If you're working your way through the How to Start a Blog or Website series, I recommend you write at least ten posts before you even set up your blog. Twenty is better. Yes, I'm serious. Write them on paper or on your computer, but just write 'em and save 'em. You may be tempted to skip this step, but trust me, you'll be so glad you did. There are many benefits:
- It helps you clarify the direction and topic of your blog. Funny how sometimes we start to write something and end up in a place we never anticipated.
- It gives you a good collection of content once your blog is live. Make these posts your best stuff. You want something great for people to read when they visit your new blog.
- It makes it very apparent if blogging is right for you. Maybe you'll start to write and decide you'd rather spend your time doing something else.
- It helps you know whether or not you have enough to say. Once you finish 10-20 posts, ask yourself if you can imagine writing like this for several more years. (If not but you don't want to waste what you've already written, turn it into an ebook.)
- It allows you to concentrate on other aspects of your blog at the beginning. It's nice not to have to worry about writing when you're trying to deal with the snags that come with launching a blog.
Here are some tips for writing great content. Clearly you won't incorporate all these tips into every post, but this gives you an idea of what makes for great content.
1. Make your posts scannable & easy to read
Online readers scan; they don't read like they read a book. Therefore,
- Use lists.
- Use headings.
- Use bold, italics and other text formats (but not so many that it's jarring).
- Use lots of short paragraphs.
- Or to put it another way, avoid long paragraphs.
- Or to put it another way, break up your content into small chunks of text.
- Break up long posts into a series of posts.
- Don't use light text on a dark background. It's hard on the eyes.
2. Be helpful and/or entertaining
- Offer something useful.
- Give practical advice.
- Write a tutorial or a how-to post. Include images (here's how to find free ones).
- Solve a problem.
- Create a video or screencast.
- Interview an expert.
- Compile a list of your favorite niche resources.
- Be you. Be you. Be you.
3. Be engaging & "sticky"
- Start your posts well.
- Link internally to past posts and comments.
- Post regularly.
- When you write a series of posts, use cliffhangers at the end of each one.
- Interact in the comments on your own blog, but also on other blogs.
- Cross promote.
- End your posts well.
Other posts in this series
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Intro & FAQ
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Cheat Sheet
- How to Find (or Refind) Your Passion
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for Readers?
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for You?
- Understand Branding: 4 Tips
- Understand Keywords: Increase the Odds of Getting Found
- Writing Great Content: 3 Tips
- How to Write a Killer About Page
- 12 Blog Organization Tips
- How to Choose a Domain Name: 12 Tips
- How to Register a Domain Name
- How to Set Up Hosting and WordPress
- How to Change Your Nameservers
- How to Add a New User in WordPress
- How to Optimize Your WordPress Settings
- How to Install a Plugin
- My Favorite Plugins
- How to Get & Optimize a Feedburner Feed
- How to Choose a WordPress Theme
- How to Install a WordPress Theme
- Elegant Themes for WordPress
- How to Install Google Analytics
- How to Use WordPress: Tips & Tricks
- How to Start a Blog or Website: 10 Tips for New Bloggers
These are great suggestions! I'm really enjoying your series so far & I'm so happy you are feeling better. I wish I would have taken the time to write at least 10 posts before I "launched" my blog. There are still a few basic posts I need to turn out & I keep procrastinating on getting them done. Who knew blogging would be a full-time job?!
These are great tips for beginners and even vets. The write 10 post tip is a great idea and something I regularly aim for. I love to keep a few back up post in my drafts for when I can't seem to gather any content.
Great advice! Even an experienced blogger can benefit from this task!
Amy – These tips are fabulous, whether a beginner or not.
I write a TON of how-to posts and use a lot of bullets. I personally like to be able to scan a post. Paragraph upon paragraph instantly makes me click away. So I find lists and bullets extremely helpful in making a how-to post more readable.
My blog is barely 4 months old, and my only wish is that I'd had all of your fabulous tips then! This might be my favorite one of yours yet – to have 10 posts written. You're right in that there are so many behind the scenes things you need to tackle and it's helpful to have some content already under your belt.
Come the advice comin'! Love it!
-Lauren
(Glad you're feeling better
)
Excellent tips that I needed! I've bookmarked it. Thanks!
thanks so much!! I'm heading to begin writing my 10 posts now!
okay, I have a silly yet basic question.
How do I change the size of my font? I cannot figure that out anywhere. I would like to do headings, etc. but I can't find a way to change my font or font size or font color. What am I missing? I have taken to writing my posts in a different program, open office, and then copying it into wordpress, but it doesn't always copy exactly. Not sure why. But I am sure there is an easier way.
Staci
This might help.
That's awesome!
Wow that kitchen sink button, sure gives a lot more options, and will save me tons of time. Thanks
I'm jumping back into blogging after having an insanely busy summer. Your suggestions have re-energized me! Thank you so much!
Oooooo…. this is going to help me so much, thanks!!
What a great idea! I have a list of potential blog topics, but I never thought about going ahead and fleshing them out into posts. That will definitely be my next project!
Here's my tip for writing – write about something that's unique to you. I lived in a tipi when I was little – I try to use that unique fact to draw people into my blog, in which, among other things, I am writing about how my family left the city and homesteaded when I was a teenager.
