel free to share your story. But lead with serving and helping first.

Once your outline is ready, just focus on writing a paragraph or two for each point in your outline. Once you do, you have a rough draft ready to go. Now, it’s time to edit.

Step 3. Edit Your Blog Post Draft

Blogging is a different way of writing than when you were in English class. It’s more conversational for starters. Also, we break a few of the rules along the way.

Follow this list of basic guidelines and you’ll be a pro in no time:

• Use bullets – My number one tip is to break up your content to make it easy to consume on the computer or mobile device.
• Subheadings – We already covered this in the outline section, but add lots of subheadings
• Short sentences – Keep your sentences short. Enough said.
• Short paragraphs – Notice how many of the paragraphs in this blog post are two or three sentences, max. Make your content easy to scan.
• Relevant Images – Add images to your post to make it more engaging
• Look for grammar errors – I like to use Grammarly to help me with my grammatical construction.
• Add a call to action – Add ways for readers to join your email list sprinkled throughout your blog posts.
• Publish your post – Get your blog post out to the world! Don’t worry about mistakes! You can always come back and fix them later.

Step 4. Promote Your Blog Post to the World

Once your post is live, it’s time to share your post with the world. I know this can be a scary feeling when first starting out.

My best tip is to not focus on yourself, but focus on how your blog will help others.

An ideal place to start is social media. What social media accounts are you already using? Share your blog post there first. Remember, you can do it in a non-pushy way.

If you’re not sure what to write, a have a sample script below you can use:

“Hey friends, I’ve decided to start a blog with the goal of helping others. I’ve just published my first post!

It would mean the world to me if you would click the link, read this post, and then come back here and share your thoughts with me. Thanks!”

Now, you don’t want to hit up your social media newsfeed daily to push people over to your blog post. We want to be helpful, not annoying.

You can also enlist some friends to help get the word out. Come up with a list of 10-20 friends who you would consider to be supportive. Be sure this list includes friends and not just acquaintances. Otherwise, this exercise will not work.

Send them a message on Facebook Messenger. Let them know you recently launched a blog and it would mean the world to you if they would share it on social media.

To make this easy for them, you’ve already typed up a script they can post. It goes like this:

“Hey, guys! My friend Sally, just launched a blog designed to help overwhelmed moms claim back control of their lives. You should check it out here: LINK”

The point of all of this is to get referral traffic to your site. They have friends you don’t have. They can reach people you cannot reach.

Blog Post Examples

Congrats on getting your first blog post published! Would it be helpful to see a few examples? Let’s take a look at a few first blog post examples.

Example #1: CPA Career Coach

My first blog was launched in 2009 and it was designed to help accounting and finance professionals find meaning in their work. My first post had three parts.

Part 1. An Opening Story

Part 2. The List Post Outline (4 Major Points)

Part 3. How This Blog Will Help You & Who I Am

Let’s take a look at one more example.

Example #2: Personal Branding Blog

A few years later, I launched JonathanMilligan.com. The goal of the new blog was to help people discover their purpose and be more productive. Here’s the outline I used:

Part 1. Who This Blog is For

Part 2. How This Blog Will Help You

Part 3. Who I Am

There you have it! You should now be well on your way to blogging your passion and sharing your message with the world. You got this!

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How to Write a Blog Post?

During the current era of informational technologies, we have hundreds of ways of delivering information, and a blog post has become one of the methods. You might have stumbled upon an influencer’s page when looking for a particular piece of knowledge. Is such an activity inspiring for you? In that case, discover how to write a great blog post! At first sight, it seems that blog post writing is an easy task. However, you are yet to discover how long a blog post should be, its contents, blog title, and other essential tips.

What is a Blog Post?

Even though everyone hears the term “blog post” all the time, few people have an extensive understanding of the notion. In a nutshell, a blog post exists to represent a segment of knowledge on a website. It rarely exceeds several thousand words, but it compensates for quantity by quality. The main reason for writing blog posts is to deliver advice easily and entertainingly. Hence, blog post examples always contain charts, illustrations, and infographics. Memorize how to write a blog post outline and content engagingly with our admission essay writer !

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write a Blog Post

Is your dream to become a professional blogger and make money on blogging ? Be ready to fit the next requirements:

• You are an expert in your subject
• You are willing to give your knowledge to loyal readers
• You are familiar with the blog post format

It is essential to present the facts in a certain way. Unless the subject is unique, chances are that thousands of similar articles already exist online. Without catching info, a new blog can’t truly shine and hook followers. Your goal is to make an award-winning blog.

Blog Post Outline

Sometimes, new bloggers make a mistake and focus on writing too much instead of improving the framework of the blogs. On the contrary, their more experienced counterparts present blog post examples that demonstrate both their writing talents and logical skills. While the entire process of planning a post sometimes looks like a fully creative activity, logic should also be present in blog post format.

How do you Write a Good Post Structure for a Blog?

The modern online community of influencers is enormous, it generates more than six million posts daily! Hence, neglecting helpful tips may lead to your blog post appearing too low on search engine result pages. Any target audience appreciates a simple and smart blog post format, apart from the helpful knowledge. There must be a smooth transition between segments of the written work for smoother perception. Site visitors would rather follow a blog with well-structured articles.

Opt for a Topic

For a start, pick a subject of your blog post. There is an ocean of discussion ideas, but this broad choice makes the decision more complicated. Whether you want lifestyle blog post ideas or cooking blog topics, answer the following questions:

• Are these facts interesting to the target audience?
• How many posts like this exist?
• Is the subject trending at this moment?

Next, attempt to write a catchy headline. In other words, fit the general meaning of the text in a small and simple sentence. Remember that a great headline makes your readers interested immediately. Writing headlines is an art, so master it in practice. 

Make an Outline

To be a professional influencer, you have to discover how to write a blog post outline. Text volumes differ by the blog theme and the depth of subject analysis. Overly massive articles tend to scare away blog readers, and that is why a coherent framework is a must. Moreover, planning allows the creators to narrate better too. Indeed, the balance and connection of structural segments reflect the expertise of a writer.

