No matter how long you have been blogging, whether you are a seasoned writer or just starting out, there are still tips and tricks you can use to elevate your writing from good to great! Every day is a day for learning something new, I have gathered a few tips below to help you easily become a better blog writer and get even more readers.
Plan
Many blog writers miss this first crucial step when writing a blog. Sure many people are able to just sit down, type and a blog is created, while a minority of bloggers will plan their blog before they’ve even begun. This is the difference between a good blog and a great blog! Developing your own planning process will help you develop better blogging habits in the long run and will give you time to focus on the message you really want to get across. Spend time looking at the trends you will be talking about, the industry you are in and what your audience really want to know about.
Ask questions
Elevate your blogs by asking questions of the reader, it is interactive compared to a flat blog where the writer is just talking at you. Readers like to be engaged, so starting and ending your blogs with questions is a simple way to bring this into your work. You can try the standard: how do you feel? What is your opinion? or go further in-depth – What experience have you had in this circumstance?
Build your story
Begin your blog with a story that illustrates your point and shows the reader what it is that you’re talking about; developing a scenario where people can put themselves in the writer’s shoes and relate to what they are talking about. Stories resonate with us better than any fact or figure you can find; the pull of the story and the unknown captures our attention and we want to read on and find out more.
Example
DANIELLE LAPORTE, ON MANAGING & LOVING MONEY:
“No one ever taught me how to manage money. My folks were young and working, Catholic High School didn’t give me any tips, and I skipped college. So that left me and my Visa card, which mysteriously showed up in the mail on my nineteenth birthday. I promptly went shopping that weekend. And the next weekend.”
Grabbing headlines
Some headlines write themselves, any mooch around Buzzfeed or an online gossip magazine will show you how it’s done. Loud and grabbing, they appeal to our base instinct of nosiness and wanting to know what is behind that ridiculous headline. While most of us won’t have quite such hilarious stories to blog about, you can create grabbing headlines for your readers. Use questions, be specific, create a case study headline…whatever you do, make sure it sounds appealing to you too…ask yourself, would I read this blog?
Make the most of your images
Remember that images make great visual cues and can add some humour to your blog posts. Images also break up the text in your blog; most people will just scan blog posts rather than pore over each word, interspersing images throughout the copy will make your post seem less intimidating and more visually appealing.
Have these tips helped with your blog writing? Let me know what you do to elevate your blog posts?
I’m glad I already do most of your tips. I could always improve my headlines though. Very useful information.
Thank you Claudia 🙂 happy blogging!
Love this! Agreed with the lady above. Reaffirming to know that I already practice these techniques 🙂
Excellent, thank you Bridget 🙂