15 Tips for Writing an Awesome First Blog Post

Many bloggers look back at their first ever blog post and think: “I could’ve done better”, even though it took them days of thinking and research to write. Even today, aspiring bloggers still find difficulty in writing debut blog posts. The reason for this is simple -they all want to start off with a bang.

If you find yourself in the category of those looking to begin life as a blogger with an awesome first blog post, I advise you apply some of these 15 easy tips. Bear in mind that they were also applied by yours sincerely and, they really worked a treat!

#1 Identify your target audience

Who will be the readers of your blog? You should have a clear idea of which category of people your blog is expected to reach. My blog is aimed at people who are searching for varying information and knowledge that could help enlighten them in one way the other, that is why I ensured that my first blog post was as interesting and informative as possible. This was for my target audience and no one else.

#2 Pick a title

Some bloggers still deceive themselves into believing that the most important way to write an awesome first blog post is to make the first, second, third and every sentence as interesting and captivating as possible. Whilst this is advisable it will still mean next to nothing if your readers do not click on the title to read the complete post. That tells you the power of your title.

90% of the articles and blog posts I read are because of how interesting and informative I find the title. This works not just for me but for you too, whether you know it or not.

Brainstorm and pick a title that would sit well with your audience. Search the title on google to see how much has been written on the subject. Ask yourself “will I read this if it were written by someone else?” if your answer is yes, waste no further time in starting that awesome first blog post of yours.

#3 Engage in proper research

Don’t write it all from the top of your head. Yea I know you’re a guru and all that, but check again. What are people saying about that ‘novel’ topic you have in your head? A well researched topic always does well, whether it’s for a first blog post or not.

I can go on and on about why you need to research your topic before writing it, but that would be me over-flogging the issue.

#4 Keep each sentence interesting

Go back to Tip Number 2; this is what almost every good blogger knows. I just couldn’t make this list without adding it. The best way to write an awesome first blog post, is to ensure that every sentence is as interesting as possible.

Your readers will be excited to read your first blog post but most of them will be disappointed if the first few sentences are besides the point.

#5 Make your point early on

I shared my first ever blog post (not for this blog) with a peer group and asked for constructive criticism. They all found the article interesting and free of grammatical errors, however, many of them complained of almost abandoning the article close to the end, because they didn’t grasp the point of the article until the last few paragraphs –yea, you can say I was still a greenhorn then.

Don’t make that same mistake I did. Make your points early on in your post. Let your readers know exactly why they are reading your post, in the first few paragraphs.

#6 Format your text to perfection

Write an eye-catching first blog post by ensuring your text are well structured. Many of your readers will take their business elsewhere if they discover that your text are clustered together, too scattered or contains irregular fonts -which I find very much annoying by the way.

#7 Write in simple English

A popular blogger once said: “Your writing is the instruction manual for assembling ideas in your reader’s mind.” I couldn’t agree more. Why try to bamboozle everyone with your rich vocabulary on your first blog post? I wouldn’t encourage that, even if you were writing a letter to an English professor.

Many people find blog posts written in clear simple English more informative and interesting than those which aren’t, why not make your first blog post one of such.

 #8 Avoid the lies and hoaxes

It would be counter productive to your first blog post if it is loaded with all sorts of lies and unverifiable statements. An awesome first blog post should be one that is written in all sincerity. People still value honesty you know…

#9 Tell your audience something they don’t know

There’s so much information on the internet, so, there’s a high probability that what you’ll be writing in your first blog post has already been written by hundreds of other bloggers out there. If your first blog post is the same story as seen on numerous blogs out there, then your first blog post would have been a real mess -no one will you that though.

#10 Use multimedia illustrations where necessary

Images, audio and video are great tools for bloggers, why not use them in your first blog post to illustrate and drive home your point? This could be the difference between an awesome first blog post and one that isn’t. Images are a real treat for blog readers and they also help in breaking text.

Careful though, don’t pack your first blog post with loads of images; it’s not a photo gallery. Also ensure that the images you use, are rightly attributed to all external sources -I won’t take you to ‘copyright school’ in this post.

#11 Your first blog post shouldn’t be too long

It’s your first blog post alright, why make it so lengthy? Blog readers crave short and precise posts. Don’t bore them with lengthy text, in your first blog post. Not more than 500 words for a first blog post is just OK.

#12 Never plagiarize, ever!

Plagiarism is the bane of many a blogger. Some people even view bloggers as plagiarism specialists because of how much copying some bloggers do. Don’t get caught in this number. Your first blog post will be just awesome if you do not plagiarize someone else’s work.

#13 And there’s more where that came from

An awesome first blog post will be one that leaves your readers yearning for more. Be sure to state that somewhere within the post. Phrases like –‘In subsequent blog posts I will be discussing…’, ‘This blog will continue to’ etc. are great ways to tell your readers that they can always come back for more.

#14 Conclude appropriately

Don’t leave your readers hanging in the end, so they don’t get distracted and wonder why they had to spend their valuable time reading through your first blog post. Your last few paragraphs should be winding down to a superb conclusion. You could make the concluding sentence a question, so as to spark more reactions from your audience.

#15 Proofread your post for grammatical errors

Your first blog post won’t be great if it’s loaded with all sorts of grammatical errors (no matter how interesting it is). Read and re-read that post and weed it of grammatical errors.

The job starts now! The blogosphere is waiting for your invaluable input. Make it awesome. If you read this article, kindly spare a few minutes to tell me what you feel in the comments section.