11 Ways to Be a Better Blogger
I speak at conferences and do some teaching, and the
questions I’m asked the most about are about social media and blogging. At a
recent conference, someone in the audience suggested I put a blogging tips
article online that I could link to for writers’ reference. Great idea. I’ve
been writing for the Internet for a decade, so these are some tips I’ve picked
up along the way.
Keep it short. The Internet has a very short attention
span. Between BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, links flying down your Facebook
feed, and Twitter's barrages of trending topics, most people do not take the
time to read lengthy pieces online (there are some exceptions). The general
rule is that people don’t like to spend time scrolling, so the typical online
story is between 400-600 words, slightly longer for a news story, slightly
shorter for something with photos or a video clip.
Yes, social media. If you don’t share it, no one will see
your post. Use Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus if you’re one of the 20 people
who insists on still using that, or other social media to promote your blog
post.
Use grabby headlines. Ask a question, use humor or shock,
but you have to make people want to click on something. There’s too much
content zooming around for people to read through to uninteresting things. Pay
attention to what the headlines you click on have in common and try to match
their style.
Know your audience. Even if you’re not a niche blogger,
chances are that you have a distinct demographic that reads you. Know who they
are, what they like to read, and try to provide blog post topics that will be of
interest to them.
Build community. It’s important to interact with people.
They’re taking time out of their day to read your post, so especially if
someone makes a comment, it is nice to let them know (even just by “liking” the
comment) that you’ve seen their thoughts. Thank them for sharing your post.
Comment on their posts, too.
Be original. Far too many bloggers are simply using other
people’s material to fill their blogs. “Guest posting” has been a popular way
for blogs like The Huffington Post to create free content, but it doesn’t
benefit the content creator as much as it does the content platform. Blogging
about a video or another article can be a great idea for a blog post, but at
some point in blogging, it really helps if you can actually craft together a
decent 500-word original thought on your own.
Proofread. The Internet is jam-packed with horrific
grammar, spelling, and writing in general. Don’t be part of the problem. Create
a blog post in Microsoft Word first if that’s how you like to run spelling or
grammar checks, or at least pay attention to your blogging software's
recommendations for fixing egregious errors.
Yes, Wordpress. I have worked on a half dozen different
content management systems (CMS) in the past decade, and Wordpress is far and
away the best. It’s the easiest to use, most flexible in design and most
functional because of the many and varied plug-ins. Don’t blog on platforms
that dot-something after your blog name. “.blogspot” and I’d even argue
“.tumblr” are not unique URLs, which means that you’re blogging on someone
else’s real estate, so you don’t have control over it. Invest in a unique URL
and self-host.
Respect the tech. For my blogs, I’ve always relied on
design professionals to make them look good. I don’t know enough about html or
web design to undertake these parts of running a blog. I feel like it’s worth
it to pay someone to get the look you want for your blog.
Update weekly. Blogs should be updated a minimum of once
a week, more often is better. Set a goal of a day or days of the week that
you’re going to publish—better during the week. Weekend Internet traffic is
always slower.
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