The Writing Geek

A blog post is the heart & soul of any blog. It’s why readers visit your blog, and why they keep coming back. Ultimately, the content of the post will be determined by the blogger’s goals. If the blog is a personal journal, the posts will most likely consist of the random thoughts of the blogger. If, on the other hand, the blogger’s goal is to earn a living, the content must be of value to the reader. This article examines the various elements of a blog post, and the steps involved with creating a valuable post.

THE IDEA

Ideas for blog posts come from everywhere. Personal journal blogs usually center around the life of the blogger. Milestones, hardships, relationships, and emotions are just a few of the ’seeds’ that lead to an idea. A more professionally focused blogger will generally find ideas based on his or her business or industry. In this case, news often plays a big role in defining the idea, as does generalized advice.

The only limit to finding ideas for any blog is the creativity of the blogger, and their ability to approach various ideas from different angles. For example, a personal blog might focus on an illness or other hardship in the blogger’s life. In this case, the successful blogger will discuss the unique methods he or she has used to deal with the hardship.

Professional bloggers need only open the morning newspaper or conduct a simple Google search to access a whole world of ideas. What is the latest ‘Big Thing’ in your niche? Has someone famous in your subject area recently done something to warrant the attention of the media? Write about it!

RESEARCHING THE IDEA

Obviously, it helps if the blogger has some experience in their niche. This is especially true for professional bloggers. Regardless, it is important that ALL angles of any topic are considered. When researching an idea, take special care to seek out valuable information. Readers are more likely to take a blogger’s advice if it can be supported with quotes by industry leaders, statistics or a combination of both.

In most cases, researching a particular topic will give the blogger multiple ideas to write about. While conducting research for this post, for example, I came across several ideas for future posts on my own blog, including a closer look at the various styles of the more successful bloggers. If nothing else, it will at least narrow a subject down and make it more manageable for the writer.

Be careful not to spend too much time researching an idea. All too often, research is used as an excuse not to actually post. Most bloggers make a feeble attempt to blame their lack of posting on “writer’s block”. In reality, writer’s block can be dealt with quite easily by sitting down and writing.

EFFECTIVE BLOG LAYOUT

Once you have decided on a topic and thoroughly researched it, it’s time for the fun part - actually putting it together. Your goal here should be organizing the information in a simple, readable manner. When a blog post is easier for the reader to digest, it leads to a much better experience for them overall. There are several concepts to consider when putting your post together:

* K.I.S.S. (Keep It Short & Sweet) - Even if your post involves a highly complicated subject, such as the economic influences of a third world country, it is important to focus your information as much as possible. Most readers will not stick around for more than 1200 words. Depending on the subject matter, this number may even go as low as 400 - 500 words.

* Readability - Long paragraphs or otherwise disjointed structure tend to wear the reader out. If you want them to read the entire post, it must be extremely readable. To do this, break the post down into sections, and make good use of bulleted lists. Take a moment to go back through this post and take note of the use of headlines. In addition, remember that your paragraphs should consist of no more than 4 - 5 sentences.

* Proper use of English & grammar - I hate to be the grammar nazi here, but a good grasp of the English language, including good grammar and strong sentence structure, goes a long way towards creating a successful post. This may be a little less true for personal journal styles of blogs, but overall the better the grammar, the easier the post will be to read.

If you are using your blog to market your skills, improper use of english and grammar is a sure fire way to ruin your chances of obtaining new business. Proper use of the english language portrays professionalism, something your potential customers expect in the companies they do business with.

* Relevancy - If you write on a subject that no one cares about, chances are that no one is going to read your blog. If you are blogging for cash, providing relevant and valuable information is absolutely essential. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.

Before posting to your blog, look over the post and ask yourself if it is really something your readers will be able to enjoy and use. Is it going to provide them with information they may not have otherwise had? If not, reconsider posting it. At least try looking at it from different angles, and adjusting it to fit into your reader’s lives.

While there are other factors that eventually lead to a successful post, the items listed above are the more important factors to consider when tuning up your blog. Use them as a basic guideline, and you will quickly find that your blog is presenting a clearer picture of your subject matter and ultimately, YOU! Happy blogging!

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