Writing for a blog can, at times, feel daunting. You sit down to write and the words don't come

if you're going to be prolific, if your words are going to reach people and resonate with them.

Depending on the focus of your blog and your personality, your approach may be slightly different, but I've observed that the most powerful blog posts typically have four important elements.

A good blog post is about one topic, one story, one idea. Not 57. Not 101. Just one.

Choose a mock headline to give yourself some structure (you can always change it later), and start writing.

Good titles are interesting, descriptive, and engaging.

This is the first thing your readers see — and the only thing, if you don't do it right. Take time crafting a great headline. This is the first step (and the last) before you hit “publish.”

When it comes to the Internet — when people's attention spans are even more limited than with print — your opening paragraph is crucial.

If you don't hook your readers immediately, you will lose them forever.

Start off with a quote, a question, or a bold, audacious statement. You only have one shot. Make it count.

Every story you tell or idea you share needs to have supporting rationale, something the readers can sink their teeth into.

They don't all need to neatly fit into a three-point argument or a seven-step process, but you can't be all over the place.

Consider what you want to say and how you will back it up. A great way to organize is to make a list of bullet points.

write the body of the post using these as your main sections (if appropriate turn the points into subheads, like I did with this post).

If you've hooked your readers' attention with a good title, drawn them in with an interesting lead paragraph, and then led them through with compelling points, now you need to wrap it up.

Don't be vague. You don't want your audience wondering why they bothered reading your post in the first place, do you? Give them something to take away.

Whatever it is, be clear about it. It will not just happen. You will get what you ask for.

This is the part of the post where you invite your readers to answer a question, leave a comment, or share your post. Make it clear and actionable.

6-step writing process that I will share with you today – before you know it you’ll be writing better content, more regularly without the pain of doing it.

a writing template helps you re-create similar results over and over again. Every time you go to write, start with the same canvas – a base structure for how you will write your post.

This is a tangible version of the template. It reminds us of what makes for an engaging post, and how to structure each section of our blog post.

The best way to use a checklist is to print it off and physically tick off the things that are important for each section of your post after it is written.

You will be surprised how often this process reminds you of things that you may have forgotten to include.

Document the exact steps you use to write a post. From coming up with an idea, to researching and eventually writing.

Try and come up with a bunch of ideas every month or so, and store them in an editorial calendar, spreadsheet or some other place you capture notes.

If you have done this pre-work, all you are doing in this stage of the writing process is grabbing an idea from your calendar and getting ready to write.

Once you’ve picked an idea, come up with 4 or 5 headline options for the post.

Take your chosen topic or keyword and head over to Google.

Sequentially click on any articles that turn up on the first two pages of your search – preferably the ones that sound interesting or are written by someone you respect.

you will be drawing inspiration from all the best content the chosen topic to come up with a post structure.

Grab a pen and notepad, and write down the key points, themes or structures you are regularly seeing.

Your structure may be a step-by-step process or a list – something that makes sense for your topic.

Literally copy and paste everything you can under each heading. (Don’t worry, we will edit this later so it’s not plagiarism)

The best content you will find useful during this process are compelling introductions, interesting stats and case studies you may like to include in your post.

his is usually when we all panic, stress builds up and we decide to trawl through our Facebook feed rather than do what we should be doing – writing.

Sit down, set yourself a timer – for however long you want – and start writing. I don’t care if it is 15 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour – give it a go.

As you’re writing, try and avoid doing anything else. And I mean ANYTHING. Don’t add links, images or any of that polish just yet. You are in a writing flow, so now is the time to capitalize on that.

It’s absolutely essential that you read your post from start to finish and iron out any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.

As you are reading through your post, have your blog post checklist on your desk – ticking things off as you go.

When you put a placeholder in your blog draft for an image, make it descriptive. This way when you get to this step it will jog your memory.

This one is pretty simple but it’s super important for the long-term SEO benefits on your blog.

Pick your blog categories and tags. Then link to other internal posts or pages on your site. This will up your SEO juice for every post.