startatnothing.com

When I read blogs about blogging, there’s one common theme that I see pretty often. People want to know how to write better posts. They want to know how to write posts that people want to read, bookmark, and tell their friends about. I can tell you, with certainty, that I have not figured out how to do that yet. But, looking at the popularity of some posts from this blog, I have figured something out.

People want to be told what to do.

So, in my opinion, the first step to getting better at blogging is to tell people what to do or how to do something. People love “how to” posts. Other sites link to them all the time, because they’re easy to link to.

The alternative, which I’ve figured out that I shouldn’t do anymore, is writing about things. Think about it…in this deep, endless abyss that is the internet, you can find information on just about anything. People don’t want good old fashion info anymore. They want to know what to do with information. On this site, the only posts that people look at are posts that tell people how to do something, like implement AdSense onto their site.

However, if you like writing about things, don’t fret just yet. You can have successful posts that just give information about something, but there’s a catch. You either have to write a post about a really hot topic, like my two Roger Clemens posts, which were popular around the time of his congressional hearing, or you have to write a post about something that people don’t really know about yet, like the Semantic Web.

So, my advice to new bloggers out there is this…before you starting writing a post, ask yourself, “Am I telling people useful information on how to do something successfully, or am I just telling them information that they could find on another, possibly more credible website?” And if you are just simply telling people about something, see if you can find a way to turn it into a how-to type of article. If you’re blogging about something new that you’re doing or a new program you’re using, tell people how you’re using it and ask how others are using it. That way, you do 2 important things…

• Number 1 – you’re generating conversation, which equal comments.
• Number 2 – if you’re using whatever you’re talking about inefficiently or just flat-out wrong, someone can help you and tell you how to do it right.

So, add that to your checklist for writing a better post.

Other Resources

Here are some other web sites that go a little more in-depth about writing better posts…

FrugalMarketing.com – Writing Killer Posts and Compelling Comments

CopyBlogger.com – How to write a How-To post

Skelliewag.org – Good tip for writing better content

Blueverse.com – Better blogging, write even better

Worlofangel.com – Write better posts to make money blogging

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