Check Grammar and Spelling

Whenever a person searches for a recipe or wants to buy essay online, they expect to receive first-class material. Provided that you rush to publish a blog post, you are going to omit errors in the writing. Unfortunately, beginners sacrifice grammar to create more content. Why is such behavior detrimental to a webpage? Here are two main reasons:

• Typos negatively affect work with search engines
• Readers try to avoid blogs with grammatical and spelling mistakes

For these reasons, take your time to reread the material before placing it online. Many blogs fail to succeed only because of such mistakes.

Find Creatives

Once you solve the technical issues, try to make the information appealing. Luckily, you have numerous options for upgrading the blog aesthetics. For instance, the creators who run personal blogs often include photos they shoot themselves. In case you enjoy taking selfies or pictures of your surroundings, go for it!

Additionally, influencers search for stock photos. Everyone can find something within the enormous online collections. Self-made charts and graphs can be another big advantage for your written pieces. They demonstrate crucial information better than just a big chunk of text.

Assuming that none of these options fit you, think of hiring an illustrator. A professional artist understands all of your recommendations regarding visuals. Eventually, you receive a unique masterpiece that can please your followers.

Publish and Share

Finally, you reach the closing stage of blog post creation. Popularizing your work is as crucial as all the earlier stages and processes. Though it feels impossible to write one formula of success that would fit all writers, there still are some working methods for gaining popularity. 

Social media marketing happens to be the first thing that comes to mind. So why do bloggers prefer it?  Social media apps like Facebook, TikTok, or Twitter can transform someone into a star overnight! Adjust the blog post format to the preferred platform to attract followers. Just remember to post according to schedule!

Besides social media marketing, you may inform the existing readers through email. This way, they are unlikely to miss new publications. Besides, this approach makes followers feel special, which increases their loyalty.

Some bloggers overlook the method of pop-up advertisements, although it proves to be rather efficient. If social media algorithms may occasionally fail, paid ads get to the target audience on different sites.

How to Write a Successful Blog Post: Tips

Wish to learn how to write a good blog post? Under those circumstances, remember several principles that all the popular bloggers use:

Clear formatting

Instead of giving your followers a big unreadable piece of text, split it into smaller parts. Dedicate each paragraph to one idea, then place them in a logical order, together with the introduction and summary.

Illustrations

An excellent picture is undeniably eye-candy for viewers. Images refresh your articles and explain the info you publish on the website. Still, avoid oversaturating your written pieces with imagery.

Attempt to fit one thought into just one paragraph. Making paragraphs brief and simple is more professional than watering them down to reach a particular number of words.

Catchy headline

A headline becomes the first thing that a potential follower sees. Hence, a unique and intriguing title is able to hook more curious people. If this trick works, the person might read an article to the end.

How Long Does it Take to Write a Blog Post?

Provided that you are new to the blogging community, you could be unaware of the time resources that such an occupation requires. Initially, the blog subject is what determines your writing speed. Easier topics take up fewer hours than complicated writing pieces.

At the same time, a blogger’s experience is the second crucial factor in running a blog. Ordinarily, a beginner needs way more hours than a professional. Usually, a newbie writes a thousand words in three or four hours. A skilled person can finish an identical task in under two hours.

How to Write a Blog Post for SEO?

A major characteristic of most successful blogs is the ability to appear on the top of search engine results pages. How do creators achieve such success? The secret is simple. They know a thing or two about search engine optimization. Generally, the best blog post examples efficiently communicate both with humans and search engines. Employ keyword research tools and have an advantage.

Begin with thorough keyword research to organically incorporate popular words in your blog post title. Furthermore, you may attempt to boost website traffic by writing concise paragraphs and several links. Learn how to write a blog post template with an illustration below.

In case the thought of becoming a blogger excites you, care to analyze a blog post template first. Whether you are running a fashion and lifestyle blog, a tech blog, or a personal development website, preparation is key. You can see various blog post examples for students all over the Internet, so feel free to learn from them. Thanks to the layout examples, you can avoid beginner mistakes. Get acquainted with the following example.

Blog Post Template

Awesome blogs to follow 2022.

Today, over half of all Internet users read guides, articles, or other blog posts. No wonder, since a blog page may contain any kind of information, from the greatest travel hacks to instructions on how to write an exemplification essay . An influencer might grab your attention to their website through a unique writing style, deep thoughts, or consistent posting.

Some fantastic web pages inspire followers to start blogs themselves. Yet, you can be unaware of the best topics and schedule for posting. Getting acquainted with the biggest blog creators should assist you in your journey.

Fashion Blogs

If you are keen on stylish clothes, consider employing this knowledge to transform into a fashion influencer. Imagine gaining a fortune through your passion and assisting those needing beauty advice! A beginner might either resell the existing brands or popularize their name.

A great illustration of a style blog is Sincerely Jules. This woman gives advice to those who struggle in picking clothes for different occasions. Due to her high-resolution pictures and minimalistic design, her new blog is convenient for followers.

Mummy Blogs

Everybody knows that being a mom becomes a full-time job. Some women take this job to a whole new level through running mom web pages. Such pages are one of many lifestyle blog post themes that allow mothers to express emotions or give practical recommendations to struggling parents.

Let’s analyze the Cuddle Fairy website, which is quite famous among other parenting websites. Becky, its founder, decided to tell about the lessons she learned during her family life. “I am proud of many things in life, but nothing beats being a mother”, the influencer says in one of her articles. Apart from giving useful recommendations, Becky monetizes the page by selling hand-made jewelry.

Education Blogs

At present, many people stand by the “live and learn” principle. In other words, they are eager to continue personal development for as long as they live. Luckily for them, education blogs can fill the gaps in their knowledge, regardless of their specialization. Want to study astronomy or write a photo essay ? Search for the corresponding page online.

There are numerous blogs dedicated to education, and Edutopia is one of the most well-known sources. Markedly, this educational blog contains essential material for all students from kindergarten to high school and college. Moreover, kids get a chance to communicate with real scientists!

