3. Blog Often, but Not Too Much.
If you want your blog to succeed, you should blog at least 3 times a week. If you can blog 5 or 6 days a week, that’s even better. By the same token, blogging too much will overwhelm and turn off some of your readers. Blogging 3 to 6 days a week – once a day – is recommended.
4. Be Concise.
The most viewed posts are between 300 and 800 words. Try not to go over 800 words. Most of my posts are within that range. However, some of my posts are longish because they are reprinted essays, interviews, or tips on a given topic (like this one). If you have a long post, break it up by using numbered or bulleted points. Or turn it into a series. Master the art of compression.
5. Use Subheadings, Numbered Lists, Bullet Points, and Short Paragraphs.
The attention span of the average Internet reader is quite short. So make the content of your posts digestible. Using subheadings is a great way to do this. Paragraphs should be short as well. So cherish the line break. Using numbered and bulleted lists makes your posts easy to scan. When it comes to blogging, brevity rules. Thus, edit ruthlessly. Reduce as much as you can. And cut until there’s nothing left to cut.
6. Use Proper Grammar and Spelling.
Misspelled words and bad grammar communicate that you’re not terribly educated, and hence, people shouldn’t take you seriously. Typos are inevitable. But poor grammar and misspellings hurt your content and message. Blogs are casual. So it’s fine to use incomplete sentences, ending a sentence with a preposition, etc. Poor grammar is when a post is written so badly that readers have to work to understand it. If you aren’t sharp on this, get someone to edit your posts before you publish them.
7. Discern the Difference Between Notifying and Self-Promoting.
People who follow you on Twitter want to hear what you have to say. So most of them will want to know when you’ve written a new blog post (or if you are reposting an old one from the archives). BUT . . . tweet it once or at the most twice, then leave it alone. (If you tweet the same blog post twice in a day, put 5 to 8 hours between the tweets.) Tweeting a post that you’ve written over and over reeks of self-promotion, and you will lose readers.
The same is true with your Facebook wall. Because it’s your wall, it’s fine to notify your friends about a post you’ve written. However, I suggest you simply post the title with the link or frame it with a question (e.g,, “Looking for advice on how to blog more effectively?” Link). Saying things like, “You’ve got to read this post I’m launching on Tuesday. It’s a must-read!, etc. etc.” will turn off many readers. You don’t want to call a piece that you have written a “must-read.” Let other people decide that (Prov. 27:2).
I would also advise against posting your blog posts on forums like Facebook groups. Many people will see it as using a public venue for self-promotion purposes. Your Facebook wall is different because people have friended you voluntarily, so you have every right to inform them about your newest work. But to post on a public venue where people are not signed up specifically to follow you is poor taste, in my judgment. And some people will view it as spammy.
At the same time, realize that there are a handful of people who will always read bad motives into your heart, even if those motives aren’t present. As I’ve said elsewhere, whenever someone judges the motives of another person, they are simply revealing what’s in their own hearts. But you don’t want the charge of self-promotion to be justified.
With respect to using Twitter, I recommend this Twitter tool. It has many excellent functions.
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