Writing a Blog: 10 Tips to Get Started

When I talk about blogs at a business audience, I get flinty-eyed looks and shrugs. When I add that I think in five years there won’t be any websites as we know them, the world will have converted to blogs, I start to get questions.

Here are some simple tips to help you write a good blog.

1. Use a blog host; it’s easier than to build a blog into your website. A blog host is a company like Blogger, Typepad, or WordPress that lets you create a blog separately from your website. (I’ve listed three. There are many more.) You concentrate on the writing, the blog host concentrates on the formatting, publication and getting you read through RSS feeds.

2. Make it easy for your readers. Choose a blog host that’s easy for you to work with so you can make it easy for your readers to find topics they want to read about. I like WordPress, although I started with Typepad. Some charge, some are free. “Free” is not why I moved to WordPress. I like the choices I get with WordPress. I could help my readers find what they wanted. In addition to a search engine (for topics or words), searching by the ‘most popular posts’ and ‘most recent posts’ as well as by date makes it easy for readers to find what they are interested in. And of course, there are tags and tategories.

3. Have a goal for your blog. Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Vent your spleen? Write on a focused topic? Develop a daily writing, video or photo practice? Having a clear goal helps you know what to post and what to put in a “save for later” file.

4. Post regularly. Your blog has a built-in ping. That means every time you post, it notifies the search engines. The more you post, the more your site gets updated on search engines. A good rule of thumb is to post three times a week.

5. Use images. People like to see an image when they get to a post. A post that is long and dense makes readers skim and miss your meaning. Images provide emotional connection and impact on a blog. Most blogs make posting images from your digital camera or scans very easy.

6. Name your images. When you give your images a title (there is a place for one on WordPress when you upload the image) your title is available for searching, too. Skipping the title, using a number or just calling it “image,” “chart,” or “graph,” doesn’t get searched for as often.

7. Get to the point. Blog rants of 10,000 words aren’t as powerful as 200-300 well-chosen words. Sure, you can write long blog posts, but keep track and see what your readers prefer.

8. Your blog is not private. Even if you password protect it, it will leak into some search engine. If you want to write down your secret, dark, unuttered thoughts, use pencil and paper and lock them in a safe. What goes on your blog may wind up in your employee folder. Don’t want it there? Don’t run it.

9. Say what you mean. Or not. Once you start a blog and it goes out over feeds, your opinion is there for all to see. Sometimes that’s fine. But consider the future: would you want a potential employer to know all this about you? A potential friend? Your mom? Your date (before s/he falls madly in love with you?) If you are going to strip naked (figuratively or literally) in front of the world, you might want to use a pen name. Yes, you are entitled to your opinions. I’m a big believer in the First Amendment. But your potential boss, lover, date, or mother-in-law is also trolling your opinons. There are consequences. It’s good to remember that before you write.

10. Don’t get even. Recently broke up? Angry at your roommate? Don’t dump it all out on your blog. It might feel good for a few minutes or a whole day, but then there is the cleanup. It’s hard to pull back opinions. You might get back together, and then you’ll have ’splainin’ to do, Lucy. And a big, loud, angry rant about someone’s faults often says more about you, your tolerance, your inability to deal well with your anger and your issues than about the person you are writing about.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer, blogger and certified creativity coach. She runs training programs and seminars in writing, presentation skills and journaling. See her work at QuinnCreative.com