Business Blogs

While some people only qualify, others are already willing to put their skills into practice. For this purpose, users often look for business blogs. Of course, there are endless fields for experimenting, but some topics are at the peak of their popularity today.

Cryptocurrency is one of the trending subjects of discussion since it gives everybody a chance to gain a fortune in a short time. Crypto enthusiasts prefer many sources of information, including the CryptoNews blog. Whenever you get on the blog’s homepage, you will see the freshest rumors from the crypto world in the form of texts, videos, and podcasts.

Gaming Blogs

Gaming has occupied the minds of millions of people worldwide. Somebody could say that computer games are just a hobby, but for others, they become a life-long passion. Anyone who spends lots of time doing quests behind the screen understands the complexity of such a process. Consequently, gamers aim to develop their skills through the info available online.

One of many blogs for such enthusiasts is The Game Fanatics. Their target audience enjoys the detailed analysis of famous games and gadgets. Moreover, the founders made an effort to film video reviews.

Lifestyle/ Fitness Blogs

Are you looking for an influencer who would cover various daily topics in their posts? In that case, your perfect solution is a lifestyle blog. You may find people’s thoughts on everything from organic shopping to relationship advice. You can even find web pages that solely focus on exercising; they are called fitness blogs.

A quite famous example of a lifestyle blog is Goop. Its creator is Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, who wants to share her view on life with a broad audience. The actress keeps zero secrets!

Travel Blogs

Just a hundred years ago, traveling was hardly accessible for anyone except wealthy individuals. In modern times the situation changed for the better, and more people pick traveling as their hobby. Despite the increasing affordability of international journeys, there still are questions that arise. Where to find local cuisine? Are there any underrated landmarks? Dedicated influencers answer all those questions.

Passport to Eden shines like a true gem among many similar websites. Once you enter Anshula’s own blog, you find yourself in an aesthetically pleasing space. The girl gladly shares tips for travelers, plus she gives awesome book recommendations. Picturesque images also make Passport to Eden one of the best photography blog examples.

Cooking is, by all means, the universal subject for discussion. People eat everything, everywhere, and all the time. In the past, parents and grandparents passed down the sacred cooking knowledge to the next generations. Then, written recipes slowly moved to food blogs, where everyone learned tips and tricks. Do bright food photos inspire you to try out new things? Maybe you could be an online chef yourself!

One of the best food blogs out there is Budget Bytes. The name itself tells new followers that this blog is money-saving. According to Beth Moncel, the creator, everyone can cook Instagram-like meals even with a small budget. The core principle is moderation in grocery shopping and eating.

Overall, any blog post template has the same anatomy. By following a set of certain principles, even a beginner can evolve into a well-known blogger. Luckily, endless blog post examples for students or enthusiasts of any kind exist to help anyone create their own blog.

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How to Write the AP Lit Prose Essay with Examples

March 30, 2024

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples – The College Board’s Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Course is one of the most enriching experiences that high school students can have. It exposes you to literature that most people don’t encounter until college , and it helps you develop analytical and critical thinking skills that will enhance the quality of your life, both inside and outside of school. The AP Lit Exam reflects the rigor of the course. The exam uses consistent question types, weighting, and scoring parameters each year . This means that, as you prepare for the exam, you can look at previous questions, responses, score criteria, and scorer commentary to help you practice until your essays are perfect.

What is the AP Lit Free Response testing? 

In AP Literature, you read books, short stories, and poetry, and you learn how to commit the complex act of literary analysis . But what does that mean? Well, “to analyze” literally means breaking a larger idea into smaller and smaller pieces until the pieces are small enough that they can help us to understand the larger idea. When we’re performing literary analysis, we’re breaking down a piece of literature into smaller and smaller pieces until we can use those pieces to better understand the piece of literature itself.

So, for example, let’s say you’re presented with a passage from a short story to analyze. The AP Lit Exam will ask you to write an essay with an essay with a clear, defensible thesis statement that makes an argument about the story, based on some literary elements in the short story. After reading the passage, you might talk about how foreshadowing, allusion, and dialogue work together to demonstrate something essential in the text. Then, you’ll use examples of each of those three literary elements (that you pull directly from the passage) to build your argument. You’ll finish the essay with a conclusion that uses clear reasoning to tell your reader why your argument makes sense.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples (Continued)

But what’s the point of all of this? Why do they ask you to write these essays?

Well, the essay is, once again, testing your ability to conduct literary analysis. However, the thing that you’re also doing behind that literary analysis is a complex process of both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning takes a series of points of evidence and draws a larger conclusion. Deductive reasoning departs from the point of a broader premise and draws a singular conclusion. In an analytical essay like this one, you’re using small pieces of evidence to draw a larger conclusion (your thesis statement) and then you’re taking your thesis statement as a larger premise from which you derive your ultimate conclusion.

So, the exam scorers are looking at your ability to craft a strong thesis statement (a singular sentence that makes an argument), use evidence and reasoning to support that argument, and then to write the essay well. This is something they call “sophistication,” but they’re looking for well-organized thoughts carried through clear, complete sentences.

This entire process is something you can and will use throughout your life. Law, engineering, medicine—whatever pursuit, you name it—utilizes these forms of reasoning to run experiments, build cases, and persuade audiences. The process of this kind of clear, analytical thinking can be honed, developed, and made easier through repetition.

Practice Makes Perfect

Because the AP Literature Exam maintains continuity across the years, you can pull old exam copies, read the passages, and write responses. A good AP Lit teacher is going to have you do this time and time again in class until you have the formula down. But, it’s also something you can do on your own, if you’re interested in further developing your skills.

AP Lit Prose Essay Examples 

Let’s take a look at some examples of questions, answers and scorer responses that will help you to get a better idea of how to craft your own AP Literature exam essays.

In the exam in 2023, students were asked to read a poem by Alice Cary titled “Autumn,” which was published in 1874. In it, the speaker contemplates the start of autumn. Then, students are asked to craft a well-written essay which uses literary techniques to convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.

The following is an essay that received a perfect 6 on the exam. There are grammar and usage errors throughout the essay, which is important to note: even though the writer makes some mistakes, the structure and form of their argument was strong enough to merit a 6. This is what your scorers will be looking for when they read your essay.

