The truth is most people can write blogs. But if you’re not writing blog posts that people find useful, and share them over social media, you’re going to be left on the sidelines. Plus there is a tonne of competition out there and being complacent about your blog writing would be a great way to get left behind.
There are ten simple rules you must follow to become an expert when it comes to writing blog posts so that people read them and share them over social media. Follow the ten simple rules for writing solid blog posts and you will become an expert in the blogging world who everyone wants to read and share on social media.

Let’s get into what these 10 simple rules are.
1: Always Have an Audience in Mind
All good blogs have an audience in mind. Who is this audience? Well, it could be anybody who likes that topic or niche; it could also be just one person.
In other words, who are you trying to inspire? Is it a student, is it a mom, or is it an entrepreneur that you want to get inspired by? It can be anybody.
So when you’re writing your posts make sure that these people are in the back of your mind because if they’re not and they don’t see your post shared over social media (and that’s how they know about your blog) then you’re writing posts without any audience in mind.
2: Write for Yourself (not the web)
I wrote a post earlier on the importance of writing for yourself (not the web) because I think it’s what separates bloggers from ordinary people. You see, it’s easy to write about topics which are hot at the moment, but more difficult to write about subjects that you know nothing about. Your blog post needs to be pure and real (like you), not one that’s been influenced by trends and fads.
And if you’re trying to play catch up or the hot topic of the day, then this is what your posts will sound like:
“Just got my new Apple Watch. I’ve been waiting for this for such a long time! Can’t believe it’s finally mine. It’s so cool. I just love it! It’s so cool.” (Seriously, who talks like that?)
While people may see this on your blog post, they certainly won’t share it over social media or put it on their websites. So make sure you write for yourself and not the web (because if you do, you’ll have nothing to share).
3: Write for an Audience of One
Every great blog has this one thing in common. The biggest blogs on the internet are written for just one person. This is because they know what their target audience wants and they give it to them.
So don’t forget to write your posts with this one person in mind, whether that’s a student, a mom or someone who follows your niche.
For example, if you’re writing for a mom audience, you probably don’t want to use complicated language because they’ll stop reading. And if you’re writing for kids (who don’t know anything about cars), then avoid writing about expensive cars.
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that all their blog post must be perfect before publishing. But the reality just gets it out there! Make it as good as you can and get it out there so that someone in your audience can benefit from it.
And if you’re not sure how to get started, then check out this article on How to Write a Blog Post that gets Shared Over Social Media
4: Get out from behind your computer
So I get it, the internet is our 24-hour party. We’ve got this cool little thing called a laptop/computer and we can be sitting anywhere on the planet and talking with people. And that’s great! But you must remember that it’s not just about talking with people from behind your computer.
It’s about getting out there and getting involved with the communities that are filled with your target audience. It’s about engaging with people, not just listening to what they have to say.
You can do this by joining in on their conversations on Twitter or Facebook or live forums where people discuss different topics. And don’t forget about offline communities where you’ve got a great opportunity to meet people in person and share what you know how to write solid blog posts.
So if you’re not doing this, then you’re missing out! You see, you learn things from other people, but they also learn things from you. So don’t forget to get out there and meet people (because that’s where great ideas come from).
5: Be Consistent
You can be the best blogger in the world, but nobody will know about it if you blog sporadically. You see, if you blog sporadically, then your audience won’t have anything to come back to (and of course they’ll want more and more).
If they don’t have something to come back to then they’ll move on and go somewhere else. The thing about being consistent is that it doesn’t mean you have to blog every single day (although I’m going to show you how in a moment).
Being consistent means that you’ve got a plan and stick with it. You know how many blog posts you want to write this month and what you’re going to talk about on each of them. But if you just write whenever you want, then it’s not going to be consistent (which means nobody will read your posts).
So to be consistent, do it daily. Give your audience a reason to check back day after day. If they don’t have anything to come back for, let them know you’re there for them (and that you’re going to post something in the future).
6: Focus on What You Know How To Do Well
One of the biggest mistakes I see bloggers making is that they try out every single blogging niche. They write about cars, health, parenting and then they do it again with personal finance and entrepreneurship.
And I’m guessing that since they’re so good at everything, they feel like they can do it all. They think “oh, I’m a great blogger in fitness and health and that’s why my blog posts have readers from all over the world”. But if you’re only just good at one thing that means nobody will ever read your posts.
So make sure you’re investing in content creation for one specific topic. Get really good at it so that your audience can’t get enough of what you have to share. Then when you need to expand your audience, you can start focusing on a different niche.
