Writing Annotated Bibliographies. Creating Poster Presentations. Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper. Writing a Review of Literature. U niversity of W isconsin —Madison. Use the guide below to learn about the elements of a blog post and how to gain an audience.
What blog posts can do Elements of a blog post Why having an audience matters and how to get one What blog posts can do Blogging, or writing short entries on a website, can allow you to offer opinions, share ideas, or do independent reporting, but most importantly, blogging can help writers have conversations with readers. Elements of a blog post In The Elements of Blogging, Mark Leccese and Jerry Lanson dissect blog posts in order to identify and examine their key parts.
Ledes The first sentence of a post should have a conversational tone and articulate the main point of the blog post. Images Pictures not only break up text on a page, but they can also help make your point clearer.
Links Links give extra information to your readers. Final Words Writing a good take—away can, as Leccese and Lanson point out, help readers remember and engage with your post. A Note on Organization Effective posts make at most two or three focused points and provide evidence to support them. Why having an audience matters and how to get one Blogs have the unique capability to allow readers and writers to interact.
Happy blogging! Even though the working title may not end up being the final title more on that in a moment , it still provides enough information so you can focus your blog post on something more specific than a generic, overwhelming topic.
We've written more specifically about writing captivating introductions in the post " How to Write an Introduction ," but let's review, shall we? First, grab the reader's attention. If you lose the reader in the first few paragraphs — or even sentences — of the introduction, they'll stop reading even before they've given your post a fair shake.
You can do this in a number of ways: tell a story or a joke, be empathetic, or grip the reader with an interesting fact or statistic. Then, describe the purpose of your post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be experiencing. This will give the reader a reason to continue reading and show them how the post will help them improve their work or lives. Here's an example of an intro we think does a good job of attracting a reader's attention right away:.
It's the dreaded cursor-on-a-blank-screen experience that all writers — amateur or professional, aspiring or experienced — know and dread. And of all times for it to occur, it seems to plague us the most when trying to write an introduction.
Sometimes, blog posts can have an overwhelming amount of information — for the reader and the writer. The trick is to organize the info in a way so readers aren't intimidated by length or amount of content. This organization can take multiple forms — sections, lists, tips — whatever's most appropriate.
But it must be organized! Download These Templates for Free. The major sections are separated into subsections that go into more detail, making the content easier to read. To complete this step, all you really need to do is outline your post. This way, before you start writing, you'll know which points you want to cover and the best order to do so in. And to make things even easier, you can download and use our free blog post templates , which are pre-organized for six of the most common blogs.
Just fill in the blanks! The next step — but not the last — is actually writing the content. We can't forget about that, of course. Now that you have your outline or template, you're ready to fill in the blanks. Use your outline as a guide and expand on all points as needed. Write about what you already know, and if necessary, conduct additional research to gather more information, examples, and data to back up your points, while providing proper attribution when incorporating external sources.
When you do, always try to find accurate and compelling data to use in your post. If you're having trouble stringing sentences together, you're not alone. Finding your "flow" can be challenging for a lot of folks. Luckily, there are a ton of tools you can lean on to help you improve your writing.
Here are a few to get you started:. You can also refer to our complete list of tools for improving your writing skills. And if you're looking for more direction, the following resources are chock-full of valuable writing advice:. You're not quite done yet, but you're close! The editing process is an important part of blogging — don't overlook it. Ask a grammar-conscious co-worker to copyedit and proofread your post. You may also consider enlisting the help of The Ultimate Editing Checklist or using a free grammar checker like Grammarly.
If you're looking to brush up on your self-editing skills, turn to these helpful posts for some tips and tricks to get you started:. Choose a visually appealing and relevant image for your post. As social networks treat content with images more prominently, visuals are more responsible than ever for the success of your blog content.
For help selecting an image for your post, read " How to Select the Perfect Image for Your Next Blog Post " and pay close attention to the section about copyright law. No one likes an unattractive blog post. And it's not just pictures that make a post visually appealing — it's the formatting and organization of the post, too.
In a well-formatted and visually-appealing blog post, you'll notice that header and sub-headers are used to break up large blocks of text — and those headers are styled consistently.
Screenshots should always have a similar, defined border so they don't appear as if they're floating in space — that style should stay consistent from post to post. Tags are specific, public-facing keywords that describe a post. They also allow readers to browse for more content in the same category on your blog. Refrain from adding a laundry list of tags to each post.
Instead, put some thought into a blog tagging strategy. Think of tags as "topics" or "categories," and choose tags that represent all the main topics you want to cover on your blog. Then stick to those. At the end of every blog post, insert a CTA that indicates what you want the reader to do next — subscribe to your blog, download an ebook, register for a webinar or event, read a related article, etc.
