8 Essential Keys to Blogging

[Brent Williams]

I review hundreds of blogs, and I see the same mistakes over and over. Many of these tips fall into the "of course" category, so the first tip is...

1) Take the time to finish out the blog. Many of the tips below are obvious, but if you don't do them (which many people don't), then they don't help!

2) The title is king! Many people start writing their blog and then just throw a title in at the end. Remember that people are very busy, so if the title doesn't jump out to them, you will get skipped. So create a title that is succinct, explains what the blog is about (i.e., not too ambiguous), includes an element of intrigue or controversy, and has keywords that you want to reach via search. Also, blogs that have numbers in them work extremely well (like the title of this post).

3) Add a great hook in the first paragraph. We all learn this in English class growing up, and this is incredibly important! A person will decide by the first paragraph whether the blog is worth continuing reading, so make it compelling!

4) Add a picture or video. Large blocks of text are intimidating, even to well-educated readers, so break them up with media elements. However, video isn't always appropriate. I've found that video blogs get mixed results because many people prefer to skim, but videos that show a property, for example, are great.

5) If you want comments or responses, ask for them! This really does work, but keep it to one, well-worded question, not a string of questions, which tends to paralyze the reader.

6) Keep it relatively short. People's attention span in the blogging world is relatively short, so don't lose them!

7) Share the blog through social media channels like Facebook or Twitter.

8) Take a final look at the overall formatting of the blog. Is the text big enough (or too big), is the spacing right, and does it look generally "readable"?

Hope that helps!

Brent