Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
132 lines (84 loc) · 4.72 KB

how-to-blog.md

File metadata and controls

132 lines (84 loc) · 4.72 KB
Raw

How to Blog, According to MarsBased

At MarsBased, we are always learning new things. Running your own company means constantly staying in the loop and adapting to new challenges. Among other skills, we’ve learned how to run a successful blog.

Here’s a modern take on what we’ve learned.

Choose a Good Title

Let’s start with the basics: the title. Titles need to be clear for both humans and search engines.

If you're writing a guide on how to craft good blog posts, go with something like:

  • How to Write Blog Posts That Drive Traffic
  • 10 Useful Tips for Crafting Blog Content

Avoid obscure or overly complex titles like Disentangling the Unfathomable Nature of Swordbuckling in the Interwebs. Clear, meaningful titles attract more readers and improve SEO.

Best Practices:

  • Keep titles under 600 pixels (about 55-70 characters) to avoid truncation in search engines.
  • Include target keywords naturally to enhance visibility.
  • Use capitalization that matches your audience's expectations (e.g., title case for most English audiences). We use British English capitalisation.

Catch Your Reader's Attention

The first few sentences are critical. They set the tone and purpose of the post, while also affecting SEO. Search engines and social media often display the opening sentences as a preview.

Tips for Success:

  • Use keywords naturally in the first paragraph.
  • Hook readers with facts, anecdotes, or direct questions.
  • Avoid clickbait—build trust by delivering on your promises.

Content

Good content is shareable content. Blogs are essential for SEO because they provide fresh, original material that attracts engagement and backlinks.

Modern Tips:

  • Focus on content clusters: group related posts under a central topic to boost topic authority.
  • Write for user intent: prioritize helpful, relevant answers over keyword stuffing.
  • Mention and link to companies or influencers in your content. Notify them via social media to potentially earn extra shares.

Links

Internal and external links remain vital, but the focus has shifted:

Internal Linking:

  • Use descriptive anchor text that gives context (e.g., read more about SEO best practices rather than click here).
  • Link to related posts to improve site navigation and engagement.

External Linking:

  • Link to authoritative sources to enhance credibility.
  • Always open external links in a new tab using target=_blank.

Example of good HTML for links:

<a href="https://example.com" title="Example Website" target="_blank">Visit Example Website</a>

Images

Every blog post needs at least one image. Images enhance readability and engagement.

Modern Image Practices:

  • Use modern formats like WebP for better compression and loading speeds.
  • Include descriptive alt text for accessibility and SEO.
  • Optimize image size with tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim.
  • Implement lazy loading to improve page speed.

Example HTML:

<img src="path-to-image.webp" alt="Descriptive Alt Text" title="Descriptive Title">

Tags

Tags help categorize your content but should be used sparingly and strategically.

Best Practices:

  • Develop a flexible tag taxonomy that evolves with your blog’s focus.
  • Tags should balance specificity and generality (e.g., SEO vs. Technical SEO).

Readability

Blog posts should be easy to scan and read. Use subtitles, bullet points, and short paragraphs to improve clarity.

Tools for Readability:

  • Hemingway Editor for readability improvements.
  • Yoast SEO for SEO-friendly content structure.

Style

There’s no universal "perfect length" for blog posts. Tailor the post length to its intent:

  • Short posts (300-500 words): Quick updates or news.
  • Long posts (1500+ words): Comprehensive guides or thought leadership.

Tips:

  • Proofread thoroughly with tools like Grammarly or LanguageTool.
  • Ask someone else to review for clarity and grammar before publishing.
  • We use British English style for grammar, too.

Call to Action (CTA)

Every post should have a clear purpose. Whether it’s educating readers, guiding them to a product, or encouraging them to share the post, include a CTA.

Best Practices:

  • Use imperative verbs (e.g., "Learn more", "Download now").
  • A/B test CTAs with tools like Google Optimize or Hotjar to see what works best.

How to Contribute?

Want to contribute to the MarsBased blog? Open a pull request with your draft and add Àlex as a reviewer.

We encourage weekly contributions, whether it's a guide, technical post, or company update—anything related to what we do, who we are, and what we believe in.