Interested in joining the world of blogging? Starting a blog is a great way to share news with friends and family, share your knowledge with the world, or advertise your writing skills for a professional use. In order for readers to want to return to your blog, you must write expressively and regularly. Read this guide to find out how to write a blog.
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Method 1 of 3: Practicing Style and Voice
Step 1. Choose a genre
If you want to attract readers other than friends and family, it's a good idea to choose a genre for your blog, even if the genre is very broad. Building an image of yourself as a person who has interesting opinions on certain topics will attract people with similar interests to return to your blog. What is something that interests you that prompted you to write about it? People blog about just about anything in the world, like food, family, cars, work, doomsday, and how to garden. Think about your life priorities and decide what genre is right for your blog.
- Even if you want to blog about food or clothing, for example, that doesn't mean that your writing has to be solely about those topics. You could be a food blogger who also writes about life as a single parent, or a sports blog writer who occasionally writes about politics.
- Read blogs of the same genre to learn about existing communities on your chosen topic. Entering the world of blogging is similar to entering a conversation in a large group. What can you give? What is unique about your story?
Step 2. Write like a proficient writer
Great writing will sound confident and authoritative, no matter the topic. People who read your writing want to feel that they are learning something from you. Your blog will be interesting to read if you offer expert opinion on an issue, expert guidance on what to do, or expert information not available elsewhere.
- You don't need a doctorate to sound like an expert. Of course, you've mastered things, like your life. Of course, you also have tastes, experiences, and opinions. Everyone is good at something, and blogs are a great way to share knowledge with the world.
- Your ability must be seen from your writing style. Write a blog in assertive prose, rather than passive language. Support your statement with anecdotes, or research, if needed.
- Consider sharing your knowledge with readers in a creative way. You can write a funny story that many people can follow, share your knowledge of something you can easily do, review a musician or artist who needs a promotion, discuss how to calm a noisy kid in a restaurant … you can share a lot of things.
Step 3. Write as you speak
Unlike most other forms of traditional writing, blogs generally have a relaxed, fluid, and easy-to-understand style. When you're writing for a blog, it might help to think of your writing as a chat with your sibling or friend. Use the same tone in each of your posts, so your blog looks cohesive and represents who you are. Usually, readers of well-known blogs feel that they know the author of the blog. Once you find a style and way of writing that is friendly even to people you don't know, you've found the key to your blog's success.
- Many blog writers have "friendly" relationships with readers, but there are other forms of friendly relationships that promise success. For example, you can write like a teacher and your readers are students. Write inspirational words to keep readers coming back to your blog. Find a relationship that works for you.
- Using spoken vocabulary in writing can be difficult. If you're not sure how to speak your writing, try reading it aloud. Can you read the writing in a natural and friendly style, or does it feel stiff? If your writing feels stiff, read it again, then change the language and sentence structure of the writing to make it more fluid.
Step 4. Share detailed information
Actually, blogs are similar to reality shows on television. Like the best reality shows, the most interesting blogs are those with a lot of personal information that's still hot. If your blog is too formal and "silent," you may have a hard time getting readers back to your blog. Share your life story as much as you feel comfortable; You will develop reader trust and strengthen the relationships discussed in the previous steps.
- How much information should you share? We recommend that you share information like you would share with friends you already know well. Through this information, your personal and unique experiences will emerge.
- Know your limits, and don't cross them. You must have some details that you keep secret or only share with friends and family; it's not a problem! Once you've posted something online, you'll have a hard time retrieving it, so don't force yourself to step outside your personal safe zone.
Method 2 of 3: Designing the Format
Step 1. Have a topic
Each of your blog entries should have a topic, both broad and narrow, on which to base the entry. Sending unrelated sentences may be possible from time to time, but don't make each of your entries like a personal diary. Think of each of your entries as mini-essays; You must have a thesis sentence to continue the entry and make the entry interesting to read.
- The topic of your entry can be as obvious as "My Reaction When I Watched Wicked for the First Time," or it could be a light theme that links sentences in your entry unconsciously at the end of the entry. Be creative when drafting and presenting your ideas.
- Some blog writers often repeat topics that are often read. For example, you could create a weekly topic "Music Monday," where you can discuss new music.
Step 2. Create a catchy title
The title of your entry should be designed to quickly grab the reader's interest. Get creative when creating titles, and come up with titles that are funny, mysterious, beautiful, surprising, or very catchy. The title is the beginning of your entry and will help the reader decide whether or not to continue reading, so the title should definitely not be ignored.
