Give the readers’s what they want
You know the feeling, and your blog readers know it too. Your readers want information and your job as “blogmeister” is to give it to them in a way that saves them time.
Make it easy for them to take away the key points and they will keep coming back to your blog. A good restaurateur knows that food presented in an attractive way enhances the whole dining experience.
Here are a few tips to make your blogs attractive and easy for your readers to digest.
Benefits of Good Design
What follows are some design and formatting tips that can make your blog an easy and pleasant read. Your readers will appreciate that your points come across clearly. There are also benefits for you, too.
Clear, clean, easy to read blogs will keep your readers on your site longer and keep them coming back for more. With better looking blogs your readers will be more engaged which can boost social shares.
The increase in shares will increase your search rankings. All of this will indicate to search engines that your site is a high quality site.
Write Snappy Titles
Draw your readers in with titles that standout and create interest. You want to entice your audience to read your blog, share it with others and to look forward to the next one.
Blog Formatting Tips
- Keep paragraphs short and to the point.
- The overall blog length can vary, but typically 300-400 words will cover a topic. One caveat, after Google’s latest updates, longer blogs, 600-900 words, will maximize your SEO. My take is to let your audience be your guide – use the length that creates the most engagement with them.
- Use blank space liberally; dense text will turn off your readers. Once they’re gone they won’t come back.
- Keep your background white. Don’t get “artsy” and use colored backgrounds; that may look nice for a moment but it’s way too difficult to read.
- Break your blogs into logical parts, using headings to delineate subtopics.
- Highlight key points and use BOLD TEXT, italics and larger font sizes. Don’t use underscoring – that’s for links only.
- Use bullets or numbering when you can list your key points briefly and succinctly. When using numbers, list your points in hierarchical order from most important to least important.
- Pick a font that is easy to read and don’t mix fonts; stick to one font for the entire article.
Illustrate with Images
Give your readers some eye candy by illustrating your blog with an image related to the topic. It’s best to place it in the top quarter of the body of your text. Provide a “Alt Text” to describe the image and include the keyword that you are targeting.
Be sure to only use images that you have permission to use. A good source for free images is CreativeCommons.org. Make sure you check what the terms of use are for any image you use. You may need to provide credits or links back to the owner.
One other thing, you don’t have to stick to the same format for every blog. It’s OK to vary the form; a different look will enhance your reader’s experience. Let the subject matter guide you to the best format to get your points across.
Takeaway
Providing useful information in an easy to digest format will keep your blog subscribers coming back for more.
