Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Factors to Always consider when writing blog posts

A while ago I wrote a post about writing your first blog post.  And I am perplexed by the fact that this particular article seems to receive more traffic than any other post I have on this blog.

In that post I covered a lot of the different blogger menus and showed you some of the functions and menus you should alter in order to make your blog more readable and more likely to be found.

What surprises me is, There is really no science when you sit down to write a blog post.  Posts are really only limited by your own personal imagination.  Some posts will be duds, some will become wildly popular, and until the post is published, you really cannot be 100% of what that particular post is going to do.

So, besides the basics of actually starting a blog post.  Today I would like to talk about some other tactics to consider when writing blog posts.  Things that we are going to hit on are.

1.)Blog Post Title
2.)Keyword placement
3.)Internal blog links
4.)Pictures
5.)Bold or Italicized text
6.)Style

1.)Blog Post Titles
The first thing you have to consider when writing your blog posts is your blog titles.  Your title should be eye catching, fist and foremost.  It should entice people to continue and read what you have to say.  But on top of that your title should include your primary keywords for the particular post.  Also it is better if your keywords appear early in the title.  Just to make sure the Engines pick them up.

2.)Keyword Placement
Keyword placement may have little effect on the strength of the post.  But in general you will want your keywords to show up within the first couple of lines of text.  This ensures that the search engines will spot them early.  And search engines will usually use the first couple lines of text in the descriptor in the search results.  After that, it is common practice to have about 2%-5% keyword density within the article.  After that, I would also recommend that you use your keywords in the last paragraph of your article if possible. 

3.)Internal Blog links
Internal blog links are almost as important as external backlinks, internal blog links should be relevant to your current piece and should use the keywords for your previous article as the anchor text for the link.  Internal links within your posts are Dofollow and will share the link juice within your own blog.  Always remember to add a couple Internal blog links.

4.)Pictures
I cannot stress enough how important photos or some form of visual stimulant is for the casual online reader.  A big wall of text can usually turn people off, but the sight of a couple pictures that are related to the topic in one way or another helps keep your readers attention and creates a more relaxed feel.  Text walls can be intimidating and many people in todays day and age will view it as too time consuming to read all those words....Trust me, it is true.

5.)Bold and Italicized text
Many may ask what does this have to do with anything.  It has a lot to do with writing blog posts.  Sometimes you will use keywords for links, but sometimes, just sometimes, adding keywords in bold text or italicized text, or within quotes will stand out a little for both your readers and for the search engines.  Now you do not have to apply this to all your keywords, but sprinkling it in there is a helpful thought.

6.)Style
Style really depends on you and the type of blog you are writing, whether your a synic by nature or an optimist, you will want your personality to shine through a bit.  This will help readers relate.  And it helps to keep your articles from feeling artificially generated.  Blogs and bloggers have a chance to be unique solely from the take we may have on certain subjects.  This doesnt mean you have to be extreme and outlandish in order for people to find you unique.  It does work for some people, but if that is not who you are it will not work for you.  But don't be afraid to let your quirks shine through, people will enjoy them.  People like imprefection.....See how I misspelled that...Exactly!

So, writing a blog is really nothing so difficult.  It is important to be yourself, do not sensor yourself in order to be more 'PC' or to try to be more than you are.  Be genuine, and remember some of the tips here, and your blog will have a chance to be successful.

Thank you for reading blogging for beginners....Come back soon

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