HOW TO: Pull Readers In To Your Blog Posts

Some think that writing needs to be as convoluted and complicated as possible in order to stand out, but the truth is it’s about clear-cut methods and tried and true tactics that are often best when they are simple and clear.

Certain online writing classes can lead you in the right direction, but you also need to know these simple steps. You actually don’t have to be a born writer to do these things. Truthfully, a born writer is one who writes for the love, not the perfection of it. Perfection comes later with practice. Consider these tips and practice them….

First off, know that it’s all about how you present your words.

Placement is paramount. The amazing thing is this almost has nothing to do with actual writing. In a way, it’s sort of like marketing! You have to remember one important thing about blogging — it’s not the same thing as writing a book, or reading a book for that matter. The traditional literary creative rules to writing don’t necessarily apply to blogging. Unless someone has an e-reader of some kind, when someone’s reading your blog, chances are they’ll be sitting at the computer. So how the words look on the screen matters.

Big Fonts Bring Battalions of Readers

Why? Simply put: bigger fonts are easier to read, and readability is important when it comes to a blog. Big fonts can help you to reduce the bounce rate of your blog too.

Color Within the Lines

Even at this corporate blogging level, the same rules that applied to you in Kindergarten stick now. Your writing needs to fit a certain space on the computer screen — or else it just looks choppy. Think of boxes. Simply fit your words in it with plenty of space between, and you should be good.

Give Your Paragraphs Breathing Room

Take a look so far at this particular article. Look at all the paragraphs and take a wild guess as to what’s in common between all of them: every paragraph is spaced out. Now ask yourself this question: does that make it easier to read? The answer should be yes. Imagine all these paragraphs and headers all single-spaced together, and try to even think that it’s just as easy to read.

No Justification for Justified

For you Microsoft Word junkies and other Word Processor peeps, the term ‘justification’ is a clean and clever format for writing — but not so for blogging. Why? Justifying the lines form “rivers” in text – increased spaces in between words to make up for the aligning of each paragraph to the right as well as the left. The result is some difficulty in reading your work. When in doubt, always, always, always simply align left. And only left.

Pretty easy, right?

You’d be surprised at how many people will actually love to read your blog. All you need to do is take care of the content. The rest will fly on its own. How will you begin attracting readers to your blog?

This is a guest article written by Jennifer Williams, a traveler who feels grounded by her new found love of blogging. She’s a writer, turned traveler, turned blogger. If you wish to write a guest article here, do check this.