After your visitors read your blog post, they click on the CTA, and eventually you generate a lead. But the CTA is also a valuable resource for the person reading your content — use your CTAs to offer more content similar to the subject of the post they just finished reading. At the end of the post is a CTA prompting readers to take a social media certification course:. See how that's a win-win for everyone? Readers who want to learn more have the opportunity to do so, and the business receives a lead they can nurture After you finish writing, go back and optimize the on-page elements of your post.
Don't obsess over how many keywords to include. If there are opportunities to incorporate keywords you're targeting, and it won't impact reader experience, do it. If you can make your URL shorter and more keyword-friendly, go for it. You must keep them on their toes. Then, she uses the simplest phrase to hint at a solution:. When writing an introduction, try drafting two completely different versions approached from different angles and triggering different emotions. Doing so will highlight the techniques and emotions that work best for both your audience and the content of your post.
Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Search intent is a big part of SEO search engine optimization. It shapes our headline, meta description, introduction, word count, and more. Taking the time to analyze the results in Google so you have a solid handle on why people enter the particular query your blog post will be targeting is time well spent. Figure out the intent, and then make sure your intro matches it.
They have no choice. Subheadings are your chance to prove to readers that your content holds value. To keep luring them back into your post, when their instinct is to leave. Because they gently guide readers along the route your post is heading, making their experience feel clear, easy and enjoyable.
Subheads have the same function as headlines; they must make readers curious so they keep reading. So you should follow similar rules when drafting them and avoid the following common blunders :.
See how the first subhead is way too plain, the second gives too much away, and the third, well, it probably made no sense to you, right? If the subheads get off track and move away from that destination, readers are left feeling lost and confused. It does not deliver on the overall headline, which had nothing to do with your day job. Perhaps you intended all along for the post to be about not letting doubts stop you from following your dreams and quitting your day job, but readers scanning subheads will not understand that.
If you separate your subheads from the post and list them back to back, you can see if any stray from the course. The first three subheads start with an action verb instructing readers what to do. They are also fairly consistent in length.
But then the fourth subhead suddenly changes the format and breaks the flow. My advice? List your main points and see if you can add a unique perspective, experience, or twist to them. What belief systems have you learned to challenge? How can you shed new light on an old problem? Your advice must be authentic and truly helpful. Countless articles have been written about blogging, but how many have called you out for being dumb or told you to replace your friends?! Jon does just that by knocking you over the head with some hard truth bombs about what it takes to make it as a blogger.
Each section is relatively similar in length. Every subhead follows a pattern. Each section ends with an example. If the first step is words, the second and third steps are words, the fourth step is words and the fifth step is words, it looks sloppy.
Your readers deserve the best, and minor details like this matter as they affect the fluidity of their experience. Want to go even more pro? Look at the beginning, middle, and end of each section you write, and create a guiding formula. Perhaps you start each section with a bold statement or personal experience. Then you flesh out your advice in the middle. And then you end each section with a one-sentence call to action. The more formulas you add to your posts, the easier they are to write and the more they look like polished works of art.
In his post on getting traffic from Twitter , Brian Honigman uses hashtags for each subhead, each section is consistent in length, and each includes a graphic.
You also need to be able to accept that not every post is going to get your motor running. If you're really desperate for inspiration, check out our list of eight blog topic generators to get you going, or these eight tricks to come up with unique blog ideas.
Even the best bloggers need a rough idea to keep them on-track. This is where outlines come in. The purpose of this outline is to make sure I know what I plan to cover, in what order the various sections will appear, and some bare-bones details of what each section will include.
Outlines keep you honest. They stop you from indulging in poorly thought-out metaphors about driving and keep you focused on the overall structure of your post. Whether you write your outline in your word processor, on a piece of paper, or even scribbled on a bar napkin, do whatever works for you to keep you focused.
Pro tip: you don't actually need a passport to write a travel marketing post. What allows us to do this, and to write authoritatively about subject areas that are new to us, is knowing how to properly research a blog post. It almost goes without saying, but relying solely on Wikipedia as a primary source is almost always a bad idea. Plus, every verifiable fact on the site is cited from links elsewhere on the web, so why cite the middleman?
Official associations, government websites, heavily cited research papers, and preeminent industry experts are all good examples. A few years ago, I edited a piece written by a colleague focusing on the highlights of a major technology conference.
The writer, under a seriously tight deadline, had done a bang-up job of writing great copy in virtually no time, but he failed to properly check his facts. He cited an article from Forbes in which the writer claimed Steve Jobs was using PowerPoint on stage — something that never happened.
All it takes to tank your credibility is one glaring error. In the event that you fall prey to a well-executed hoax, repeat widely circulated misinformation, or simply make a mistake, own up to it right away and be transparent about your edits. Be honest, be accountable, and fix it — fast. Everyone and their grandmother has an opinion about headlines. Some say you should be as specific as possible to avoid misleading your readers and manage their expectations , while others recommend taking a more abstract approach.
There are two main approaches you can take to writing blog post headlines.
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