A few months ago, I was invited to do a talk for the WordPress Davao Community. It was short and simple, a presentation on how I usually create content with a few tips on how others can make the process easier and more productive. Right after, I was (jokingly) invited to be a speaker at WordCamp Davao (WC Davao) 2019. Fast forward to July 6, 2019, I was one of the speakers of WC Davao. Sharing with you here my talk, along with some tips and tricks you might find useSharing with you here my talk, along with some tips and tricks you might find useful. Here are 10 Ways to Level Up Blog Content.

Here’s the link to a more detailed slideshow on SlideShare: LINK

The 10 Ways to Level Up Blog Content talk is targeted towards bloggers and content managers who are looking for ways to improve their writing process. It includes tips and information on content planning, writing, basic search engine optimization (SEO), and social media promotion. This topic is essential for new bloggers and soon to be bloggers. It can also be useful for advanced bloggers who need essential information they might not have learned before.

I include these slides and information in my Blogging 101 and Blogging 102 Workshops, in one form or another. I find that a lot of bloggers and people interested in starting their own blogs are usually hounded by writers’ block or are impeded by doubts on how they can start writing.

This slideshow is modified and simplified from the one I presented during WC Davao. But it contains all the 10 major points I made. Below are some notes and tips for every point.

What to Blog

The first question most bloggers ask themselves is “What do I blog about?” Or if they already have a topic, “How do I make this interesting?”

Blogging is a form of communication. As such, every post must have an audience. Who will read your post and receive the message you are sending out? When you know your audience, choosing an interesting topic and the right angle become easier.

Level Up Blog Content: Know your Target Audience

Know who reads you, or better yet, target the audience whom you want to read you. Let’s say you want to blog about food. Everybody consumes food. But what type of person would you like to communicate with? Do you want to share local food spots for tourists to explore? What type of tourists are you targeting? Are they male or female? Students, professionals, freelancers? How much budget do they have? Do they travel alone? With their families? Yes you have to be specific. Once it is clear to you who your target audience is, choosing a topic and an angle to write with becomes so much easier.

Remember that a good topic is not interesting to all.

Choose the Right Angle

But wait, what is an angle?

An angle is that chunk of your topic that interests you and your reader. Going back to the food topic, let’s say you are invited to taste food at a new restaurant. There are an infinite number of ways you can write about that restaurant but if you are a style blogger with an audience that is more interested in style, what then? Blog about how Instagrammable the place is or their food are. Or write about your outfit when you visited.

Yes, it might sound like you are gaming the system and not really writing about the topic at hand. It takes a bit of skill and experience to be comfortable about writing off topic without being superficial or without it sounding forced.

The important thing is it is interesting and important to you and your audience.

Start Writing with a COMPELLING TITLE

Now you know your topic and how and what you would like to write about it. How then do you actually start writing?

Sometimes, you thoughts can be overwhelming. And then there are times when your mind draws up a blank. When I was in college, a professor (or a classmate) shared to me an invaluable tip: START BY WRITING YOUR NAME, section, and all the required information at the top of the paper.

When writing a blog post, you do not necessarily have to write those details. But you can start with a title. So what makes a good title. Simple. It has to be simple and straightforward.

Basic SEO

A little detour first. You already have an audience, yes. But most bloggers, probably you included, want to have an even bigger audience. And the best way to do that is by making your content searchable and on top of the search engine results page (SERPs). How do you do that?

SEO. Simply put, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic that your site (or blog) receives by improving its visibility in search engines. For the purpose of this post, we’ll be using Google as our search engine.

There are two types of SEO strategies: on-page and off-page. And one of the basic, yet most underutilized on-page SEO strategies is the use of keywords (or key phrase) in your post title. Easy to do, right?

You have chosen your topic and your angle. Transform it into your keyword. Use it in your title. How can it be compelling? When you have chosen your topic and your angle carefully and meticulously, the keyword selection and the title writing becomes easy. Just think of what your audience would be most likely to type in Google to find your content.

Plugin Suggestion: YOAST SEO

To lessen the burden of doing SEO, I suggest you download and use the Yoast SEO Plugin. You can level up blog content, with the use and guidance of the YOAST Plugin. You can search for it in your WP dashboard. Or download the Free YOAST Plugin at this link.

YOAST, or just about anybody with SEO knowledge will tell you: putting your keywords in your post title is important.

And on the practical side of things, yes, clickbaits work but not all the time. It is best to be straightforward and tell your audience outright what they are about to read about. Plus, having a straightforward but specific title can also guide your content writing process.

Let’s go back to the example of writing about a restaurant on your style blog. Some titles can be:

• The Prettiest Brunch Place in Davao: [Name of Restaurant] with the keywords “Prettiest Brunch Place in Davao;”
• Night Market OOTDs with the keywords “Night Market OOTDs;” or
• Top Ten Most Instagrammable Chinese Restaurants with the keywords “Instagrammable Chinese Restaurants.”

Simple. Specific. Straightforward. It might not catch the attention of a hundred thousand people. But the right audience will surely click on it. Read. Engage. And possibly, share.

Level Up Blog Content Part 2: Writing

In the next part of this series, I will tackle writing and how you can make the process easier and less painful. You can already start learning by checking the slides. Numbers 4 to 7 are all about writing.

I will be back with notes and tips about those soon. And for Part 3, a few things to do after writing. If you have any questions about Pre-Writing, or any of the 10 Ways to Level Up Blog Content, leave a message below and I’ll answer them.

If you are interested in learning how to start your own blog, I will be having a Blogging 101 Workshop here in Davao soon. More about that at this post. And if you already have a blog and would like to learn more about how to level up blog content and other things you can do to improve and move forward, another Blogging 102 Workshop and a Personal Branding Workshop are also in the pipes.

To know more about Wordcamp Davao, visit the site at https://2019.davao.wordcamp.org/.

Follow me on social media for more tips and to be updated about my workshops. Here are my accounts: Facebook Page at fb.com/DiyosaBlogger, Instagram @riajosedavao, and Twitter @riajose. Don’t forget to follow my Youtube Channel at youtube.com/DiyosaLifeTV for more about me and my blogs.

Photo credits: Photo on post header by Nick Morrison on Unsplash