January 02, 2007

Writing Good Blog Posts

One of the most difficult aspects of blogging for business is continuously crafting posts that are relevant and valuable to readers. Providing good content that upholds the integrity of a brand is challenging; however, this could be the distinguishing factor between one business and another.

Twelve Horses takes its clients through the entire process of blogging from strategy to design and implementation to best practices. At the end, we let the client loose to post, and inevitably they need a certain amount of direction in regards to what constitutes a good post vs a bad post.

This is understandable. Before launching an external blog, Twelve Horses practiced the art of blogging with an internal blog long before interacting with the outside world. We are not perfect, but we’ve had some practice.

Here are a few tips:

• Consider your subject line carefully.
  • Will it entice someone to read your post?
  • Does it resonate with the reader?
  • Does it correspond with the actual post?
  • Does it describe a topic that someone might search upon?
• Write in short, distinct paragraphs.
  • A large body of text is quick to inspire boredom.
  • White space is good.
  • Say more with less.
• Do not blog for the sake of blogging.
  • If you cannot provide something of value then do not post.
  • Respect your readers by providing useful information and they will return again and again.
• Tone
  • In a conversation, a person can tell when you are disinterested with what you or they are saying. The same goes for a blog post.
  • Only write when you are in a positive mood.
• Style
• While blogging does offer the ability for a writer to practice a more informal style, posts should not appear incongruous.
• Use proper grammar to the best of your abilities.
• Approach your posts with the attitude that nothing your company produces should ever be considered sloppy.
• Do not blog in a vacuum.
• Blogging is about interacting with others, which means linking, citing, and continuing conversations.
• You will make it much more difficult to generate increasing traffic to your blog if you do not read other people’s blogs, as well as link to them.
• Have Fun
  • While blogging is a distinct strategy for businesses, it can also be quite fun.
  • Your enjoyment in sharing information and interacting with the outside world will shine through and people will respond positively.
  • Approach blogging with the attitude that it will take you and your company to the next level, because it can and will if you do it right.

Blog On!

tags: blogging for business

Posted in Blog, Relationships, Social