Example Essay 

Romantic and hyperbolic imagery is used to illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn, which conveys Cary’s idea that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.

Romantic imagery is utilized to demonstrate the speaker’s warm regard for the season of summer and emphasize her regretfulness for autumn’s coming, conveying the uncomfortable change away from idyllic familiarity. Summer, is portrayed in the image of a woman who “from her golden collar slips/and strays through stubble fields/and moans aloud.” Associated with sensuality and wealth, the speaker implies the interconnection between a season and bounty, comfort, and pleasure. Yet, this romantic view is dismantled by autumn, causing Summer to “slip” and “stray through stubble fields.” Thus, the coming of real change dethrones a constructed, romantic personification of summer,  conveying the speaker’s reluctance for her ideal season to be dethroned by something much less decorated and adored.

Summer, “she lies on pillows of the yellow leaves,/ And tries the old tunes for over an hour”, is contrasted with bright imagery of fallen leaves/ The juxtaposition between Summer’s character and the setting provides insight into the positivity of change—the yellow leaves—by its contrast with the failures of attempting to sustain old habits or practices, “old tunes”. “She lies on pillows” creates a sympathetic, passive image of summer in reaction to the coming of Autumn, contrasting her failures to sustain “old tunes.” According to this, it is understood that the speaker recognizes the foolishness of attempting to prevent what is to come, but her wishfulness to counter the natural progression of time.

Hyperbolic imagery displays the discrepancies between unrealistic, exaggerated perceptions of change and the reality of progress, continuing the perpetuation of Cary’s idea that change must be embraced rather than rejected. “Shorter and shorter now the twilight clips/The days, as though the sunset gates they crowd”, syntax and diction are used to literally separate different aspects of the progression of time. In an ironic parallel to the literal language, the action of twilight’s “clip” and the subject, “the days,” are cut off from each other into two different lines, emphasizing a sense of jarring and discomfort. Sunset, and Twilight are named, made into distinct entities from the day, dramatizing the shortening of night-time into fall. The dramatic, sudden implications for the change bring to mind the switch between summer and winter, rather than a transitional season like fall—emphasizing the Speaker’s perspective rather than a factual narration of the experience.

She says “the proud meadow-pink hangs down her head/Against the earth’s chilly bosom, witched with frost”. Implying pride and defeat, and the word “witched,” the speaker brings a sense of conflict, morality, and even good versus evil into the transition between seasons. Rather than a smooth, welcome change, the speaker is practically against the coming of fall. The hyperbole present in the poem serves to illustrate the Speaker’s perspective and ideas on the coming of fall, which are characterized by reluctance and hostility to change from comfort.

The topic of this poem, Fall–a season characterized by change and the deconstruction of the spring and summer landscape—is juxtaposed with the final line which evokes the season of Spring. From this, it is clear that the speaker appreciates beautiful and blossoming change. However, they resent that which destroys familiar paradigms and norms. Fall, seen as the death of summer, is characterized as a regression, though the turning of seasons is a product of the literal passage of time. Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.

Scoring Criteria: Why did this essay do so well? 

When it comes to scoring well, there are some rather formulaic things that the judges are searching for. You might think that it’s important to “stand out” or “be creative” in your writing. However, aside from concerns about “sophistication,” which essentially means you know how to organize thoughts into sentences and you can use language that isn’t entirely elementary, you should really focus on sticking to a form. This will show the scorers that you know how to follow that inductive/deductive reasoning process that we mentioned earlier, and it will help to present your ideas in the most clear, coherent way possible to someone who is reading and scoring hundreds of essays.

So, how did this essay succeed? And how can you do the same thing?

First: The Thesis 

On the exam, you can either get one point or zero points for your thesis statement. The scorers said, “The essay responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis located in the introductory paragraph,” which you can read as the first sentence in the essay. This is important to note: you don’t need a flowery hook to seduce your reader; you can just start this brief essay with some strong, simple, declarative sentences—or go right into your thesis.

What makes a good thesis? A good thesis statement does the following things:

• Makes a claim that will be supported by evidence
• Is specific and precise in its use of language
• Argues for an original thought that goes beyond a simple restating of the facts

If you’re sitting here scratching your head wondering how you come up with a thesis statement off the top of your head, let me give you one piece of advice: don’t.

The AP Lit scoring criteria gives you only one point for the thesis for a reason: they’re just looking for the presence of a defensible claim that can be proven by evidence in the rest of the essay.

Second: Write your essay from the inside out 

While the thesis is given one point, the form and content of the essay can receive anywhere from zero to four points. This is where you should place the bulk of your focus.

My best advice goes like this:

• Choose your evidence first
• Develop your commentary about the evidence
• Then draft your thesis statement based on the evidence that you find and the commentary you can create.

It will seem a little counterintuitive: like you’re writing your essay from the inside out. But this is a fundamental skill that will help you in college and beyond. Don’t come up with an argument out of thin air and then try to find evidence to support your claim. Look for the evidence that exists and then ask yourself what it all means. This will also keep you from feeling stuck or blocked at the beginning of the essay. If you prepare for the exam by reviewing the literary devices that you learned in the course and practice locating them in a text, you can quickly and efficiently read a literary passage and choose two or three literary devices that you can analyze.

Third: Use scratch paper to quickly outline your evidence and commentary 

Once you’ve located two or three literary devices at work in the given passage, use scratch paper to draw up a quick outline. Give each literary device a major bullet point. Then, briefly point to the quotes/evidence you’ll use in the essay. Finally, start to think about what the literary device and evidence are doing together. Try to answer the question: what meaning does this bring to the passage?

