Creating new and better content is a challenge for all bloggers. Some of the bloggers are prolific and can write well. But writing well does not translate into great content. It is important to learn strategies for writing great content that works for promoting the blog and earning for the blogger.
Let us look into some of the Strategies. We will start with the different components of a blog post.
1. Good Title: Titles are important. They are what people use to get to your post. Darren Rowse says titles matter because they appear in:
So, what should the titles be like?
2. Content
Several things add upto a good content in a blog post. First the basics –
(i) Size of the post
When a blogger starts writing, s/he is confronted with the eternal question – does size matter? The opinions, like always, vary. Some want it short (250-300 words) and some want in-depth articles. While I have seen most top bloggers write shorter articles like Darren Rowse (Problogger), my latest favorite blogger is Celestine Chua, Founder and Owner of Personal Excellence. Celestine writes very long blog posts which are engaging, extremely informative, actionable, and worth bookmarking.
Now, the jury may be out on the size, but I would say that if you have something quick and interesting to share, then by all means go for shorter blog posts. But, if you can write something engaging and actionable for people to treasure, then long, informative and useful posts will be treasured by readers far more. It really depends on your skill as a writer.
(ii) Structuring the Content
No matter what you are writing, with the attention spans that people have on any blog, if they don’t get your main points in the first 20 seconds, then your post doesn’t carry far. So structure your posts well. Darren calls it “Make your posts scannable”. So, create sections and highlight the important points.
(iii) Optimize Content
Creating a Search Engine friendly content is the greatest strategy for long term success for a blogger. Why? Because irrespective of what you think of Search Engines, they are the most important drivers of your content going far – for a very long time and ensuring repeated readership. As Adam Singer explains in this very useful chart, Search Engine and Social Web are not only closely linked to each other – they support each other!
The search engines have a profound impact on the visitors to your blog posts. Adam suggests a few ways to get better search results –
The latest changes introduced by Google for their Search algorithm – referred to as Panda – have brought in new changes to the Blogging content creation. Cyrus Shepherd of the SEOmoz writes on the how to handle and beat the Panda! The 5 deadly content sins he discusses are:
Also read Fat Pandas and Thin Content
(iv) Write Engaging Content
We have optimized the content and structured it well, but we also need to write it in a way that engages the readers. What are some ways to do that? Here are some lessons from some bloggers.
Darren Rowse’s secret formula:
Susan Bischoff’s 3 tips:
Finally, don’t just write engaging content, you should connect with the readers as well!
BloggingPro suggests three steps to go beyond writing engaging content, but also connect with the readers.
Conclusion:
When you write and spend appreciable time in doing so, it is imperative that not only does it reward you but it should also let you express yourself. If you write just for expressing and not for rewards, then it will not be sustainable. And if you write just for rewards, not for expressing your inner self and writer, then it will be worse than a bad day job! So, have the correct mix of both for enjoying a long and sustainable blogging life.
In the end, here are some interesting stats to mull upon.
Some interesting stats on Blogs and Readership time spans
(Image courtesy: Hiking Artist)
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