By Indie Authors for Indie Authors.

Category: Writer Blogging Tips (Page 2 of 4)

7 Tips for Creating an Enticing Blog Post

 

How to Create an Engaging Blog Post

 

I’ve had a number of readers ask for advice on how to write an engaging blog post. After being asked this a handful of times, I thought it made sense to actually compile some tips into, you guessed it, an engaging blog post. Whether you have your own blog, you’re being interviewed by someone online, or you’re writing guest pieces for other websites, here are 7 tips you can implement to make your blog posts more engaging.

 

Strong Writing

First and foremost, your post must be well written. If it’s not, go back and rewrite it. None of these later tips matter if your writing isn’t engaging. This doesn’t mean it has to be a well polished manuscript fit for print publication, but it should be thoughtful, well constructed, and free of obvious errors.

 

Length

There are a number of long-form websites that I love. If that’s what you’re going for, great, ignore this tip entirely. Just make sure that you’re consciously creating a long-form article rather than accidentally doing so because you’re just going on and on and on. Human attention span has been decreasing rapidly, mainly due to mobile phones and the barrage of electronic social stimuli we receiving every minute. As shown in the chart below from a Microsoft Consumer Study, the average human now has a shorter attention span than a goldfish.

Image Credit: Microsoft

 

If you don’t have a long-form site, your posts should range typically between 500-1,500 words. But again, your first concern should be about creating a well written post that provides your readers with content they want read. That should be the focus before you consider the length of your post.

 

Humans now have a shorter average attention span than goldfish! SMH.Click To Tweet

 

Include Images

This one is easy conceptually, but more difficult in practice. It takes time and thought to include meaningful images in your post, but how much more engaging was the last tip above with the image of the average attention span image than if I were just to explain the study to you? It’s cliche, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

The benefit is clear for the reader, but there’s also a benefit to you as the writer of the blog post. Thinking about and finding the right image forces you to further think about the goal of your post. It causes you to make sure your blog post has a purpose and has meaning. This will positively impact your writing. It sounds obvious to make sure your post has purpose, but 90% of what’s out there on the internet seems to be meaningless.

You can find rights-free images on sites like Pixbay. If you can’t find an image that really communicates what you’d like, you may need to consider creating it yourself. This will take more time and thought, but sometimes it can be just the thing to bring your post to the next level of engagement for the reader. I typically like to use Canva to create custom designs.

 

Mobile-Friendly

Make sure your content is mobile friendly! The number of users consuming mobile content surpassed the number of users consuming content on a traditional desktop computer in late 2013. The gap between the two has grown significantly ever since, with mobile totaling nearly 80% of internet consumption. Most blogging platforms now offer mobile-optimized themes, (if they don’t you should consider switching to a new platform!), but make sure you view your blog post on different devices to see how the content appears.

 

 

Include Videos

I separated this from “Include Images” intentionally. Including images in your blog post is nearly a must, but including video should be considered with additional discernment. Think about the type of reader you’re aiming for and how/where they’re going to read your post. If most of your readers are consuming your blog post while at the office, maybe including a video actually deters from their experience because they’re unable to to watch in that environment. If a video fits your post, however, it can supercharge the engagement of your post. (Yes, I realize the irony that I don’t actually have a video included in this post. I just don’t have the right video that makes sense, and being selective on videos is important in my opinion.)

 

A video can be the perfect way to supercharge reader engagement with your blog post.Click To Tweet

 

 

Click-worthy Blog Post Titles

I’m terrible at creating strong headlines for my posts, so I’m probably not the best person to be providing you with this advice. I can’t stand click-bait headlines or anything that even closely resembles click-bait, so I often err on the side toned down titles. I also am just bad at writing headlines. I do know, though, that if you want your readers to be engaged, you need to engage them right off the bat, and that starts with the title of your post.

 

Be Open and Get Personal

Let’s end with a similar theme to the first tip. One of the best ways to ensure that you have strong, engaging content is to personalize it. Readers want to know you a little more. Use your blog post as an opportunity for your readers to get to know you better. This could be by sharing a personal anecdote or it could simply be letting your personality shine through in your writing-style.

 

If you have other tips you like to use in your writing, share them with us in the comments or send them my way!

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

5 Ways to Boost Your Mindset Mojo for Success

Write well

 

We all have that desire to be successful. The only difference is that there are those who actually manage to be successful, while there are others who spend all their lives trying. Well, that is also the case when we talk about career. Some of us succeed, but there are others who spend their lives trying.

Some people would even shift from one career to another just to see how they would become successful. Unfortunately, it is not really the kind of career that’s going to lead you to success. Rather, it is the right mindset. There are lots of people who would choose academic courses that are said to offer high salaries after college, but they later find out that there is more to success than merely choosing a specific career field.

How do you lead yourself to success? You do it by having the right mindset, of course.

It’s not that easy, I know. Don’t worry, these five tips will help you realize that you already knew what to do all along.

 

Know your worth

You can’t accept people to give you your worth if you don’t even know your worth to begin with.

When we graduate from college and get our first job, we assume that by doing our best, the company and everybody else we work with is going to return the favor. We assume that as long we are doing things right, we will get what we deserve, but sadly, other people won’t be giving us what we deserve. On the contrary, they will be giving us the opposite.

If there is one person who is going to give us what we deserve, that person is us. That being said, you have to know what you deserve. You have to know your worth. If you don’t know your worth then how can you expect to get what you deserve? If you don’t know your worth then you’ll feel as if you don’t deserve every good thing that comes to you.

 

Don’t settle for things that are below your worth

The truth is that you are the only one who is going to treat yourself right.

