Will Anyone Read Your Blog!?

By now you have probably been made aware of the business benefits to be gained by creating a blog. You will personalize your Web presence, gain ground with search engines and benefit from the dozen or so other reasons why it’s worth the time and effort. You get it.

But, what if people aren’t reading your blog? Maybe you have great industry info, but your presentation is a bit boring. Or maybe you don’t even have anything interesting to say at all. Is it possible that all of this has been wasted time?

Probably not. Chances are good you’ve gained a small edge in the search engine world in terms of your keyword competitiveness. Still, while you might not be wasting your time, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to make better use of it.

What if I told you there was a secret to creating a better blog? Imagine, with just a few small changes you could turn your bland and boring blog post into an enlivened and legendary tale that’s quickly sweeping from one social network to the next. The next thing you know your post is being used as a link in somebody’s cousin’s status update.
Of course, none of that is likely to happen. But you can still build a better blog. There are actually a few simple steps you can take to make your blog a better experience for your readers and a bigger success for your business.

1. Try using numbered lists. These are a great change of pace and give the reader’s eye a break.
2. Try using an urgent sounding title for your post. Phrasing the title in the form of a question is even better.
3. Paint a picture for your reader. Ask them to imagine some incredible scenario.
4. Make sure you have at least 5 points to make in your list. Otherwise

• Use bullet points to get your message across. This technique will capture the attention of your reader, even if they are only scanning your post.

And don’t forget to make use of white space as a way to signal the reader that you are completely changing thoughts.

All of these are just little tricks, of course, and are unlikely to save your post if the information is dull. The key is to take the information you have to work with, and present it in a way that both relates to your business and entertains your reader. In other words, make your point, but make it sexier.

Let’s say your name is Bob and you’ve just returned from a potato convention in Boise, Idaho. You want to make a new blog post, but 10 hours of potato talk in Boise is all you’ve got to write about. Well, Bob, unfortunately for you – and your reader – Boise is not interesting. Neither are potatoes: even if you are writing your blog to an audience of potato professionals. If you simply give a linear account of what happened at the convention and what additional information you’ve learned about potatoes, most people aren’t going to finish your post (and some might never return).

However, what if you start your post with an interesting story or anecdote? Try opening your post “in medias res,” or in the middle of the action.

“I woke up the morning of the convention to the sound of the alarm clock – a bit hung-over and more than an hour late. The potato event of the year was going to begin in less than half an hour and the conference center was all the way across town. I threw on my suit and fiddled with the tie on my way out the door and into the elevator. With no time to retrieve my rental car, I burst out the hotel entrance in hopes of finding a cab. I was too late. A lone yellow taxi was pulling away from the turnaround.

Reaching into my pocket out of frustration, I noticed something odd. It was a rough, sort of oval shaped tubular object: a potato. I chucked the potato as far as I could in the direction of the taxi hoping for a miracle. Direct hit. The cab circled around, picked me up and I was on my way to the convention.”

Then, you can relate your story to the points you want to make about potatoes from the convention.

My point is simple. While the information you have to write about may not always be entertaining, the way you present it can be. Don’t be afraid to liven up things up a bit. You increase your chances of pleasing the visitors to your site. And who knows, maybe you’ll gain some fans within your industry.

Tags: blog, blogging, tommy redmond