How To Write An Interesting Technical Blog

Writing a technical blog is tricky. It requires a balance of flair, command of the language, and proficiency in the subject matter itself. So, it isn’t surprising if you find yourself struggling to write technical blogs that appeal to the tech community, consumers, or business users. 

Many writers, marketers, founders, and bloggers face challenges when writing about technical topics like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud architecture, the Internet of Things (IoT), and app development.

I’ve been writing blogs for tech companies since 2016. Over the years, I figured out what works and what doesn’t in creating engaging technical blogs. 

If you do this right, technical blogs can be intriguing, informative, and pleasant to read. Your content will bring clarity instead of confusion. You can give readers reasons to buy rather than leaving them feeling unfulfilled. At the same time, you can position your brand, or the business you’re writing for, as a leading voice in their space. 

In this article, I’ll share the principles I’ve developed and used in my work for tech clients in different industries. 

What Are Technical Blogs?

Technical blogs are articles or web content that focus on technical subjects. They differ from regular content, as writing a technical blog requires a degree of proficiency and understanding of the subject matter. Else, the writer may struggle to be convincing and authoritative in their work. Usually, technical blogs are authored by the technical experts themselves. But companies might also hire content writers to write such blogs. 

For example, here’s a technical blog I wrote to explain various neural network architectures to machine learning engineers. 

Unlike common assumptions, technical blogs need not be a piece of drab content littered with dozens of technical terms. Technical blogs are not user manuals. They are content meant to tell a story, describe an idea, or encourage the reader to take action. Technical blogs help customers understand products or services better and reflect your brand values. 

While my experience involves writing for technological companies, what I share in this article applies to other industries. For example, content written for legal, tax, and medical companies requires a strong understanding of the subject matter. Often, certain pieces require input from trained professionals in those domains.

Useful Tips For Writing Technical Blogs

Know your audience

First, figure out who you’re writing for. Technical blogs are not necessarily written for technical people like programmers, data scientists, or engineers. Even if they are, it’s also important to consider if that article will be passed to decision-makers who may not be so technically adept. 

For example, you’re writing a piece on artificial intelligence for data scientists, but their CTO will have the final say in commercial decisions. It’s a mistake to assume that CTOs have the same level of understanding as data scientists on AI technologies. 

Often, CTOs are more interested in the broader ideas, benefits, features, and how they solve problems rather than going into the intricate details of machine learning models. They might do the latter if your content leaves a strong impression.

So, spend time visiting forums or social media and check out how your audience converses in real life. Pay attention to the pain points or solutions they seek. Listen to how ‘technical people’ share and discuss ideas. Then, imagine you’re interacting with them as you write. 

Create a blog outline

Next, list down the ideas you feel are important to your audience. Start with a main topic, and expand the idea into several subtopics. This is a good practice, whether writing technical or non-technical blogs, to ensure you stay focused and address the topic in detail. For example, if you’re writing an article about ‘What is machine learning’, your outline might be:

• History of machine learning.
• How machine learning works.
• Types of machine learning model.
• Supervised vs. unsupervised machine learning
• Machine learning applications in various industries.
• How to adopt machine learning technologies for your business. 

Then, flesh out the content as you go through one subtopic to another. Ideally, your content should start with a broader idea before narrowing it down to technically-complex ones. 

Avoid jargon and explain complex terms

Often, writers assume that they must use jargon in their blogs to make them sound ‘technical’. Or use complex terms unsparingly to create an impression of an authoritative brand. Neither approach is right nor wrong, but it’s important to remember the purpose of writing that specific blog. 

For example, look at how AWS explains NLP to the global audience. It uses words that non-technical people can understand and avoid unnecessary technical terms. 

Meanwhile, IBM opted for a more academic approach to describe the same technology. 

While AWS and IBM might be targeting different market segments, the broader audience might need more effort to understand the latter’s explanation. Why choose to complicate a subject when you can write in styles that send a clear message across different audiences? 

For example, you can choose to introduce the topic in general and dive into the technical parts later on.

Personally, I make it a habit to explain technical terms if I feel it benefits the readers, particularly when I’m writing to a broader business audience. 

Use examples

Despite your best effort, some technical concepts are hard to explain with words. That’s where you need to be more descriptive and creative.

For example, how do you explain data warehouse and data mart to business users? Both are very similar data storage solutions that companies use to store processed business data. Diving into the technical differences between both solutions rarely offers clarity for non-technical business readers. 

Instead, using an analogy, such as visualizing data warehouses and data marts as hypermarkets and individual department stores, help readers to picture the technologies. It’s also a best practice to use illustrations to support the explanation of abstract subjects. 

Other ways to get your points across include:

• Describe who uses the solutions.
• Show how the solutions work.
• Explain what are the pros and cons.
• List real-life applications of the technology. 

Write for people, not machines

You might be writing for some of the brightest scientists in the world, but don’t forget that they are human. So, craft your article in ways that appeal to human emotion instead of merely filling in the blank. Answer the why, what, when, who, and how in your personal voice. Tell stories, if your brand voice permits, to relate your message to the audience.

The worse thing that could happen is to generate your article with AI writing tools, optimize them for SEO, and hit publish. Such content lacks a human touch, not only in terms of style and voice but sensibility and sensitivity. If you use AI writing software, make sure to edit the content with your style, stories, and unique touch. 

Convince your audience with facts and reasonings about why an idea matters. Use common sense to link technical concepts to practical business applications. Choose and avoid certain words that might go against the brand guideline. And ask thought-provoking questions to retain their attention. 

Structure the content

A well-structured article should have, at minimum, an intro, body, and conclusion. 

• Use the intro to grab the reader’s attention and give them reasons to read more.
• The body is where you explain the technical ideas that you outlined earlier. It should contain all information the reader might seek when looking for such topics.
• Conclude by summarizing the idea, and provide a key takeaway. 

Whether you’re writing for engineers, product managers, or founders, understand that people prefer to skim through articles before zooming in on specific sections.

Learn more about how to write for modern, busy readers on the internet.

So, use subheadings like what I did in this article to spread out your ideas. Use bullet points or numbered lists appropriately. And avoid lengthy sentences or paragraphs that might make the text hard to read.

As a rule of thumb, I limit:

• A sentence to 25-30 words, 
• A paragraph to 50-75 words.
• A subtopic to 200-300 words.

End with a strong CTA

Technical blogs are part of a broader content marketing strategy. So, be specific about what you want the readers to do after reading the article. Have a strong call to action (CTA) at the end of the article. For example:

• Subscribe to a newsletter.
• Download an industry report.
• Get in touch with the sales team.
• Share the article on social media. 

Whichever it is, don’t conclude the article without telling your readers what to do next. 

Proofread and review

Before you hit the publish button, proofread the content for correctness. The last thing you want to do is to publish erroneous blogs to experts in their respective niches. Ensure that all statistics, studies, and claims are properly cited. Let the audience know that you have done your homework instead of randomly plugging facts from the internet.

If you’re doubtful about your work, get the article reviewed by a few technical experts. Then, revise it accordingly before submitting or publishing the final draft. 

Bottom Line

It takes more effort to put together a piece of compelling technical blog. While you might not be an expert in the subject matter, it helps to familiarize yourself with the nuances the audience uses before starting. I’ve covered several important factors that separate a great technical blog from an average one.

Hope it helps with your content strategy.