This is the third post in a series of tips on how to generate higher quantities of content for your blog. Check out the other posts in this series at Check out the previous posts at Set Targets, News Sites and Aggregators, Start a New Blog, Break Down Your Posts, Ecto and Recruit Writers.
Break your longer articles down into smaller bite sized posts on more targeted topics. When I first started blogging I used to write very long rants and reflections on topics. These days I still do occasionally but as I do I always now ask myself – ‘can I break this into a series?’ There are multiple reasons to write a series of posts rather than a long article including:
1. You’re more likely to keep your readers attention with some short sharp bursts of writing than a really long diatribe. I rarely get all the way through reading a long post of someone else unless its compelling reading.
2. You might generate some repeat visits to your site if you post on the same topic over a few days telling your reader to come back tomorrow for the next installment.
3. You’ll generate more page views this way which is good if you’re running impression based ads on your site and link from one post to the next in the series.
4. You individual pages will rank higher in Google usually with a more targeted post than a long one that has many themes. ie a post with one point is more likely to rank well on that point than an article with ten points.
5. You will probably get better and more relevant ads from contextual advertising like Google.
Of course this is partly personal preference – a lot of people like the long rant and are frustrated by having to navigate numerous pages of a series. Your choice. Let us know what you think in comments below.
