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If you have just started your blog or are in the process of starting a blog, one very important step is to write your first blog posts you will put out to your audience.

This will be your cornerstone content. What do you want your readers to see you as an expert in right away?

As you read this post, keep in mind that you can always go back and create these cornerstone pieces even if you aren’t a brand new blogger. I wish I had this information when I first started blogging because my first few posts were awful! I never took the time to think through my audience and my goals before I started writing my first blog posts. Use this information to help you write your first blog posts or to help you refine your old posts.

Here are five important steps to go through when writing your first blog posts:

Nail Down Your Audience and Purpose

Before writing anything it is essential to know exactly who you are writing for and what the purpose of your content is. To figure out what your purpose is, take a minute to think about this. Is your blog about entertaining, educating, inspiring, to get people thinking, to change their mindset, to create change, etc.? If you know why you are creating your content you will have a better idea about what content to create. Besides just understanding your purpose, you also need to nail down a specific audience for your content. I suggest thinking about your audience as if it was one person rather than a group of people. Ask yourself,

• Age?
• Gender?
• Likes and dislikes?
• Favorite hobbies?
• How they spend their day?
• What social media they hang out on?
• Spending habits?
• Problems they are facing?
• Biggest day to day struggles?

Want to get an entire year worth of purposeful content planned out in under an hour? This is my absolute favorite blogging resource!

Do Market Research

Now that you have a good idea of your audience and your content’s purpose, it’s time to do a little market research.

You want to get to know your audience and figure out what kinds of questions they are asking and what their biggest pain points are in relation to your content. If your content is an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or a tug at your reader’s emotions, then you can bet it will be read and shared.

You want your reader to say, “This lady can read my mind! She knows exactly what I need/want right now!”

You can find most of this information by joining Facebook groups where your ideal reader hangs out. This might be a blogging group, a mom group, or any other niche specific group. Get involved in those groups and start reading questions others have so you get to know what types of questions you can answer. You can also search the group. There is a search bar on the left hand side of the group page. Type in keywords and look for questions around the topics you want to write about.

Another way to do some market research is to just ask people. This could be friends, family, email subscribers, or anyone else who would help you gain perspective on your ideal reader.

If you do the market research first, you will know exactly what topics to cover in your first few blog posts.

You may also want to read:

• The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Profitable Blog
• Bluehost or Siteground? What’s the Best Host for You?
• How to Use Affiliate Marketing to Make Money

Know Your Topic

When you write these first few blog posts, make them very comprehensive. Really dig deep into whichever topic you have chosen and make sure you give the reader value for coming to your site. This will help build your reader’s trust and they may even seek you out for future questions on the same or similar content. This is exactly what you want!

I suggest writing at least 1,000 words and targeting very specific keywords that your ideal reader would be searching. 1,500-3,000 words would even be better if all these words have purpose and are not just ramblings or fluff.

Be specific with your topic and really try to thoroughly cover the information completely. Cornerstone pieces are important for both your new readers, the growth of your blog, and your success on Google.

Make it Linkable

Each of the first few blog posts you write should be linked together in some way as to drive your reader to multiple pages on your site. If you can, try to make at least one cornerstone piece for each of your categories before writing other posts. Use these posts as the backbone of your future content and continue to link them together.

I also suggest having at least one outbound link (a link to another website) in each of these first blog posts. Make sure these are high quality websites and let the website owner know you want to include a link to their website. You may get a few shares from that website which can increase your traffic greatly.

The more you are able to naturally inter-link your content the better. You want to make it easy for your reader’s to find each of your posts.

Create an Opt-in

You may only need to create one opt-in that will relate to each of the blog posts you write. If you already know your purpose and your ideal audience, then you can start gaining subscribers who will be interested in what you have to say and offer.

Think about something that would make your reader’s life easier. It can be a simple PDF checklist, swipe file, mini ebook, recipes, templates, etc. Anything that your ideal reader would want and would simplify their life or make something easier.

You may also want to read, “How to Create an Opt-in That Converts” for an in depth look at creating a great opt-in.

If you put these five elements into each of your first 5 blog posts (or any and all posts you create in the future) you will start to build a reputation for providing excellent information. Your ideal reader will not only come back, but they will start to share it with others just like them. Every piece of content you write should have a purpose and lead you to your goals. Take your time producing great content and your blog will do great things.

Take the next step and read:

3 Courses that will transform your blog from hobby to biz

You can do this!

Jenna

Blogging Resources and Tools I Can’t Live Without