High-quality blog writing tips

Content marketing, Tutorial
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In this article, we have summed up the most important tips, that one should take into account when creating high-quality blog articles. General tips that will be understood by experienced bloggers, that strive to create more SEO-effective content and also by newbie writers.

We took a look at the things that are important in order for the content to be easy to understand and useful for the readers, as well as to be effective for Google Search. Google’s algorithms are constantly changing, and nobody can really tell, which content Google “likes” the most and why it shows up on the top of Google’s search results. However, one thing is certain – Google is working hard to understand web users’ habits, the experience of using web pages, and the quality of content. Web pages that contain all of these things are able to win the competition of SEO.

Here’s the table of contents. By clicking on them, you will be taken to the specific section.

High quality content is characterized by:

  1. The added value of content
  2. Consistent formatting
  3. Effective and descriptive images
  4. The content is well integrated
  5. SEO-effective links
  6. Appealing texts for Google Search

These tips could be categorized differently and defined better, however, the most important thing is to give you the main idea. We will try our best to add descriptive images, as well as specific examples. One of the aims of this article is to show that we, as a company that helps others to create high-quality content,  also use the same principles mentioned here. We recommend our customers to follow the same rules.

The content needs to be interesting or useful with some kind of added value. It has to give answers to the theme mentioned in the title.

The goal is to create content that is easy to read, interesting, and has additional value

Texts are still the main source of information in blog articles, which gives readers the author’s message. Ideally, the content is supplemented with images or videos. It’s very important that the reader is able to perceive the information, understand it, and can use the information.

Below you will find multiple things, that can help create high-quality content and improves its’ readability and comprehensibility.

1. The added value of content

The content needs to be interesting or useful with some kind of added value. It has to give answers to the theme mentioned in the title.

1.1. Short sentences

It is recommended to write short sentences that are no longer than 20 words. If you need to explain something, it is better to do it in a separate sentence.

1.2. Short paragraphs and subdivisions

There should be 3-5 sentences in a single paragraph (max 10 lines on the phone screen). Each subdivision should have at least 2 paragraphs. If each section has too many paragraphs, they should be structured in subdivisions with subheadings. After every 3 paragraphs, there should be a subheading.

1.3. Descriptive subheadings

The subheadings should contain some kind of key idea that gives insight into the following section’s content. So when the reader takes a quick look, they can easily find a section of the article that interests them and it would be more or less clear what will be written there. Ideally, subheadings contain 3-4 words. It’s important to create headings consistently in one section.

2. Consistent formatting

Blog is made in a way that all articles have a matching style. They have the same formatting – the same font, size, and color. When creating and publishing blog articles, one should stick to the same principles when formatting the content, so the blog looks qualitative and united. Might seem like a simple thing to do, however, when one blog has several authors, many things can happen.

Below there are specific tips, that one should stick to.


2.1. Headings are formatted as headings

Headings should be formatted as H2, H3 or as a lower level of heading formatting. Punction marks (,;!, etc.) are not used in headings. Sometimes headings can be questions or a list with numeration. Headings that are formatted as bullet points are considered bad style. 

2.2. Content without Formatting

All blog articles should be created without formatting – as a standard Paragraph. Afterwards it is adjusted to the standard formation of the blog. Sometimes it is okay to highlight some words with bold or italic.

If one wants to highlight longer text, for example, a whole paragraph, then it should be done with WordPress’s inbuilt “Quote” formation.


2.3. Bullet points and numbering

It is a smart idea to use bullet points or numbering when you need to list several things that are comparable or sequential. They allow the structuring of the content, making it more perceptible. Bullet points are normally used to list several things that do not have specific order or importance. Otherwise, numbering is used.

Bullet points are not used to list things that require several explanatory sentences.  It is better to create subsections with subheadings for such listings. In cases like that numbering is used instead of bullet points.

2.4. Appropriate formation as a habit

It’s crucial to create appropriate formation during the writing process. For example, if the article is being created in MS Word, you should format the content by the standard, with the headings and numbering. It makes the publishing significantly easier, because everything is clear. WordPress also recognizes the standard formatting of MS Word and Google Docs files.

3. Effective and descriptive images

Images are very important as they explain or complement the content of the article. However, they can also ruin the blog. It can happen when using images that are too big, poor quality or incompletely inserted.

Below you will find some tips for preparing and publishing images in blog articles.

3.1. At least two images are required

An article requires a featured image. However, a good article should also have at least one more image in the article. Both images should be connected to the article’s content – they should complement the article to some degree or create a special mood.

3.2. Copyright-free images

You should use images that are copyright-free. It’s advised to use images from free image libraries. You should still check what are the rules of usage.

Sometimes you can use some product images from retail stores or manufacturers if you insert a reference (with or without a link). If the owners of images have claims, an image needs to be removed together with the reference. The idea is that such images can work as a free advertisement for the product owner, which sort of justifies the usage of the images. However, it is not an unambiguously evaluable practice. You should be prepared that not everyone will be happy if you use their product images.


3.3. Appropriate image size

Images must be attached exactly as specified in the specification. That way you can make sure that the images are as efficient as possible in terms of size and do not make the page too heavy and slow to open. The featured image may differ from the size of the images in the content. It’s essential that all images in the article are the same size.

It’s also worth mentioning that you should pick the appropriate format for the images so the files are as light as possible size-wise. The most suitable format is JPG or JPEG, which – as a file – is much smaller than PNG or TIFF.

3.4. Non-distorted images

Regarding the correct image sizes, it should be mentioned that in the process of adjusting the image size it should not be distorted. Sometimes, when resizing an image, it can stretch or compress. To avoid this or to learn how to properly resize images, we recommend watching this Youtube Video.