Great tips. I am sooo glad I found your blog and sincerely wish I had found your blog sooner! I will definitely be telling my readers about your awesome advice.
I did almost exactly this before I opened my blog. I wrote at least four posts and jotted down other ideas. I've got a whole week's worth of posts planned now. They are not all streamlined as far as the topics go. I guess I'm still trying to see what works and what doesn't.
I've been reading your blog start up tutorials series (and wishing 'd read them before choosing my long and hard- to -remember blog name- yikes!) I haven't attempted anything beyond personal friends/family exposure, but I want my blog to be readable and easy to navigate. I'm trying to figure out what blogging tips are good for non-money making blogs. I wrote several blog series (as pillars) and I'm wondering how many posts should be in a series? Have you written about that? Is there a good amount? What is too many?
Good question. I'm not sure there's a hard and fast rule. I say experiment!
Do you think it is OK to have external links in your blog. For example, I'm writing about cloth diapers and there are several external links I want to put in there. Is this an opportunity to make those links an affiliate?
Thanks!
Absolutely!
Thanks for the great tips. I have been blogging for a little while now, but am still eager to learn more about it.
You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by, Deborah.
Amy you have so much valuable information on your site. I am gald I have come across your site. I have spent a lot of time in various classes and money trying to pull it all together. Thank you for your time and sharing of your knowledge!!
Do you write in a word document and then cut and paste into WordPress? That's what I've been doing, but remember hearing somewhere that it messes up the site over time? Any suggestions?
I would love if you could message me back.
Thanks!
No, I write directly in my Dashboard. I've had frustrating formatting issues when pasting from Word.
Your site has been such a blessing this week, as I'm gearing up to get my blog up and running. So, first of all, thank you!
My question is this: In response to not cutting and pasting from a word document, where should I begin with my first 10 posts? I haven't started the blog yet, so I don't know how to write in Dashboard. I'm afraid to write in Word and risk having formatting issues when I try to post to my blog. Suggestions?
If I'm not writing directly into my Dashboard, I just use a basic text editor (TextEdit on my Mac. If you're on Windows, something like Notepad would be comparable.) Don't be afraid to write in Word (sorry, didn't mean to scare you!
). There is a special "Paste from Word" option in your Kitchen Sink (although it never seems to work smoothly for me).The other option if you are a Windows user is to use LiveWriter. A lot of bloggers do that and love it (I don't because I'm on a Mac user and it's not available for Mac).
Amy,
I love your website. Thank you very much for posting all this material for us to read! I have just one more of a suggestion and maybe it is just me: I ve tried to read your "How to Blog for Income" which is set up in a chronological order but when I started reading it, I could not find any "next post in a series" ot the like at the bottom, so I ended up with openning it in a separate window and than clicking "Open in a new tab" cause at certain point the chronological order got messes up. Again this is no big deal but some people may get discouraged to put effort in organizing it together.
Excellent feedback, Julia! I'm so glad you took the time to write. I will definitely be updating and making the navigation easier. Thanks again!
@Julia..I'm having the same problem, I keep having to go back to How to Start a Blog, which I've bookmarked. A "next page" button, or link to the next topic would be helpful. Look Amy, I've learned something about setting up navigation already!
I'm really enjoying, and learning from this series, thank you so much!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Jean
I am just getting started (like yesterday!) and am so thankful for all of your tips. I have a ton of ideas reeling in my mind and now I think I will go and write them out so I can have them ready when I feel that my site is up to snuff. Thanks again
Congrats, Jen! Glad you stopped by.
Hi, Amy! Thanks for your detailed information! I have been throwing around the idea of starting my own blog and this is just what I needed to get me started. Thank you for all of your hard work!
You're welcome. I hope it's a great experience for you!
Hi Amy
I hired a person to build me my blog, I found him at (elance) web, he did a WordPress template : Elegant E photos. He did the blog after I paid $200, but the blog came named E photos, instead my blog's name, I am asking him to take it off from my blog first page (main page), he said he will charge more $50, my question is: can I do it by myself ? How?
Thank you
Tina
Thank you, I am learning so much!
Great article. But how do I link INTERNALLY to my posts?
Thanks.
What I recommend is to link within your posts to your other posts that are relevant. For example, my How to Start a Blog page is full of links that simply lead to other pages on my site. Once I had the text in there, I highlighted the bit I wanted to be the link. Then I clicked the link icon (looks like a chain link) at the top of the post window. A new window pops up into which you can paste the URL. I hope that helps!
Of course! I want making it too difficult. Imagine that!
Thank you. Have a great weekend.
You are so awesome. Thank you for all your help. Every question I had someone else asked and you answered it in the comments.
Amy, I so appreciate all the time you put into making these posts for us. I have wanted to start a blog for two years. I have spent money on programs out there to learn how to set up my blog, but I always get stuck and so much of what they tell me is very vague. I just want someone to hold my hand and walk me through this. You are an answer to prayer. You explain things so well. I am determined to stick this out and work on each step you show us. You are helping to give me courage and get unstuck. Thanks.
So glad it's helpful, Kelly. I know exactly where you are at because I was there too. I'm so happy the stuff I learned is making it easier for someone else! All the best.
I am using Live Writer and love it! It keeps me offline and focused-two things I need more of in order to approach this blogging venture with a clean conscience this time around!