In preparation for an interview on writing great blog content, I jotted down some ‘quick tips’. While they are all short I hope that they might spark some ideas – enjoy!
- Tell your story – it is what makes your content unique
- Share how you feel – it will take your readers to a deeper place
- You’ll never please everyone – the sooner you come to peace with this, the better
- Write about things that matter to you – passion is infectious
- Inform, Inspire and Interact – aim to do these things every week!
- Experiment with different styles of writing – it will help you find your voice
- Mix up the length of your posts – short can be sweet but long can be epic!
- When an idea strikes – drop everything and capture it!
- Do everything you can to understand who is reading your blog – it will make you more useful to them
- Before you publish – ask what you want your reader to do after reading your post – and edit accordingly
- Become hyper aware of problems – and obsess over writing posts that solve them
- Put aside time to create quality content – it doesn’t just appear
- Put aside time to edit and polish your posts – it will take them to the next level
- Get a life – you’ll be a much more interesting writer if you’ve lived a little
- Ask your readers questions – it will make them feel like they belong and you’ll learn a lot too!
- Take your readers on a journey – posts that build from one to another can be powerful
- Brainstorm regularly – generating ideas for future posts now can save a lot of pain later
- Not every post needs to go viral – shareable content will help you grow but it may not serve your current readers best
- Write, Write Write – the more you write, the better you will get
- Publish selectively – you don’t need to publish everything you write
What quick blog writing would you add?
I like to use Evernote to record future blog post ideas and schedule my writing for about 3 to 4 weeks. Your best advice is write, write, write. Practice is critical. I will have to try selective posting. Thanks for all you do.
I love #14, I think it’s the best of the list :)
My 2 quick blog writing tips:
1. Make it about your readers – replace all I’s with you’s
2. Write in super simple words – ask your kid if it’s simple enough
I love your tip #1. A lot of blogging is about the reader and changing the I’s to you’s will definitely engage the reader and get them thinking about themselves.
Thanks so much for your comment, Ryley! Only thing we need to be careful how we rewrite so the post still makes sense ;) It’s a great exercise and, with practice, you start to think this way!
I like what you said in No. 8 – “When an idea strikes – drop everything and capture it! ” This is something that I have been placing a lot of effort into lately. Sometimes it is hard to just drop everything you are doing and capture it. Many of my best ideas come to me when I am doing something else, and am no where near my computer. I don’t like to waste ideas. What I have started doing to compensate for this is taking a pad and pen with me everywhere I go, or, I use the voice recorder in my smart phone to document my ideas, like for example, when I am driving. What do you think of this method of capturing your ideas?
I use the voice recorder in my phone all the time. Often the ideas come faster than I can write and when it is hard to write.
My husband has a food blog. Many times, he will write about the personal dining experiences we have. Therefore, what I would add to this list is, Write about your personal experiences.
Hey Darren,
This is a very short post, but we can learn many things Darren. :-)
All 20 tips are great :-) .
Many bloggers try to write very long posts.
But I think you and Daniel don’t think about search engines. However, it is also a nice blogging tip you have given your readers because Readers are important than search engines. :-)
hii dareen
nice thoughts
like the concept of get a life in your content as that is really something which will not increase the quality of your content but also increase the audience interest too……and surely write write and write…..:)
Thanks for sharing
Nice Post
I need to get a life. Thanks for the reminder!!
My advice is to be persistent. You may not be getting the results you want right now, but little by little you will improve your blog and you will get more readers. If you give up before you get to that point, you’ll never get there.
Carlie,
I need to hear this all the time, it is so challenging to keep going with enthusiasm when you feel like you aren’t growing.
The reminder of why helps.
Thank you
Yes, ‘You’ll never please everyone’ is so true.
How many times do we end up trying to explain our side of the story.
Great tips Darren!
Hey Darren,
All 20 tips were helpful thanks for sharing… i am waiting for your more tips about blogging ;)
Good post.
When will we know the winners of your blog-writing competition?
https://problogger.com/group-writing-project-write-a-discussion-post/
April 20th has come and gone for a while now..
Great Tips @Darren
It is most beneficial for me as a newbie in blogging..
thank you for sharing this post with us …. :)
Darren #3 (You’ll never please everyone) is defo the one that resonates with me.
I really can’t be doing with insipid people who try to be all things to all men – just like most politicians these days. No-one really ends up caring what they think.
For me, what’s far more important is the people who actually like what you do NOT the ones that don’t.
Hi Darren,
I could say if these 20 Tips of writing great blog post is followed one could easily excel in the field of Blogging World.
Regard
Siddhartha Sinha
Whoa! Keeping those 20 things while writing new blog posts can really Skyrocket your blog and push it to the next level.
Thanks a lot for sharing them Darren.
Write on topics you’ve explored more deeply. You need to scratch more than surface to come up with your perspective. Writing by itself without experiencing cannot find enthusiastic readers.