But don’t try to blog about everything. Stick with what you know how to do well and then create content for that one specific topic because that’s where your success lies.
7: Find Your Niche Audience Before Trying To Get Traffic From Google
I see some bloggers trying to drive traffic from Google in the beginning (and it doesn’t work out). But what I’d like to suggest to them is that they try social media first.
I don’t mean just Twitter and Facebook. I mean the various groups on Facebook (which are called Groups). You can create groups for every niche (which means you get that one group with people who are all like-minded) and then you can share content there and start building your audience.
You’ll get feedback from those people and they can recommend you over time. In the beginning, you’re not going to get a ton of traffic. But then once your audience starts growing, it will all start coming from there.
You need traffic from Google to get more visitors to your site but the reason why the traffic comes from social media is that it’s a long-term strategy and not just something you do for getting lots of traffic in the beginning when you don’t have much content yet.
8: Take Advantage Of The Free Tools That Are Out There
I think some bloggers miss out on a lot of free traffic because they don’t know about these great tools out there to help them.
Here are the kinds of tools I’m talking about:
Feedly : An aggregator for blogs and websites (especially those in your niche) so you can follow them all in one place. You can also add related blogs that you are interested in and want to stay updated with.
Google Alerts : This is a free service that will send you emails when it finds new content that matches your keyword list. It’s like having a private investigator looking for you on the internet.
SEMRush : This free tool gives you detailed data about your competitors’ backlinks and search traffic. You can use this information to help determine where there is an opportunity for more backlinks and more traffic.
Twitter Data
Twitonomy : This tool is very similar to Google’s Twitter dashboard. It lets you see detailed stats about your tweets, mentions of your hashtag, the number of people following you, and the number of people who are talking about you.
TweetStats : This free tool tracks your Twitter accounts activity including followers, tweets sent, tweets received, and more. You can sort this data by date range or by category (such as site visits).
Let me know which tool you like the best and why. I’d love to hear what tools work best for you.
9: Create A Community of People You Can Talk To About What You’re Writing About
I mentioned this idea in my article on How to Write a Blog Post that Gets Shared Over Social Media but I want to talk about it more in-depth here. The reason is that it’s such an important element in blogging success.
You see, if you are a blogger, then you’ve got to build relationships with other bloggers. No matter what niche you’re in, there are other bloggers who have written about it before and are writing about it now. So you should be reaching out to them and communicating with them.
And by doing so, they will share your posts on social media because they like that you’ve reached out to them and want to get involved with their community.
So make sure you’re taking advantage of this. I’m not saying you should be spamming everyone on the internet. No, don’t do that. But there are some people out there who would love to connect with somebody from the same niche and then they’ll share what you’re writing over social media so that their audience knows about it.
What I’m advocating is that you should connect with other people who are interested in your niche and get to know them. You see, if you’re a photographer, for example, then you can go on Facebook groups where people talk about photography. Then in the comments section (which are called forums), you should show interest and give your own advice to others’ questions.
You see, there are people who will read what you have to say because they want to get a new perspective on things. And if you actively engage with them, they will share what you say (because they know others who are interested in the same things as them).
In other words, they’ll tell their followers about you and your blog posts and social media accounts. So it’s important that you get to know some of the people writing about your niche and then start connecting with them.
I suggest looking at these groups and seeing who is active in the forums. Then check out their websites to see if they’ve got anything published online. You can start there and then reach out to them (and comment on their posts).
10: Read Other Blogs (And Comment On Them When You Think It’s Worth It)
How do you learn how to write a blog post? I’d say it’s from reading a lot of other blog posts.
Do you know why? Because as I mentioned before, blogging is a two-way street. People learn from you as well as you learning from them. So why don’t you read the posts of other bloggers and try to pick up some tips from them on how to write a blog post?
The best way to do this is to subscribe to your favourite bloggers’ blog posts through an email service such as Feedly (which I mentioned before). That way, you’ll see every single blog post they publish (so that you don’t miss any).
And the other way to do this is to comment on their blog posts (I’ve seen people who do this in a positive manner). You can share your feedback and ask questions related to what they’ve written. And if they respond back, then you can start forming a relationship with them and eventually get more people aware of your blog posts.
There are millions of bloggers out there who are willing to help out with what they know. So take advantage of that by paying attention to them and learning from them.
Conclusion
These are the 10 steps to go from writing a blog post to getting more traffic. I hope you’ve found this helpful and that you’re able to take the principles and apply them to your own blog.
So I’d love to hear from you.
If you’re new to content writing, check out our free content strategy guide.