At its simplest, a blog is a piece of written content that answers a real question someone’s actually asking.
It’s not a place for waffle.
It’s not a soapbox.
And it’s definitely not an excuse to write 800 words of fluff just to satisfy an SEO checklist.
A great blog helps.
It teaches.
It explains something useful, in plain English, to someone who genuinely wants to understand it.
That’s it.
You can dress it up however you like, add graphics, optimise your meta descriptions, share it across twelve different platforms, but if it doesn’t answer a question clearly and honestly, it’s just noise.
So, what actually makes a great blog?
It starts with a question. A real one.
Not “what could we write about this week?” but “what are our clients stuck on?”
“What’s that thing they always ask on calls?”
“What would they Google at 11pm when they’re trying to figure something out?”
Good blogs begin with empathy.
Then, you give a straight answer.
No jargon.
No overthinking.
No “in this ever-evolving digital landscape, businesses must leverage...”
Just say it like you’d say it in person.
If there’s nuance, include it.
If there are pros and cons, break them down.
If it’s not right for everyone, say who it is right for.
Clarity builds trust. Vagueness loses it.
Real examples make it real.
Don’t just tell someone how something works, show them.
If you’ve helped a client through this problem before, say that.
If you’ve got a metaphor that makes it make sense, use it.
Blogs work best when they feel grounded.
When the reader can see themselves in the scenario.
And finally, a good blog gives you something to do next.
That might be a follow-up article.
It might be a service page, a product demo, or just a piece of advice they can action straight away.
But there has to be a point to it all.
If someone’s taken the time to read your blog, the least you can do is leave them better off than when they arrived.
A blog isn’t an essay, it’s a conversation
You don’t need to sound clever.
You don’t need to write like you’re submitting to an awards panel.
A great blog sounds like a helpful conversation.
Like someone answering a question in a way that makes you go:
“Oh. That actually makes sense now.”
It’s not about shouting into the void.
It’s about meeting someone exactly where they are, and giving them what they came for.
If you do that consistently?
You don’t just become a source of content.
You become a source of trust.