Wow. This is a stressful writing assignment.
If you don’t finish reading this article about how to write blogs that people want to read, will I have done my job?
While I might not be an expert writer, I do read. A lot. Here are things that I have noticed that draw me into other people’s blogs, posts, and personal essays.
1. Use Eye-Catching Images
Sorry, all you writers out there who spend hours crafting your words, so you can share profound, insightful thoughts. If your blog doesn’t have some sort of eye-catching image to draw you in, you may have a difficult time bringing readers to your post.
Learn how to improve your photography skills. Use free stock images if you are desperate. (You can find free photos at pixabay.com.)
Personally, I’m drawn to photos of people showing a lot of emotion. Or pictures of dogs. Even people who aren’t necessarily animal lovers like looking at pictures of dogs.
2. Use Quirky Subheadings
Recently, I was drawn to someone’s post about signs of aging. The first subheading was titled “Birds.” The next was “Ferris Bueller.” You know you’re going to read anyone’s writing who can connect those two topics in one piece.
Subheadings also break up huge blocks of text, so the piece looks readable. While the greatest writers in the world, such as Charles Dickens, didn’t follow this practice, Dickens wasn’t writing for average internet reader. The average internet reader scans articles while waiting in line at Target or sitting on the toilet.
3. Tell Stories About Your Daughter Waking Up with Chewing Gum in Her Armpit
You’ve started mommy blogs before that are written with beautiful, flowery language full of generalities. Many times these posts are oozing with feelings and emotions about how being a mommy has been such a life-changing experience.
Maybe it’s just me, but as soon as I begin reading this kind of writing, my eyes glaze over, and I start scrolling. The only thing worse is having a seventh-grade girl ask you to read her book of poetry.
Start by telling a story, and then you can go into the feelings associated with the account.
For example, start your blog post about how your toddler woke up from her nap with a huge wad of chewing gum underneath her armpit. Then, go into your piece about the joys of motherhood.
Hopefully, you will have remembered to take a photo of the wad of gum. That image will undoubtedly bring in plenty of readers.
4. Lead With the Monster Attack
One of the first things you learn in journalism school is how to write a good lead. Professors teach baby writers to not “bury the lead.” Here’s an example.
If a monster is attacking people on the beaches in Florida, you don’t start your news article by writing, “On Tuesday, 56-year-old Herman Giuseppe lost his arm while on vacation in the Florida Keys.”
If you are writing a blog post about your child getting chickenpox, even though they were immunized against it, you will get more readers if you lead with that information instead of starting with a lot of background information.
Lead with the monster attack, and then tell the rest of the story.
5. Awaken Your Inner Teacher
We have all turned to the internet to learn how to do something. My recent Google searches include “how to paint your kitchen cabinets,” “how to get knock-out roses to bloom,” and “how to get a wad of chewing gum out of a toddler’s armpit.”
Even if your instructions are more tongue-in-cheek in nature, people are drawn to online “how-to” guides.
If you are writing a Mommy Blog, write how you were able to get your child to sleep through the night. Write how you were finally able to get your kids from dropping all their crap on the floor of the entryway. Write about how you were finally able to get your sixth-grade son to hug you every day before walking out the door. This is the kind of information Moms need to have to improve their daily lives.
As you sit down to write your blog, think back to what your seventh-grade English teacher taught you. Before you write, you need to know your purpose for writing. If your goal every day is writing about how perfect your life is now that you have raised the most amazing children in the world, you may struggle to keep readers.
This article was originally posted at Mom Marketing Coach.
