As a beginner blogger, publishing your first post can feel super intimidating.
So I’m going to show you exactly how to write your first blog post (complete with my 8-step outline template to guide you).
I’ll also give you an easy 7-step writing and SEO process to follow – so you can publish your first post with confidence.
How Pro Bloggers Write Their First Blog Post
Many new bloggers make the mistake of writing their first-ever blog post all about themselves – their background, qualifications, why they started blogging, etc.
While you may think this helps readers get to know you, it bores them and provides little value. Readers don’t care about you yet – they first want to know what problems you can help solve for them.
That’s why experienced bloggers rarely make their first post a “Meet the Blogger” style personal bio. Instead, they provide immense value upfront by writing an ultimate guide-style post tackling a major question, frustration, or issue that their target audience experiences.
For example, a finance blogger’s first post could overview the pros and cons of various retirement savings accounts. A productivity blogger could compare popular time management systems. A nutrition blogger could debunk common myths about healthy eating.
One of my first posts for this blog was a comprehensive guide on How to Start a Blog That Makes Money – which addresses one of the core problems that my audience faces.
The goal is to establish your expertise and help your readers right off the bat. Let the value of your content speak for itself before divulging your personal details (you can always cover these in your About Me page).
Once readers realize you can solve their most pressing problems, they’ll be eager to learn more about the person behind the solutions.
The 8 Key Ingredients of a Great Blog Post (Follow This Simple Template)
Before writing any new blog post, I always create an outline to help guide my writing. I highly recommend that you do the same. Here’s a typical outline with all the key ingredients included:
- A captivating title – make it an H1 header and include your main target keyword
- A concise intro – this should provide brief context quickly (while also letting the reader know they’re in the right place
- Heading structure – the key sections of your post body in the form of headings (I normally use H2s for the main ‘skeleton’ and H3s for lists. Don’t forget to follow the proper heading hierarchy)
- Post body – the actual text of the post, filled in below each of your headings
- Images – use at least one featured image, but you should include more if they add value to the reader)
- Internal links – this is your first post, but don’t forget to go back and add these once you publish more
- External links – to build authority, include two or three external links to authoritative sources within your niche, such as statistics from government websites or reliable news outlets.
- A strong conclusion with CTA – I like to call it “actionable next steps” and give the reader something tangible to do next (such as your call to action)
How To Overcome Crippling Anxiety About Your First Blog Post
I remember the first time I hit “publish” on the first post on a blog. It was back in 2013 and I’d just decided to become a professional blogger.
I can still remember the heady mix of joy and fear that accompanied me hitting that publish button. But, once the post was live, I felt a distinct sense of anticlimax. Why? Because no one was reading it.
Always remember: a new blog is invisible to Google. Nobody will find it in the search engines.
Hence, nobody will read your first blog post for a while (unless you share it on your social media).
Another thing to remember: a blog is a living document. Even if your first post IS terrible (and, if you follow my steps it won’t be), you’ll have plenty of time to go back and improve it.
So basically, you’re safe. I hope that helps ease your anxiety enough to get you over the first hurdle.
Another thing that makes it easier to get started is having a clear process to follow. Let’s take a look at how to write your first blog post in 7 easy steps.
How To Write Your First Blog Post (In 7 Easy Steps)
#1. Start with keywords in mind
Your first blog post should never be an “about me/introductory” type of post all about yourself (well, not unless you’re creating your blog as a personal journal, or maybe if you’re a celebrity).
Instead, your first blog post should cover a topic that’s directly relevant to the product or service you intend to sell. After all, we’re talking about profitable blogging here, not hobby blogging.
I always tell my clients to start thinking about SEO from the very beginning of their blogging journey.
That means you need to think about the words and phrases people will type into Google to end up landing on your blog.
For example, if you’re selling your services as a blogger coach, then your first post should be related to teaching people about a certain aspect of blogging.
The best way to get started is by typing a broad search term that’s relevant to your business into Google and looking at the questions that come up in the People Also Ask section.
