• Home
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Services
    • Overview
    • SEO
    • Copywriting
    • Law
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Angel Digital Marketing

Website Design - Digital Marketing - SEO

You are here: Home / Blog / Three tips to a better blog – an open letter to all bloggers

Three tips to a better blog – an open letter to all bloggers

17th August 2010 by Vince Font Leave a Comment

Too often, I come across blogs that are effective at only one thing: chasing me away. Actually that’s a bit of an overstatement. The word “chase” leaves the impression that I ran screaming, a reaction far more preferable to the reality because at least there would have been some shock value involved. It’s more accurate to say I’m driven away.
Blogging
And always with the heavy heart of a professional copywriter who realizes not everyone can be saved from the fate of a bad blog.

So I decided to do something about it. I’d never dream of contacting the owners of the blogs directly, for two big reasons. One, I’m not the kind of person to call out a stranger for their flaws – that would be rude, and there are enough rude people in the world as it is. Two, it would turn into a full time job. There are that many blogs out there with plain bad copywriting. So I opted for an alternate approach – call it an open letter to all bloggers. Or just a breakdown of best practices.

Keep your blog low in fat, high in protein

What does that mean, exactly? I’ll do my best to explain. When a reader stumbles across your blog, you’ve got about ten seconds to make a good impression. If you fail to do that, consider another potential subscriber lost. One of the biggest contributors to what I call “X-out Loss” is making your blog impossible to read. And I’m not talking about web copy that’s too small, or backgrounds that make seeing the words difficult. I’m talking about actual content. As much as it may hurt to realize, the majority of people will skim over your words for the content they’re interested in without regard to how much effort you put into writing it. For that reason, cut out the fat and get to the meat. Economize your words. Make your blogs digestible. Just like this.

Throw in the essential ingredients

You wouldn’t bake a cake without mixing every ingredient called for… not unless you were trying really hard to spoil someone’s birthday. And unless you’re trying equally hard to spoil your blog, you need to ensure that you’re not omitting the most essential ingredient: keywords. But SEO copywriting is more than just stuffing your text with key phrases and words your readers are likely to type into a search engine. Because just like there’s a specific order to the adding of ingredients when you’re baking a cake, there’s also a method to the placement of keywords. Making them work in the context of what you’re writing is what separates a true copywriter from a bona fide spammer. And I’ll bet you’d never have guessed that “copywriter” was a targeted keyword in this paragraph. See how that works?

Share the recipe

What’s with all the food references? I must be hungry. But before I head out to my favorite restaurant, let me share with you the final – and quite possibly most important – tip to a better blog. It’s called sharing the recipe. If you haven’t already figured it out, it means sharing information. About your techniques, practices and ideas. Unless you’re sitting on some secret formula that’ll turn your specific industry on its ear, there should be nothing you’re not sharing with your readers. While this may fly in the face of everything that’s intuitive within you, it makes perfect sense. One of the keys to driving traffic to your website is by publishing a relevant, compelling blog. And the main ingredient of any blog is information. Nobody wants to read advertising copy, not on purpose and certainly not by surprise. A blog that’s simply another platform for your press releases is exactly that.

Here’s to hoping that this open letter’s found you in time to prevent you from becoming just another blogger I desperately wanted to like, but whose content writing was the anathema that wound up chasing me away.

About Vince Font

Vince Font has written commercial SEO content for a wide variety of industries and high profile clients including Orbitz, Liberty Mutual and Yellowbook.com. His unique style infuses his work with keen intelligence and sharp wit.

How can I improve my site’s speed for Google?
Copywriting tips for new copywriters

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Woocommerce check basket total, calculate required spend 2nd December 2021
  • The summer house office 27th July 2017
  • 99 king content ideas for your website 5th October 2014
  • SEO services – are they worth the money? 21st May 2014
  • What’s going on with guest posting? 28th February 2014

Connect:

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Archives

  • December 2021
  • July 2017
  • October 2014
  • May 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • June 2013
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • February 2012
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
  • April 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Copywriting
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • Image sitemap tool
  • Contact

© 2022 · Jennifer Wiss-Carline, 78 Homefield Avenue, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 8GA. Tel: 07984 182935 Email: jenniferlwiss AT gmail.com