6 tips to improve your blog articles
Wendy from eMom’s at home recently wrote a similar post, and asked me the question, “What does it take to write a great blog post?”
The fact that Wendy asked me in the first place was a big compliment. It suggests I know how to write one in the first place. Thanks Wendy!
I’ve re-phrased the question and turned it into a few personal tips. So to write a great blog post I believe it must consist of the following.
Tell us a story
If you’re like me, you don’t read blogs like you would an essay i.e. yawning and wiping the odd tear of sadness from your cheek. You read blogs because they’re personal. Because you get to know the author in a way that isn’t shown in academic writing. Brian of Copyblogger writes a timely post to back this up: Tell a Tantalizing Story to Kick Off Your Blog Post.
Address your readers
Don’t forget who you’re writing for. People will return to your blog because you’re speaking to them and not simply writing a diary. The more you can relate your words to those who are reading, the more they’ll appreciate what you’re doing and ultimately the more blogging success you’ll have.
Spend time on your headlines
There are many blog posts about how important your headline is. Here’s just one: The best headlines are not just written for Google or Digg. Besides, getting on the front page of Digg isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
I’ve previously written about how to improve your headlines which might be of interest.
Use images
A blog post with images is much more appealing to the eye than one entirely of text. It’s more likely to be read from start to finish and can help you remember content.
Optimise images for the web so you don’t use unnecessary bandwidth. Stay clear of cheap looking clipart too — it can devalue your blog. Photographs are ideal, and illustrations can be equally effective.
Char from Essential Keystrokes writes about Thirteen Things Every Website Needs and has this to say about using images:
A picture is worth a thousand words and a well-placed picture or graphical element will save your website from eternal loneliness.
For images, try this wallpaper resource or these royalty-free stock photography sites.
Ask us questions
This is an important point to help gain more blog comments. There are other things you can do, such as install the subscribe to comments plugin or join the DoFollow community, but if you don’t ask a question you can’t really expect a response. People might read your post, agree, and move on, but if you take the time to ask something you’d be surprised how effective it can be.
Give us your own opinion
Splogs, or spam blogs, are rife. There’s enough duplicate content on the internet to reach from earth to the sun if it were in manuscript form (perhaps).
Don’t add to it.
If you find something worth blogging about, and it’s already documented on another blog, add your own spin. Do a little research and combine a few stories, with your own comments as you go. It’s so much more interesting than a simple regurgitation, and you’ll keep people returning to read your thoughts again and again.
Others offering their own blog tips
I’m not the only one writing about this topic. Dawud shares his insight on great blog posts. Ben makes a great point of writing in bite size chunks. Leo adds the importance of cutting out what isn’t necessary. Mike writes a nice piece asking, “Do You Sound Like Your Blog?“.
What have you done recently to improve your blog publishing?
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38 appreciated comments to “6 tips to improve your blog articles”
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Hi David
Thanks for the invite though I am not sure I am qualified to write it yet, I had literally just posted a question in Blog Catalog forum asking what type of articles people found most popular – How to’s, information etc.
Headlines…you would have to bring them up, wouldn’t you. Headlines are a part of my blog that I feel I could use some work. Mine are usually okay, not great in most cases though.
And I could definitely use images more. I think I don’t out of laziness. And, there’s a bit of a design flaw on my blog that makes using images a bit difficult. I’m fixing that flaw with the next iteration of dmiracle.com.
Really good tips, David. Thanks. And thanks for linking to me.
It was a coincidence you posting that blogcatalog topic at the same time as this.
I’m sure you have a few tips but if you’d prefer to wait a while that’s no problem.
Dawud,
I’m by no means a great headline writer either. ;) Likewise, I’m working on it.
this is not about this post but you chose an interesting person to quote for your banner. as designers, we woulda been thrown in the gulags or sent to labor camps for reeducation…and all our work would be destroyed…if we were under mao that is.
as for a comment on this post…what i look for when reading blogs are information and opinion. personal stories are good too.
David, you make some good points. It is very important to promote interaction and also post regularly to keep and grow you audience.
