Blog content and structure: A quick check list

Last week was probably one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had; total miles travelled 1434! I met a some great people for the first time, ran a couple of CMS (content mangement systems) training courses plus had a couple of fantastic lunches to boot

Strangely, two questions that kept coming up were ‘how do I come up with ideas for my blog?’ and ‘how do I structure a blog so it makes sense?’ So, I thought that it might be worth writing a quick blog about it…

Blog Content
I mainly get ideas for my blogs from questions or topics that come up in conversations I have with people I meet – online and offline. I then put them into my iPhone as ‘Possible Blog Topics’ that I can refer to when I come to write. But I also blog about personal experiences e.g. British Gas and British Telecom , businesses that do it right and personal things that happen in my life like the birth of my God Daughter – Cameron. However, when I do blog about personal stuff I try and relate it back to my main blog topics…

Although there are many sites that say to blog often, I think the main thing to remember is that when you blog make sure it’s meaningful…not just waffle or blogging just for the sake of putting content up…

But let me know if you think differently…

Structure your Blog
English has never been my strong point, as anyone who’s known me for some time will tell you – we all have weaknesses right? – but I structure my blog following a system that I learnt as a scuba diving instructor – with some modifications! I know that may sound a little strange but it’s a simple system that makes complete sense – well to me it does but see what you think and let me know your thoughts in the comments section…

Blog Title
Keep it to 100 characters or less. That way, if you use Twitter, there’s room for the link to it from your Tweet (twitter post) plus it allows enough room to be re-tweeted (re-posted) by other people – without the need for it to be heavely edited!

Main Point
Because not everyone will understand jargon or technical terms think about creating an analogy so that people understand what you’re aiming at right off the bat.

Secondary Points (if applicable)
If you have any other points that you want to raise make sure that they are related to the Main Point of your Blog; other wise readers may get confused. If they are not related to the Main Point, consider using them for another Blog…

Search Terms/Phrases
Check to see if your blog content is relevant to any search terms being searched for. If it is, include the keyword or key phrase in your Blog Title and variances for a couple of your sub headings and no more than 3 other times in your post! (Google have a free keyword tool that is pretty useful)

Sub-Headings
When I write long blog posts – rightly or wrongly – I generally just dump everything out of my head into a Word doc, trying not to think about order or structure etc. However, when I’m done I group the sentences/paragraphs into a logical order and give them sub headings so that it’s easier for the reader to follow. Before posting I try to get a couple of people to let me know if it the order makes sense and it flows…

Blog Images
I like to use jokes relating to my blog content – just lighten the mood a bit(!) There are numerous sites that will allow you to use images in your posts – but you’ll need to check with them on how they want to be credited e.g. if you have to embed (create a link) the image in your post or host the image on your server. I use Flickr for some images as you’re allowed to use them under a Creative Commons License. So if you’re stuck for an image I’d start there… but remember to add a link to it’s source at the bottom of your post.

Resources/Links
If you’ve seen something that has sparked blog inspiration e.g. other blogs, bloggers, news articles etc. then include a link back to it within your post. This is particulary good for driving traffic to your site, plus it adds a little kudos as well…

Call to Action
As I said earlier, I blog about things that generally come up in conversation – when I have face-to-face encounters. So blogging for me is trying to carry on those conversations. In order to do that I’ve found that asking questions within my posts and at the end tends to get a response; either through comments or people re-teeting my blog. But don’t be disheartened if you don’t get many blog comments, re-tweets etc. as many people are ‘spectators – they just read your blog and don’t say what they thought of it…

If you ask for comments be prepared to be challenged, after all, you’re writing from a subjective point of view. If you have been challeneged, don’t take it as criticism, see it as a critique then thank them for their thoughts and try to understand it from their perspective…

So, has this post helped? Or was it more of a ‘Grandmother and eggs’ situation? Let me know how you write your blogs and what you do if you get writers block… What do you do for blog inspiration and how many times a week do you blog…

Is that enough ‘call to actions?’ Let’s see

As always, happy to be challenged and educated …

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Tagged as: blogging, content structure, inspiration