A blog is only as good as the content you, the writer, puts their. So by increasing the quality of the content you increase the quality of the blog, which will in turn get you the traffic, readers, commentators and links you want so bad. Do you want to know how its done?
1. Use headlines that don’t suck.
I like to think of it this way: the headline of a blog post is like a sign on a door that draws people in to take a peek. It needs to lure your readers in yet give them the gist of what they’re gonna get inside. A good strategy is to ask your self, “what does this article have to offer?” and not “what is this article about?”
You can add to a headline by adding related keywords or a “power word” like secret, reveled and free. They lure people in to learn about something that is not known to most, or get some thing of value for nothing.
2. Use a compelling opening line.
My favorite part of posts are the opening lines, there the first things your readers actually read once they open up that door and walk into your post. Your opening lines should expand on your headline while making people want to continue reading the amazing content below it. You can open up the post in a couple different ways, maybe by telling a little story, sharing a quote, by making a controversial statement, or even by using some statistics. Ideally you want it to be irresistible to continue reading.
3. Go into depth.
People like details so don’t just tell them they can do something, but expand on it an tell them how they can do that something. For example if your writing about getting links, tell them the various ways to do it, and expand on each one giving its pros and cons, with an example of how you did it for your site. But you have to make sure that depth doesn’t turn into fluff.
4. Speaking of fluff!
No one wants to weed through a ton of fluff to figure out what your are trying to say. Sure but whats fluff? Its all those useless adjectives, and sentences that add nothing but length to your post. Fluff makes you seem as if you can’t communicate your ideas effectively, thus giving you an unprofessional image. So lets just cut out all the useless words, sentences and paragraphs, and shorten up your post.
5. Get a thesaurus and a dictionary.
I can’t stress this enough, every blogger should have a dictionary and thesaurus nearby. You need to know what the words your using mean, so you can use them properly and effectively. As for the thesaurus, you can’t use the same words over and over again because it gets repetitive so look up a word and use its synonym. This way you won’t sound like you have the vocabulary of a little kid.
6. Readability is everything.
Give each and every one of your posts a format which will make them easier to read. Try using sub-headings and lists, especially for the longer posts. I like doing this because although a reader may not be interested in one of my first ideas, they may like the later ones. With sub-headings they can just skim through them and they will read whatever they are interested in.
7. Please the eye.
Too much plain text gets boring for the eyes, and may turn a reader away. So give your posts the visual interest readers love. Simple text formatting is a must for all your posts, use bold, colored or italicized text to make something of importance stand out, add an underline to some thing of importance. Formatting really helps keep the readers attention than plain text.
You should also add a minimum of one image per a post. Just try to get something that is remotely related to the content of the post. Take my last post for example, I talked about getting tons of traffic from forums so I put a picture of traffic lights in it. I think that the image along side formatting really makes it easier to read.
8. Get the readers in on it.
The end of a post is a great opportunity for increasing your comments. Ask all your readers what they think about your post and the ideas within it.
9. Link out within the post.
Once you’ve finished up your post you should read it over and look for some keywords where you can link to some older posts you’ve written or maybe a couple of related pages on other blogs. If you link out to other blogs and use headlines that don’t suck then, you can get some nice trackback traffic.
10. Spell check, proofread and edit.
Don’t hit that publish button just yet, you still need to read through it a couple of times before you can show it off to the world. You should go ahead and run spell check on your almost-finished post. Then read through it with a fine tooth comb checking for typos, making sure that it make sense when read out loud, and check all the links and formatting.
Tell me, what do you think of my tips? Got any of your own?
Tell me in a comment.
Image by: foundphotoslj
A really good post, Ardit. Will keep all these tips in mind.
Farrhad A’s last blog post..Time Management
Nice post Ardit,
I really believe in getting readers to participate by asking questions. I’ve seen amazing results because of it!
Swastik’s last blog post..4 ways to turn off your readers
@ Farrhad: Thanks for the comment.
@ Swastik: Thanks for the comment, asking questions does work well, but only if you ask the right ones.
The last part “Spell check, proofread and edit” is a must. Some people, after typing up an article, hit up the publish post and never bother to read what they typed. I have even seen this problem occurring on high profile blogs, where the writers have no time to proof read their posts.
Forsaken’s last blog post..Announcements and Updates
Thanks for the comment Forsaken, proofreading is a huge part of writing that too many bloggers over look.
I read this article 3 times before I pressed the publish button. I do it for all my posts
Thanks for the tips !
I guess 10th is for me. I’ve had times when I check, recheck, edit, read, reread it, spell check it etc., everything seems fine, I publish the post, and for crying out loud – I forgot to put a headline of my post – how stupid can it get ?
Cheers,
The Moneyac
The Moneyac’s last blog post..
HAHA, that’s a good one.
I have forgotten titles once or twice in my time.
But now I like to do titles first then write the article.
Great tips. Will be sure to keep these in mind.
Salwa’s last blog post..Banishing Blogging Myths
“I read this article 3 times before I pressed the publish button. I do it for all my posts
”
#8 – 9th word…
j/k
Swastik’s last blog post..Quality product vs Marketing – Who wins?
@Ardit, i read an article saying why you should not put the title until you finish the post :p as it hinders your creativity.
Farrhad A’s last blog post..Time Management
@ Swastik: I really did read it 3 full times. I guess I missed that one
@ Farrhad: I personally like to write the title first, that way I know what im writing about and I don’t stray off topic.
Good post Ardit. You caught up the main points for writing a good blog post. Making the readers to comment by questioning them would get you many comments.
Harish’s last blog post..9 Easy Ways To Make Money Online
Thanks Harish.
Yeah, questioning readers help pull in comments.
I definitely have to agree with getting rid of the fluff. A lot of people have commented on how my blog has such “short posts.” I dunno if this hurts or helps, but I take a lot of time to say what I have to say with some humor and move on.
very nice collection of tips. Keep it up, dude!
Corey Freeman’s last blog post..7 More Tips for When You’re Sick
@ Corey: If I start to read a post that has a ton of fluff in the begining I close the window right away, I don’t want 3 paragraphs of B.S. and one of actual info.
Anyway, Thanks for the comment bro.
Great tips. My blog posts are always lacking images, which would definitely spice things up and keep my readers from getting so bored with all of the plain text.
Shirley’s last blog post..Recession Special: How to Advertise on a Shoestring
Its amazing how much images help. All text posts, especially the long ones, turn readers away from the post. Which means it won’t really get read.
Thanks for the comment.
Great article. You made many great points that a lot of bloggers do not think about. Linking to older posts with the right keywords can really bring up your ranking in google. I rank for like 5 key phrases just from an old post title.
Yeah, it’s definitely a useful technique.
Very simple tips that can easily be implemented in a heart beat. I also like the layout of your posts. I think font has a lot to do with it. I find it easier for me to read your blog compared to others.
Rowell Dionicio’s last blog post..10 Ways To Spreading The Word About Your Blog
Thanks Rowell, The list their is exactly what I do for each post.
I spend a bit of time formatting my posts, and making them easy to read.