“How to Format Blog Posts Effectively” plus 1 more

Posted: 31 May 2011 06:04 AM PDT

“Beyond writing good quality content, how can I format my posts so that they communicate more effectively?”

I was asked the above question by a reader earlier today on Twitter and shot them back a series of DMs with the following suggestions that I thought might interest others (I’ve expanded them here).

Image by Kailash Gyawali

Of course, as the question implies, the most powerful communication strategy for bloggers is quality of writing—but beyond that, here are a few things I’ve found helpful over the last nine years of blogging.

1. Your blog post titles are everything

Okay, they’re not everything, but they’re often the main thing people look at to decide whether they’ll read your post. So take time to hone them.

Use a title that grabs people’s interest, but also leads them into what you want to talk about. You don’t want to grab interest with a sensational post title that has little to do with what the post is actually about.

2. When writing longer titles…

I generally try to make my blog post titles reasonably short. They seem to have more impact, and they’re easier to share on the social web.

However, sometimes a longer title is necessary. If you’re using one of those, make the first words in the headline get straight to the point. The first words in a headline seem to be the ones that have the most punch—choose them wisely.

3. Use short, punchy paragraphs

One of the main edits that I do on guest posts submitted to dPS is to simply break up long paragraphs.

Large slabs of text are unattractive to those reading online, so break it down!

4. Use images liberally

Similarly, a whole page that is just text tends to be a turn off to many readers.

Adding a visually appealing image to the top of a post will grab attention and draw people in.

Using images throughout longer posts will also draw the eye of your readers down the page and keep them engaged.

Larger images are said to be good. One study I heard about recently found that bigger images draw people to look at them for longer—keeping people engaged.

5. Faces can also draw attention

Faces in images also tend to hold people’s gazes for longer.

As humans, we’re wired to connect with others’ faces, so using them in a post seems to grab attention, draw people in, and hold their attention a little longer.

I’ve particularly found this to be true on Digital Photography School, where we regularly feature portrait images.

You may not be able to use faces in every post you do, but keep the principle in mind and test it for yourself.

6. Break up posts with subheadings

Those viewing of your site will often scan your content when they arrive on your page to find out if it is relevant to them.

So if you have some main points, highlight them with sub headings.

Your sub headings should give a snapshot of what your post is about, but also draw people into reading it.

One effective technique with sub headings is to only say half a sentence or phrase in them. I’ve done this in points #3 and #7 in this post. By doing so, you signal what that section is about without giving away everything—you give people a reason to stop and read.

When looking at a design or theme for your blog, try to make sure that whoever designs it has good options for heading tags. I use h2 and h3 tags pretty regularly in my posts (it can also be advantageous for SEO).

7. Lists: we love to hate them, but…

Many bloggers are obsessed by list-type posts and, as a result, others look down at them.

However, they’re very very effective in terms of bringing in readers and communication effectiveness. You probably don’t want to use them in every post, but don’t write them off completely.

Further Reading: 8 Reasons why Lists are Good for Getting Traffic to your Blog.

8. Use formatting to your advantage

Make your blog posts a little more visual but breaking up your text visually with formatting changes.

You can go over the top with this but using basic formatting like bolding and italicising words can draw the eye to your key points effectively.

Similarly using blockquotes or some kind of call-out box for key sections of your article can draw people to important parts of what you’re communicating.

9. Call people to do something

If you want to be “effective” as a blogger, you must have some goal in mind for what you want your readers to do.

If this is the case, it is important to actually call your readers to do that in some way through your article.

The call to action might be anything—it could be to apply what you’re writing about in your own life, to go away and do a little homework, to react to the post in comments, to share the post with someone else… but the key is to actually invite your reader to do these things, rather than just assume that they will.

What would you add?

I’d love to hear your advice to a blogger wanting to improve the effectiveness of communication through the way that they format and design their blog posts.

What has worked for you?
Do you apply any of the above principles, or have you found other styles and approaches to work better for you?
Lastly, feel free to share a link to a blog post that you or someone else has written that you think is styled effectively.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Format Blog Posts Effectively

Experiment Your Way to Blogging Success

Posted: 31 May 2011 06:02 AM PDT

This guest post is by Stephen Guise of Deep Existence.

