Together with the question ‘how many words should a blog post be?’, I’m often asked ‘how long should I spend writing a blog post?’ by business people and again, it is difficult to give an exact answer as it can vary so much. We can, however, offer some tips and guidelines for making every minute count and help you to write some great blog posts even faster.
I’ve read posts by ‘experts’ that suggest that if you spend more than half an hour writing a post, you are wasting your time and it shouldn’t take any longer than that. Small comfort to the beginner blogger who spends hours with their fingers hovering over the publish button. Today I read a post that suggested that a good blog post can take 4 or 5 hours to write.
I have to admit that I have never spent 4 or 5 hours on a blog post but I can see how a blog post that requires thorough research and numerous links can take that length of time. A quick blog post of an image and an update can take as little as ten minutes. I have spent up to 3 hours researching and writing an occasional blog post, however, I would say the majority take between 30-75 minutes depending on the extent of research, number of links and photographs, and of course, the length of the post.
Therefore, I want to reassure you, particularly if you are starting out on the business blogging journey – give yourself about 90 minutes to write your first blog post with perhaps 30 minutes scheduled in later in the day to proofread, check and hit that ‘publish’ button.
9 Tips for Writing Great Blog Posts …. Faster!
1. When saving photos for use in a future blog post, name them appropriately (with business name and/or keyword), resize them if necessary and place them in a folder where you know you can find them easily. I have a number of ‘blog-photo’ folders where I know I’ll find the photograph quickly.
2. Have a list of topics for your blog post – not only does that mean you will never suffer from bloggers’ block but if you know you are writing a post on a particular topic the next day, you won’t be facing a blank screen when you sit down as the ideas will not only be in your list but spilling out from your mind to your fingers to the screen.
3. Google Keywords – use the google keyword analysis tool regularly. If you are using it regularly, you’ll become much quicker at finding those words to optimise your blog as much as you possibly can.
4. Editing – if you find you need to edit the blog post, spend 15-20 minutes writing it, then save it in draft. When you return later to edit, it’ll be much easier to have the content there. It can often be easier to edit and see typos if you leave a few hours between writing and publishing.
5. I tend to add the photographs last – I can then decide where to place them and what size they should be when I can see the layout of all the text.
6. Work tends to expand to fit the time we permit it. Therefore, although you may give yourself 90 minutes to write a blog post – bear in mind that all blog posts won’t take that long but they will if you let them! Work hard at it and if you have time to spare in the allocated time – give yourself a treat be it a walk in the fresh air or an extra cup of coffee with a biscuit.
7. Can you multi-task? Are you easily distracted? It really is better to close away all distractions while you are focusing on the task in hand. If your brain does require a break, take that five minutes break by stretching your legs and then return to it. Sometimes, I visit twitter for 5 minutes and then return refreshed and ready to go again. (I know – I’d be much healthier and fitter if I stretched my legs instead!)
8. If you are in the flow of writing and need to check a link or a fact, just keep going and check it later or at the proof reading stage.
9. The quickest way to proofread is to click the ‘preview’ button and see it on the page, rather than trying to proofread it in the dashboard.
The finalists for the Blog Awards Ireland have just been published so if you are looking for great blogs to read, I suggest you pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine and enjoy reading some of the best Irish blogs.
Do you ever time yourself when writing a blog post? Are you ever surprised by how much longer it takes than you estimate or have you got it down to a fine art? Do share your thoughts in the comment box.
Image: Free Digital Photos
