Help with better posting?
Why is that some posts with really good content don’t get read?
1 Your Posts are TOO Long
Have a look at this post I did a few days ago.
Two words. Information Overload.
I was really excited to do this post actually. It took me about 3 hours to do this. I gathered all the interesting quotes on blogging, organized them. Then I had this great idea of putting them down as a virtual interview. Any blogger would be interested in reading that, right?
Wrong!
Who has time to read all that? It doesn’t look anything like a blog post, but more like a report!
I got carried away and forgot the most important (unwritten) rule for writing a great blog post – one that actually gets read. It needs to be short and sweet. It should not read like a book chapter.
Which sounds more appealing to you?
4 things you can easily do to start publishing with wordpress
42 things you can easily do to start publishing with wordpress
I am guessing most people would quickly click and read the first one. Assuming the writer doesn’t ramble too long, it should take a few minutes to read it.
What would you do for the second post. Two things If you are interested in the topic, you might bookmark it to read later when you ‘have time’. Or worse, make a mental note of coming back to it. No points for guessing how many actually manage to keep that promise.
With me so far? Some people strongly suggest making one point per post. I think you can do a few, provided you don’t go overboard with the sub-points you are making.
Secondly, if you think you have lots to say, split your post in few. This keeps the readers happy and also keep them coming back. Happiness all around.:)
2 Your Headlines do NOT Say Anything about the Post
Headlines are extremely important for a success of a post. You might have spent hours working on a post but if the headline does not alert the reader to what is coming, it simply won’t get read.
One of my post has always been very popular. It always gets many clicks every single day. I suspect the reason adding to the clicks could be the headline?
8 Things you did not know about Pakistani Food. 
What do you reckon?
Now look at this one.
Just some book for thought. Ouch!
Bad Bad headline.
Could I be any more obscure? What was I thinking? Would you be inclined to click on a post titled as above? Do you think any of these options might have worked better? (Right off the top of my head)
Perfect gift for someone who should write their life story
Writing an autobiography. An easy guide that motivates you to do just that!
3 Your posts are Not Scannable
When I first started blogging, I would write in the usual way, you know, writing in paragraphs. That’s what our English teacher told us to do and even as adults we don’t dare breaking this rule.
Well blog writing is different and your posts should be screen friendly – if you want people reading them that is.
- Break up your writing into smaller paragraphs than you usually would. One line is acceptable as a paragraph in blog world.
- Add headings, bullet points, and bold important bits that you want to attract attention to.
- Make lists.
All of these make your post easy on the eyes.
So after saying all that, what do you think makes a post really appealing? Are you doing anything differently to when you started blogging? Have you made any changes to your writing style?
Subscribe to join my hobby bloggers club – even if you are writing for pleasure, doesn’t mean you can’t be good at it. :)
I changed house, bought new furniture along the way and topped it of with a new SUV a few days ago.
1. I am fine tuning an idea for a niche. I am going to polish it, add few posts with the underlying theme and see how the readers like it.
6. I am going to look at more widgets to add to my blog.
