Source: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/writing-engaging-blog-posts/
Capture your Readers: 8 Tips to
Writing Engaging Blog Posts
Published by Issa Mirandilla,in Blogging
Remember how Ratatouille’s Chef Gusteau said: "Anyone can cook, but only
the fearless can be great"? You can easily rewrite his inspiring words as,
"Anyone can write a blog post, but only the fearless bloggers can be great."
See, a good idea or topic, decent spelling and grammar, and a strong
mastery of the essay form are enough for a good blog post. But if you want
to write a greatblog post, or one that makes people go "Wow! I’ll share this
on Facebook!" instead of "Meh, this is nothing special", you have to go
further than the essentials.
•
Here’s how you can do it.
Recommended Reading: 6 Simple Tips To Write Your Next Killer Post
1. Hook Them With The First Sentence
Admittedly, this is the hardest part of writing a blog post. That’s because
the first sentence should be able to reel in the reader, and at the same time,
give them an idea what your post will be all about.
You can start with a:
1. Thought-provoking question – "Do you know what a blog post and
a sandwich have in common?"
2. Quote – "Ernest Hemingway once said: ‘There is nothing to writing.
All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’
3. Statistic – "According to the Official Federation of Bloggers*, 99.9
percent of bloggers experience writer’s block."
4. Story – "The other day, I had a Newtonian experience. That is, an
apple fell on my head."
*Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical example. As of this writing, the Official
Federation of Bloggers doesn’t exist. Â
2. Make Every Word, Phrase & Sentence Count
Because Internet users’ attention spans are shrinking by the day, you have
to work harder to hold your readers’ attention from the beginning until
the end of your post. To do that, every word, phrase, sentence, and even
punctuation mark must add something to your piece.
A handy trick is to read your draft out loud. If it feels like you’re
explaining things too slowly, or you’re falling asleep to your own voice
(gasp!), you may need to edit the extraneous bits. Your draft could
possibly feel "incomplete", in which case, you can insert additional
information to clarify your thoughts orstrengthen your arguments.
3. Shorten Your Sentences, If Possible
In relation to the tip, here’s a rough guide to help you decide whether you
should cut down a kilometric sentence.
Do your eyes glaze over while reading a sentence? Do you read a sentence
out loud, and lose your breath by the end of it? Do you see too many
adjectives, adverbs, and other words that don’t add anything to a sentence?
If any of these happen, shorten it! Otherwise, that kilometric sentence is
probably fine as is.
4. Use Simple, Yet Precise, Words
You know how MS Word’s "Shift + F7" pulls words from the more obscure
parts of the thesaurus? Well, you might not want to rely on that function
too much. Readers hate it when you bombard them with highfalutin
jargon. Not only do these words sour the reading experience, but they also
make your blog post look stilted and pretentious.
Instead of trying to sound "smart", try to sound sensible. Use words that
best convey your idea and can be understood by the layman. For
example, "to utilize resources" can be shortened as "to use resources".
5. Play With Analogies
Blogging is like dating. It’s not enough that you make a great impression
on the first date. You also have to show, again and again on your following
dates, that you’re a person worth someone’s time, commitment, and love.
See what I did there?
6. Throw In A Few Pop Culture References
Pop culture references add flavor to your blog post. They give your readers
the impression that you’re relatable, and therefore likeable.
That said, be mindful of your audience when using these references. You
may think that "The Beatles" are the greatest rock band of all time, but
referencing the Fab Four while writing for "One Direction" fans may not be
the best idea in the world.
7. Make Your Post Unique (Even If The Idea Isn’t)
Let’s face it: coming up with 100% original blog post ideas is anything but
easy. If you run your topic through a quick Google search, chances
are someone else has already written about it. So, what should a blogger
do in this scenario? It’s simple, really.
Find a new angle.
If someone already came up with "5 Reasons Why You Should Try
Freelancing", you can write a post about the darker side of freelancing like
"20 Reasons To Say ‘No’ To Freelancing". Or you can run with
"5 More Reasons Why You Should Try Freelancing".
8. End With A Punchy Conclusion
So, you’re done with your introduction and body. Now, it’s time to write
the conclusion, which is just as hard to write as (if not harder than) the
introduction. The easiest way out of your dilemma is to summarize all your
points in the conclusion. Then again, that would be boring, since that’s
what most bloggers do.
Instead, you can either end with a thought-provoking question or a
call-to-action; or restate your main point, and persuade your reader to
care about your point.
A Few More Tips (a.k.a. Something That Resembles A Conclusion)
These rules aren’t set in stone. Feel free to use them – or not – depending
on what’s appropriate for your piece. What matters is consistently writing
posts that are engaging, informative, and unique enough to keep your
readers coming back for more.