As a member of the SeaWorld Wildsiders, during the month of June, I had the opportunity to attend Adventurecon at SeaWorld San Antonio. During the two-day conference, I learned so much about creating better blog posts and I wanted to give you the cliff notes of what I learned while I was there.
- When writing, give more specific facts. When blog posts are too vague, the reader may have a hard time reading or understanding your post and therefore leaving before finishing the article.
- Make your post more personal. Enhance your post by adding personal experiences, personal thoughts and even personal reactions.
- Replace boring words with words that are more interesting or compelling.
- Within the first couple of sentences in your blog post, tell your readers why they should keep reading. If they get bored or your post seems uninteresting, they’ll leave and obviously that isn’t why we write.
- Don’t forget to include a call to action within your post. Include a short sentence or two that informs the reader the reason you are posting on the topic and you could even include what’s in it for them if they keep reading.
- Create sentences that are web-friendly and effective. Sentences should be no longer than 20-25 words. Writing for the web is much different than writing for paper and the same rules do not apply.
- Keep paragraphs short and simple. When you have too many words and sentences grouped together, the eye loses focus and the reader becomes uninterested.
- Use subheads to help people find information that is relevant to them. You also need to keep search engine optimization in mind when creating your subheads.
- Use effective hyperlinks. My personal opinion is that a hyperlink should be no longer than two-three words. I’m not sure what a professional opinion would be, but when I’m searching for something online, at most I search for three words. When creating your hyperlinks, think about what you would search to find the page you are hyperlinking to.
- Be specific when you are referring to time frames, amounts, colors, locations, dimensions, distances, numbers and names. Also, be specific with how something affected your senses, how it surprised you and what emotions it created. Readers like to read personal stories, so be as personal and specific as the topic allows.
These tips are obviously just my interpretation of the information given to attendees of Adventurecon. I’m not an expert by any means, just trying to make my blog better for the both of us.
Do you have any tips you’d like to share for a writing a better blog post?
Connie - Seattle Mom Blogger says
Great tips! I tend to wander off in my posts.
A Time Out for Mommy- Elaina says
These are great tips!
Whitney at It's Gravy, Baby! says
Awesome post! I try to keep all of these things in mind, but a reminder never hurts. Thanks for sharing!
Nichol says
Awesome post. I tend to go on and on because I can’t stop lol so add photos between those long paragraphs to make them shorter!
Lindsay says
Great reminders and tips! Someone once told me that my paragraphs tend to go long, so that is now on the top of my list when I proof-read a post.
Karmen says
muchas gracias! enjoyed your post..come on over to Blessings Beyond the Barnyard.I would love any further suggestions you may have to offer..I am a newbie
http://keosmith7.blogspot.com/
thanks
Lessons Of A Dad says
We all need to be reminded of these from time to time, especially since we sometimes get swept up by the blogging rush that we can post haphazard posts.. Great article!
The Mommist says
Awesome tips Crystal! So kind of you to share. These are all very helpful. Making mental notes right now. Thanks! 🙂
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
I think it’s great to always have a photo in there too. Too much text is intimidating without one.
Tammy says
Great tips. I agree about having a picture in your post, too.
Penelope (NYC Blogger) says
These are great tips! I don’t really know much about “Call To Actions” or how to use them, so maybe this is something I should research to be more effective myself.
Kasandria says
Great tips! It’s always nice to hear what other people think and want to read.
Kas
MomStart (Ashley) says
Great tips! Keeping it short is a BATTLE for me! =)
Billie says
Great tips, thanks for sharing.
HilLesha says
Great tips!
Theresa says
Great tips! Thank you so much for sharing!
Marcie W. says
These are all wonderful tips! Can I add make sure to spell check? Some of the posts I read around the web are unbelievable.
Bre says
Great tips! I have tried to end post with questions to encourage comments. Sometimes I do tend to run on with paragraphs and try to break them up witha picture.
Toni says
These are great tips. I try to do most of them myself 🙂
HilLesha says
I love all of these tips!
Emily @FamilyNLifeLV says
Sounds like a great conference with some great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Courtney says
Such great tips!
Stefanie says
LOL– what’s a boring word? I use the same adjectives all the time.
Ty @ Mama of 3 Munchkins says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Kait says
I really like these tips. Anything to,help me become a stronger blogger is what I love!