Forming an emotional attachment to any component of your website is dangerous and unwise. Did you know that the smallest changes can have a massive impact on your results? Human psychology is very sensitive to minute details—this means that your visitors are picky!

If you don’t believe small details can make a difference, you probably haven’t heard about split testing. Briefly, split testing allows you to split your traffic towards two landing pages with only slight differences, and then analyze the results. Taking a look at some of the published results of split testing should be all the motivation you need to start experimenting.

Trying new things

Since fine-tuning our blogs can make such a difference, we have to experiment to see what works. What if we were so happy with cars and boats that we didn't consider flying? Thanks to the Wright brothers, we now have the airplane.

But why would we stop at flying? Next up might be teleportation—and you’ll likely laugh at the idea of teleportation, but is it much more absurd than a 1.41 million-pound machine flying around? I hope we can reassemble the molecules of people after they teleport. Maybe we should try sending a bagel through first?

Header tweaking

I do practice what I preach. I've made more modifications to my website in two months than some people make in years. It has paid off as I have finally found a design that I'm very happy with. Improvements can still be made. Here is my header image evolution. I have spent dozens of hours on this one aspect.

Note: Some of the following header images are moderately to terribly embarrassing, but I’ll do anything to prove a point.

My first header ... was awful

I upgraded the acorn so it wasn't a pixelated mess

I scrapped the acorn and went with a smart squirrel (Samuel)

I ditched the squirrel and nuts for good. I thought this shadow effect was cool, but it was a failure

I wanted to simplify everything and have a nice sunset background

My current header. I think it looks very nice and professional with my menu in it

So my current header image is 1.41 million times better than the previous ones. You’re actually looking at hundreds of changes big and small (not all headers were included here). It took a great deal of experimenting to get a header image that I love. Maybe you love your design already or had it professionally done. Good news! This applies to everything in blogging—traffic building, SEO practices, content, and style.

It is important to mix up your writing content and style enough to be able to home in on what your readers want. Writing about the same things in the same way is a great way to bore your readers. You might be writing the wrong things anyways. Are you a brilliant fiction writer only writing non-fiction material? To find that out, you’ve got to experiment.

Experiment and win!

Success win:I run a personal development blog that focuses on deep thinking for positive life change. I wrote about an incident I had at the beach with a freaking stupid, cute little puffer fish. I had reservations because it had nothing to do with personal development, but I thought the story was too funny not to share and wanted to see what happened. My readers loved it.
Failure win: It isn’t all ~~guns and~~ roses! I wrote an article on analyzing 10 step articles a couple months ago and I’m still waiting to hear how the readers liked it. So I learned a lot about what my audience is not interested in by trying something new. That is just as valuable as finding out what they like.

In writing this article, I am experimenting with a new writing technique. I habitually tend to examine my writing very carefully as I write it and try to make it nice the first time through. I’ve heard and read that it is best to write the rough draft quickly and come back and edit it later—so I’m trying this. (Update: I think I like this new method more. What is your writing process?)

Final Experimenting Advice

Scared about ruining your website somehow? Run a backup first.
Worried about regretting an experimental post? One blog post will not make or break you (unless it goes viral?) and you have control over that delete button.

Like in scientific experiments, it is helpful—but not always pragmatic—to have independent and dependent variables. Your independent variable is what you’re experimenting with (e.g. header image). Your dependent variable is what you’re observing for material change (e.g. bounce rate, subscriptions, etc.).

Many of us will naturally resist experimentation because it is unfamiliar. To overcome this fear, I’ve found success with forceful action—making myself experiment. When you see positive results from your experiments, you’ll be encouraged to do it more. The unfamiliar is not something to fear.

Albert Einstein (or Rita Mae Brown) famously said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Do you really think you’re going to get lucky and have your blog appear on CNN for a 10,000% increase in traffic by doing the same things? Don’t be insane—experiment instead. The unfamiliar holds the greatest potential for improvement.

(CNN, I know you’re reading this…pick me!)

Text by Stephen Guise. One evening a young shepherd saw a group of wise men gathered in a nearby field. They were all using their laptops, naturally. He walked over and asked them what they were doing. The man with the whitest beard said: “We’re subscribing to Deep Existence, where deep thinking is in style.” The shepherd was amazed.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Experiment Your Way to Blogging Success