7 Tips for Crafting Fantastic Blog Posts

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

Don’t panic. This may sound daunting—make each blog post as good as a book. What I mean is, does it have a main idea that gives the whole post value? Does it have an intriguing beginning and a powerful ending? Do the paragraphs stay on track and share just enough detail to make your point? Is the takeaway presented in such a way that it will affect the mind and heart of the reader? Is it as good as a book?

The comforting thing is that many blog posts are short—normally 500-800 words. Their shortness made me think a long time ago that maybe they were “lesser” writing. (How wrong I was!) Although it was challenging to craft a blog post good enough to use, I felt that articles and books were further up on the hierarchy of importance in the publishing world. Plus, I didn’t think that many people were following me. I wanted to encourage others, but how were people going to find my blog in the thousands of Christian blogs online? 

The Day that Blog Posts Got an Upgrade

I realized the value of blog posts when a kind friend asked me to write for her blog. She had been reading my blog (to my surprise), and she asked me to contribute to hers. She helped me to know that what I was writing was reaching an audience. Blog posts received an upgrade on my priority list that day. 

Although books and magazines are the published materials we find on Amazon, blog posts help us get there. How is an editor going to know that our writing has quality? How are readers going to discover who we are, what we write about, and how we craft our messages? How can an agent tell if we’re serious about writing? Blogs matter. And even those weekly blog posts can end up on Amazon author pages. A nifty feature links an author page to the author’s blog, allowing previews of posts to appear on the page for all to see. (Including how often we post.)

Another Valuable Priority

It’s not just the hope of a book contract that can motivate us to blog—it’s the people who will read our words. A book can take twelve months or more to be published. A blog post can take a few minutes. Through our blogs we have instant access to readers and their hearts and minds. This form of quick “publishing” should motivate us to work hard on making each blog post full of insight, personality, and take away. 

7 Tips to Implement

Include some of the following key ingredients to craft blog posts that grab the reader’s attention, reveal your personality, share a structured message, and touch the reader’s heart and mind. 

1. Give your blog post a killer title. Pick a unique phrase from your lead-in to be the title, or use numbers. People love seven tips to do this or five steps to do that. Think practical. 
2. Start your blog post with a gripping first line. Make your post stand out by writing a first line that uses vivid nouns and verbs. If you’re starting with a story, leave out some vital information in the first line so the reader moves to the second line to see how the story progresses. 
3. Share relevant stories from the heart. As you share a story that relates to your takeaway, recall how you felt through the struggle, surprise, or challenge. Include some of your responses to a problem, and then share how God helped you through it. Readers may think, “I’ve been there, too.” 
4. Think “devotion” or “article,” not “diary.” Streamline your paragraphs to eliminate unnecessary details that distract from your main point instead of building to it. Some bloggers may use their sites as an online journal, but if your purpose is to encourage your readers, each post needs application for the readers’ daily lives and less of a “diary” feel.
5. Don’t write “stiff.” Write as if you are talking to a friend, and use what sparkles in your personality (humor, encouragement, punch, or the right amount of “mischief”). 
6. If you have written “from the heart,” go back and see if your post follows a hidden outline. If it doesn’t, tweak the wording and paragraphs to keep your flow of thought traveling in a straight line. If you always write from an outline, make sure the post has a flowing “melody” to your mind’s ear. If it has a staccato one, adjust the transitions between paragraphs to enhance the “music”—the flow—of your writing. 
7. End with a bang—takeaway that the reader will treasure, put into practice, or ponder for days to come. 

Have you come to see the value of every blog post you write? What are your goals as you blog? Share them in the comments below, and join the conversation!

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Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of REFRESH BIBLE STUDY MAGAZINE, and a co-founder of LIGHTHOUSE BIBLE STUDIES. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations, such as Feed Your Soul with the Word of God, Collection 1 which is a 2020 Selah Awards finalist. She recently started THE LIGHTHOUSE CONNECTION, a monthly writers’ newsletter including writing tips, inspiration to write, and news of submission opportunities. 

In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, take acrylic painting classes online, and do yard work in the morning sun. Connect with her at her blog, WINNING THE VICTORY, and on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.