Tips on writing content for your blog - Part 2 at Piaras Kelly PR

Tips on writing content for your blog - Part 2

Published November 30th, 2005 in E-PR

A lot of people liked my previous post on writing content for your blog. Here’s a couple more things that I’ve thought of in the meantime which I feel could be added to my initial list.

1. Use questions in post titles. There’s nothing better than asking a question to stimulate discussion. The more comments you have on an individual post, the more likely people are to return to read what is being said. On top of that, a blog with numerous comments looks popular and is more likely to get first time visitors to return.

2. Use trackbacks or leave a comment on a post you are referencing. This is something I have to do more often. If you reference a post then you should leave a comment on it or use a trackback. If the post is popular people will see your trackback or comment and may visit your site as a result to see what you had to say about the subject.

3. Use sites like Technorati to keep track of popular trends. One of the hardest things about writing content for a blog is having to continually come up with new content. There will be times when you suffer from writers block, keeping up to date with what’s happening in the world around you is one way to overcome this because emerging trends will give you food for thought. The Technorati homepage has a top ten for the most popular searches at that point in time.

4. When reporting on news, discuss it. There is nothing more annoying than people simply linking to another blogger’s post. I can read that Microsoft are launching the 360 this week on hundreds of websites. Why should I take the time to read about it on your site unless you add your opinion. Will it be a massive success or a huge failure? Tell me your opinion and explain why.

5. Set a specific time to blog. Everybody has commitments that will keep them from blogging. That’s fair enough, but to say that you don’t have time to blog is an outright lie. You can always make time. The best way to make sure that you don’t lose track of your blog is to set a specific time to write. By making it part of your routine, blogging will become second nature to you just like brushing your teeth.

6. Use bullet points or lists. I don’t really have to say anything about this really considering the fact that my most popular post was my initial list of tips for writing content for your blog. Why are lists or bullet points so great? They’re easy to read and stand out on a page which means that they are more likely to grab your reader’s attention.

7. Use different fonts and editing tools like bold or italics. Again this is good for making your main point stand out. When your brain processes information differentiating text subconciously helps it rank the info.

8. Use examples or analogies to explain difficult concepts. The best communicators aren’t always the people with the most knowledge, they are the people who can make their point clearly. When you’re explaining a concept the best way to make people understand is to draw a comparison or use terms people will understand. The best explanation of RSS I have ever heard was given by a non-techie. He simply explained that different websites are like pools of fish. The pools with the most fish are your favourite sites with the information you want. Rather than having to travel to the different pools to catch loads of fish, RSS is like a giant net that you can cast out and will automatically catch all the fish for you. Its the simplest and most efficient way of receiving content.

9. Check your spelling. Poor spelling makes your blog look unprofessional. It’s not always intentional, sometimes you’ll be in a hurry to post and won’t have the time to look over your post. I use WordPress as the platform for my blog, but I use Ecto to publish content. It has an automatic spellchecker and I wouldn’t know how to live without it.

If you have any other suggestions or disagree with anything, please leave a comment below.

Here’s what some other people had to add to my initial list:

Stephen Davies’ 2 Cents
Darren Rowse’s 2 Cents

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Piaras Kelly

11 Responses to “Tips on writing content for your blog - Part 2”

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1 Justin Estes Nov 30th, 2005 at 8:13 pm

Good list Piaras! I especially think number 2 is good. Like you, I don’t leave comments on a post that I reference too often, but I’ll be doing more of it from now on! It just makes sense doesn’t it. Thanks for the tips.
2 Breffni Nov 30th, 2005 at 9:18 pm

Again, good tips, especially for someone like myself thats pretty new to the game. On the point of referencing though, is it like a college paper where you should always have a few links or sources? I’ve found myself writing free hand (just my own thought) of late, but i’ve put that down to the fact i’m writing opinion pieces rather than informative ones.

Also, I recieve few comments. Is there anyway I can tell if this is due to the material, or lack of viewers to the website? Any suggestions (apart from smart-ass one) on how I can improve readership? I’ve begun commenting more on others websites but thats all.
3 Stephen Davies Nov 30th, 2005 at 9:37 pm

I have more here

Can’t claim I thought of them however.
4 Cian Ginty Dec 1st, 2005 at 7:46 pm

Maybe it’s paranoia kicking in, but on points four and five, is there any chance you’re talking about Games Toaster, my last Xbox 360 news story, and the information that I provided saying I may not be able to post as much news as usual – which turned out to be wrong on Monday anyway? If it’s just my paranoia or not, I’ve broken your rules, so I’ll explain…

The 360 item was mainly a news article (one a reason I don’t like calling GT a blog), the main content of which was focused on what Irish retailers on the ground said to us (ie too many Core systems, possible forced bundles, few non-pre-orders left, and the claim that the Irish distributor is giving preference to music stores). As for predictions, it’s too early to know the fate of the 360 or the ‘winner’ in the next generation, Microsoft has not fully revealed its plains, we don’t know what 360’s games will be like in the long run, and we don’t know if Sony will live up to its promises on how powerfully the PS3 will be. I possibly should have said as much.

As for giving a warning that I may be restricted in the amount of news I can write, well I don’t have as much net access so potentially I could be restricted in the amount of time I can spend online with research and fact checking. For example, after a day in work sometimes getting home to an internetless apartment and playing games, sounds better then writing about games in our company’s office. So, I opted to tell my readers there ‘may’ be less news.
5 Piaras Dec 1st, 2005 at 8:01 pm

Paranoia. I only used the 360 example because it’s flavour of the month and I had an invite to the launch this evening. I managed to leave that behind in Cork last night though, oh well the Today FM Christmas Party will have to suffice
6 Piaras Dec 1st, 2005 at 8:02 pm

Oh yeah, I also forgot to say that you actually discuss the news rather than just link to it. Hence the fact that I subsrcibe to Games Toaster.
7 Piaras Dec 1st, 2005 at 8:45 pm

Breffni - the main thing to do is to keep leaving comments on other people’s sites. It takes time but as people get to know you they will start reading your blog more. A couple of comments is actually good because it seems that a lot of people never bother.
8 Breffni Dec 1st, 2005 at 9:14 pm

Cheers Piaras, appreciate advice.
9 Cian Ginty Dec 1st, 2005 at 10:57 pm

Paranoia. Well I’ve always liked adding 1+2 and getting 300.
10 Colm Dec 15th, 2005 at 11:53 am

I’d have to disagree with two points here. Bullet points are not always the best idea; they should never be used in opinion pieces. Bullet points usually represent facts. Most blogs are opinion-based.

Secondly, varying font sizes and types can turn off regular readers who want consistency. If the blog entry is well written, it will make the salient points stand out on merit.
11 Piaras Dec 15th, 2005 at 1:02 pm

As a counter argument to both points, because most bloggers are not natural writers it helps them both those points help them structure their opinions and focus on their main points.

I would agree though that they are not a necessity and are more helpful for a short snappy piece. I wouldn’t say that everyone should follow all of these tips to the letter, plenty of bloggers have created terrific sites without using any of them.