Don’t get me wrong. Other people are bound to treat you right, that is if you show them what “right for you means.” Why? Well, people are going to treat the way they see how you treat yourself. So, if they see that you are settling for less, they are bound to treat you with less value. You can choose to settle with it if you want, but if you’re just going to settle for whatever the world throws at you then you’ll most likely just be spending the rest of your life trying to chase success, but it will always seem like it’s out of reach.

 

Believe in yourself

We are all unique in our different ways. We all have our own set of skills that sets us apart from other people. So, you don’t have to compare yourself with other successful people. Your success is way different from other people’s success.

Believe in what you can do. Never doubt yourself.

 

Shun other people that put you down

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that you should start avoiding people and cut off bridges. What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t let people bring you down.

Whenever they say things that are opposite your principles and self-concept, and then just shun off the idea. You don’t have to believe them. People can give opinions about you as much as you they can, but at the end of the day, it is still you who knows yourself best. So, just hold on to how you know yourself and don’t let yourself be let down by how other people try to put you down.

 

Have courage

You have to be brave. The world is going to throw lots of things on you, and there is nothing you can do about it than be brave.

You can decide to cry inside your room. You can sulk at the corner, but that’s not going to help you one bit. You have to bravely take on the world.

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

 

About the Author

Patrick works as a contributor at https://essaytwist.com/. He is a former editor of a small town newspaper publishing. He is an avid fan of social media, and runs his own page for writing enthusiasts for his college. With the rising clamor for healthy living, Patrick immersed himself with water sports.

 

Write to Help Clear Your Mind

college writing

A guide for college students and stress relief  

by Jay Donnelly

 

 

For those of you entering or about to enter college, it is going to be one of the most stressful times of your life. You’ll have 1000 thoughts running through your head, and multiple stresses to deal with on a daily basis. Sometimes, college students tend to use alcohol as a way of coping. This may provide short term relief, but it doesn’t truly help clear your head. You’ll wake up the next day feeling like your head is going to explode, as well as try to deal with the essay you have due in the next day. But it’s all part of growing up. One method you should explore to try for clearing your mind is writing. Just like with reading a book, writing can help take you to another planet and forget your worries.

 

College Work

College work to help clear your mind? You must think I’m mad, I know. But isn’t college work the one thing that’s clogging up your mind? Exactly. So using it to your advantage and as a way of helping to clear your mind can be really beneficial. The main setback is people don’t know how to write properly, or what to write about. This is when the panic sets in. If this sounds like you, then relax yourself into it. If you’re struggling with the essay writing technique, or just for inspiration in general, then check out this website: https://gradebuddy.com/essays/. Use it as a way of expressing yourself through education. Once the essay is over, your mind will 100% be a lot clearer, especially if you enjoyed what you wrote about.

 

Write A Book

Like we said in the first paragraph, reading a book can help take your mind off everything. Writing a book has the same effect. Immersing yourself into an imaginary world will help clear your mind for the duration of the time spent writing. Focus your energy entirely on your story, and you’ll feel free. They’re also really fun to write. Who knows, you can find your book gets published, or maybe even become a best seller. If you believe in yourself and your story, you really could become successful. If you want some hints and tips in regards to what makes a good story, then check out this blog post.

 

Blogging

Blogging is one of the best ways to clear your mind. To find out how to set up a blog: check out Start Blogging Online: https://startbloggingonline.com. Getting your thoughts and opinions out to the world, to people you’re most likely never going to meet, is an amazing feeling. Especially when you know people are starting to read and enjoy your blog as well. You can write about literally anything you wish to write about, and if you get good enough you could even get paid as well! You’ll make some great virtual friends along the way, and you’ll be able to talk about absolutely everything you want to. It’s an easy thing to set up, and shouldn’t take up too much of your time if you know what you’re wanting to write about.

 

So when you start to feel that pressure of college sinking in, and the walls are closing in around you, relax and try writing on for size. It might just be the stress reliever you need.

 

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

Dropbox Backup

  1. WordPress Plugins for Writers
  2. The WP Post Series Plugin
  3. The EZ Columns Plugin
  4. MyBookTable Plugin
  5. Embed PDF Plugin
  6. Easy Digital Downloads Plugin
  7. Media File Manager Plugin
  8. Folder Gallery Plugin
  9. Managing Links
  10. Creating Shortcodes
  11. Mailchimp: A Pandora’s Box
  12. Getting Social
  13. Dropbox Backup

Unknown

 

I’d like to conclude my WordPress Plugins for Writers series with a FREE! way to backup your site.

If you use Dropbox, you know that your first 2GB of backup storage are free. Many of you probably pay a pro version to get a lot more than that. If so, you’re paranoid like me and mistrustful of technology.

As described in their marketing materials: Dropbox is a file hosting service that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and personal cloud services and access. The Dropbox client enables users to drop any file into a designated folder. The file is then automatically uploaded to Dropbox’s cloud-based service and made available to any other of the user’s computers and devices that also have the Dropbox client installed. Users may also upload files manually through the Dropbox web application.

 

11

 

 

I use the Backup to Dropbox Plugin to sync my site’s files to my Dropbox account once a week. I think it is worth giving you the caveat that I’ve never had to restore my site from backup. This is important because I can’t really tell you how good the plugin is at disaster recovery when disaster actually strikes. I just want to let you know, if you are paying for another solution, that there is a free tool out there.

That brings me to the end of the series. I hope I have shared at least one or two new tools that have excited you and helped you get the most out of your wordpress site. If you have any questions, please contact me.

 

 

Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.

 

 

About the Author

Victor Davis is the author of one short story collection, Grains of Sand, and is publishing a second book, The Gingerbread Collection, in the spring of 2016. He shares his writing and reading adventures at his blog Mediascover. You can find him on FacebookTwitter, and Goodreads. His Books & Stories are available on AmazonApple iBooksSmashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

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