A sample outline for one paragraph of the above essay might look like this:

Romantic imagery

Portrayal of summer

• Woman who “from her golden collar… moans aloud”
• Summer as bounty

Contrast with Autumn

• Autumn dismantles Summer
• “Stray through stubble fields”
• Autumn is change; it has the power to dethrone the romance of Summer/make summer a bit meaningless

Recognition of change in a positive light

• Summer “lies on pillows / yellow leaves / tries old tunes”
• Bright imagery/fallen leaves
• Attempt to maintain old practices fails: “old tunes”
• But! There is sympathy: “lies on pillows”

Speaker recognizes: she can’t prevent what is to come; wishes to embrace natural passage of time

By the time the writer gets to the end of the outline for their paragraph, they can easily start to draw conclusions about the paragraph based on the evidence they have pulled out. You can see how that thinking might develop over the course of the outline.

Then, the speaker would take the conclusions they’ve drawn and write a “mini claim” that will start each paragraph. The final bullet point of this outline isn’t the same as the mini claim that comes at the top of the second paragraph of the essay, however, it is the conclusion of the paragraph. You would do well to use the concluding thoughts from your outline as the mini claim to start your body paragraph. This will make your paragraphs clear, concise, and help you to construct a coherent argument.

Repeat this process for the other one or two literary devices that you’ve chosen to analyze, and then: take a step back.

Fourth: Draft your thesis 

Once you quickly sketch out your outline, take a moment to “stand back” and see what you’ve drafted. You’ll be able to see that, among your two or three literary devices, you can draw some commonality. You might be able to say, as the writer did here, that romantic and hyperbolic imagery “illustrate the speaker’s unenthusiastic opinion of the coming of autumn,” ultimately illuminating the poet’s idea “that change is difficult to accept but necessary for growth.”

This is an original argument built on the evidence accumulated by the student. It directly answers the prompt by discussing literary techniques that “convey the speaker’s complex response to the changing seasons.” Remember to go back to the prompt and see what direction they want you to head with your thesis, and craft an argument that directly speaks to that prompt.

Then, move ahead to finish your body paragraphs and conclusion.

Fifth: Give each literary device its own body paragraph 

In this essay, the writer examines the use of two literary devices that are supported by multiple pieces of evidence. The first is “romantic imagery” and the second is “hyperbolic imagery.” The writer dedicates one paragraph to each idea. You should do this, too.

This is why it’s important to choose just two or three literary devices. You really don’t have time to dig into more. Plus, more ideas will simply cloud the essay and confuse your reader.

Using your outline, start each body paragraph with a “mini claim” that makes an argument about what it is you’ll be saying in your paragraph. Lay out your pieces of evidence, then provide commentary for why your evidence proves your point about that literary device.

Move onto the next literary device, rinse, and repeat.

Sixth: Commentary and Conclusion 

Finally, you’ll want to end this brief essay with a concluding paragraph that restates your thesis, briefly touches on your most important points from each body paragraph, and includes a development of the argument that you laid out in the essay.

In this particular example essay, the writer concludes by saying, “Utilizing romantic imagery and hyperbole to shape the Speaker’s perspective, Cary emphasizes the need to embrace change though it is difficult, because growth is not possible without hardship or discomfort.” This is a direct restatement of the thesis. At this point, you’ll have reached the end of your essay. Great work!

Seventh: Sophistication 

A final note on scoring criteria: there is one point awarded to what the scoring criteria calls “sophistication.” This is evidenced by the sophistication of thought and providing a nuanced literary analysis, which we’ve already covered in the steps above.

There are some things to avoid, however:

• Sweeping generalizations, such as, “From the beginning of human history, people have always searched for love,” or “Everyone goes through periods of darkness in their lives, much like the writer of this poem.”
• Only hinting at possible interpretations instead of developing your argument
• Oversimplifying your interpretation
• Or, by contrast, using overly flowery or complex language that does not meet your level of preparation or the context of the essay.

Remember to develop your argument with nuance and complexity and to write in a style that is academic but appropriate for the task at hand.

If you want more practice or to check out other exams from the past, go to the College Board’s website .

Brittany Borghi

After earning a BA in Journalism and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, Brittany spent five years as a full-time lecturer in the Rhetoric Department at the University of Iowa. Additionally, she’s held previous roles as a researcher, full-time daily journalist, and book editor. Brittany’s work has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Hopkins Review, and the Pittsburgh City Paper, among others, and she was also a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.

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Essay - What it Is and How to Write it With an AI Aithor

Writing concise and persuasive texts is a skill required in many professional settings. One of the ways we learn this skill is by writing essays. However, essays require lots of preparation and research, so they can be hard to write, especially if you struggle to understand how to make your essay better.

In this article, you’ll learn what an essay is and how to use the Aithor AI essay generator for writing essays.

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What is an essay?

In a broad sense, an essay is a genre of writing that allows its author to explore a certain topic in detail. The main goal of an essay is to present certain facts and opinions to its readers, provoke thought, engage them in discussion around the issue at hand, and sometimes even convince them of the author’s point of view.

To do this, essays always follow a set structure consisting of:

• the introduction , where the author introduces readers to the topic of the essay and to the main argument the essay is set to prove,
• the body , where the author develops the main idea of the essay, expanding on its topic and providing reasoning to prove the main argument,
• the conclusion , where the author summarizes the entire text and once again states the initial argument.

Due to this complex structure, essay authors have to research the topic of their future essays and create detailed plans to communicate their points across. This can become an issue for many students who often have to write essays on subjects they aren’t closely familiar with.

Thankfully, it is now possible to use AI to help write essays with a strong premise and reasoning. Let’s find out how you can utilize essay generator Aithor to create essays for your academic purposes.

How to write an essay with AI essay generator Aithor

Aithor.com is an AI essay generator created specifically to provide aid to students with their essay assignments. There are multiple ways AI can be used to create perfect texts on any given topic. Here is an overview of how AI can help with each stage of writing a perfect essay.

1. Identifying the thesis statement

A thesis statement is a brief summary of an essay that contains the main argument you are going to refer to throughout the whole text. Your essay writing process should always start with identifying a proper thesis statement as it will influence your line of reasoning and analysis.

AI generators can prove a great assistance in this stage of essay writing. By simply typing in the broader topic of your essay, you can get a list of a dozen potential thesis statements offering different outlooks on the issue at hand. The only thing you will need to do is choose the one that resonates with you the most.

