For many allied health professionals and small business owners, writing a blog is a challenge. Not only does blogging take time but writing for the web is very different to any other medium. There also seems to be a genuine lack of reputable and informative information out there on how to structurally compose a blog. There are loads of resources on how to “start” a blog but none of these really hone in on the skill of writing quality posts. Understanding the structure of a blog post so that it informs, engages and educates your audience is the key to success, so let’s take a closer look at this for a minute. As always I will demonstrate with examples for allied health professionals, but the principles in this article can be applied to any industry.
Blogging
How to satisfy blog visitors who demand attention
Other than my best friend Mr Google, blogs and forums are my main source for finding information on the latest breaking news, new technologies in my industry and for problem solving issues my clients have raised with me. So I read a lot of blogs, and for these obvious reasons, they are very important to me.
Yet I only have a handful of really good and engaging blogs I am subscribed to. Call me fussy and difficult to please, but I put this down to the fact that a large number of blogs I stumble across are extremely boring. Yes, ‘fall-asleep’ boring and uninspiring; and I don’t necessarily put that down to the content that they offer. I’m the first one to acknowledge that I am in a technical industry where the content is rather scientific and factual in nature, but I sense that often content owners are just not making a noticeable effort to engage me, keep me entertained or reward me for my effort or time visiting their blogs.
I might be in the minority here, but for me it is also important that bloggers communicate something about the person behind the written words, especially since strategic bloggers are trying to convert me to a happy future customer. I want to see some personality and experience at least a semblance of human interaction; in short, I want to feel some love!
The subject has been written about extensively, but since so many people still make these mistakes, here are my two cents on how to satisfy blog readers like me who want to be engaged, entertained and appreciated while you inconspicuously convert them into future customers.