The most common complaint we hear from clients here about blogging is that its “too much effort”, or “I don’t have enough time”. If I’m honest with you, it is time consuming, and can seem like you are getting nowhere, however the benefits of blogging far out weigh the intrinsic time costs. To have a blog, you have to be able to dedicate a certain amount of time to build and maintain it, but once you have a following you can generate real monetary benefits.
Here are 16 important tips for creating a killer blog that will not only attract your audience but also keep them interested.
1. First things first, internet users are a notoriously impatient breed and will be more likely to scan through posts rather than reading it word for word.
2. To appease the restless browser think about what you can do to engage visitors to scan and then read your content.
3. No one likes bland copy, write yours in a snappy way and work with the knowledge of your impetuous spectators and not against it.
4. Sometimes you will encounter a topic that is relatively complex and will take awhile to explain. When approaching this kind of blog it is best to address different elements of the concept, and separate them into different blog posts.
5. Focus on the way in which you are constructing your paragraphs, this is really important attain the focus of your complacent audience. Begin with your conclusion (mildly unorthodox, but amazingly advantageous) and then add the details and develop your point.
6. As well as separating difficult concepts, another way to create content that doesn’t intimidate your audience is to have constantly short paragraphs. Keep them to around three sentences long.
7. Experiment with paragraphs that are one sentence long.
8. If Ernest Hemmingway can write a whole story in six words, then you can get your point across in one sentence.
9. Multitudinous text on each of your pages can be daunting, especially when addressing the intermittent masses, so make sure there is a lot of white space to avoid an ebb in interest.
10. Bullet pointed lists are always popular. They form a break in the structure of your post and create easily scannable content whilst remaining different to the run of your text.
11. Link back to previous posts that are relevant, and that you are particularly satisfied with that illustrate your point. Linking to articles on the internet shows that the post has taken research to produce.
12. As photos and pictures on your posts are notably the most looked at part of posts, embed deep captions that intrigue readers which will persuade them to read on!
13. Numerical lists have a lot of cache within blog posts, they can capture and engage audiences who can gauge how long the post is and are not intimidated by excessive content.
14. When tackling important aspects within your article, embolden them for emphasis on the page, so that they are seen immediately. The passive reader should be able to scan the article and understand the gist through emboldened words and phrases.
15. Don’t be that person who harps on all day about topics that interest you and no one else. Pick topics that will appeal to your audience and give them a break every so often!
16. Bear in mind that to eventually gain money from your target audience, you will have to give things away for free. You may feel that you are giving away all your best moves, but once you become an authority figure in the mind of your audience, then you will subsequently be the place that they go to when they need help in your area. This will then form the move for them from advocate to client!
When you have applied these tips to your blog, you should have killer content to keep audience intrigued and interested throughout each post! Send a link to your blog, to show us how you’ve got on!