Do you know that how you blog is every bit as important as what you blog? Depending on the business you are in, certain blogging styles might prove to be more successful than others in engaging readers and getting your content shared across social media.
Different bloggers approach their craft in different ways, but here are some observations I’ve made over time about five distinct blogging styles I’ve noticed that I hope will assist you in developing a solid readership.
Informational Articles
Informational blogs follow a straight-up, no-nonsense approach that appeals to audiences who come to you seeking to be educated about your product or service. An informational blog usually centers on one main theme and dissects it into tiny parts, creating content that is hyper-focused and very thorough.
Medical blogs, technical blogs, legal blogs, and those similar tend to follow this kind of style. Think you’re an expert in your niche? Prove it! Inundate your audience with information that is seeded with compelling content and driven by solid headlines that deliver the exact message you intend.
The How-To
This is where you can really position yourself as an authority or out yourself as a complete fraud. How-to blogs are very popular, but they can also get you into a lot of trouble. If you purport to have knowledge in a certain area but your blog proves that knowledge to be a little thin, it can be catastrophic in the long run.
With that in mind, blog what you know – what you really know – and don’t bite off more than you can chew. Stick to how-to subjects that are easy to follow but are also thorough enough to be duplicated in real life.
Many how-to blogs revolve around specific products. If that is the case with your blog, this is a chance to not only show your audience that you understand your own product but also get them excited about owning and using it.
If, however, you are going for a more general information angle with your how-to blog, be sure not to go too far off script. If your blog is already loaded with information on how to do household repairs, don’t toss auto repair into the mix. Stay on target with your content. You get the idea.
The Top 10
Top 10 (or top 5, 20, etc.) blogs can be loads of fun to read and share when they are done right. The fact is, though, that few of them ever are. Most rely on a stream of curated content that has been seen and distributed across social media hundreds of times already.
So what’s the message here? Be unique. Do some research. Find interesting subjects that the other guys aren’t tackling. A great example of how to do this right can be found at Cracked.com. This is one of the power players in the blogging world, and the writers manage to always come up with great subjects that haven’t already been played to death on other sites.
Figure out how to do the top 10 thing right, and your content will explode across social media. Couple a great idea with cool visuals and a winning promotional strategy, and you’re virtually guaranteed to grow your audience big in a small amount of time.
The Human Interest Angle
With internet audiences being bombarded with news of every conceivable atrocity (especially on social media), “good news” blogs are becoming more and more popular. The positive spin they put on things holds a strong interest for many readers.
This is an example of how you can take advantage of curated content. Find a good human interest story that is capable of being related back to your product or service and build a blog around it. You can then follow through with a clear call to action that motivates readers to visit your site or landing page to learn more.
The Paginated Post Format
When this is done right, it can be a very effective way to capture and hold a reader’s attention for much longer than average. Say you have a good long-form article (let’s measure it out to about 2,000 words), and you want to present the information in a way that increases the odds of people reading more than just a title or headline. Paginating the article is a great solution.
If you break the article up into separate pages, each with about 200 words and its own headline, it actually tricks people into thinking they’re reading less. 10 pages in, they’ve read the entire article, seen some great visual content, and walked away far more educated about the subject of your blog than they would if they’d encountered a 2,000-word brick of text on a single page.
Mix, Match, Split-Test, Adjust
The style and format of your blog that works the best can only be determined through trial and error. Start with what you think your audience will go for and measure the results. You can try different kinds of posts on the same blog until you hit on one that jibes well with your audience. When you do, I recommend removing content that makes the blog look inconsistent or reformatting it to look like the rest of the blog. If you are working with a copywriter or blog writing service, it should be easy to get all your content looking and flowing consistently.
A Word About Monetizing
I’m a firm believer in the power of ads. I think they can really help you monetize your blog, but I also think they can create a considerable degree of trouble if you get greedy. Bottom line: Don’t over-monetize your blog. Placing ads from just one to three sources should be plenty. It will also help you gauge how well your blog is really performing when you don’t have to chase pennies across a dozen ad networks…
…that, and too many ads can slow down page loads, crash browsers, and a host of other things that you don’t want associated with your brand. So let’s make that the final takeaway here: blog smart. Be smart about the content, the format, and monetization, and your commitment to putting out quality content will be both recognized and appreciated by your audience.