6 ways to make every post count

< What do your readers think? : Content comes first, promotion second >

Some people aim to write a few good posts every month.  Does that mean the rest of the posts aren't worth reading?  Why post anything that isn't worth reading?

Regardless of how often you write new content, here are 6 ways that will help you to make every post count.

1.  Choose your topics carefully.

My most viewed blog entry is Three killer tips to get your music heard.  I'm glad to have made an impact with this, but there's one problem: this is of no interest to my current target audience.  I wrote it when this was a general topic blog with occasional comments about my recent music.

If people find my site via that article, what is going to happen when they find that my blog is about something else?  They'll go away.  Simple really.  To address this I have been moving some of my content into more appropriate sections of my site, but there's a way to go before I can fully separate the music-related content.

Basically, your best content should be relevant to your target audience.  It means new readers are much more likely to go to other pages on your site or subscribe for future updates.

2.  Use good titles and strong openings.

Something that's quite common on message boards is that people start new topics with vague titles, such as "Help me!" or "I have a question".  From the title alone, I am not particularly curious about those topics.

The same thing applies to your blog.  If you post a blog entry with a title that's boring, over the top or "spammy", it's a real turn-off.  Titles that are all in capital letters are not a good start.  Also, titles that are actually tricks to get people to read your content can have the opposite effect - e.g. "Free money!" followed by "Now I've got your attention... (insert boring sentence here)"  It doesn't work!

As for a strong opening, your first paragraph should make people want to keep reading.  Of course, it doesn't work too well if the opening is great but the rest of the post is dull, so make sure you're writing about something that isn't going to send someone to sleep.

3.  Use headings and short paragraphs.

It's pretty hard to read a blog entry that's one long paragraph with nothing to break it up.

Keep your paragraphs fairly short - a few sentences per paragraph should be OK.  Group related paragraphs together and put headings between each section.  This post should give you an example of what works for me.

4.  Draw on your own experiences.

This blog said something, that blog said something else, and another blog went completely the other way.  So?  What's your take on these events?

Write about what you know and add your own opinions, otherwise the obvious question comes up: why should I listen to you?

There are exceptions though.  A news site might just report the news; and a very specific blog, Eavesdrop Writer, is specifically focused on writing what other people are saying.  For most blogs though, you'll want to draw on your own experiences.

• Eavesdrop Writer Blog

5.  Set up future blog entries.

Sometimes you start writing a blog entry and you get an urge to go off on a tangent.  Save your blog entry from meandering too much by saying "I'll be looking at this in a future blog entry" - then make a note of it so you remember to!

Then, when you write that blog entry, refer back to the post that made you think of it.  This creates some continuity in your blog as well as getting readers to see more of your content.

You don't have to do this in every post though - just do it if you ever find yourself starting to get off the original point of your post.

6.  Reply to comments.

This isn't part of writing the original post, but sometimes the comments on a blog entry can be more interesting that the post itself.  You still have to read the post to fully understand the context of the discussion, but the comments can really take it to another level.

Aim to participate in the discussion by replying to any comments you get.  Sometimes you'll agree with points that argue your post, sometimes you'll disagree.  If you're sure about how you feel before you post, you'll be able to join in the discussion and put across your views.

This is also a very good reason not to write about what you don't know.  Imagine if you started talking to a friend about a subject they are passionate about but you know very little about.  You add a few comments based on something you heard on the news, and your friend argues the points you raise.  You don't know enough about the subject to discuss things any further, and you will end up feeling a bit foolish.

It may seem different online, but it's not.  If you don't know something - don't write about it!

What do you think?

Comments

Name *
Email *
URL
* Required Fields. Email will not be shown.
Verification:	Type the message into the box below. The letters are case sensitive.
Help Enter your comment:
Rate this article: 5 4 3 2 1 No rating (5 = Highest, 1 = Lowest) Note: if you have already posted a rating on this page, a new vote will not be added.