Content writing is not a walk in the park when it comes to blogging.
Many people start blogging thinking they have a calling to share their ideas through writing.
Only to realize it’s the most challenging part of blogging. The need to write consistently for you to be successful makes some want to pull their hair off.
There are two ways to look at it, especially if you’re doing it all alone. You either write posts faster, which means that you have a lot of content on your website, but compromise on quality.
Or you create great posts better than your competitors and claim a spot in the top SERPs. But it would take days.
Striking a balance between these two is a tall task. You’re either on one side, the other or none at all.
Until now.
Having discovered dictation blogging, I’ve realized you can write great blog posts faster without compromising quality.
Compelling and engaging articles that Google can’t help but rank high.
Dictation blogging, unlike typing, is more effective, easy to improve and has many advantages.
Steps to Write Great Blog Posts Faster
1. Make a Plan
Without a plan, there is nowhere you are headed.
And this is no different in blogging.
So how do you plan a great blog post?
First, you have to put in mind your brand and what personality your brand embodies.
Understanding your brand helps you define the type of content that you’re going to write.
It also defines the tone to use and the purpose of every blog post you create.
Next, consider your target audience.
Your audience on the persona that you have in mind, the ideal customer that you write for.
For every topic that you have in mind, there is that person you have in mind whose unique problem will be solved by your article.
Next, you do keyword research. Most new bloggers never do search analysis. Yet it’s very crucial. Bloggers who don’t do keyword research end up writing content that adds no value to anybody.
Use free tools such as Google suggest, Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner to find the best keywords to phrase your topic.
You should also pick on the related questions people are asking and see whether you should cover them. Get an idea of what your competitors have written and how you can stand out with creativity or additional information.
Google want to offer googlers access to the most valuable content online. Most content has been regurgitated over and over again. To stand out, being creative and being different from the rest.
2. Research with Focus
Going through content on the internet to find helpful information for your blog post content is not easy. It takes time and skills.
Most bloggers do this while they write. They start writing and get onto Google and start picking information from different places and pasting them on their blog post. They jumble up idea after idea, trying to squeeze some sense out.
This process is highly distracting, and it does no service to the flow of your content.
And in most cases, you will not develop these ideas well enough. You end up with an underdeveloped and highly fragmented blog post which leaves your audience confused than they were.
You need to split research from your writing. Focus on one thing at a time. Set time and do your comprehensive research while taking notes
Pick up information from reliable sources and reputable sites, which you can reference during your content writing process.
Ensure to keep a record of the links to these sources for reference, especially for statistical claims.
Also, remember that research is only good if you question your ideas and beliefs and assume that you can be wrong.
This way, you are open to new ideas, and you can be objective by considering other people’s opinions.
That’s how you build a strong knowledge foundation to create a holistic article, which rightly serves your audience.
3. Outline your blog post
Having gathered information from your research, you need now to get this information down into bits. An outline is a list form piece that shows the entire structure based on the subtopics.
To have a well-developed outline, pack your main points and valuable information in a few words.
You’ll use this outline as your guide when dictating content. So it must be on point. One that will help you focus on your vital points as you dictate.
Ensure that your outlines are also very tight and remove unnecessary phrases, which might distract you during a dictation process.
Outlines are the foundation of great speeches. They’ll help you dictate confidently since you’ll know what follows after what. They are your confidence pillars like the PowerPoint slide show for your project presentation.
Your dictations will be on point, reducing the amount of editing needed to refine your articles.
Once you’re done outlining your article, read from the bottom.
Start with the conclusion to discover the points that you’re trying to wrap up. Then visit these points in the middle of your content and understand them well.
This gives you a clear idea of what you’re going to talk about and how you’ll flow from start to finish.
4. Visualize presenting your article
Having written your outline and well understood it, now imagine you’re talking to a crowd; you’re giving a presentation to an audience.
- How do you speak?
- How should they react?
- What points will you emphasize?
By imagining what you’ll present, you create an emotional connection with your content.
You want to get the message, and this wouldn’t be possible through a boring speech. You want to impact the people who are reading your content.
Your emotional connection will be evident from your word choice.
A great choice of words packs the power to start revolutions. Not because of the sequence of words used but because of the emotions that these words elicit when packed nicely like chocolate bars.
This is why you need to connect with the content you’ll present to offer a personal touch and induce emotional reactions.
And it starts with the mind.
That’s how you stand above the rest. There’s so much boring content out here!
5. Dictate while recording
If you’ve been around, you should know I don’t write blog posts. I dictate my articles, transcribe them and edit them before I post. A process that’s more effective and advantageous as compared to typing articles.
So get your stopwatch and set a timer.
Turn on your voice recorder.
Take out your outline. Imagine you’re in a full-packed hall, ready to present your article to an eager audience. Connect with your ideas.
Now, start talking confidently, audibly and with passion.
