25 Blog Writing Tips Every Beginner Should Know
Twenty-five practical blog writing tips in the order you'll use them, from choosing a reader to editing, built on Google's own guidance and Nielsen Norman Group's reading research.
Most readers scan a page before they commit to it, so the work that matters most happens before you write a word. These 25 blog writing tips follow the order you'll actually use them: plan, structure, write, optimise, edit.
They lean on Google's published guidance for site owners and on Nielsen Norman Group's research into how people read online. Where a tip is our own reasoning, it's written as reasoning.
Blog writing tips for planning the post
1. Write for one reader
Picture a single person with a specific problem, not an audience. Google's guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content treats the reason a page exists as the most important question, and the right answer is that it helps someone.
2. Decide what the reader can do afterwards
The best blog writing tips start with an outcome. Write one sentence describing what they'll be able to do once they finish. Google asks whether a reader leaves feeling they've learned enough about a topic to reach their goal, so make that goal the test for every section.
3. Pick topics from real questions
Start from what people actually ask in your field: customer emails, comments, search suggestions. Our list of blog post ideas shows how to turn those questions into topics.
4. Choose one search phrase per post
Google's SEO starter guide suggests anticipating the words readers type, such as 'cheese board' versus 'charcuterie'. It also says you needn't cover every variation, so choose one clear phrase and write for it.
5. Write what you know first-hand
Google asks whether content shows first-hand expertise and depth of knowledge, and warns against writing on topics you don't know just for search traffic. A beginner's edge is an honest account of what you've done yourself.
6. Outline in headings before you draft
List the questions the post must answer, then turn each into a heading. If a heading doesn't help the reader reach the goal from tip 2, cut it.
An outline also exposes gaps early. It's far cheaper to notice a missing section as a heading than as a half-written page, and it stops a beginner's post wandering off to a third topic.
Shape the post so people can scan it
7. Lead with the answer
Nielsen Norman Group's 1997 study of web reading found 79% of test users always scanned new pages and only 16% read word by word. It recommended leading with the conclusion, so open each section with its answer.
8. Give the post a descriptive title
Google wants a main heading that gives a descriptive, helpful summary of the page, and it warns against exaggerated or shocking headlines. Promise only what the post delivers.
9. Keep the title short
Google says title links are often cut off to fit the device width, so wordy titles lose their ending. Put the important words first and don't repeat them.
10. One idea per paragraph
One to three sentences is plenty. A wall of text tells a scanning reader the effort isn't worth it.
Nielsen Norman Group's recommendation was the same: one idea per paragraph. If a paragraph needs two ideas, it needs two paragraphs.
11. Use subheadings that say something
Google's guide recommends headings that help users navigate, and it says there's no magic number of them. 'What it costs' beats 'Overview', because a scanner learns something from it.
12. Use a list when the items are parallel
Steps, options and checklists suit bullets or numbers. An argument doesn't, so don't force one.
13. Add a table for real comparisons
If you're setting two or more options side by side on the same criteria, a table beats three paragraphs. Fill it with real figures, never adjectives.
Tips for writing a good blog post, sentence by sentence
14. Drop the sales voice
The same Nielsen Norman Group research found readers disliked promotional language, and that boastful claims cut credibility. It tested rewrites of a promotional page against a promotional control, and each change helped.
| Version tested | Usability improvement over the promotional control |
|---|---|
| Objective language | 27% |
| Scannable layout | 47% |
| Concise text | 58% |
| All three combined | 124% |
That's a 1997 test of one site, so treat the exact percentages as a direction rather than a promise. The direction still holds for blog writing tips today: say less, say it plainly and make it easy to skim.
15. Use plain words
'Use' beats 'utilise', and 'because' beats 'due to the fact that'. Shorter words get read faster.
16. Write the way you'd explain it aloud
Tips for writing a good blog post often come down to sounding like a person. Say 'you', use contractions, and keep your own phrasing. Your voice is what makes a reader remember one site over another, and our brand voice examples show what that looks like.
17. Prefer the specific to the general
'We cut a three-page form to five fields' is more useful than 'simplify your forms'. If you can't give an example, the point probably isn't earning its place.
18. Add something original
Google asks whether content offers original information, reporting, research or analysis, and goes beyond the obvious. A screenshot, a number from your own work or a mistake you made all count.
19. Commit to a view
Say which option you'd choose and why. Even-handed lists of pros and cons leave the reader to do the work they came to you for.
20. Let the topic set the length
Google's guidance lists chasing a preferred word count as something to avoid. Cover the questions fully and stop, and see our guide to blog post length for how long different kinds of post tend to run.
Writing tips for blogs that search engines can read too
Photo by Cup of Couple on Pexels
21. Use the keyword naturally
Google's SEO starter guide says keyword stuffing violates its spam policies. Blog writing tips that promise rankings from repetition are wrong on that point. Put your phrase in the title, the opening and a heading, then write normally. A free SEO audit can check whether you've missed any of those spots.
22. Write link text that names the destination
Google says link text tells users and search engines something about the page being linked to. 'Read more' says nothing, while 'our guide to writing a good blog post' does.
23. Write a meta description by hand
Google describes a good one as short, unique to one page and including its most relevant points. Treat it as the pitch that sits under your title in the results.
24. Describe your images in alt text
Google asks for short, descriptive alt text that explains how an image relates to your content. Place each image beside the text it supports.
Edit and publish with care
25. Proofread, check facts and show who wrote it
Google's questions include whether a page looks sloppy or hastily produced, and whether it has easily verified factual errors. Fix spelling and grammar, check every figure against its source, link out to those sources and put a real byline on the post.
None of these blog writing tips need special tools, only the habit of checking each post against them before it goes live. If drafting is the slow part, the AI blog post generator writes a first version you can edit, and every account gets 4 complete posts, free for life, with no card.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a beginner's blog post be?
Long enough to answer the question, and no longer. Google lists chasing a preferred word count as something to avoid, so let the topic decide.
Is it fine to use AI to write a blog post?
Google's guidance warns against mass-producing content or relying heavily on automation without oversight. It also suggests telling readers how a post was made where they'd reasonably wonder, so read, edit and fact-check anything a tool drafts.
Which blog writing tips matter most for SEO?
Write for the reader first, pick one clear search phrase, and use descriptive titles, headings and link text. Google says SEO is useful when it supports people-first content.
How often should I repeat my keyword?
Only as often as it reads naturally. Google says repeating the same words in a title, or stuffing keywords, makes results look spammy and doesn't help users.
Sources
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — Google Search Central
- SEO Starter Guide — Google Search Central
- Influencing your title links in search results — Google Search Central
- How Users Read on the Web — Nielsen Norman Group
