Freelance writers: How to write a good blog post fast
Freelance writers are always talking about how to scale their business and earn more money. Aside from charging more, getting better at the writing process is the best way to increase your output and either earn more or work less (or both!).
Learning how to write blog posts faster is a foundational skill to write more. And you don’t have to sacrifice quality for your clients. Here’s my method for standard blog writing after more than a decade as a freelance writer.
Start with the word count
I’m a bottom-line kind of girl, whether it’s words, time, or money! I’m strict when it comes to word count ranges assigned by my clients because that’s what my rate is based on.
So whether I received an outline from an editor or make up my own, I look at word count first.
If I’m responsible for the article from scratch, I then make an outline based on headers that make sense for the piece. I research the top ranking blog posts on Google, then create an outline incorporating the best and most relevant headers for my client’s audience.
For FAQs, I pull from “People Also Ask” under the keyword search results.
Assign word counts to each section
Before you start writing, give yourself a game plan for each section. I begin by assigning word counts to each section. I start with the intro and conclusion — those take about 50 to 100 words for most blog or articles.
If there are any FAQs, I typically designate 50 to 100 words each.
Then I add all of that up and subtract it from the word count requirement.
Finally, I divide the remaining words by the number of H2s and H3s. That gives me the approximate word count goal for each section.
It may seem like more work upfront, but this is the key to how to write blog posts faster.
The more headers, the better
As you create your blog post, challenge yourself to break up the information into more sections.
When I started freelancing 10 years ago, there were a lot less headers involved and it wasn’t uncommon to write 200 to 300 words in one section.
These days, streamlining is key and I try to create enough H2s and H3s so that each section is under 200 words. It’s easier for the reader to skim and find exactly what they’re looking for without bouncing off the webpage.
Use a timer
If I’m feeling really motivated to be productive, I set a timer as I write each section. This keeps me on track and works best if I’m covering a topic I know in and out. For instance, I might give myself less than 10 minutes to write a section about a specific mortgage because I know those rules, requirements, and sources like the back of my hand.
👉Yet another reason to narrow your writing focus!
I know people get “hacked” out and it’s not so cool to optimize productivity in some circles. But for me, I like to make my money and move on with my day.
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