Although I have been with ActiveRain for over a year, I started writing short and long-form articles (700-1000 words per article) and published them on LinkedIn in 2009. In those days, the word “blog” was unfamiliar to most writers.
I left LinkedIn in 2017, and during those eight years, I published one post a week on Tuesdays. I cannot remember how many posts I had written, but I remember that 50% of my posts published on LinkedIn were featured. I left LI and was burned out.
The internet has changed the world. It is no longer about whom you know; it’s about what you know. And to share our knowledge with the world, we BLOG.
Today’s environment has changed the way we blog: shorter blog posts (less than 500 words) and more specifics, and for some, “quantity” has taken over “quality.”
Finding the “right” audience has become one of the most critical tasks to becoming a successful blogger.
Interesting Headlines
Many professional writers, from journalists and copywriters to anyone writing a blog, consider a successful title an invaluable skill that takes time to practice.
The Headline Analyzer (free) is an online tool that provides feedback on your headline quality by calculating an impression score using “context words” in your headline. The higher the score, the more likely readers will “click” on your post.
My goal for every headline is to try using different words to gain the headline quality level (impression score) of “above average.”
You can view the sample score of this post’s headline HERE.
Different Contents, Different Writing Styles
I have learned different writing styles by reading other writers’ work. I like to leave readers thinking about my post after reading it.
Retelling old stories using my word is one thing I believe in.
Make Sure Your Posts are Easy to Read
People don’t want to read long blocks of text—break it up into smaller paragraphs (i.e., 3-4 sentences per paragraph) and bold or italicize essential points.
Don’t be afraid to embrace the one-line sentence in one paragraph when you want to throw punch words at your reader. Short and simple words produce “punchy” sentences that demand attention and often resonate with your reader.
Here’s an example from one of my Featured posts —“Living In Two Cultures...”
Also, add visuals like images and short videos to spice things up. Visuals make your blog look more appealing and encourage people to keep reading.
Final Work Before Publishing
Most of us don’t have someone to check our work before hitting the “publish” button. I am a big fan of using software to check my writing: grammar, spelling, suggested words, clarity, readability, writing style, etc.
To check my work before publishing them, I rely on ProWritingAid to check my writing quality.
Thanks, Jeff Dowler, CRS, and Brian England, for co-hosting this Challenge. I look forward to submitting the second post for Option 2.
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