Rahman Mehraby
Destination Iran
Since I got my HTC Radar phone I have been recording little snippets that I want to put into a blog post, I find this is so much more helpful than either running around looking for a pen & pad, carrying a pen & pad at all times, or trying to force myself to remember it. :)
well this is such great tips on writing great blog posts. I am sure that after reading this posts we can improve at least 50% blog writing.
Hi Dareen,
Thanks for this great list, I’m happy I’m not missing any of your point except for the minor ones. Brainstorming is one of the strtegies I use in writing my blog post and it has really helped my blog.
I all about nothing but passion, the more you write (write write write) to more ideas flow out and the more Unique and genuine your content will be.
Asking my readers questions is one of my best call to action also and it a great way of encouraging comments and relationships form our readers.
Thanks for this list Darren, I’ll surely implement those that I skipped.
Gilbert
Great tips!!! :) Thank you!
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Great usefull List!! Thanks!
Good post, useful tips!
Very timely, as I’m writing my first ever guest post this week!
To tell a story is the best post idea, in-fact it has really help my blog to be exposed to the masses. If you craft a well content that is tied to a particular story believe you me, you’ll get targeted traffic. Thanks Darren for the insight!
I honestly think the average person who suffers from blogger’s block doesn’t have enough of a life- it seems that when I’ve got more going on for me its easier to write.
These are some great ideas for helping me with writing posts. I have a stack of drafts in my dashboard! I have just got a GoPro and plan to focus more on the videos with my posts from now on.
Great list of ideas for writting on my blog, in this momment put in practice and make my daily post. Thanks a lot. Regards.
Great list Darren!
Just a couple tips I’d add:
Be patient- It takes a lot of effort and time to build a great blog.
Get better- Strive to improve yourself and your blog everyday.
Be passionate- Find a topic your passionate about and the rest will take care of itself.
Have fun- Blogging is hard but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.
Be consistent- Make a habit out of posting and the ideas will flow naturally.
#20.Publish selectively – you don’t need to publish everything you write and develop your brand.
Nice tips will keep them in mind before writing any post
Right now I am going through a severe case of writers block but I think these small kind of inspired and gave me the little kick in the pants I needed to just write something that I care about and to write something just to write
Let’s see, as a corallary to #10 — how about just plain “edit”? So many that I read seem not to even be proofread!
But truly, #11 is the key for me. First and foremost, I think of The Boat Galley’s mission as sharing what I’ve learned about cooking on boats. I even went so far as to classify it on Facebook as “Education” instead of Recreation/Sports (even though it involves boats).
Pretty short and straight to the point. Can be used as a to-do check list while writing a blog post. I am inspired with the #8 point “When an idea strikes – drop everything and capture it!”
Definite good points for me to remember as I move forward! Thank you.
A picture can be more powerful than words – I am known for my graphics – the pictures I create and often the rest of the blog post just explains them a little more.
My advice? Edit, edit, edit!!
As a writer/editor with 20 years of experience in the print industry, I’m appalled by how many bloggers hit “Publish” without double- and triple-checking their work. From spelling and grammatical errors to redundant repetition and excessive bloviation (a.k.a. talking a lot without saying much), many blog posts make me want to hack and slash like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.
Learn to distill what you want to say into its purest essence, then dig to provide added depth and value. That only happens when you learn to edit your work to be as insightful and incisive as possible.
Thanks for adding this.
I’m culpable.
I read some of my posts and I want to delete them…after days of writing!
Along the lines of writing a great post, you’ve got to have an attention-grabbing title. A great image or two also helps. Besides, if you have blogger-block, looking at a photo might inspire you.
Telling the story is critical. Unique and interesting contents are lacking at mass. Also practice makes a man perfect.
Agree with all the points Darren.
The shortest and sharpest post ever.
Thanks Darren
I find this really helpful.
Now, I’ll go memorize them.
Nicely outline the basic points Darren,by the way I want to ask you Darren,I want to launch my site in Feb of 2014,and I already chose my niche,I am just waiting because I need some time to understand this things,and I hope I can undrstand the basics of nlogging and your post helped me a lot,I just want to know,what should I do this long time,I mean to say,should I prepare contents in this time or something else,for brainstorming and other writing qualities I just started to write in squidoo,am I in a right track,please tell me what should I do more than this,………………………….I am waiting for your answer Darren!!
And thanks for your great post.
All 20 tips are most valuable and golden truth behind the success of every problogger .
Hmm, never write focus writing for search engines but readers and the last point was very interesting ‘publish selectively’ for example with 1 idea you can re write to get the best result out of it.
great tips. sounds like a lot of work though especially the 19th tip. thanks!
I would also add that it’s important to do research wherever you can, as this will inevitably make your blog more informative and interesting.
There’s really not much I can add to this list. It’s a great list for a blog who wants to be a successful blogger.
Great Tips Darren, So far I just wrote, without regard to what reader feel …
Great Post Darren,
I totally agree with your first point. Sharing our own interesting story will lure our readers to read and share it as well.
use hash tags when sharing on social media
:D
yes,you’re right,”You’ll never please everyone – the sooner you come to peace with this, the better” .