2. Gathering sources

Without learning about the background of an issue, it’s impossible to write a comprehensive essay. That’s when AI for writing essays can provide much-needed assistance.

The essay generator Aithor can sort through a large database of academic literature in mere seconds and find sources that can be used in your essay. This saves a tremendous amount of time, allowing you to focus on studying the subject instead of wasting your time on manual searching.

3. Meeting word count requirement

When you write an essay assignment, you often have to meet a certain word count requirement. However, this can prove hard when you feel like you’ve already exhausted the topic.

The good news is, that it’s easy to learn how to get AI to write an essay addition. Simply scan the text of your essay and find the parts you think need to be a bit longer. Then you can prompt an essay generator to continue writing a specific part of your essay, which can help you achieve the required word count.

4. Asking for examples

If you’re unsure of how your essay should look, you can use AI-generated essays as an example. AI generators are good at creating template texts illustrating how to write specific texts. It can also help you decide how you want to approach your analysis and present your arguments effectively.

5. Avoiding plagiarism

The essay generator Aithor has access to a vast database of texts and can check your essay for any accidental plagiarism. In addition, Aithor can help you reference your sources properly and per specific academic standards, which is also important to avoid triggering anti-plagiarism systems. 

6. Enhancing your grammar

Like any other written text, an essay shouldn’t include any grammar or stylistic mistakes, or you may end up with a lower grade than you hoped for.

AI can provide good feedback to improve the quality of your essay and correct any mistakes. This is particularly important for students who spend a long amount of time on their essays as they might become so engrossed in their writing that they fail to notice any errors.

Conclusion: How to Write it With an AI Aithor

AI essay generators like Aithor.com have become a great help when it comes to essay writing. From helping students conduct research to checking for grammar mistakes, AI tools can significantly improve the quality of students’ work. Knowing how to make your essay better with AI is crucial in the fast-paced world of academic studies, so make sure to explore all the ways of using AI for writing essays.

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How to Write a Policy Analysis Paper in 6 Easy Steps (+Examples)

Working on a policy analysis paper is both challenging and fulfilling. In this article, we'll guide you through the process, whether you're new to the field or experienced. Understanding how policies are made, evaluated, and recommended is crucial for making a difference in public discussions and decisions. We'll cover everything from defining your goals to researching thoroughly, analyzing data, and presenting persuasive arguments. By following these steps, you'll be able to communicate your ideas effectively, shape procedure debates, and contribute to positive changes in society. Should you need more hands-on aid with the assignment, hire a college essay writer for the maximum result.

What Is a Policy Analysis Paper

A policy analysis essay definition is a comprehensive examination and evaluation of a particular policy or set of policies within a given context. It involves analyzing the rationale behind the system, its objectives, implementation strategies, and its intended and unintended consequences. This type of paper aims to provide insights into the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and feasibility of the approach, often considering various perspectives, stakeholders, and alternatives. Through rigorous research, data analysis, and critical reasoning, procedure analysis papers aim to inform decision-makers, scholars, and the public about the strengths and weaknesses of existing policies and propose recommendations for improvement or alternative courses of action.

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Policy Analysis Paper Purpose

The purpose of a policy analysis paper is to critically assess a specific procedure or set of policies in order to provide valuable insights into its effectiveness, implications, and potential areas for improvement. By examining the underlying rationale, objectives, and outcomes of the implementation, this type of paper aims to inform decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public about its strengths, weaknesses, and impacts on society. 

Students are writing a policy analysis paper in college for several reasons. Firstly, it allows them to develop critical thinking and analytical skills by evaluating real-world policies and their implications. Additionally, it helps students understand the complexities of policy-making processes and how policies impact various stakeholders. Writing analysis papers also enhances research and writing skills, as students must gather and synthesize information from diverse sources to support their arguments effectively. Furthermore, engaging with procedure analysis fosters civic engagement and social responsibility, encouraging students to contribute to public discourse and advocate for evidence-based solutions. Are you dealing with multiple assignments all at the same time? If you’re about to address the audience, say, ‘ write a speech for me ,’ so our experts can relieve your workload.

Topic Ideas for Policy Analysis Paper

Here’s a collection of 50 thought-provoking policy analysis paper topics for your inspiration. In addition, we’d like to offer you informative essay topics for the purpose of learning and self-education.

• The viability of a universal healthcare system: An analysis.
• Plastic bag bans: Environmental implications examined.
• Tax credits for renewable energy adoption: Assessing effectiveness.
• Social security and raising the retirement age: Exploring implications.
• Implementing a four-day workweek: Feasibility assessment.
• Community policing strategies: Effectiveness in crime reduction.
• Increasing the minimum wage: Consequences evaluated.
• School voucher programs: Impact on educational equity.
• Congestion pricing for urban areas: Benefits and drawbacks analyzed.
• Government subsidies for electric vehicles: Effectiveness assessed.
• Zoning laws and affordable housing availability: An investigation.
• National carbon tax: Feasibility and impact explored.
• Mandatory voting laws: Consequences for political participation.
• Drug rehabilitation programs: Effectiveness in reducing recidivism.
• Legalizing marijuana: Public health implications examined.
• Immigration policies and cultural diversity: Assessing impact.
• Privatizing water utilities: Consequences analyzed.
• Anti-bullying policies in schools: Effectiveness evaluated.
• Free college tuition programs: Benefits and drawbacks assessed.
• Wealth tax implementation: Feasibility analysis.
• Ride-sharing services and traditional taxi industries: Impact assessment.
• Gender quotas in corporate leadership: Effectiveness examined.
• National gun registry: Implications and feasibility explored.
• Expanding nuclear energy production: Consequences evaluated.
• Mandatory parental leave policies: Effectiveness assessment.
• Charter school expansion: Impact on public education explored.
• Basic income implementation: Viability and consequences assessed.
• Affordable housing initiatives: Success factors examined.
• Internet privacy regulations: Impact on data security analyzed.
• Corporate tax breaks: Economic implications assessed.
• Universal preschool programs: Long-term benefits explored.
• Climate change adaptation policies: Effectiveness in resilience building.
• Universal voting by mail: Implications for voter turnout examined.
• Reducing military spending: Consequences and feasibility analyzed.
• Workplace diversity training: Effectiveness in promoting inclusivity.
• Renewable energy subsidies: Impact on energy independence assessed.
• Telecommuting incentives: Feasibility and impact on traffic analyzed.
• Carbon capture and storage initiatives: Viability and effectiveness.
• Local food sourcing policies: Benefits for communities examined.
• Police body camera mandates: Impact on accountability assessed.
• Community land trust programs: Success factors and limitations.
• Mental health parity laws: Effectiveness in improving access.
• Corporate social responsibility regulations: Impact on sustainability.
• Universal pre-kindergarten education: Social and economic benefits.
• Land value tax implementation: Impact on property markets assessed.
• Affordable childcare initiatives: Impact on workforce participation.
• Smart city technology investments: Benefits for urban development.
• Flexible work hour policies: Impact on productivity and well-being.
• Prescription drug pricing regulations: Consequences for affordability.
• Public-private partnerships for infrastructure development: Effectiveness and risks assessed.

