I’ve written a lot of posts with blogging tips in the past, but creating a blog that people enjoy can be summed up in even less words than those past articles. Today I’m sharing my absolute #1 tip for writing better blog posts. And seriously? It’s stupid simple.

I occasionally get emails from hopeful bloggers who aren’t receiving the results they crave from their blog. They’re putting in the effort — marketing themselves on social media, publishing posts everyday — but their blog still isn’t growing how they’d like it to. This is what I tell them, and this is what I’ll tell you. Before I ever start writing a post, I ask myself this question:

Will this be useful for my readers?

That sentence is important for two reasons: First, it asks if the post is useful. What value does the article provide to your readers? Sometimes it’s more subtle, like style inspiration, and other times it’s obvious, like business advice. But the key is that it provides value and usefulness to the people who visit your site. The other important piece of that sentence refers to your readers. Who reads your blog? Where do they live? What kinds of jobs do they have? What are their interests? Usually, you can figure this out through a combination of Google Analytics and knowing which posts tend to get more attention on your site. If I know something doesn’t align with my core audience, I won’t post it.

If you’re a blogger who posts mainly about your day-to-day, but wants to grow your audience, I encourage you to find the pieces of your day that will add value to your readers’ lives. Maybe you discovered a neat eatery that locals would enjoy, or you had a mini-epiphany while taking your dog for a walk. Sharing value with your readers doesn’t need to be difficult, but for people to frequent your site, day after day, it needs to be present.

What kinds of things would be useful for your readers?

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