Writing blog copy for my clients takes up a lot of my time. In fact, at the time of writing this, business blogging is my top-selling service. 

But what sets a professional blog writer apart from someone who simply smashes out blog articles? 

It’s way more than proper good writing—that’s a given 

Well-strung sentences, seamless paragraphs? These are a no-brainer. Who’d hire a blog writer who can’t deliver them? And in an era when the Internet is awash with AI slop, blogs that pulse with human-generated energy and class are more important than ever. But in my 20 years of journalism and copywriting, I’ve also learnt this.

The writer a business is willing to pay for brings much more to the table. 

Professional blog writers think about more than just finessing words in front of them. They’re not afraid to go off-brief, follow a white rabbit down a research hole, or tinker with older content to get results for their clients.

If you’re intrigued by what all that means, read on. I’m about to take you deep inside my excitable blog writer’s brain to share what goes on there when I’m writing cracking copy for my clients.

Writing blog copy that meets expectations and gets results

First, a slightly startling fact. When I’m writing a client article, my brain isn’t only thinking about the work. 

I’m a self-employed mum and wife with an active social life, a mild addiction to exercise, and a constant need for tunes in the background.  I’m responsible for most of the cleaning and housework. 

Yes, it’s a lot, but before any stringent feminists reading this jump down my throat, know that my husband does all of the cooking, yard work, and a heap of life-admin. We’re an equal division of labour kinda-couple and we’re both trying to crack on with our careers at the same time. Hang on a second though.

See that? I went off track…

As you’ve just witnessed, while I’m writing a blog, my train of thought sometimes veers off on a tangent about all the other stuff that’s going on in my life. And that’s alright. In fact, it’s really helpful. (Sometimes.) The ‘other thoughts’ give me a refreshing brain break from focussing on the business-building content I’m putting together. 

Occasionally, my mind heads to places completely irrelevant to the task at hand. (E.g. Oohh, should I have another cuppa and a biscuit? Answer: Yes. Always.) 

Now you’ve had a sneak peek inside my head, it’s time for the good stuff. Because when you’re thinking about hiring a professional blog writer, you want to know they’ll have their head fully in the game so they write an article that will:

• benefit your business 
• contribute to your content marketing plan. 

With that said, here are the four things I always think about, look g into and do when writing for a client.

1. Deeper connections between old and new 

 As a professional blog writer, I see each new article as an opportunity to get some internal linking happening and repurpose all the great stuff in your back catalogue. Because your stash of blog articles and content is a gold mine. 

Beyond repurposing, back catalogues teach me loads about a company’s existing tone of voice and approach to content—and this intel informs how I write the consistently on-brand content my clients (and their customers) expect and love.   

Of all the aspects of blog writing, finding internal linking opportunities is one of my favourite things to do. (Oop, out comes my nerdy-writing side.) It’s a challenge to choose the exact right blog and link to it smoothly and irresistibly. 

So, if you’ve commissioned me to write an article about funeral flowers and I see on your blog you’ve published a piece about sending flowers when someone’s pet dies, I’m absolutely going to find a sensitive and logical way to link the two.

Enough about my competitive inner-nature 

Internal linking benefits readers and helps with SEO. And that’s why internal linking is more than just a nice to have. (Or a fun game.)

For readers, internal linking points them towards more content that interests them or that they’re searching for. It puts relevant stuff right under their noses. Those links help scratch their informational or purchasing itch.

For businesses, internal linking helps in four ways.

1. It keeps people on the site and moving through the content logically.
2. It can link them to relevant service or product sales pages.
3. It builds brand authority and trust.  
4. SEO-ly speaking, internal linking is a search engine signal—the Google bots and their AI cousins clock important pages that are linked to regularly. And a site with interconnected content is considered well-structured.

Links work both ways

Linking new articles to older ones is (usually) pretty easy. You have the new article, you write the linking words/sentence to fit with what’s already there. 

Finding ways to link the older articles to the newer ones is trickier. I usually look at this if I’ve been commissioned to refresh an older piece of content. 

Linking older, established pieces to new content: 

• refreshes it and makes sure it includes new/up-to-date ideas or findings
• boosts rankings for new articles that are fresh to search via mentions in an older, well-ranked article. 

The thinking behind the last point sorta crosses into SEO backlinking territory. And if you’re keen to know more, I recommend this article by my mate Barb at Compass Digital Strategies: The Bullshit and the Benefits of Backlinking.

2. Originality: Fresh sources, anecdotes and case studies

A professional blog writer never regurgitates surface-level information. 

They get stuck into finding and including original sources, personal anecdotes, case studies, and qualified research that credits the original source. 

Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media made a brilliant point in one of his annual blogging survey write ups.

He wrote: ‘Journalists don’t write articles without sources, so why do bloggers write articles without contributor quotes?’

Cue vigorous applause from me. 

Before I start writing (and sometimes during the process, because it can become clearer when and where this sort of information is needed) I’m thinking about who I can talk to so the article has that relatable, cred-building, personal touch.

Getting quotes, interviews, stats and stories that are unique to your business set your articles apart from undistinguished AI slop.

3. An eye on future article topics

Research rabbit holes. If you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll know I have a thing for warren-like explorations during the blog research phase. 

For those of you not already in the know, research rabbit holes are a blessing and a curse. Sometimes they leave me more confused about a point or topic. But other times they deliver great tangents that might not be useful immediately, but give me an idea for a future article, website page, social media post or email campaign. 

If a good idea lands in my lap while I’m writing, I note it in Trello and save it for the next client briefing meeting. As a professional blog writer, I’m not only looking at what we’re doing right now. I’m also keeping an eye on the future and thinking about how we build your content out. 

4. Looking fancy: Images and layout

When my clients receive a blog draft, they rarely get just the words. My drafts usually come with image ideas (or at least written suggestions) and developer notes for laying out the copy out. 

Is this overkill and possibly stepping on other people’s toes? 

Maybe. 

But I’ve been doing this long enough to know that designers and developers rarely read the copy (they scan, at best).  So if I include screen grabs, image ideas and write image descriptions, I’m more confident (and hopefully my clients are too) that they’re getting the professionally written blog they’re paying for.

My precious ego and overpedantic-ness about not fucking up the messaging with bad imagery is just part of the reason for stepping outside my copywriting box.

Readability matters

Photos, infographics and copy formatting  (dot point lists, tables, paragraph length, alignment) affect readability. Copy should be scannable and easy for people to digest, and I’m thinking about all of that as I’m writing.

Some of the questions I ask regarding readability include:

• Is here a good place for an image? 
• If so, what makes sense and anchors the copy? 
• Can the information in this section be turned into a useful infographic?
• If we’re adding an infographic, does the copy need editing so it fits neatly in an image? 
• What original images can we create? (Because it’s always nice to step away from stock photos.)

It’s a lot, but it’s important. Because readability can affect the whole tone of an article and shape how it’s received.

Time to get out of my head

Alright, now you know the inner workings of my mind as I’m putting an article together. I’m thinking about linking opportunities, original sources, making it unique, future topics and how the whole thing will look to the reader. 

I’d like to say I’m special and the way I view blogs is a superpower unique to me. But I’m not. 

Any professional blog writer worth their salt (and your marketing budget) should be thinking about these four things when working on your blogs. Because a single article is rarely a stand-alone piece. It has to fit into your larger content marketing plan or blog strategy. 

If you like how this professional blog writer thinks

Let’s check if  I’m the right writer for your project or long-term for your business. 

Get to know me.