If you need more ideas, you may want to consult our guide on argumentative essay topics , which will definitely help kickstart your creativity. 

How to Structure a Policy Analysis Paper

A policy analysis paper format demands organizing your content coherently and logically to effectively communicate your analysis and findings. Here's a typical structure you can follow:

Introduction

• Provide an overview of the issue or problem you're analyzing.
• Clearly state the purpose of your analysis.
• Introduce the policy or policies under review.
• Provide background information to contextualize the issue.
• State your thesis or research question.

Policy Context and Background

• Provide more in-depth background information on the issue.
• Describe the historical development of the policies.
• Discuss the context in which the procedure was implemented.
• Identify key stakeholders and their interests in the strategy.

Policy Analysis Framework

• Explain the framework or methodology you're using to analyze the policy.
• Define key concepts and terms relevant to your analysis.
• Discuss any theoretical frameworks or models guiding your analysis.
• Outline the criteria or criteria you will use to evaluate the procedure's effectiveness.

Policy Goals and Objectives

• Identify and discuss the stated goals and objectives of the policy.
• Evaluate the clarity and coherence of these goals.
• Discuss any potential conflicts or contradictions among the goals.

Policy Implementation

• Describe how the policy has been implemented in practice.
• Discuss any challenges or barriers to implementation.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies.

Policy Outcomes and Impacts

• Assess the outcomes and impacts of the policy.
• Evaluate the extent to which the procedure has achieved its intended goals.
• Discuss any unintended consequences or side effects of the approach.

Policy Alternatives

• Identify and discuss alternative policy options or approaches.
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative.
• Discuss the potential trade-offs associated with each alternative.

Recommendations

• Based on your analysis, provide recommendations for policymakers.
• Discuss specific actions or changes that could improve the process.
• Justify your recommendations with evidence from your analysis.
• Summarize the main findings of your analysis.
• Restate your thesis or research question.
• Reflect on the broader implications of your analysis.
• Discuss any limitations or areas for further research.
• Provide a list of sources cited in your paper.
• Follow the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).

Need help with the assignment at this stage? Use our political science essay assistance to save time and secure optimal academic results.

How to Write a Policy Analysis Paper

In this section, we'll cover the basics of writing a policy analysis paper. This type of paper involves breaking down complicated policy issues, figuring out how well they're working, and suggesting ways to make them better. We'll walk you through the steps, like defining the goals of the implementation, looking at how it's being put into action, and checking what effects it's having. By the end, you'll have the skills to write a clear, well-reasoned paper that can help shape policies for the better. 

Understanding the Policy Issue

Start by thoroughly understanding the policy issue or problem you're analyzing. Research its background, context, and significance. Identify key stakeholders, relevant laws or regulations, and any existing policies addressing the issue.

Defining the Scope and Purpose

Clearly define the scope and purpose of your analysis. Determine what specific aspect of the approach you'll focus on and why it's important. Clarify the goals of your analysis and what you hope to achieve with your paper. Use an expert essay writing service to streamline your effort in producing a first-class paper. 

Gathering Data and Evidence

Collect relevant data and evidence to support your analysis. This may include statistical information, case studies, expert opinions, and academic research. Use credible sources and ensure your data is accurate and up-to-date.

Analyzing the Policy

A policy analysis paper evaluates the legislative program’s effectiveness, strengths, weaknesses, and implications. Use a structured approach, such as a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) or cost-benefit analysis, to assess the procedure from multiple perspectives. Consider its intended goals, implementation strategies, outcomes, and unintended consequences. If you need help with SWOT analysis, using our analytical essay writing service is highly recommended. 

Developing Recommendations

Based on your analysis, develop clear and actionable recommendations for policymakers or stakeholders. Identify specific changes or improvements that could enhance the system’s effectiveness or address its shortcomings. Support your recommendations with evidence and reasoning.

Writing and Communicating Your Analysis

Organize your analysis into a coherent and persuasive paper. Structure your paper with an introduction, background information, analysis, recommendations, and conclusion. Use clear and concise language, avoiding jargon or technical terms unless necessary. Provide citations for your sources and evidence. Finally, ensure your paper is well-written, logically organized, and effectively communicates your insights and recommendations.

Policy Analysis Paper Example

A policy analysis paper example serves as a valuable learning tool for students by providing a concrete model to follow and reference when undertaking their own analysis assignments. By studying an example paper, students can gain insights into the structure, content, and methodology of analysis, helping them understand how to effectively frame their analysis, support their arguments with evidence, and formulate actionable recommendations.

Example 1: “Implementing Universal Basic Income”

This policy analysis paper examines the feasibility and potential impacts of implementing a Universal Basic Income (UBI) program in the United States. It explores various options for UBI design, including cost and financing considerations, labor market effects, poverty reduction potential, and administrative feasibility. By reviewing existing evidence and debates surrounding UBI, the paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting such a program, ultimately highlighting the need for careful analysis, experimentation, and stakeholder engagement in shaping effective UBI policies.

