27 May 2011

8 Tips for Writing Quality Blog Posts

So everyone around you has a blog, you constantly read in all the etsy forums and on every other website about the benefits of having a blog not only for you but for you business as well. There are so many people who appear to always know what to write and when to write it, and you wonder how on earth do they do it? How do they come up with so many interesting posts and even have plenty of comments?
Photo: churl

There comes the day when you finally succumb to the idea, regardless of your prejudices or fears. You sign up for a blog, come up with the cutest name and there you are, all alone in front of the vast Internet empire with the empty space of your brand new blog. Feel inspired? 

The truth is that people are not born with the knowledge. It takes hard work, a lot of research and consistency to become successful in any field of life. But hey, don't feel intimidated, everybody has started small! Take every life challenge one step at a time and you will be surprised when you turn back and see how far you have reached by simply following yourself!

Before I give you the 8 tips for writing quality blog posts, let me stress on the fact that people come to your blog to take something from you. Be aware of that and give it to them! Whatever it is - fun, information, tutorials, etc. And don't be afraid - the more you give, the more you will get in return!

Here are the 8 tips for writing quality blog posts:

1. Target
Determine your target audience. Which groups of people would be interested in your blog and what would their expectations be? Pick up an appropriate tone for your audience.

2. Read
Every successful writer is a very experienced reader. Read extensively blogs and websites with a similar theme to yours, learn from them and put to practice what you have learned.

3. Write
Share your own opinion, don't risk of being accused of plagiarism or violating copyright laws. There is no point to copy and paste text from another website. The problem is that not only the author will soon find that out but that once Google finds duplicated content, your page rank wouldn't have a chance to get high.

4. Link
If you find something interesting on the web which you would like to share, do so! But don't just post links! Talk about your experience, and your point of view.

5. Illustrate
Everyone loves eye candy! Strive to have at least one picture on every blog post. If you haven't taken appropriate pictures yourself, the web is full of photographs licensed under Creative Commons, i.e. free to use as long as you link back to their author. 

6. Interact
Do not limit yourself to posting. If you want to encourage your readers to comment, do that yourself! Reply to their comments on your blog, visit their own blogs and take the time to comment as well, everybody loves feedback! Plus, out of that interaction you will get many ideas for new posts!

7. Schedule
If you know in advance when the holidays are, you can easily prepare appropriate posts not only about Christmas and Easter but for Mother's day or any other special international or national occasion.

8. Keep it simple
Your blog's appearance is even more important than its content. You can create brilliant content but if you don't present it in a pleasant way it will not be read. Try to have a clean and uncluttered blog template. The more widgets and gadgets you put, the longer it takes for your blog to load which can turn readers off. Try to have your posts reasonably long and with short paragraphs. In the age of information you need to get to the point quickly and sharply if you want to attract your readers' attention. 

Want to know more? Read all articles in the How to Blog Like a Pro series. 

Is there a tip that you follow and don't see in the list? Please, share it with us in the comments! We love interaction!


11 comments:

  1. Some really great advice here. I've had my blog about 3 years now and though I have a number of followers I don't seem to generate comments. I think I made the error of getting into those "follow me and I'll follow you" forum postings. Seemed like a good idea at the time but all it does is generate a larger followers number but has no true substance. In other words very few ever drop by to visit and leave a comment.
    Guess I'll have to take this problem into consideration and try to figure out what I can do to improve it, other than spend 24 hours a day visiting other blogs and leaving comments ... hey, just like everybody else I have a life also (laundry to do, house to clean, meals to cook, and crafts to make). lol :D

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  2. Almost Precious, we all try to find the way and sometimes take a the wrong path but the most important is to keep on learning! I have found that follow me and I will follow back sometimes can get you genuine followers but it is not always so. Blog hops are another instance which generates an insincere and unfruitful following according to my experience. It really takes time to build a community around your blog but it is worth the effort!

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  3. You're making a great blog ! I often read your new posts and find them very useful and very impressive !
    My blog is new from the beginning of 2011 and it's very challenging to find something to say ! So I found that posting my best etsy treasuries (yes, we are team mates from Team Eco Etsy :) and some news from my shop are the basics !
    Who said "Back to Basics" ???

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  4. I had to come up with a blogging schedule. It works for me. My blog is about promoting handmade items.

    I read and comment on the blogs I follow. Every now and then I go through and clear out any blogs that no longer interest me.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

    BTW I arrived here on your post on etsy bloggin' buddies :-)

    <><
    http://christiecottage.blogspot.com

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  5. Hello, thanks for this. I am mostly happy with my blog content- but I hate the look of it and cannot figure out how to make it look good. This inspires me to try again...
    Found you in the Etsy teams.
    (freshurbanvintage on Etsy)

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  6. Great post, and so true. I actually get more then 50% of my traffic from blogs I commented on.

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  7. Great information! Thanks for sharing. I'm always looking for ways to improve my blog.

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  8. I really appreciate this kind of information, written succinctly and in plain English! I completely agree with tip 8 - Keep it simple. I always find it off-putting to find myself on a blog site that's overdone. I just don't want to spend a lot of time there, even if there's interesting content.

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  9. Wonderful blog with some wonderful advice! Thank you!

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  10. Great post.

    Involving the readers is where I lack ideas. Yes, I found that blog hopping is not quite sincere. Traffic grows for awhile but they are not going to stay.

    Like in real world, I think in the web too you'll finally find a circle of friends, really who care for each other, support each other and grow.

    That is where I am working on right now. Finding out like minded people with similar values where we can knit a real caring community.

    Your blog was really nice. Will come back again. Dita

    http://www.alankarshilpa.blogspot.com

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  11. Aw, writing and reading blog posts is the best part of blogging, I agree with all your points! I just recently had time to start reading again, and man I miss it. Sometimes I think ppl get so caught up with meeting certain requirements, they just don't let go and write. It's the posts with heart and humor and insight that I really love to read.

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