The most important part of running a successful blog is passion, but the second-most important aspect is attention to detail in your writing. Even if your blog is very image-heavy, you still need some solid writing to build a loyal following. As a blogger and professional writer, I’ve learned some tips that you can also use in your blog.
1—Focus on a Single Topic. If you are writing about a topic you are really passionate about, it’s easy to get caught up writing and get a little off-track from your main point. If you find yourself doing that, cut all of the written content that doesn’t fit, paste it into another document, then create another blog post out of it. Each post should have one primary focus, so if there are different aspects of a topic you want to cover, do it over multiple posts.
2—Develop a Formula. Developing a ‘formula’ for your writing not only makes things easier on you, but it also helps your blog feel consistent. The formula I loosely use for our blog, Ensemble of Elan, is: Introduction, Sound Off One (thoughts from my co-blogger), Sound Off Two (thoughts from me), Conclusion, Quote, Outfit Details (for example, this article would include my flannel top, black denim shorts, and bar necklace). This format works for nearly all of our posts, so find one that works for you.
3—Check Your Grammar. Please check your grammar. From a reader’s perspective, nothing is worse than reading an otherwise great blog post only to discover that it’s filled with grammatical errors. If you are not a grammar guru yourself, ask someone who is, or use a tool like Grammarly, which is a free, online grammar checker.
4—Preview. You know how you can only see some errors in your papers for class after you see them in print? It’s the same for blog posts. You may not catch certain things while you’re drafting it, so always be sure to preview your posts multiple times before publishing. (This will save you the panic of realizing a sentence sounds really weird after you hit publish.)
5—Use Quotes. I am a huge quote lover, and you should be too. If there is something you want to say, but you can’t quite put it in the right words, look for a quote. Chances are, someone has already said it far better than you could ever hope to, so insert that quote in your blog post, include an outbound link, and you’re done!
Have any other questions about blog writing? Let us know in the comments!
