Ben Barden

Tech Product Manager

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Write better posts – let your blogging ideas stew

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post suggesting you should write ideas when you think of them. An idea is just an idea – you should get it into a published post as soon as you can.

However, I’ve recently had a few ideas that I haven’t written up immediately, and the resulting posts have come out really well. Why is this?

Losing interest in ideas: good or bad?

I have several lists of topic ideas for my blog. When I think of an idea, I add it to a list. It can take a while before it becomes a post – if it ever does.

Taking too long to act on a post idea can mean you lose interest in it, and it gets shelved. But if you lose interest, maybe it wasn’t that great to begin with.

Why let an idea stew?

Writing down a post idea and coming back to it later gives a sort of sanity check. It allows you to get over the excitement of the idea and review it with a clear head.

The luxury of time also gives you a chance to form a more complete opinion of a topic. Posting an idea straight away can result in a relatively raw post, which might be what you’re aiming for. If you’re looking for something fully-formed, let the idea stew for a bit longer.

Of course, this logic doesn’t apply if you’re publishing breaking news or other time-sensitive content.

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10 quick tips for building an outstanding blog

I’ve been blogging on and off for nearly 8 years. Over the years I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks that are essential if you want to build a blog that’s outstanding in its field. Here’s my list:

  1. Be yourself. Why be anyone else? Putting yourself into your writing allows your posts to ooze personality. It also helps you to stand out. There’s nobody quite like you.
  2. Find a topic you enjoy. Why waste time on something you heard can be a good blog topic if it bores you to tears? Choose a topic you want to write about.
  3. Choose your target audience. Who are you writing for? Once you know that, it’s a lot easier to target your posts to that group of people. Get to know your audience.
  4. Find your unique angle. It’s all very well to find a great topic, but what’s different about your blog? What do you have to offer that others do not?
  5. Forge your own path. Don’t copy what others are doing. Experiment – find what works for you (and what doesn’t). Then do a lot of it.
  6. Cut the fluff. Do you take forever to make your point? Don’t do that. Get on with it!
  7. Aim for a clean layout. Don’t stuff your sidebar or footer with every widget imaginable. Keep your layout clean and only include “stuff” if it adds value. Along with keeping things tidy, it’ll help to keep your blog loading quickly.
  8. Don’t promote immediately. Get the basics figured out – and get some posts online – before you promote your blog. I like to have half a dozen posts online first.
  9. Keep things fresh. From time to time you’ll want to shake things up a bit. Whether it’s a series of posts, a guest post or a new design, changing things up can help to avoid blogger burnout. You should also take breaks from time to time.
  10. Interlink your content. Don’t leave your old posts wallowing in the archives. Tag your old posts – on WordPress.com or Tumblr this can breathe new life into old posts. Link to old posts from newer posts. And set up topic landing pages to help new readers find your best posts on a given topic.

Follow these tips and you should be well on your way to building an outstanding blog.