3.5. Adding AltTags

There should be AltTags added to the images. Alt Tags are the title of the image that is ready by Google’s robots. In the image settings (“Alternative text”) you must add 2-5 words that describe the image. The featured image usually is described by a full or shortened article title, that includes the keyword of the article. The rest of the images have descriptive AltTags that also include crucial or related keywords. You should add different AltTags to the images.

3.6. Self-made images and infographics

If you want to create high-quality content, then it would be recommended to include some infographics with interesting and useful data. It’s something that really characterizes high-quality content with high added value.

The same applies to original images. Experienced readers can easily tell apart copyright-free images from original photos. Self-taken photos might not always be the best looking, however, it’s not that important. The thing that really matters is that the images are related to the content. Original images will contribute to the development of the blog and will attract loyal readers. 

4. The content is well integrated

Every blog post is a part of the blog’s content. It’s very important to maintain the same article formation. But just as important is that the article is easily found on the blog and that the content of the article is linked to other blog articles.

4.1. Content linking

In all the main parts – the introduction, the content part, and the end – it’s recommended to provide readers an indication that the article is a part of the content.  You can mention that this article is a part of some specific article series or category, refer to other articles that have more detailed information. Include links in the references to these related articles or categories. 

This is also something to think of when planning the content of your new blog. It’s advised to create blog posts that contribute to other blog articles or that dive deeper into some subject that was told superficially in another blog post. In this case, when publishing the new post, it’s required to update the old article and link it to the new one.

4.2. Inner links

You should include at least 3 inner links that would take the readers to other posts, categories, a store or the main page. As the anchor texts, you should put some keywords that are important for the target page. If they are unknown, the safest choice is to put the link on the target article’s title. If it’s long, you can shorten it to about 4 words.

You shouldn’t put links on long texts. The recommended number of words for a link is 2, but the maximum allowed is 4 words. When reading on the MOB version, the link should not be written in multiple lines.

4.3. Links that fit into the content

Internal links should be positioned naturally and precisely where it would be useful for the reader to click on them.

If there are multiple spots where including a link might be useful, you must pick the most suitable one. To avoid a situation where there is a link in every third sentence, it is not advised to use too many links.

There should not be more than 6 inner links. However, there are also exceptions.

4.4. Setting up a related category

You definitely need to attach some of the blog categories or also known as themes of the articles. In general, every article requires at least one category. Sometimes you can pick two suitable categories. It’s not advised to choose more than two categories.

If none of the categories seem suitable, you should inform the admin of the blog. Perhaps it’s time to add an additional category – especially if there are several posts on this topic already.

4.5. Using tags

The usage of tags varies in each blog specifically – their purpose is to combine some specific topics. The role of tags is somewhat similar to that of categories, however, it’s slightly different. You should not just start adding new tags randomly yourself.

5. SEO-effective links

Typically, links to other pages are included in blog posts. Sometimes they are used in purpose to boost another page’s SEO Metrics, while other times they are there to direct blog readers to other information sources or shops where they may purchase goods or services.

Here are some suggestions for blog authors to think about. Of course, there are a lot more details that SEO specialists could tell you about. However, let’s save that for another blog post.

5.1. Links to improve other pages’ SEO

There are articles that require including links to target pages. In such cases, the link is attached to specific keywords that are called anchor texts. The purpose of such links is to improve the SEO value of the target page and also the specific keywords’ search results. It’s required to use the specified fords as anchor texts.

5.2. The higher up the link, the better the value

You should attach links to target pages as high as possible in the article. However, it is not advised to attach links to other resources in the introduction, especially in the very first paragraph. Sometimes there can be cases when adding a link in the second paragraph is acceptable.

You should keep in mind that the highest SEO value will be for external links that are added higher up in the content. You should not include more than 3 external links. Especially, if the aim is to focus on the SEO value. If the article has 10+ external links, then it will have way lower SEO value than an article that has only two external links.

5.3. Links to quality pages

It’s a good idea to include some external links to some well-known pages – authoritative pages that are highly trusted. Such pages are state and educational institutions, pages of big brands, Wikipedia, etc. Google appreciates when blog authors refer to well know and trustable resources, rather than questionable pages.

If the article is created in order to improve another page’s SEO value, then ideally there are one link to the target page, three inner links, and one link to some authoritative page included in the article.

If the main purpose is to create good content for the readers, then you can include multiple links to authoritative pages, however, not more than 4.

6. Appealing texts for Google Search

To be high up in the google search results is only part of the task. It’s important for people to actually click on the link that leads to the page. That’s why it’s important to create a good page title and a page description.

It’s common to create content for Google Search with a WordPress plug-in. One of the most popular plug-ins is YoastSEO, which has an advanced free version. These texts are written in particular windows in the specific plugin section.

6.1. Page Title is usually automatic

Page Title is usually created automatically from the article’s title and blog’s title. Page Description usually needs to be created manually.

If you want to improve the principles of Page Title formation, you should reach out to the admin.

6.2. Page Description is created manually

Page Description or so-called Meta Description is a 150-character description that people can read in the google search engine about the specific blog article.

It needs to describe your article in two sentences and persuade people that this article is better or more suitable than other options on google search.

Every person can have their own reasons on why they look for something on Google. The purpose of Page Description is to attract the audience that will gain the most from the content offered. It’s advised to create these texts as descriptive as possible.

6.3. Creating Page Description during the process

While creating blog articles, it’s good to highlight page descriptions at the beginning or at the very end of the post. It’s good to put it in some kind of frame so that when you publish the article, it’s clear that it’s not part of the content but belongs to a certain place.

Summary

Good luck with creating content for yourself and your clients!

If you need advice on content creation or blog article writing, do not hesitate to reach out. You can find our contact details in the contact section.