Tip #1 – Select a subject
When you are thinking of writing a post, you must be careful about the subject you are going to choose. If you are writing for your company blog, you must be aware of certain guidelines and try to follow the spirit of this one. In other words, your post must fit into the rest of the whole content and has to spread across the image the company has created for itself over the past. For example, if your company is manufacturing cars and wants to be perceived as the cool new brand arriving on the market, you definitely won’t blog about all the people who died in car accidents last year. Because the company has created a specific image and values for itself, it’s important to stick to them. For your own blogging experience, I recommend you choose a subject that you are passionate about, expert or involved in. You will find more rewards to write about something you truly feel concerned about rather than a simple fact.
Tip #2 – Make it your own
So, this is it, you finally have chosen the subject you want to talk about. Great! Now you need to make it your own and embark the reader where you want him to be. First, use “I” instead of “We”. Important rule to follow as you want the reader to be able to connect with you as a person, not as a bunch of people. Second, try to include some personal opinion or particular events that he could relate to because there is a strong probability that someone somewhere might just feel exactly the same as you do. Finally, just write as you would speak to one of your friends about this specific subject, in a friendly, casual and simple way. Ready to take the next step?
Tip #3 – Share your journey
Now it’s time to share your journey by including your reader in the story. From the beginning to the end, you have to keep the reader’s attention, and trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds! (Especially if your post is going to be more than 500 words) A good way to achieve that though is to ask questions directly by using “you”. Like this, the reader will feel more concerned and likely will be more intrigued to read the rest of the post. If you succeed to make your reader wondering about his own issues, situation or needs, then you have almost won. Try to compare your own journey to his by posting a last question at the end of your story. You will open a new discussion and there are more chances that people will add comments on it and be willing to interact with you directly.
Tip #4 – Avoid complication
If you don’t want your reader to fall asleep while going through your prose, it’s essential for you to avoid any complication. Let me explain…Too much description or technical informations might kill your post in few seconds just because it’s pretty boring and tedious for people to read. Would you read a whole technical guide on how to use your mobile phone? Exactly! Best is to explain succinctly what you want to say in the easiest possible way using common words. In other words, make the unfriendly friendly…
Tip #5 – Use quotations wisely
Quotations are definitely a good resource and actually bring more value and credibility to your post. They are useful if you want to explain a key point, introduce a particular author or expert related to the field you are talking about or simply bring more “life” to the story itself. But (because there is always a “but”), you have to be aware that too much quotations will disfavour your case. Don’t blitz your reader with a lot of “Mr Smith, Blogger Expert, has said: bla bla… “; at the opposite, only select 1 or 2 that you judge worth mentioning and which might interest your reader. Got it? 🙂
Tip #6 – Add some links
You are almost there…only few steps away from publishing the perfect blog post. Now, your mission if you accept is to add some links to your chef d’oeuvre. As same as for quotations, don’t add too much links as it’s quite annoying for the reader to look at a text with loads of words underlined. Only add links when you feel it’s necessary and will bring any sort of value to your post. Best is to spread them out in the text, such as one in the first paragraph, one in the main and another towards the end. Warning: don’t link just for the pleasure of linking!
Tip #7 – Know your keywords
I won’t bore you with SEO and how it all works as I would need a lot more pages and it wouldn’t be a quick guide anymore. Instead, I will just explain how keywords need to be employed within your text. As you already know, you are going to use some words several times, probably because they are directly related to your subject and need to be there more than once. These words will define your core content and what your post is all about. They are called keywords. You need to identify these keywords, use them parsimoniously and put them in the “Tags” section if there is any.
Tip #8 – Grab a catchy title
Everything is said in the title 🙂
Tip #9 – Few magic tricks
So, you think you are finally ready to launch your post. Wait a minute!? Have you checked the spelling mistakes and grammar? Read out loud your post? Add a nice framed image at the top? Any captions? Style your text? Make sure that the comments box is working? If yes, then go for it, it’s your time to shine. If not, take few minutes to do it before it’s too late.
Tip #10 – Proof
If you are reading this tip #10, it means that I have succeeded to my 1st objective which was to get you towards the end of this quick guide. Hopefully, you will have enjoyed the ride and learn few stuffs along the way. Blogging is not hard if you know all the secrets… Good luck and let me know your progress into this new world!