When I started blogging in 2008 my readers came from two sources: friends who knew about my blog (that is, I told them about it) and people who discovered it online. I had more readers who I didn’t know than people I did. The power of blogging became apparent when, after two weeks of blogging, […]
Tag: blogging
Great writing is essential to successful blogging. Using links when we blog helps us better serve our readers and aids in search engine optimization (SEO), which lets more readers find our work. This blogging tip has three considerations: Link to past relevant posts: Within a post, link key words or key phrases back to other […]
Categories
Proof then Publish
Another blogging tip is to proof and then publish. That is, once written, review with care and post without delay. It’s that simple. Some beginning bloggers are afraid to share what they write. They fear it’s not good enough or people will criticize their words. They talk themselves into waiting until it’s better. They search […]
Categories
Make One Point Per Post
Another blogging tip is to make one, and only one, point per post. Trying to cover two or more points is a distraction that will turn off readers, cause confusion, or risk them missing key communication. For some bloggers this is easy, while for others, sticking to one point is difficult; but remember, we respect […]
My eighth blogging tip is to include a picture. Really? Then where are they? I’ve never included artwork on my first blog, Musings. Four reasons why I didn’t include artwork in my posts: Four reasons why we should include artwork with our posts:
Blog Comments Provide Quick Feedback and Encourage Interaction Another successful blogging tip is to engage readers. Interacting with our audience is the best and easiest way to connect with readers and build a following (that is, grow our platform). The best way to engage readers is by encouraging blog comments. Having comments can also increase […]
Here is the final installment in our series on using WordPress for blogging: a platform-building, book-selling tool. For the first six posts, we covered the technical aspects of setting up and using a WordPress blog. In this post, I’ll share implementation tips.
Another blogging tip is to optimize posts for search engines. As we already covered, the post should be at least 200 words long for search engines to have enough content to analyze. Also, making a post scannable helps, too, especially when we use bold or add a headline tag to subheadings (an easy step I […]
Readers are more likely to read short posts. Making posts scannable is another blogging tip to gain attention. Here are four ways to make posts scannable: Use Bullet Points This is a technique I like, as both a writer and a reader. They add clarity without adding words. Have Numbered Lists A numbered list also […]
Another key to successful blogging is to write like Goldilocks: not too long, and not too short, but just right. But how long is that? Although writers often grumble at my answer, I’ve never heard one complaint from a reader. Readers are who we need to please: posts should be 200 to 300 words long. […]