It’s no secret that consistent blog content is one of the best ways to boost your SEO. This is one of the main reasons that people incorporate blog content into their business and it’s a smart strategy, not just for SEO purposes, but also for marketing in general.
Blogs are one of the most effective ways to market because, unlike your social media posts, blogs have the opportunity to live on for years to come.
They also allow you as a business owner to go beyond the surface level of education and instead provide deep, insightful value for your audience on one topic at a time.
Doing this consistently over time builds trust, authority, and credibility with your audience, which all play a massive role in someone doing business with you.
Although it’s clear that blog marketing is effective, some people grow hesitant to incorporate blogs into their business due to one major thing: time.
And as a business owner myself, I totally understand this. You have lots of things on your plate every single week and it’s crucial to prioritize what’s most important.
Sometimes people feel like they can’t add one more thing to their weekly schedule and blogs tend to feel like they’ll take up more time.
And while I totally hear you, I want you to know that blogs can actually SAVE you time when it comes to content creation when you have a tried and true process that you follow.
Before I get into 5 of my favourite time-saving tricks for your blog writing, let me quickly introduce myself:
I’m Natalie (but you can call me Natty!) – a blog and email writer for service providers – and I firmly believe that blogs aren’t dead, they’ve simply evolved and that every business owner should implement blogs as a key part of their content marketing strategy.
If the thought of adding one more thing to your plate feels overwhelming, I want to help ease some of that stress and help you see how incorporating blogs into your business doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.
Let’s get into it!
1. Plan your blog content in advance
First things first, I can’t stress enough how important it is to plan your blog content in advance.
I know it sounds simple, but it’s actually a highly overlooked part of the blog writing process.
This is the very first thing I teach people to do when they want to start a blog for their business, but don’t know how, and this is the first place I always start with new clients.
The lack of a plan is often the thing that keeps us from doing the things we know need to be done because it can feel daunting when you’re starting from scratch.
So, when you carve out the time (it can take as little as one hour) to plan your blog content quarterly (this is my preferred approach) you’re setting yourself up for future success and will be way more likely to follow through!
If planning your blog content quarterly sounds crazy to you, click here to learn why this works.
2. Conduct research before you start writing
Similar to planning your content in advance, you also want to make sure you’re doing research for your blog topics before you actually sit down to write.
In reality, the writing process for one blog post should only take you 1-2 hours in total, but I often hear that it takes people much longer and it’s usually because they haven’t conducted any research beforehand.
When you sit down to write, not only should you know what topic you’re going to write about, but you should also know the main points you want to include, any stats or data you want to include, keywords, etc. so that you aren’t having to find that information during your writing process.
When this is done beforehand, the actual writing process will feel like a piece of cake! 🍰
Your planning and your research should really go hand in hand, which is why I always encourage people to use a Blog Content Planning Spreadsheet so you can plan your topics accordingly and also take note of any information as you learn or think of it
3. Follow a general outline every time you write
One of the questions I get asked the MOST is how to format blogs correctly and it’s such a great question!
When you have a tried and true blog writing outline to follow every time, you’ll very easily be able to write quickly and more effectively.
For the most effective (and SEO-friendly) blog posts, I always encourage people to follow an outline that loosely looks like this:
- Attention-getting, CLEAR Title with appropriate keywords – this will be your H1 title, which directly impacts your SEO, which is why it’s so important to make sure the title is clear and includes keywords. If you struggle with titling blog posts, click here for 20 free title formulas!
- Introduction Paragraph that tells the reader what they’re about to learn.
- Subheadings that introduce each main point of your blog post – subheadings also have a direct impact on your SEO, so make sure to include appropriate keywords and use the H2 tag while formatting.
- Main Body Text which will contain the bulk of your content and elaborate on the overarching topic at hand under each subheading.
- Visual Elements such as images, infographics, charts, or even videos when applicable.
- Conclusion with a Call-to-Action to summarize the key points discussed and reinforce the main message or takeaway, while also providing your reader with their next best step for more guidance or help that relates to the topic at hand.
For a more in-depth look at the anatomy of an effective blog post, click here!
4. Time block
Aside from the planning, researching and structuring of your blog posts, one of the best ways to speed up the writing process is to time block. 🗓
Parkinson’s Law tells us that our work expands to the time we give it, which essentially means that if you give yourself two hours to complete something, it’ll take two hours. But if you give yourself all day to complete something, it’ll take all day.
This is why setting a designated time on your calendar to write your blog content is so key!
Failing to do so can result in the writing taking way longer than it needs to and then it can start to feel overwhelming. So, avoid that by simply blocking off two hours (if needed) on your calendar each week to write a blog post.
And remember: those two hours should be for writing ONLY! The planning and the research should already be done.
5. Use a pomodoro timer to avoid distractions
Lastly, in combination with your time block, you can use the Pomodoro Timer technique to help you avoid distractions and write faster. ⏰
This method of working is actually backed by science and Jim Kwik even talks about working this way in his book Limitless – a really good brain book about productivity, success and achievement.
With this method, you work in increments of 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break. After 3, 25-minute work sessions, you take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.
This method doesn’t always work for me especially if I’m in the zone of writing, but if I’m having one of those days where I feel easily distracted, this helps me get back on track!
You can either use an actual timer that sits on your desk or use a simple timer from Google!
More From Natty Writes
And there ya have it – a few of my favourite time-saving tips for blog writing specifically! I hope you can see that blog writing doesn’t have to be complicated and there is a way for you to easily implement this type of marketing in your business.
If you want to start a blog for your business, but aren’t sure where to start, Download the Beginner’s Guide to Blogging For Your Business for everything you need to know.
