Welcome back fellow blog enthusiasts, because you are reading this I have deduced that you are you hungry for the next installment of ‘the life and times of a useful blog’?
Well wait no longer just sit back and enjoy…(cue inspirational title music, something similar to Dam Busters.)
What do I write in a blog?
Or rather, what titbits do I want to give my readers?
Well, you want to get noticed, right? And in a good way and not because you have a piece of cyber-spinach stuck in your teeth! So the first rule will be cardinal and one to be forever etched into your blog writing persona …
Keep it relevant!
Now, before you commit to a blog, think what you want to write about – what is your forte?
“And once decided how do I come up with different topics” I hear you say? Content plan my dears, content plan.
A natural one will flow with each topic being linked by the one before and after. If you can put a big fat tick next to the below points you are on the right track:
- What do you want to achieve?
- What is the natural route of progression? Imagine you are teaching someone
- Is your plan realistic i.e. manageable timescales?
- Is your main topic common, what can you tell people they don’t already know?
- Should the topic be covered in 1, 2 or even more blogs?
- Would readers benefit from reading your posts as a series?
But remember, as mentioned in chapter 1 (last week’s blog) often people begin to ramble.
It would be great if computers had a belisha beacon that flashed as soon as you started to stray but alas this is not yet the case (note to self, get computer belisha beacon patent) so you must learn and follow these points.
So how do I keep my audience engaged?
Whilst humour, wit and wisdom will get you so far, that meal ticket will run out so, whilst keeping relevant content at the forefront of your mind, consider these tips too ….
- Ask questions and start discussions- Uh hello, automatic engagement
- Post links – you’re giving them something additional to what they came to your blog for
- Hints, Tips & Do’s and don’ts – it’s nice to be nice
- Pictures/infographics – would an image work better than words?
- Competitions – don’t worry they won’t expect a holiday, something as simple as a mention on your site will do.
And finally, teasers… so to keep you, my audience, engaged here is the topic for next week – Blogs and Social Media, the Jack and Jill of the www, only seven more sleeps until all is revealed.