The Human’s Guide to Blogging

A few weeks ago I asked for some guest blog writers, this is the first contribution. It’s a great post about the "The Human's Guide to Blogging" which gives you some great tips on writing effective articles, whatever your niche written by Gavin Whittaker.

More about Gavin is at the bottom of this first guest article.

Let’s get on with the Human’s Guide to Blogging.

Big eyes, green skin, from mars? - If you’re an alien then sorry this short article sharing some great secrets of blogging is not for you...

What? - you’re human?...great, you’ll get this then.  

Us humans consider it a challenge to put pen to paper, or write online articles.  Why? - because we simply try too hard.

Now Sssh...don’t tell anyone this as it’s a ‘trade secret’ but the trick is to just be yourself. 

And here’s some great tips on composing your blog articles from scratch too:

• A great headline – clear, succinct and if appropriate a play on words
• 250-350 words...don’t turn off your readers with essays.  Chunk it down and live to blog another day
• A mug shot – a picture says a thousand words.  No Hawaiian shirts or grumpy faces however please
• Bullet points – The human brain responds well to these
• Tell the reader early on how they’ll benefit from this article – ideally within 8 seconds
• Media –a video and a couple of pictures make it feature rich
• Cross reference other information sources that add value and are related to your article
• Don’t sell – social media is about liberty.  People choose to follow you because you’re human, interesting and add value.  Don’t spoil it with a sales pitch
• A footer that follows every blog.  Some common ground that reminds people who you are, what you do and what they need to do next - a call to action
• Proof read, spell check and word count it! - don't damage your brand with silly little mistakes
• And...be human.  Tell people how you see the world and the situation...but do be sensitive to other people’s beliefs and values too.
• Give your post some tags – buzzwords that help others find your article and boosts your presence on the search engines
• Write an excerpt of your blog so at a glance visitors can get a summary of what you’re harping on about
• Link your blog to your other social media sites so your message is spread far and wide
• Metrics – what’s the purpose of your blog? - Ensure the call to action matches that and then put some financial and non-financial metrics alongside your posts

Why don’t you use these tips as your checklist for every blog you write?  Print it off and check against it every time you’re about to post your blog up...it’ll help, promise!

About Gavin

Gavin Whittaker is an IT Author, Social Media Consultant and Trainer, and a Member of the Technology Channels Association.

Gavin runs a variety of training courses and workshops in and around Nottingham to boosts businesses effectiveness and profits from social media.

You can visit Gavin's blog - www.fastsecurepc.co.uk for some great PC performance and security tips - to keep you safe on the Internet.

Similarly, Gavin's first book 'Avoiding Fraud on the Web' can be downloaded FREE at www.avoidwebfraud.co.uk.  This book highlights the 10 most common scams on the Internet and how to ensure you don't get caught out.  His next book 'The Beginner's Guide to a Fast & Secure PC' will be available later this year.

Signing off

If you want to become a guest blogger on subjects relevant to this blog just contact me.

Take Care.

Regards Mark 


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