The Art of Blogging: Content
Posted: July 24th, 2009 | Author: Kornelije Sajler | Filed under: Empty words | Tags: Blogging, WordPress | 2 Comments »You might asking how come someone very interested in programming and its technologies haven’t write any code yet. Short answer that I am determined to learn more about blogging before I start to blog and I want to set up at least minimal environment for my blog.
Now you can’t ask, why do you then blog about blogging. It make no sense, first learn it, then write blog. Hmm, … I don’t have any right or good answer for this question, maybe I am crafting my skills with blogging, and while I learn more about blogging, i also blog about it. I hope it make sense.
While searching for blogging knowledge I find a page with article “Introduction to Blogging” and where did I find it? You would probably think Wikipedia, no, wrong answer. I find it on documentation pages of WordPress, a probably the best blog engine available for free, and this blog is powered by WordPress!
I think that WordPress Introduction to Blogging is a must read for everyone who wants to start blogging and learn what blog is and how it works. At the end of article there are interesting “Basic-A Few Blogging Tips” for a blogging mastery. Blog content is primary for any blog so I start with it, and also mentioned in the article as “raison d’être” (or literally translated – reason for being) for any blog.
So in this post I’ll write about content of blog, mostly information I found in simple chapter of WordPress book “WordPress for Business Bloggers” by author Paul Thewils from Packt Publishing. From its sample chapter and its ToC I highly recommend buying one, for everyone who wants to have deep insight in blogging.
You can even read a sample chapter “Content is King” which is highly referenced in this post. While reading authors blog I found interesting and must read article “50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level”.
Content Essentials
The Structure of a Post
This may not apply to very short posts that don’t go further than a couple of brief paragraphs, but for anything longer, it’s worth thinking about a structure. The classic form is ‘beginning, middle, and end’. Consider what your main point or argument is, and get it down in the first paragraph. In the middle section expand on it and back it up with secondary arguments. At the end reinforce it, and leave no doubt in the reader’s mind what it is you’ve been trying to say.
As we’ve already mentioned, blogs are often read quickly or even just scanned through. Using this kind of structure, which most people are sub-consciously aware of, can help them extract your main points quickly and easily.
End with a Question
Many bloggers finish with a question. This is a great way of soliciting comments. If it’s an interesting or provocative question, it may persuade those readers who only scanned quickly through your post to go back and digest it in more detail, so that they can give an answer to your question and join the debate.
Blogging Cheat Sheet Check list:
- Know your target audience and try to get inside their heads.
- Ask yourself if each post is truly relevant to your audience.
- Are you posting frequently enough (or too frequently)?
- Are your posts too long?
- Make sure you include plenty of links to other blogs and websites (but try to restrict this to 100 outgoing links per page, for SEO reasons).
- Consider whether your tone and voice are appropriate for your target audience and how they could apply to your brand identity.
- Have you applied a structure to your post?
- Could you add a question at the end of your post?
Categories and Tags
It’s very important to organize your content in a usable and logical way. Your readers will be frustrated if they cannot find what they’re looking for. Their overall experience of your blog is greatly enhanced if you use clear signposts to your content. Luckily, WordPress makes this easy with the use of Categories and Tags.
The Difference between Categories and Tags
This is partly due to the fact that different bloggers use them in different ways. There is some debate about how they should be used, and some may argue that there are no hard and fast rules.
Categories should be thought of as being part of the hierarchy of your blog’s navigation. In a way, they are a bit like a filing system for your blog. Each post is ‘filed’ in a category, giving your blog a hierarchical structure. Some people also think of categories as being the ‘table of contents’ for a blog.
Tags supplement categories but they should not really be thought of as part of your blog’s navigation. They are rather like an index in a book. You use an index to look up a keyword and it gives you a list of page references for that word.
Categories are a high-level way of organizing content, while tags are more granular or low-level. A category will contain many posts, whereas a tag may point to far fewer.
Categories
Bearing in mind that categories are a high-level method for organizing your content, you should keep the number of categories to a minimum.
Remember that we are also using categories as part of our blog’s navigation; they are not just a way of labeling posts. Your category list should be clearly displayed on each page of your blog so that it can be used as a navigation menu.
Each post should be placed in just one category. This is a controversial point, and you will see some bloggers place their posts in more than one category.
Avoid the use of sub-categories. If you keep the number of categories small, you shouldn’t need any sub-categories. You must also constantly monitor your categories and how you are using them. If it turns out that one of your categories is only getting a few posts while all the others have dozens, you should consider merging the underused category into one (or more) of the others. A category with just one or two posts that reflects badly on you, and many of your readers may doubt your expertise or enthusiasm.
Tags
Always use meaningful tags but try to keep them as short as possible. The best tags are just one word, although sometimes you will have to use more.
The whole point of tags is to use the same ones over and over. Do not create more than one tag with the same meaning. For example, if you were frequently writing about architecture you could have the tags such as, ‘building’, ‘construction’, ‘development’, or a whole host of variations. The problem is that they are all too similar. It would be far better to use just one of these tags for posts on that subject. You should also be aware of any ambiguities in your tags, for example, ‘building’ can mean ‘a structure of bricks and mortar’ or ‘the act of constructing’. If you were to use it as a tag, you would need to be consistent and use it in just one meaning.
The whole point of tagging is that readers can use it to find related posts, and this may be best achieved by using several tags per post.
However, it’s also useful to display your tags in a tag cloud within your sidebar.
Category Slug
Some of the category names contain several words, but you may wish to use just one word for the category slug.
About me, myself and my Blog
About you
This is the place for your potted résumé. Keep it brief and to the point, outlining the skills and experience that make you qualified to write your blog. Readers are more likely to trust what you write and come back for more, if they know it’s the words of someone ‘in the know’.
As long as you can demonstrate that knowledge and commitment (both on your ‘About’ page and in your posts), it should be enough to convince readers of your credentials.
It’s also fairly common to include a photograph of yourself. If you do, try to pick a good one or even spend some money on getting your portrait taken professionally.
About your Blog
You should also give some information about what your blog is about. Of course, this would be apparent from reading a few of your posts, but for new readers who may be in a hurry, it’s worth including something on your ‘About’ page. Think of this as being like the cover ‘blurb’ on the back of a book. In effect, you’re trying to sell your blog in a few short paragraphs. Try to stay focused on the blog’s aims and think about how to get them across in as concise a way as possible.
About
Your ‘About’ page is also a good place to declare any interests you have that might be viewed by some readers as compromising the objectivity of your blog.
If you blog about any professional or business interests make sure that your readers are clear that you have a stake in them.
Make sure your readers know where you’re coming from and never pose as an impartial commentator if you have a vested interest in your subject matter.
Backup
Backing Up
Now you’ve put so much time and effort into creating great content, you need to make sure it’s protected. To ensure your content is safe, you must back up your blog on a regular basis.
When considering your backup routine, remember there are two groups of data that make up your blog: the site files and the database. Both of these need to be backed up, but it may be that the site files don’t need to be backed up as frequently as the database.
Content is King
The Content is a King for bloggers and I hope these guidelines from book “WordPress for Business Bloggers” will help you in writing a good blog posts. I shall try to stick to them!
My name is Kornelije Sajler (xajler) and as a blog names says I’m a learn-a-holic. I’m mostly interested in modern programming like Agile, TDD, BDD, DDD, XP, ORM, S.O.L.I.D principles but I also like Design, Web development, UX, Database, Administration. I live and work in town Rijeka, Croatia.
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