How To Write A Good Blog Post

To blog is human, but to blog well is divine. The difference between merely having a blog domain and your blog actually gaining readership and notoriety is like the difference between you making photocopies of your personal manifesto and stapling it to telephone poles to reach the masses rather than it being published by the New York Times.   Anyone can have a blog, but it takes hard work, perseverance, talent, and care to make it into that upper echelon of bloggers who actually get recognition and compensation for their blogging efforts. Here are some tips and tricks from the best of the blogosphere.

Find a great title. Your title does not have to be incredibly original to get attention. If you do have a clever headline up your sleeve, by all means use it, but you can also attract clicks with a more formulaic headline that promises a great post. Some examples: promising to reveal a “secret” or “little known” ideas, good old-fashioned “How to” headlines, “what people don’t know about…” or “Ten ways to…”. Refer to pop culture stars, popular movies, or other trendy topics for instant name recognition in your title. Don’t forget that even the catchiest titles need to relate directly to the post—A promising title with content that does not deliver will diminish your credibility with readers.

Start with a strong opening. In professional journalism, withholding the main point of your article from the first paragraph is called “burying the lead.” Don’t do it. If you are promising a specific piece of news by having an intriguing title, reveal it in your first paragraph. If your post is designed to be a series of tips and tricks (like this one), use a minimal introduction and get right to the good stuff. 

Keep it short, and cut the fluff. A post should generally be over 200 words, unless your blog is very photo-heavy, yet aim for shorter, rather than longer post. Experts recommend that you cut at least 20% from your first draft—most writers tend to have about this percentage of “fat”, or unnecessary details and content, within their first drafts.

Use all the rules of grammar you learned in school, but develop a conversational tone that is right for your blog audience. This isn’t a college term paper, and if it reads like one, your readers will fall asleep. Try to forget the boring, pseudo-intellectual tone you used in all your college papers and write like you’re having a conversation with friends.. For example, if you write a blog about diamond jewelry, imagine a friend emailed you saying, “Hey, I noticed a ring sale at the mall today. What’s your advice on selecting a good engagement ring?” How would you respond to that email? In other words, convey expertise and professionalism, but use a conversational tone and style. That being said, just like in college: spelling, grammar and organization DO count.

Be yourself! When writing your content, it should exude your true passion on the topic at hand, yet don’t make it all about you. Back up your ideas and opinions with quotes from experts, passages from big news articles on the topic, or even first-hand research or quotes from academic journals. Make it credible and personal.  Once you’ve established your credibility, you will be able to strew fun facts throughout your posts that your readers will actually believe and enjoy.

For whatever reason, people respond to numbered lists. When it comes to humorous or entertaining blog posts, numbered lists like “Top 10” and “7 Worst” just seem to attract more hits than plain old posts. Most numbered lists relate to pop culture, nostalgia, and fashion—which are some of the most popular blogging topics. Note that your Top 10 list doesn’t have to be about Oscar fashion or the Jersey Shore—a numbered list style can be adapted to almost any blog topic! 

Guest article is provided by Whiteflash – Online jewelry store.