If you did enough research and outlined your work well, you should be armed with valuable content that gives you confidence and gets you in the zone.
Keep an eye on your stopwatch because the primary purpose of this process is to learn how to write great content faster. So, this stopwatch forces you to share your knowledge within your time limits.
And you can shorten this time and try producing the same amount of content. That’s called growth.
The stopwatch also distracts you from the self-editing cycle we have when writing which impedes our productivity.
The first few tries, you’ll not get it right. This is a new concept, and it requires time and practice to start dictating great content that requires minor editing.
Make this a daily routine, and you’ll only get better.
After dictation, submit your audio for transcription.
Spare about one hour, take a break from the entire writing process. Do something different. This break relaxes your mind.
When you get back, you have fresh ideas and feel like you sound differently while editing.
6. Edit out errors
Your transcript will probably come as a document with one wholesome block of text. This can seem daunting even to start editing. Start by dividing this block into small paragraphs, perhaps after every two to three sentences.
This makes your work look easily editable.
Also, break your content into subtopics and make them bold This gives you a good idea of how your content is structured from the beginning to the end.
Then start reading from the very top. And as you read, ask yourself the following questions.
- Is this word, phrase or sentence necessary?
- If erased, does the meaning of the sentence change?
- Does this sentence help in solving the problem at hand?
- Have I repeated myself?
- Is this content simple and straightforward?
You must be ruthless. Remove any fluff from your content.
People don’t have time to read unnecessary content. Our attention span likens that of a goldfish.
If you haven’t well developed some idea, now’s the time to do it.
When you’re, check your work on Grammarly. You will be surprised at how many errors you’ve made and missed out while proofreading. Correct everything. The tool will not always be right so make sure your corrections still make sense.
Next, check your article’s readability score on the Hemingway app. Make sure sixth graders can read it.
Lest you forget your headlines. Headlines attract clicks to your content. Without good headlines, you’ll be gambling with traffic.
Use CoShedule headline checker. It’s a free tool that rates how captivating your headlines are. Formulate 10 headlines and select the one that performs well on CoSchedule.
Also, work on their introduction. It’s responsible for making your readers want to read the rest of your article. You cannot afford to neglect it.
Lastly, read all through to ensure it has a good flow. Ideas have been well presented, check. No repetition, check. No errors, check.
7. SEO and Elements
There is more to great posts than great content. Other elements make an article holistic. They are like makeup. The girl might be beautiful, but wait till she put on some makeup!
Links: You might need to substantiate some claims by linking reliable sources from which you got the information. This gives your work relevance, mostly if you’ve acquired knowledge from authoritative blogs.
Also, add links to your related blog posts to help readers navigate blogs they’ll find helpful.
Images: Nobody wants to read a novel when looking for a quick fix online.
Images beak the tedious process of reading content. They make your content appealing and engaging. So use images that evoke thoughts and emotions. Don’t just pick any images from the internet. Stock photos that have been overused will affect your originality. Take pictures and use them. Design using Canva and Visme. Google loves unique images.
Apply on-page SEO: To make your articles relevant, you should include your focus keyword in
- Title
- URL
- Meta description
- Images metadata
- Sub headings
Call-to-Action: You don’t just want people to read your content and leave. These are your potential customers. Build your newsletter subscriber lists. To improve your conversion rates, include a freebie that encourages people to sign up for updates.
Infographics, too, can work. They are easily shareable and can attract many links adding to your blog’s domain authority and get you more ranks in SERPs.
All these features are necessary to have a holistic post. Remember, we want greatness.
8. Collect data, analyze, learn and improve
Throughout the content creation process, you need to gauge yourself by collecting data, analyzing, learning and improving your skills.
When you take all these steps, you won’t get it right at first. In fact, in your first few trials, it will seem more tedious and time-consuming than typing. Quite ironical. But the more you dedicate to learning, practising and improving, the better you get, and soon you’ll be a content machine.
Look at how you do your research. How much time does it take to complete the research? Do other ideas easily disrupt you? What can you improve on?
Look at your outlining process. How do you do it? Are your outlines helping you dictate better? How do you make them tight? What can be improved?
How about your dictation? It’s the most important in this entire process. You need to practise dictation until you get on point. It doesn’t happen with the first trial. You will not produce a transcription that can be used as a blog post without editing. But you can work towards that; zero-editing.
Note the time it takes to dictate. Can you improve; dictate faster and clearer. Work on your weaknesses to become a better dictator.
Wrapping it up.
Having learnt the entire process of creating great blog posts faster, why not try it out and see.
Take one step at a time, make the process and daily routine.
Learn from your mistakes and work on them. Don’t shy from being creative; what works for me might not work for you. By all means, find your best strategy.
Think long term game. This is not something that can be achieved in a few days or weeks. It will take months or years.
But your patience, hard work and dedication will get you there.