Blogging Tips A-Z is a new series which will run every Sunday (or Monday if you’re in Australia). It’s a quick start guide for new bloggers and a refresher course for bloggers who want to stay motivated and inspired.
So if you’re a new blogger, or if your blogging has plateaued and needs help, subscribe now by email or RSS feed so you don’t miss out.
Please leave your comments and questions below – I’ll answer them there or in a separate blog post.
I know you have heaps of great blogging tips too so do write a post sharing them on your blog and send me link by email or on Twitter. I’ll share the best of them here.
Blogging Tips A-Z: C for Content
While branding and blog design are important, content is still crucial to blogging success. The bottom line is that you have to give your readers content they need and can’t find elsewhere in a format they enjoy.
To deliver compelling blog content you need to spend time working out who your readers are and what makes them tick.
You’ll need to experiment and come up with specific types of blogs posts such as how tos, case studies or reviews then try them out. Only then can you see what your readers react to best and then try to do more of the same.
There’s no magic bullet to creating viral content. Sometimes a blog post bombs when you thought it would take off, other times a blog post you whipped up in 30 minutes gets an unexpectedly warm welcome.
The only way to know what content your readers like is to try it on them, create a blog survey and listen to the results.
5 tips for writing blog posts that readers love
1. Give your readers value
Work out why readers come to your blog and give them sound information every time. Make your blogs posts clear, useful and actionable.
2. Write as if you were speaking to a friend
Use the simple language you use in every day life, don’t confuse people with jargon or long words.
3. Give clear instructions
Remember your readers are blog readers, not mind readers. If you share tips break them down into easy steps. If you give advice make it clear. If you want readers to subscribe tell them. If you’d like them to share your posts on Twitter or Facebook ask them to and make it easy.
4. Keep it simple
Telling a story helps but to begin with just make sure your blog posts have a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s the information that people want more than anything, a story is just the icing on the cake.
5. Blog post formatting is crucial
This is something you can learn and implement in every single blog post. No excuses. Find out more in 16 Rules of Blog Writing and Layout.
If in doubt about your content take some time out from writing to think about who’s going to read your blog and what content you can share that will really make them sit up and pay attention.
Good content takes time and practice. Just remember that’s a normal part of the creative which makes writing your blog fun and reading it rewarding.
What type of blog content do you most like sharing? Is that what your readers enjoy most as well?
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