Do you want to be a great writer? If you have a passion for writing, then your answer is probably yes.
But these days more and more writers are showing up on the internet, and with new blogs being created every day, one of the biggest challenges is standing apart from the crowd. And also writing posts that people want to read.
Writing a blog post is not the same thing as writing a book or manifesto. Most successful bloggers understand that readers on the internet have short attention spans, so they distribute information in bite-size pieces, which means your writing has to be interesting, but also concise and to the point.
If you’re starting your blog, you can improve your chances of success by using the following advice…
Here are a few pointers that can make your blog posts more engaging for your readers
Cut out the Fluff and get to the point:
You might have a ton of descriptive text to add to your post because you think your readers need intricate explanations for everything. But the more drawn out you make your blog posts, the less engaged your readers become.
It can be hard to edit your own thoughts, but the more fat you trim from your writing the better it will be received by most readers. Concise writing has minimal fluff and fillers, which makes it easier for your readers to digest quickly.
To quote William Faulkner, an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate, “In writing, you must kill your darlings.”
Translated, that means even if we fall in love with our own words we must be willing to edit and cut ruthlessly for the sake of our readers.
Use active voice, not passive voice, whenever possible:
Passive voice makes your writing less impactful. For example, “I wrote this blog post” is short and sweet, and it gets to the point. But when we change it to passive voice it becomes “This blog post was written by be” which might mean the same thing, but it’s more drawn out, and it lacks power.
With active voice the subject of a sentence performs the action. With the passive voice the subject receives the action.
Active voice puts you right in the middle of the action. Passive voice comes across as distant, and less impactful.
A single post should express a single idea:
Many writers try to appeal to as many readers as possible with every post, and they pack a single blog post or article with as much information as possible. As a result they often incorporate more than one main idea into the post.
This usually results in long-winded and unfocused writing, and readers attention becomes scattered as they try to understand the main concept of the article.
For example, if someone comes to your article to read about how to write a blog post, don’t tell them about website design in the same post. They might both be important, but your reader came there for a single reason. Stay on topic and give them what they came for, and then you can link to another article about website design at the end of your post.
Keep your posts simple with only one main idea at the core.
Reduce redundant words, and diversify your language:
Variety is the spice of life, so it’s important to vary the words you use in your writing.
Blog posts need to be compelling and interesting if you wish to keep your readers engaged. And if you repeat the same adjectives or verbs over and over, it can become tedious and boring to read.
When we want to repeat an important thought, to make the idea more sticky in our readers mind, cut out repetitive words and vary your language. If you can’t think of a different way to say the same thing, a thesaurus can be your best friend.
Bonus tip:
Variety is also important when it comes to sentence and paragraph lengths in your writing.
If every sentence is the same length, and every paragraph is the same number of sentences, your blog posts will become monotonous and boring to look at.
Use a blend of short, medium and long sentences, and paragraphs in your writing, This will make your posts more interesting to look at, easier on your readers eyes, and more inviting to read.
As with many things in life, variety and diversity will make your content more interesting and engaging.
Writing blog posts can be a complex art, and it can take time to become good at it. But writing content that engages your readers is a skill almost anyone can learn. Following the tips on this page can help you Write A Great Blog Post.
