Developing a professional writing style is critical if you’re serious about making money from blogging. You can get so far by posting free flowing articles that discuss subjects in a conversational manner. Many such blogs are popular, but if you look at the really successful bloggers, they all use a distinct writing style.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to develop a professional writing style that can be used for blogging:
Introduce topic
In your first paragraph, introduce the subject. Tell the reader what you’re going to talk about and why they should continue to read the article. Give them a reason to read onwards. Emphasize your credentials, expertise, or research you’ve performed on the subject – you want to establish some rapport with the reader. Quickly!
Use headings
Avoid writing long blocks of text. Break your article into several chucks (i.e. units) of text. Give each chunk a heading. This helps the reader scan the article and zoom in on the sections they’re interested in. Web readers like to scan. So, write to be scanned!
Short sentences
Don’t write as you speak! Use short sentences that drive the reader forward. Talk to the reader as though you were explaining something to a good friend! Help the reader understand the subject better than before they visited your blog. Don’t show off. Remove affected or pretentious sounding words. No-one uses these in the real world. Use key words where necessary (if you want to attract search engines) but avoid writing in a ‘search-engine friendly’ style. Automated robots might like it but humans won’t!
List key points
Use lists to break up long paragraphs. If necessary, number the items in the list, especially if they signify levels of importance. Lists are another way to help readers scan text. Keep them short. One line max.
Add graphics
Balance the text to graphics ratio by using images, diagrams, screenshots to compliment the narrative. Don’t add images just for the sake of it. Use something that emphasizes the main points. If possible, keep the image colors in line with your blog’s color scheme. Remember that search engines index images. For this reason, use keywords when naming your images. Instead of 123.gif, name it google-gmail-screenshot.gif
Direct user to next article
When the reader gets to the end of your article, they should NEVER have this thought, “Where do I go next?”
Direct the reader to the next website that will interest them. This is a type of ‘customer service’ to the reader. You’re helping them enjoy their online web experience. Readers, being human, will appreciate this.
And No, don’t link only to your own blog. If your blog is good enough, they’ll bookmark it and return.
Golden rule
Always write with the reader’s interests in mind. Once you get this right, the rest falls into place.
About the Author: Read more from Gerry McGovern at www.gerrymcgovern.com
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