Apr 7th 10 Posted by Fritz McDonald in Featured Articles, Strategic Creative

Best Blog Writing Tips 2010: I

• Always make content useful to readers
• “Know what you want to talk about.”—Benjamin Yoskovitz
• Ask readers what they are interested in reading—do a survey
• Post often, but don’t overwhelm readers—don’t write every day
• Break copy up through lists, short paragraphs, headings, and subheadings
• Get to the point quickly—write posts between 200–500 words in length
• Finish posts with questions or challenges to readers—use posts to start a dialogue
• Do interviews
• Collaborate with guest bloggers
• “Sadly, putting together top 10 lists can bring in a lot of traffic. I feel like it’s a cheap and easy ploy but it totally works.”—Jonathan Snook
• Use polls, contests, competitions, memes, etc.
• Don’t provide information for the sake of information—link to it
• Widen your focus beyond the admissions process
• Think of your blog as a way to represent your institutional intellectual capital
• Use video, photos, and audio resources when appropriate—that means when they fit your blog, not just because they’re cool
• “Choose the right title and you’re at least halfway there. Include a keyword (for search purposes) in a title too.”—Anita Campbell
• Riff off other blogs or issues of the day that relate to your topic—set up Google alerts
• Meet a need
• “Write about something you care about. Don’t censor yourself. Let it rip. Write from the heart.”—Dan Lyons
• After the title, start with opening lines that pique reader interest and keep them reading
• “Emulate the masters.”—Dharmesh Shaw
• Break up long articles into several posts
• Use a conversational tone—1^st person POV—and have a voice
• Write well—this is a writer’s medium
  • Work for lively prose, but don’t be melodramatic
  • Be concise and to the point—make your point in the first 200 words
  • NO SCREAMING—don’t put anything in all caps
  • Write in Word first, edit, proof, then post
  • Stay focused—wandering too far, too often will lose audience. 1 topic per post
  • Explain jargon, stay accessible to audiences, but don’t talk down
• Use the tagging feature—it’s a good way to draw search and social web
• “You have to give before you get.”—Jennette Fulda
• Respond to comments, but not every comment:
  • Make sure comments fit your post/topic/subject
  • Don’t respond to obvious head cases—delete inappropriate comments
  • Try to understand a negative comment before deleting it—the commenter may have a legitimate issue
• Provide links often
• Write follow-ups to your most successful posts… do sequels
• Make readers think
• “Use Wordtracker’s free tool to defeat writer’s block.” —Joel Cheesman

Can anyone else think of a good blog tip or two?

SOURCES:

Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets to Creating a High–Profile, High-Traffic, and High–Profit Blog by Stephane Grenier

Photo by eeland