Step 3. Write a short paragraph
Online writing has the characteristics of short paragraphs of no more than 3-4 sentences, sometimes even less. Your paragraphs should be separated by spaces, not indents. This writing style is more suitable for reading online, because the process of reading online is done from top to bottom, not side to side. You will lose readers if they have trouble scanning the page quickly.
Step 4. Use subtitles and bold words
Breaking up text with subtitles is a good way to prevent your writing from looking like a long, complicated essay. Subtitles are usually written in bold, larger, or a different typeface than the rest of the text to attract attention when the view is usually starting to shift. If you don't want to break up your writing into categories labeled with subtitles, consider bolding important sentences in some parts of your writing to make it easier to read.
- Another way to enhance your writing is to use different types of formats. Use bold or italics on certain words, experiment with different typefaces, and use different colors.
- This strategy can of course be overused, so make sure you don't. Make sure your writing remains easy to read; too many typefaces or colors can result in visual failure if you are not careful.
Step 5. Consider creating a list column or guide
Many blog writers include some guides or lists as part of their writing. Usually, this guide is written in bold at each step. Items on a list can also be substituted for subtitles to break up text to make it more interesting.
- If you include a guide column, make sure the guide you write is easy to follow and fun. Don't write in manual style; write a guide with your writing style.
- Lists are a good way to organize different looking ideas. You could write a list like "5 Ways to Prepare for the New Year," for example, and write down 5 funny anecdotes about what you're thinking about as the end of the year approaches. This way, you've created a structure for your post. Without this structure, your writing will just end up as fragments of a story without a clear connection.
Step 6. Use the link
Some authors use multiple links, but most authors include a sufficient number of links in each of their posts. Linking to other articles is a hallmark of online writing, and is a great way to connect your blog to the world. Linking also makes your posts look more relevant and up-to-date -- a big bonus when you attract the attention of readers who check your bog because they want to be up to date on a particular topic.
- Post links on other blogs. The blog author will also start posting a link on your blog, and you can share visitors with them.
- Post links to interesting things that may not be seen by many people. Readers will start coming to your blog to find information they can't find anywhere else.
Step 7. Don't forget to insert an image
Some authors use 8 images for a single post, and other authors use only one image (or none at all). You're free to use or forget images, but it's a good idea to experiment with images to see if they increase visitor traffic or make your blog more interesting. However, remember to follow the same rules as authorship: use relevant photos, offer something unique, and provide personal information if deemed appropriate.
- You don't need to use professional quality photos on your blog; a photo from a camera phone is also sufficient in most cases.
- If you're starting a blog about food or something else that fits better with images, consider buying a good camera and learning how to edit images for web use.
Method 3 of 3: Engaging Readers
Step 1. Update your blog regularly
Blogs now compete with a lot of other content on the web; Therefore, it is very important to keep the content fresh so that readers keep coming back to your blog. If you are not diligent in updating the content, your blog will certainly be quickly forgotten. Keep your blog visited by readers by updating the blog at least once a week. More frequent updates would be ideal.
- When you're having trouble writing well, remember that not all writing has to be quality and great ideas. You can update your blog several times a week with shorter posts and thoughts, just to keep your blog from being forgotten.
- Updating your blog regularly is very important when you are starting a blog for the first time and want to build a reader base. As you become more and more popular, your blog will not be easily forgotten just because you don't update your blog for 1-2 weeks.
- Submitting a "favorite" set of links is a good way to post entries without writing a post. Consider sending a collection of links that inspire you every weekend, for example.
Step 2. Encourage readers to comment
The beauty of online writing is that readers can have live conversations. You will know the image of your blog in the eyes of readers, because they will tell you in the comments column. This participation should be encouraged, because readers will feel welcome in your blog community, and make readers feel close to your blog. Readers will share your blog with others.
- One way to ask for comments is to ask questions about your writing. For example, you could end your post about your vacation with the question "Where is your favorite vacation spot?". When readers are invited to participate, they generally want to.
- Be prepared to receive some scathing or negative comments once in a while. Try not to be offended when you receive it; all blog writers that can be read by an audience other than friends or family can receive the occasional scathing commentary. You can choose to delete or ignore the comment.
Step 3. Reply to comments, emails, and tweets
When you start a blog, setting aside time to converse with your readers will help you develop a loyal readership by increasing the reader's sense of attachment to you. At the end of the day, you won't be able to reply to all comments or emails, but taking a little time to reply will pay off in the future.
Step 4. Pay attention to your readers
If a certain topic or writing style seems to be reducing response or visitors, try something new next. You don't always have to go with the flow of readers, but if you don't offer something that readers will love, your blog will be forgotten.
