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Don’t Do These Seven Things When Writing a Blog Post - DailyBlogTips

Don’t Do These Seven Things When Writing a Blog Post - DailyBlogTips

Don’t Do These Seven Things When Writing a Blog Post

Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT

How do you write a blog post?

It might sound like a silly question: you just sit down and write it!

In school, you probably learned how to write essays, and maybe had a go at other types of writing – like mock newspaper articles, short stories, or even poems.

It's unlikely that anyone taught you how to write a blog post, though – and you might be going about it the wrong way.

Here's are my top seven things you shouldn't do:

#1: Don't Start Writing Without a Plan

If you're feeling inspired, it's tempting to jump straight into writing your post. This is almost always a mistake.

Spending five minutes jotting down a plan before you begin means you'll be much more likely to stay on track. You'll end up with a well-structured post, and the writing process will be as quick and painless as possible.

#2: Don't Go Off Track

Even when you have a plan, it can be easy to go off on a tangent – writing about something that isn't really related to the main topic of your post.

Try to stay on topic as you're writing. It's helpful to have a pretty good working title for your post before you begin, so you can look back at it every so often and check whether what you're writing is still relevant.

#3: Don't Get Distracted

If it takes you ages and ages to write a blog post, it might be worth looking at whether you're actually writing. I know that it's very easy to get momentarily stuck, then immediately check emails / Twitter / Facebook / etc.

Next time you write a post, try using the Pomodoro technique to focus for 25 minutes at a time, followed by a short break. You might be amazed by how much you can get done.

#4: Don't Repeat Yourself

If you can, it's best to draft your post in one sitting. If you write it across several days, it's very easy to end up repeating yourself – giving the same information twice, or using the same phrase several times.

You don't need to worry about this too much in the drafting stage, but when you edit, look out for anything repetitive that needs to be cut.

Exception: Sometimes, you'll want to repeat yourself to emphasise a point. That's fine – just make sure it's intentional rather than accidental.

#5: Don't Publish Without Proofreading

Although some typos will go almost unnoticed, others can confuse readers – forcing them to read the same sentence twice. They also knock readers' confidence in you and your blog, by making you look less professional.

Of course some mistakes creep in, but it's a really good idea to proofread your post one final time before hitting publish. If one or two typos remain, it's not a disaster – but you'll hopefully have spotted and dealt with the worst ones.

#6: Don't Ignore Formatting

Lean back from the screen and take a look at blog post. Does it look like a mass of grey text? If so, it probably needs more formatting.

Subheadings, bold text, bullet points, images and even links make your post look more interesting – and help hold readers' attention. Yes, it's possible to go over the top (particularly with bold text), but unless you're writing very short posts, you should at least have some subheadings.

#7: Don't Stop Too Abruptly

Finally, don't end your post suddenly. Most bloggers, when writing a list post or how to post, will simply stop with the last item. Not only is this a bit jarring for the reader, it's a massive wasted opportunity.

The final lines of your post are a great place for a "call to action" – which could be anything from encouraging readers to buy your product to asking them to share your post.

 

Are you making any of these mistakes when you write your blog posts? Or do you have another "don't" to share with us? Let us know in the comments.

 

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