Ever had one of those days where the words just refuse to behave? Where it feels like every word you use is the wrong word? And you continuously rewrite the same sentences.
Worse Still! You finally finish the post believing it’s your best ever only to find no-one comments.
The unfortunate fact of blogging is writing good blog posts is more than just the words. Spend time observing probloggers and you’ll see they use various strategies to make each post count. If you want to use blogging for your personal learning you need to be effective at engaging and having conversations with readers.
So here’s my first 5 tips for better blog posts:
# 1 Use Short Paragraphs
I can’t count on all my fingers and toes the number of posts I’ve tried to read that are just one paragraph! One incredibly long paragraph. What The? And many of these were written by educators.
Posts with really long paragraphs are really hard to read making it less likely for your post to be read and/or your readers to miss the point of your post.
Very simple:
- Break your posts up with paragraphs
- The more paragraphs the better!
- Short paragraphs are better than long
- Make the first sentence of each paragraph make me want to read the rest of the paragraph!
Photo adapted from Flickr photo uploaded on December 14, 2006 by wiccked licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0.
#2 Use Headings!
Use headings and where appropriate bullet points and number lists to break up the post into manageable bit size chunks.
WordPress, which Edublogs uses, provides Heading Styles. Use them! Which you use will depend on your theme.
Trial each heading style to select which visually looks the best:
- Write a test post
- Use each Heading Style
- Click on Save and Continue Editing
- Click Preview to see what each looks like in a post
Heading 3 works the best with my blog themes.
#3 Remember to Hyperlink
If you write about an article or another blogger’s post link to it! Why? Because your readers often want to check it out in more details.
When you link to someone else’s post it’s good practice to mention their name, link their name to their blog, and then link to the post you’re referring to (it’s also a good way of getting people to visit your site).
Photo from Flickr uploaded on February 13, 2006 by Rigmarole licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0.
Here’s an example of hyperlinking (click on each to see why I used):
Larry Ferlazzo says Scribd is a great tool for English Language Learners (he’s voted it fourth best tool for 2007 for ELL). Why? Because he gets students upload their papers and illustrations, and Scribd immediately also converts it into audio so, in addition to seeing their story, they and others can hear it, too.
Check out this example Larry created for how Scribe can be used for Talking Stories (press the play on the Listen toolbar on the bottom right hand side below categories and tags).
Here’s how to add hyperlinks:
AVOID using underlining when writing posts because your readers expect all underlined text is hyperlinked.
#4 Always Comment Back To Readers On Your Own Posts!
If readers have made time to comment on your posts the very minimum you should do is respond back to your readers (ideally each reader) in the comments on your post. This is very important for building your blog’s community; it demonstrates that you value your readers and their input.
Commenting back also increases community interaction. Look at how Lee is interacting with her readers on “What Posts Stimulate Readers To Comment?” and while you are there make sure you leave your thoughts on what makes readers comment.
Photo from Flickr uploaded on March 26, 2008 by Morbit Photography licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0.
PERSONAL RANT!
There are well known edubloggers who almost never respond or acknowledge their readers who take time to write comments or link to them. Sorry but I have to say this! Shame on you. Not good enough! Your readers are part of your personal learning community and you should be showing you value them.
Please don’t interpret my words to imply I’m saying all well known edubloggers are like this! There are ones that do and the ones that don’t comment back. You also get to see some incredible well known edubloggers who spend considerable time helping and mentoring others!
Photo adapted from Flickr uploaded on November 7, 2007 by Minds Move (Mountains) licensed under Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0.
#5 Subscribe To Your Own Blog Feed!
Always, always, always subscribe to your own blog feed using your feed reader (e.g. Google Reader, Bloglines, NetVibes)!
Your blog has two main audiences:
- Those who read your post on your blog
- Those who read your post via a feed reader
Your blog posts have to look good, visually, for both audiences. Subscribing to your own blog feed means you’ll see your posts how they are seen by your subscribers. This allows you to troubleshoot issues with font sizes, image size/alignment and removal of content (e.g. embeds like SlideShare, Voicethreads and videos are often removed by feed readers).
You’ll never know about your blog feed issues unless you subscribe to your own blog (check out this example of what can happen when your blog feed goes astray and you don’t realise).
PERSONAL RANT! — Never ever, ever set your blog feed to partial feeds! With the number of posts I read do you honestly think I have time to click on READ MORE?
