Sometimes I hate writing this blog. It means having to actually think, sometimes for long stretches of time. Sometimes late at night, or early in the morning. But write it I must and once I get going I realise why I actually enjoy it so much. Boring though this little confession may be, it forms the basis of today’s Tuesday Tip.
Today’s tip isn’t about technical wizardry or the latest and greatest plugin to get for your blog. These are simply a few thoughts on ways to make your blog a little more reader friendly. When you think about it, it’s readers that count at the end of the day. If you create great work that’s well thought and laid out, this can often trump awesome SEO (search engine optimization) skills. I’m not saying throw the SEO tips out of the window, but you know what I mean.
Now, when you read the tips below for the first, some of them might sound all smart and others might sound like they could even be real advice. But the actual value in these tips is the fact that this is what worked for us, so it’s not just theory or speculation.
As regular as blogwork
I know from habit that Monday nights are good TV nights, so I generally try and get home early on Mondays. The same principle applies to blogging. If people know when to expect new or specific content on your blog, chances are that they’ll come around to have a look. Sort of like what we do with this Tuesday Tips section. Outline a schedule and stick to it. Just as important is to let your audience know what the schedule is. Put it up on your blog somewhere if you can. Even better yet – include the schedule in the name – like Women Wednesday. People are creatures of habit, so make it easy for us by letting us know when to come around to get the goods.
Play Niche
Trying to be all things to all men (and women) is difficult. It means that you’ll need to write about a whole bunch of topics that you’re not really an expert on. Sticking to what you know allows you to be genuine when you write (which is important) and also to create knowledgeable content. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like people going around calling me a fool. If someone does, I pity the fool…anyway. Stick to what you know and if you’re playing around with something unfamiliar make it known that this isn’t your home ground. The internet being what it is, your comments section can easily turn in to a mud slinging section before you know what hit you.
For example
Blogging about stuff we know – Tuesday Tips.
Blogging about stuff we don’t know (but are keen to learn about) – Country Close Up.
The difference is the way in which it is presented.
Keep on keeping on
Consistency is a key part of being a successful blogger. One of the most common blog posts I see on Afrigator is “sorry that I haven’t written anything in so long.” Consistency is important if you’re chasing a certain type of audience and rely on Google or other search engines for traffic. If you stop writing about your subject, someone else will soon fill your spot on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Being consistent is important if you’re going to stick to the schedule we talked about earlier. We’ve seen first hand that if you miss a post or a day, chances are that your audience members won’t return because they figure if you’re too bored to post, they may as well not bother visiting.
In my opinion writing is like any other skill – it needs practice. So, the more often you write, the easier it becomes and the more fun you can have with your blog. Pretty soon all you’ll need to do is boot up and before you know it a bog post has spilled across your text editor. Oh, that reminds me…
Type your blog posts in a text editor first
When writing your blog post, do so in your favourite text editor first. There are 2 reasons for this. 1.TIA. Many times internet connections are not stable or very fast and if you’re typing your post directly in to your blog editor there’s a chance things could go wrong. I’ve lost countless posts due to my browser crashing, a save/publish going wonky or the internet stalling. For this reason I advocate typing your post out in your favourite text editor first. That way you can save a copy on your flash drive or hard drive so if something does go wrong, you’re covered.
Text Editor beats Word Processor
If you write in a word processor (like MS Word or Apple Pages) it might add extra mark-up (bits of code) to your content. Things like styling or formatting so that it looks cool in the processor. Once you copy this to your blog editor, all the alien code goes along with your posts and can lead to some pretty strange results. Your blog client might not understand the way the word processor does things. So, stick to a plain text editor like NotePad. If you’re using windows, try Edit Pad Lite . If you’re using Mac, give Smultron a go.
I hope that I didn’t waffle on for too long (I know how I get) and that some of the tips above make sense and will be of use to you. If you can think of any other tips that you think should be in this post, please drop a comment below so that we can all get a little better at our blogging.
Till next time, keep on blogging,
Lester
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