Cool, this is interesting, and thanks for the mention by the way!
I don’t think I could make up a good enough post for my blog. But creating a good article means doing your research (making sure to gets your facts straight), put time and thought into it so, as you said, so you’re talking to the audience not just writing a boring essay. And editing is a big part. You might think it sounds good, but leaving it and going back to it and reading over it a couple times is a good idea, some things you thought sounded good might not sound so good anymore.
I’m a little late to the congratulatory party here. Interestingly enough it’s because I wrote a post today that for whatever reason, just wasn’t right to publish. Maybe I need to rework it using your tip #5 and ask more questions or something!! :)
Great post, David!!
These are all good points to keep in mind, but tough to do! Sometimes I think I lose sight too easily of who I’m blogging for, or how to address my audience, or what tone to use, etc. Maybe it’s because my blog is still new, so a lot of what I do is trial and error in trying to find my little corner of the blogosphere. I’m having a great time with it, but there’s so much to learn and remember. Whoever said blogging was easy obviously never stuck with it very long. :)
I agree with all your advice above – very sound stuff.
Maybe I’d add to keep it focused and on-topic; short, bite-sized paragraphs of text; and avoid writing tomes.
There’s no doubt that Mao was a historical tragedy for the people of China. I’ll give him credit for that quote however.
Sujan,
Posting regularly is absolutley a vital point. I took that as a given when drafting this post although in hindsight should’ve mentioned it.
Sean,
Editing. Another great point. Always re-read your post before hitting ‘publish’, then afterwards read it again. You can never proof read enough and it always helps to get another set of eyes to look over it if you have time (some of you have pointed out my typos on more than one occasion and for that I’m grateful).
Wendy,
Thanks for the kind words, and for asking the question of me in the first place. It was an interesting. Do you store a few drafts that you work on from time to time before publishing? I do.
Charity,
I’d never have thought that you need to wear so many hats to make a success of blogging! Researcher, copywriter, editor, proofreader, photographer, etc. etc. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the mention, David.
Staying focused is in my opinion one of the major points when blogging. I’ve put “I talk about logos, design and creativity” in a huge typeface at the top of my blog, and try to stick to that. The reader has expectations even before your site has loaded, and will be irritated if the contents doesn’t match his expectations. I posted a post on photography yesterday, which I still don’t know if it was smart.
A blog has to offer something unique, as you said. I bet your posts with sketchbook scans have been pretty popular. This is because it is unique content, and the concept itself is rather rare. Many people post unfinished stuff, but very few go all the way back to the sketchpad.
I guess I fail on telling stories and using images, and probably catchy headlines as well. :D I need my blog to be somewhat academic, though, to be able to use it as a learning tool later.
Thanks again. :)
[...] My Creative Design friend, David Airey, has just posted an article entitled, “6 Tips To Improve Your Blog Articles“ [...]
I’m still relatively new to the world of blogging, despite working in web and graphic design for over 15 years now – so it’s all still a learning curve for me!
The main thing I’m doing to improve my blog posts is reading other blogs. After the initial overwhelming onslaught of potential daily reads, I’ve narrowed it down to just 20 – with yours being one of them naturally David!
I’ve yet to master the question asking, and I still see my blog as a personal thing – not worthy of response. This is obviously the wrong attitude to have as I already have a few regular readers, but I plan to address the matter, starting with my very next post!
Currently I’m working on making sure my content is as super useful as possible and that the post is readable. Sub-headings seem to be a great way to make a longer post readable.
Excellent post here. And excellent blog. I was reading your post on what happens when you get to the front page of Digg. Does anyone know why the comments get so mean on Digg? Is it just to stir up controversy and get traffic for themselves? Anyhow, I hope they didn’t really get to you David.
Best regards.
