Lesson 7: Writing your Blog
By now, you would have chosen your money-making blog topic - after reading back in "Lesson 2. Choosing a Topic" And you should know the reason you are writing and your target audience.
This lesson is all about writing with style. By writing a blog well, it will set you apart from others with the same topic and there are technical advantages such as making it easier for search engines to pick up your posts and using your content to increase your site's overall ranking. But most of all, writing a blog well, is writing in a consistent style, so readers know what to expect and after writing for a while, you will become a recognised, reliable, respected 'voice' on the web.
A) DETERMINE YOUR WRITING STRATEGY
Long or Short?
There are many schools of thought on whether writing long or short posts is better. It will depend on your site topic and structure as to which way you go. In general, most sites would benefit from a combination of both.
Long, definitive posts
Often called "pillar" posts can be used as in-depth sources of information on your site. These should be more timeless - relevant to readers now and in the future (good to keep updating these so they stay relevant) These "pillar" posts need only be written every so often and added to your site.
Short posts
Short posts can be used on a more regular basis, updating these at least once a week is a good benchmark. Rather than detailed description or exploratory analysis, short posts can include opinions, recent insights, updates, comments (perhaps an article you have spotted), breaking news items, links, thought for the day.
Consistency is key
There are no set rules on how often to post- many blogs change every day; a few change every minute. Just remember, if you start to develop a loyal set of readers, they will begin to expect some consistency in how you post. If you stop posting for a week when you normally post every day, you may disapoint your readers and after a few visits to your site without updates, they may not return.
Technically speaking
In terms of writing for the best search optimisation:
- The more frequently you update your blog, the more search engines tend to start spidering your pages at regular intervals.
- And, the more often you post, the more content you are creating. Since each new post or entry is its own Web page, you are increasing the chances that search engines will find your blog.
B) SET YOUR WRITING STYLE
Be a Passionate and opinionated writer
- Be passionate and opinionate about your topic.
- Rather than just repeating information, comment on it.
- Tell people exactly what you think but be concise.
- Be conversational and challenging
- Let your personal “voice” emerge
- Good blogs reveal something about the way the blogger thinks
- If you offer an opinion, clearly state it as such.
- Do your homework, know your facts before stating an opinion.
- Challenge opinons of fellow bloggers, dare them to respond
Be a strong and influencial writer
- Spot current trends and comment on them
- Create new trends or forecast trends you think are on their way
- If you believe you are right, say why.
- Always be able to demonstrate the proof behind your theories
Be an expert writer
- Be learning about your topic constantly.
- Keep up-to-date with current news and opions in your field
- Share your expertise generously so people recognize it and depend on you.
Be a resourceful writer
- Point to useful, undiscovered tools and resources.
- Add links to insightful articles
- Create new tools
- Write well-researched posts that can be sourced in essays and white papers.
Be an inventive writer
- Design a whole new kind of art form or way of communicating
- Invent characters, long a staple of newspaper columnists, these are a rare find on the web - creating an interesting new character with a story to unravel on your site
- Think outside the box
- As Seth Godin, a sucessful entreprenuer, suggests; blog writers should attempt to create a purple cow ie. come up with something new and orignial to capture attention.
Be an inspired writer
- Read about the good ideas of other people every day.
- Keep ideas for topics, news items, articles in a notebook
- When inspiration strikes, let others know
- Blog while you are feeling inspired! Your enthusaism will shine through.
