Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can now become a
blogger. Starting a blog is easy and once you do, you have the potential
to reach millions of people. Unfortunately, the simple nature of blogs
and blogging often breeds a careless mindset when generating a post.
Bloggers are often too caught up in the thrill of their story or opinion
to properly edit or proofread their piece. We've compiled a short list
of tips in order to help the average blogger optimize his or her posts
and get the most out of his or her online publications. Follow these
tips and your messages, thoughts, arguments, or ponderings are sure to
be well received.
1. Proofread your post
This is easily the most important step in generating a worthwhile
blog post. There is nothing that renders a blog useless faster than a
post riddled with careless spelling mistakes. As blogs are often
statement or opinion based, it is likely that the blogger is trying to
make a point or convey an argument of some sort. A blogger could make
the most profound statement of all time, only to have it torn apart in
the comments section by readers who are quick to point out that he or
she used 'there' instead of 'their.' Always go over your post several times
to ensure that you've removed every grammar or syntax error you're
capable of finding, and your posts will improve tremendously.
2. Edit for context
Are you a professional? A politician? A pro wrestler? Or just an
average Joe, looking for a creative venue to vent your frustrations
about everyday life? As a blogger, a CEO should not use the same
language as a teenager, as their readers are from vastly different walks
of life. Your blog post will say a lot about your personality, so
bloggers must be mindful of your tone. What's more, when you're
publishing things online, anyone can find your entry and read
it. Take your personal context into account in the editing process;
remove any language or thoughts that you wouldn't want your boss or
co-workers to read. Conversely, if your post is aimed at fourth graders,
don't use terms suited for university graduates.
3. Fact check
Truth is a necessity in your blog writing. Although the Internet does
not require citations and references, nothing will affect your
readership more than blog posts filled with obvious lies and false
statistics. Bloggers should edit their posts to remove outlandish
statements masquerading as facts. Again, it is important to assess your
facts in relation to the context of your blog; a humor blog is more
likely to exaggerate events in order to get a chuckle, but if your genre
doesn't call for outrageous antics, edit them out. Fellow bloggers tend
to be a tough crowd, and if you're constantly spouting lies and false
truths, your credibility will forever be in question.
4. The shorter, the better
When learning how to blog, you may have encountered the term TL;DR,
which stands for "too long; didn't read." TL;DR is used to quickly and
efficiently communicate that a blog post's length is far too long to
attract potential readers to even begin looking at your blog. Who wants
to read a 46-page blog post when they could potentially get the same
information on Twitter in 140 characters? This leads directly to our
final tip for bloggers:
5. Remove the rambling
A steady, unrelenting, coffee-induced stream of conscious ramblings
worked for Jack Kerouac and the Good Doctor Thompson, but in the
blogosphere, these instances of verbal diarrhea tend to draw negative
comments or even result in a loss of readership. This goes hand in hand
with the TLDNR concept, as readers will get lost in incoherent
blathering or unnecessary instances of verbose declarations. Stick to
the important parts of a blog and cut out the rambling. Edit the
language of your posts to remove redundancies; your readers won't
frequent your blog for long if they can barely understand what you're
talking about.
Make your blog a must-read
These are just a few examples of how a thorough edit and
proofread can potentially improve your writing as a blogger. If you want people to
read, or continue to read, your blog, then you must ensure that what
you are writing is not only worth reading, but is plainly readable. Try
applying these five steps to your next post and keep an eye on the
comments section; chances are your feedback will be more about the
content of your post than any grammar or stylistic errors. If, as a
blogger, you want to spend more of your time writing, and less time
editing, that's OK! Submit your entry to our
blog editing services, or for those bloggers who use WordPress, try our
WordPress Plugin.