I remmebered Jay Abraham said something like “Headline is an ad within the ad”. Using the tracking system in my blog, I realized that titles that strike a cord or are sensational usually get more viewership. Two of my blog posts were stolen by a scumbag blogger and I lamented through a post entitled “I was a Victim of Intellectual Property.”. As it was purely personal musing, I didn’t expect it would attract much attention and response. I was wrong, it did. Also, some post which I entitled “How Much …” also garnered more response/feedback. Since then, I put even more attention to headlines. And yes, recently, I learnt the power of images in blogs. It made reading more fun, and improve the overall asethetic appeal of the blog.
Great post, David. I very much agree that a little visual stimulation always helps a blog post. That’s why I create mini banners for each one of my posts – to communicate the title of my message visually, as well.
Wonderful information. Thanks so much for sharing it.
I must admit that this post just to the right moment. I am just starting my blog and this came like “mana from the heavens” since all your points/arguments passed my minad, but seeing them all together do create an amazing guide.
The “ask a question” part is indeed a very good point, but do you believe that every post should have a question to be answered? Can’t that be called “comment begging” is some cases?
Many thanks for the compliment. I’m glad there’s info of interest on my little blog.
Sully,
The majority of commenters on Digg are emotional adolescents who enjoy snide remarks. I’d not worry too much about them. I’ve been told that the Reddit community are more sensible with their comments but haven’t taken much of a look yet.
Vivienne,
It’s funny sometimes when a post you never thought would be popular suddenly gets a lot of interest. I agree that placing a question in your article headline can be of benefit (with the content to match of course).
Romeo,
I understand you might be reluctant to always ask a question. Not every post of mine includes a question, but I reckon the majority now do. It’s not because I want to see how many comments I can get, but because I value your opinion.
The comments left on my blog have helped me learn and broaden my horizons. I know that if I was reading a blog post that struck a chord with me and there was a specific question at the end, I’d be much more likely to comment.
Specific questions keep the discussion focused too, adding extra value to the article.
mhm! I will agree with the above David.
Keeping a conversation focused is a very important matter indeed.
[...] Airey (one of my favorite bloggers out there) tagged me to write some advice about, well… writing… But not just any writing; we are talking [...]
Well, I wrote some tips! Now if only I could get myself to follow them…
I certainly think that retroactive recognition (and hyperlinking) of your readers in every post entices them to come back again and again and/or subscribe to your blog.
That is, if you get readers in the first place.
What a superb article. Well written. Well done.
[...] learning from David Airey, and hereby present my first non-functional [...]
What a great article. I’ve seen many like this but they usually lack substance and of course yours didn’t. Thanks for info.
You’re very welcome. I’m happy to provide some info of interest.
[...] over at Creative Design really got me thinking the other day with some suggestions he made about improving your blog articles. The most profound of which was #5 – ask questions. I know he’s right, because one of my most [...]
[...] images in your blog is one of my 6 tips to improve your blog articles, and in this case it’s [...]
Nice blog. I have been wanting to redo my ever so outdated, from the 90s website and implimenting a wordpress blog into it. This allows me to actually know how to do an intesting blog. Thanx David.
WordPress is such a great tool. I’m learning how to create custom templates at the minute, which takes quite a while, but the functionality behind it is incredible.
I’d also recommend a standard piece of writing advice: blog about what you know, or at least blog about topics you are honestly interested in. Everyone wants to drive traffic to their blog, and since “making money online” is a popular search term, it’s tempting to start blogging about that topic. Don’t jump on that bandwagon, or any other popular blog topic, just for the traffic boost. Readers will see right through your posts and in the end I suspect more damage than good will come of such posts. Stick to what you know and what you really like.
Absolutely! It’s so much easier to keep a blog going when you have a genuine interest in the content.
Thanks for the addition.
[...] to my writing to make it stand out, my 8 attempts to take it closer to captivating works of those who do know how to write an outstanding [...]
[...] previously written a little about the importance of images in your articles, but not touched on images in comments. What better way to get yourself noticed when someone is [...]
That’s a great post. Very helpful. Thanks for that.
These are all great tips to follow, it will be very helpful as we’ll start a blog soon :)
I have to agree with Bret, there are too many dead blogs online, almost all “make money” blogs that didn’t work.
nice tips
Tomas’s last blog post…How to handle your PATIENCE?