Tips for writing a blog post

November 23, 2009 by Hew

How to write blog posts A number of my clients have moved to WordPress in the past year in order to have some editorial control over their websites. WordPress has many benefits, put aside the ‘bells and whistles’ offered by plugins, it not only frees my support time but allows clients to have a ‘voice’ through publishing posts and editing pages themselves.

The interface does take some getting used to, but not long as many editing functions are similar to Word. Beyond that, the main thing to learn is creating the all important links and either uploading or linking to images. Learning time 30mins?

Other key benefits concern the blog. Visitors need a reason to visit your website… not just once but again and again. Take a step back and ask yourself, why should a visitor [or potential customer] visit my site, what am I saying in my posts that would encourage them to bookmark/link/revisit? Do this before you hit the big purple ‘Publish’ button!

Following on from that is the search engine rating opportunities of having more dynamic content. Internal links to parts of your website (new services, new documents uploaded) are a big thumbs up, as well as inserting as many links as you can to other sites on the website in your posts.

Boooooring Blogs?

The golden rule is to realise you are writing for the web… not an essay, not an article. You are also not writing for yourself… but I guess you are, as it is your own personality and style that helps makes an engaging blog.

Top Tips

These top tips are from Problogger’s blog, written in 2005. These are as true today as they were in 2005… simple, short and clear.

Make your opinion known

Link like crazy

Write less

250 Words is enough

Make Headlines snappy

Write with passion

Include Bullet point lists

Edit your post

Make your posts easy to scan

Be consistent with your style

Litter the post with keywords

1. Make your opinion known
People like blogs, they like blogs because they are written by people and not corporations. People want to know what people think, crazy as it sounds they want to know what you think. Tell them exactly what you think using the least amount of words possible.

2. Link like crazy.
Support your post with links to other web pages that are contextual to your post.

3. Write Less
Give the maximum amount of information with the least amount of words. Time is finite and people are infinitely busy. Blast your knowledge into the reader at the speed of sound.

4. 250 is enough
A long post is easier to forget and harder to get into. A short post is the opposite.

5. Make Headlines snappy
Contain your whole argument in your headline. Check out National newspapers to see how they do it.

6. Include bullet point lists
We all love lists, it structures the info in an easily digestible format.

7. Make your posts easy to scan
Every few paragraphs insert a sub heading. Make sentences and headlines short and to the point.

8. Be consistent with your style
People like to know what to expect, once you have settled on a style for your audience stick to it.

9. Litter the post with Keywords.
Think about what keywords people would use to search for your post and include them in the body text and headers. make sure the keyword placement is natural and does not seem out of place.

10. Edit your post
Good writing is in the editing. Before you hit the submit button, re-read your post and cut out the stuff that you don’t need.

A good starting list which can apply across almost any blog.

I’d add a few things.

Images often help illustrate points and add some visual interest to ‘wordy’ posts… just ensure that the image is apt to your subject. Don’t insert images for images’ sake, but Google is your friend!
Have an objective in mind when you post. Keep what you want to get across in your mind and see you’ve done it before you publish
Frequency of posting is vital. If visitor sees that the latest post is months old then you dont have much to say. “Ticking the box” of having a blog can do more brand harm if the flurry of initial posts tail off into stagnation. Set time aside each week/fortnight/month. I often have a little text file sat on my desktop that I drop links and notes into which helps flesh monthly/bi-monthly posts. Conversly, Blogging isnt like Twitter, overload people and you will bore then, so have clear ideas, put them together in a short punchy, engaging way… and give it a meaty title.
Have fun. Enjoy blogging, encourage people to contribute and add comments if you want. Get it into the routine and have the blog work for you and your business!