9 ways to write better blog posts

Melonie Dodaro (@meloniedodaro) shares 10 easy ways to improve your blog posts. I am not a big fan of the ‘top 10’ ways to do this or that as a means of drawing blog traffic, but Dodaro’s points are well taken and apply to law blogs.

Here’s nine of Dodaro’s tips, with a little annotating by me.

1. Use real life situations. If you want content that is relevant and relatable for your audience, strive to draw from more from real-life situations. As a lawyer keep track of questions clients and prospective clients ask. Answer them in story fashion referencing how the question arose. Call on real situations faced by clients and how you addressed them – of course sanitizing names and details to maintain confidence.
2. Write short, concise paragraphs. Keep your points short and to the point at all times and leave lots of “white space” through out your blog post. I try not to go longer than two or three sentences in a paragraph. In some cases one sentence will suffice.
3. Watch the pros. Use Twitter lists and your favorite RSS reader to keep track of blogs from the pros. Just as in the practice of law, success leaves clues when it comes to blogging. Develop your own blogging style from following successful bloggers. You may learn the most from non-law bloggers such as Dave Winer, the folks at Copy Blogger, Jeff Bullas, and Mashable writers.
4. Make use of headers and bullets. People want to be able to quickly scan your articles and still get value from them. Sub headers, bullets, and bold text make it easy for readers to scan a post and get the gist of your point. Yes, a far cry from legal writing, but it’s how people read on the net.
5. Spend more time on the title. The title is what’s responsible for getting people to read your content in the first place so it’s arguably the most important part of your entire blog post. Lawyers are notorious for long titles. Resist. Though the techniques may not be spot on for law blogs, Dodaro suggests these resources on titles: ‘10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work;’ and ‘How To Write Magnetic Headlines.’
6. Add multimedia. Dodaro saw a spike in reader engagement after incorporating custom-made graphics, videos and slideshow presentations into her blog posts. This is critically important as blog posts get curated into Flipboard, Zite, and social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Graphics and video attract attention.
7. Keep it current. If you’re blogging on a niche subject for which there are occasional developments, you’ll be conspicuous by your absence if you don’t comment when others are. On more general areas, you need not serve as a ‘junior reporter’ on every bit of news, you already have a job. But in no case can you let weeks or months go buy without posting. Doing so demonstrates a lack of passion in the area of law you have chosen and reflects poorly on your ability to stay abreast of what thought leaders are discussing in your area.
8. Write with a purpose. What audience are looking to reach? How are you engaging them? You should always have a reason and focus for each of your posts.
9. Don’t be a slave to SEO. Create compelling content that engages your target audience. Valuable content, and in the case of certain niches, indispensable content, will always do well in search. This is especially true as traditional SEO techniques give way to sharing on social networks.

Where’s number ten? Dodaro advises that numbered list-style blog posts are a classic that never get old. No doubt such posts work to draw attention and do get shared liberally. I just see it as a gimmick that ought to be used sparingly.

Thanks Melonie. Good tips that you probably weren’t directing at lawyers.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Kristy Hall.