These questions all represent things that other people are searching for that relate to your business.
Any one of them could be a valid choice as the main keyword for your first blog post. They’re also good choices because as “long tail keywords”, they’re usually easier to rank.
I’d recommend choosing a question starting with “how to XYZ”. These keywords typically provide good scope for creating a detailed instructional blog post, while also helping you build up initial authority in your niche and showcase your knowledge.
#2. Analyze the competition
Another key step in the keyword-first blogging process is checking out what your competitors are doing. Never copy your competitors, but let them be your guides.
You should always do this for every new blog post you write, but it’s especially important for the first post on a blog.
The easiest way to do it is just to Google your main target keyword (that you chose in step #1), and look at the top 10 search results. What sort of articles are ranking for this keyword? And what sort of websites are they on?
Can you find lots of “how to” guides showing up? If so, it’s a good sign Google wants this sort of content and is rewarding it by ranking it high in search.
Always keep in mind, Google’s job is to give the searcher the best possible content to answer their query. Your job is to make sure that content is on your blog. And creating a top-notch first post is a great way to hit the ground running.
#3. Get the search intent right
The job of your blog post is to give the searcher what they’re looking for.
The four main types of search intent:
- Navigational – the user wants to find something (e.g. “Facebook login”)
- Informational – the user wants to learn about something (e.g. “how to brew specialty coffee”)
- Commercial – the user wants to research a potential purchase idea and compare options (e.g. “best SEO tools for bloggers”)
- Transactional – the user wants to purchase something (e.g. “buy MacBook Pro 14 inch”)
It’s not always clear exactly what search intent is, so the best way to Google your target keyword and check what sort of posts are ranking in the top 10 results. You should follow a similar format to the majority of those posts.
#4. Structure your blog post so Google understands it
To rank your blog post, search engines first have to understand what it’s all about. That means structuring your blog post in a specific way. Here’s a simple formula to follow.
Include your main target keyword in the following locations:
- Post title
- URL slug
- First 10% of the body text (first paragraph)
- Meta description
- One H2 header
That should be enough to inform search engines of the topic of your blog post. Make sure you don’t keyword stuff. Only use keywords where they fit naturally into the flow of the text.
#5. Plan the next 5 posts around the first
It’s best to plan your blog posts in topic clusters, which means finding a bunch of related keywords and writing blog posts around a specific topic.
That way, your internal linking structure will be stronger and your blog post will have more authority. So once you’ve published the first post on a blog, choose five related topic areas for the next post.
In general, you should always think in topic clusters rather than just random keywords (although each blog post still needs its own target keyword).
#6. Use smart tools to fine-tune your writing
Not confident about your writing? These tools can help.
- Grammarly – Great for improving your grammar, flow, and sentence structure
- Claude – the best free AI tool for all kinds of writing, editing, and structuring tasks
- ChatGPT – useful free tool for outlining, and producing other components of a blog post.
- Rank Math – provides useful guidelines for getting your SEO right, along with other handy tools
- Hemingway – helps you convert complex sentences into simple ones
#7. Be patient
Finally, once you’ve written the first post on a blog, your next job is to be patient. One blog post is not enough to get your blog showing up on search engines.
The best thing you can do is to publish it and immediately move on to the next one. Keep building out topic clusters and publishing content, and eventually, you’ll start to see progress in the rankings.
Actionable Next Steps
One of the biggest hurdles as a beginner blogger is figuring out how to write your first blog post.
But once you’ve published the first post on a blog, all the rest will be much easier. Take it from somebody who’s been doing this for over 10 years.
If you still feel anxious, remember these two important tips:
- No one will read your first blog post for a while, because Google needs time to rank a new website. Unless you share it on social media, of course!
- A blog is a living document, so you can go back and update/improve the first blog post whenever you want.
Are you ready to start a profitable blog but would prefer professional guidance? I’m now offering blogger coaching services so you can do it in an efficient way (rather than wasting many months, as I did in the past).
