How to write a great blog post
I bet that at least 90% of us are not natural ‘writers’. By natural I mean possessing the ability to quickly and effortlessly produce a fluent, well constructed article or blog that in some way resonates with and hooks our intended audience – or words to that effect!
I would put myself in the 90%. At school I did pretty well with creative writing and got good grades in both my English O levels – remember those? Back then creative writing seemed to come easy, but over the years I think we lose this skill. Maybe because at work most of our written communication has a specific aim or goal such as preparing a proposal which usually has a structure and objective to work towards. Anyway that’s why I think most of the prolific blog writers within Quba tend to be younger as they’re fresh from education and haven’t yet conformed to the constraints of business writing. I realise this is a pretty poor excuse but I’m sticking with it.
So I’m going back to school to try and learn what it is that makes for a good, no great blog post. I started my research with the some of our more expert Quban bloggers. Here are their top tips:
• The blogs that really stand out to me are those that also have a personality and a human side, those that surprise people and give unexpected insights into the person behind the blog as well as clear information, those are the best to me.
• I think it’s important to choose appealing images and clear diagrams.
• When people give away things (such as white papers) for free, and offer intelligent, clear comment on them, that’s also good! I also find step by step “how to’s” are very useful.
Findings: get personal, break your text up with images and provide constructive comment and advice.
Nick:
• Have something original to say
• Do your homework – Get a feel for the landscape you’re entering into, see if anyone is already saying what you want to say, and check your facts.
• Avoid the wall of text –Whether through decorative images, block quotes, or just slitting up paragraphs, give the reader some kind of visual relief.
• Invest time – Crafting a quality blog post takes time, don’t rush.
Findings: Be original, do your research, break your text up and be prepared to invest time.
Dave:
• It needs to be new, interesting, relevant or different
• You should follow the inverted triangle style of writing, conclusion at the beginning, evidence at the end.
Findings: Be different and use the triangle!
Next I looked for inspiration from Neil Patel who has developed a great piece of software called Crazy Egg that we use as part of our suite of usability tools. He has a fabulous blog writing style. His blog article on How to write a blog post provides some more advanced tips and suggestions on how to create a blog that is not just good but great.
The best bits in a nutshell are:
• Write as if you are having a conversation with your readers – talk to your readers not at them.
• Don’t ‘wing’ it unless you are a natural writer. Have the structure for your blog in mind so you have an idea of the start, the main body and the conclusion.
• The first thing to do is to come up with a powerful title that will hook readers into your blog. Try one of these 5 Surefire Headline Formulas.
• Your first paragraph should continue the impact of your title to further engage your readers. It’s important to sound conversational from the start.
• Make your conclusion short, to the point and meaningful. If you want to encourage comments on your blog then it makes sense to leave your conclusion open for example by asking a question.
For me the most important ingredient for creating a great blog article is to write about something that you are interested in or even genuinely passionate about then the rest will follow.