Example 2: “Addressing Climate Change through Carbon Pricing”

This policy analysis paper examines the role of carbon pricing policies in addressing climate change, evaluating their efficacy, implementation challenges, and potential impacts. Carbon pricing mechanisms, including carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems, aim to internalize the external costs of carbon emissions and incentivize emission reductions. The paper discusses the economic efficiency of carbon pricing in promoting innovation and investment in clean technologies while also addressing equity considerations regarding its distributional impacts on low-income households and vulnerable communities.

Writing a policy analysis paper is super important for students because it helps them learn how to tackle tough societal problems and make smart decisions. You get to sharpen your thinking skills, learn how to research thoroughly and become better at expressing yourself clearly. Plus, writing these papers helps students practice effectively communicating their ideas, which is a skill they'll need in their future careers, whether they work in government, nonprofits, or elsewhere. By digging into real-world issues, students also get a better grip on how politics, economics, and society all fit together. If you’re not committed to handling this task yourself, instruct our experts, saying, ‘ write my essay ,’ and receive the most competent help within hours. 

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How To Write A Research Paper

Find Sources For A Research Paper

How to Find Sources For a Research Paper | A Guide

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Published on: Mar 26, 2024

Last updated on: Mar 25, 2024

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Research papers are an essential part of academic life, but one of the most challenging aspects can be finding credible sources to support your arguments. 

With the vast amount of information available online, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. However, by following some simple steps, you can streamline the process of finding reliable sources for your research paper . 

In this guide, we'll break down the process into easy-to-follow steps to help you find the best sources for your paper.

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Step 1: Define Your Topic and Research Questions

Before you venture into your quest for sources, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your research topic and the specific questions you aim to address. Define the scope of your paper and identify keywords and key concepts that will guide your search for relevant sources.

Step 2: Utilize Academic Databases

Academic databases are treasure troves of scholarly articles, research papers, and academic journals covering a wide range of subjects. Institutions often provide access to these databases through their libraries. Some popular academic databases include:

• IEEE Xplore
• Google Scholar

These databases allow you to search for peer-reviewed articles and academic papers related to your topic. 

Use advanced search features to narrow down your results based on publication date, author, and keywords .

Academic Resources Classified by Discipline

Here's a breakdown of prominent databases categorized by academic discipline:

Step 3: Explore Library Catalogs

Your university or local library's catalog is another valuable resource for finding sources. Library catalogs contain books, periodicals, and other materials that may not be available online. 

Use the catalog's search function to locate relevant books, journals, and other materials that can contribute to your research.

Step 4: Consult Bibliographies and References

When you find a relevant source, take note of its bibliography or make a list of sources for the research paper. These lists often contain citations to other works that may be useful for your research. 

By exploring the references cited in a particular source, you can uncover additional resources and expand your understanding of the topic.

Step 5: Boolean Operators for Effective Searches

Boolean operators are words or symbols used to refine search queries by defining the relationships between search terms. The three primary operators include "AND," which narrows searches by requiring all terms to be present; "OR," which broadens searches by including either term or both; and "NOT," which excludes specific terms to refine results further. 

Most databases provide advanced search features for seamless application of Boolean logic.

Step 6: Consider Primary Sources 

Depending on your research topic, primary sources such as interviews, surveys, archival documents, and original data sets can provide valuable insights and support for your arguments. 

Primary sources offer firsthand accounts and original perspectives on historical events, social phenomena, and scientific discoveries.

Step 7: Evaluate the Credibility of Sources

Not all sources are created equal, and it's crucial to evaluate the credibility and reliability of the information you encounter. 

Consider the author's credentials, the publication venue, and whether the source is peer-reviewed. Look for evidence of bias or conflicts of interest that may undermine the source's credibility.

Step 8: Keep Track of Your Sources

As you gather sources for your research paper, maintain a systematic record of the materials you consult.  Keep track of bibliographic information, including author names, publication dates, titles, and page numbers . This information will be invaluable when citing your sources and creating a bibliography or works cited page.

Other Online Sources

In addition to academic databases and library catalogs, exploring popular online sources can provide valuable insights and perspectives on your research topic.  Here are some types of online sources you can consider:

Websites hosted by reputable organizations, institutions, and experts (such as the New York Times) can offer valuable information and analysis on a wide range of topics. Look for websites belonging to universities, research institutions, government agencies, and established non-profit organizations.

Crowdsourced Encyclopedias like Wikipedia

While Wikipedia can provide a broad overview of a topic and lead you to other sources, it's essential to verify the information found there with more authoritative sources. 

Use Wikipedia as a starting point for your research, but rely on peer-reviewed journal articles and academic sources for in-depth analysis and evidence.

Tips for Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources

When using online sources, it's important to exercise caution and critically evaluate the credibility and reliability of the information you find. Here are some tips for assessing the credibility of online sources:

• Check the Domain Extension: Look for websites with domain extensions that indicate credibility. URLs ending in .edu are educational resources, while URLs ending in .gov are government-related resources. These sites often provide reliable and authoritative information.
• Look for DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers): DOIs are unique alphanumeric strings assigned to scholarly articles and indicate that the article has been published in a peer-reviewed, scientific journal. Finding a DOI can help you assess the scholarly rigor of the source.
• Evaluate the Authorship and Credentials: Consider the qualifications and expertise of the author or organization behind the website or blog. Look for information about the author's credentials, affiliations, and expertise in the subject matter.
• Consider the Currency and Relevance: Assess how up-to-date the information is and whether it aligns with the scope and focus of your research. Look for recent publications and timely analyses that reflect current trends and developments in the field.

Wrapping it up!

Finding sources for your research paper may seem like a challenge, but by following these steps, you can locate credible sources to support your arguments and enhance the quality of your paper. 

By approaching the research process systematically and critically evaluating the information you encounter, you can produce a well-researched and compelling research paper.

If you are struggling with finding credible sources or have time constraints, do not hesitate to seek writing help for your research papers . CollegeEssay.org has professional writers ready to assist you. 

Connect with our essay writing service now and receive expert guidance and support to elevate your research paper to the next level.

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For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

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