YOUR THOUGHTS
This post was in response to a request from Darren Draper and Robin Ellis to follow up on to provide blogging tips and etiquette for their Open PD session on using Edublogs.
It will be part of an ongoing series and since we each have a different definition of what makes a “good blog post” I would love you to share your thoughts.
So can you please tell us about:
- What are your 3 most important tips for writing better blog posts?
- What blog post recently has made you want to comment and what was it about this post that engaged you?
- Has a post recently inspired you to write your own post? What was it about the post that made you take action?
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Thank you for sharing, I agree with your idea, I’ll try to write about so on. wanlong professional production: horizontal cutting blade, horizontal cutting segment, marble cutting segment, marble cutting blades. diamond cutting segment, granite cutting blade, granite cutting segment, diamond cuts for stone.
I found your post very informative and I learnt a lot about blogging. It was great and easy to understand. Keep it up!
Thanks!
Don’t use run-on sentences and poor punction, that might distract–the reader from your idea which will cause them to leave your site before they’ve even had the chance to truly read and appreciation you ideas so that you can avoid getting in your own way! ;-0
One good thing to remember is to use proper punctuation and avoid run-on sentences so that you do not lose your audience in the middle of your idea so that they leave your blog before they’ve really had the opportunity to appreciate the insights you may have otherwise been able to provide them. 🙂
@aambeien that realy is a big comment
Hi! i try to comment but it says that i dont have good captcha or that i already posted my comment but i didnt yet!
Any way i try one more time because i already wrote a big comment,
but i need to say that i think that these tips are great, i can definitely use them in my advantage. I started blogging since November last year and i think i may say that i am getting better at it every day. My tip is to also use high quality content so that you really do give high value to your reader so that he maybe will come back more often. Also, make sure you always use catchy headers with sentences like ‘did you know that..’ or ’10 best tips about..” and ‘did you know that..?” Hope this helps!
Thanks for your good info! (sorry for my bad English im European) Good day everybody greetings
Hi Thare! i need to say that i think that these tips are great, i can definitely use them in my advantage. I started blogging since November last year and i think i may say that i am getting better at it every day. My tip is to also use high quality content so that you really do give high value to your reader so that he maybe will come back more often. Also, make sure you always use catchy headers with sentences like ‘did you know that..’ or ’10 best tips about..” and ‘did you know that..?” Hope this helps!
Thanks for your good info! (sorry for my bad English im European) Good day everybody greetings
Hi Thare! i need to say that i think that these tips are great, i can definitely use them in my advantage. I started blogging since novvember last year and i think i miay say that i am getting better at it every day. My tip is to also use high qualty content so that you really do give high value to your reader so that he maybe will come back more often. Also, make sure you always use catchy headers with sentences like ‘did you know that..’ or ’10 best tips about..” and ‘did you know that..?” Hope this helps!
Thanks for your good info! (sorry for my bad English im European) Good day everybody greetings
Hi Thare! i need to say that i think that these tips are real helpful, i can definitely use them in my advantage. Thanks for your good info! i started blogging last year around November, and i think i may say im getting better at it every day. a little tip of my own; make sure that the first part of your posts and articles are catchy, so that the readers want to continue reading. Start with sentences like ‘did you know that’ or ‘these tips will make..’ or ‘how come these..” hope it will do you good!
(sorry for my bad English im European) Good day everybody greetings!
I’ve recently set up my own blog using WordPress, I created my own theme simply to learn how the whole system works and thoroughly enjoyed the process.
The one thing I didn’t really consider though was how difficult it is to actually deliver good content. This really has helped me consider ways to deliver quality information and present it in an inviting way for the user.
Thanks Gary. You might want to check the latest posts on The Edublogger as we have an updated version of this post and on how reading habits have changed.
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thanks for this article…I was not following the steps that you have mentioned here…
great read, Use Short Paragraphs is in my opinion the best tip for writing better blog posts.
Mrs. Waters:
I’m part of Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. I have sited two of your posts as part of one of my assignments. I found your posts very helpful as a new blogger. I wish I had found them sooner so that I would have had a better blog this semester. I would not have been able to give you my three tips before now however. These are my three tips and you can read more about them on my blog. My three tips are: proofread, learn basic HTML code, and make your blog visually appealing.
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very comprehensive guide..thanks for that
Excellent tips. To the point and very helpful!
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