Have you ever read a blog post and wondered what message the writer was trying to get across?
Many times a blog post will ramble on about irrelevant topics and will only serve to confuse the reader. Or, at the very least, the reader will lose interest and hit the back button.
Have you ever scrutinized your own blog posts to determine whether your message is coming across clearly? Or maybe you’ve put together a post without even having a message in mind in the first place? Here is a checklist that can help you to clearly communicate your message with your blog readers:
Is your title specific enough?
The title of your blog post is the most important element in effective communication. The title is the first thing a visitor to your blog or a searcher on the web will see. If you want them to read the post, your title must clearly tell them what they can expect to read about in the post.For instance, when I first sat down to write this post the title I had in mind was:
“3 Rules For Effective Communication On The Web”.
But I realized that a title like that was far too generic. After all, communication on the web comes in many forms, including email, social media, web copy, and even the images on your site.
By narrowing it down and focusing on business blogs I’ve made it much more specific. You know exactly which form of online communication I’m talking about. Additionally, your post title is the best place to tell the search engines what your post is about, as well.
Hook your reader.
Writing a great title that get’s clicked on is awesome, but what happens next? If you lose your reader in the first 5 seconds they will never subscribe to your email list or buy something from you. The first sentence of your post needs to hook your reader into reading further.
I’ve done that on this post by asking a question that many people will identify with. Another method is to connect with an emotion your readers may be feeling or have felt in the past. Which of these would you be more likely to keep reading:
“Many people in this country are overweight. This can be a real problem and can lead to emotional issues. Overweight people often don’t feel very confident and can suffer from a lot of rejection…”
Or:
“When I was in High School, I was obese. I can remember walking through the hallways seeing all the jocks and how popular they were with the girls and feeling extremely jealous. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was constantly being called names like ‘Jabba the fat’ by kids with less imagination than a turd. Even my own parents seemed embarrassed by my size. I decided it was time to drop the fat or die trying… ”
I think the second option makes for a much more interesting read, don’t you?
Be clear and concise.
Just because you know CPME means doesn’t mean your target audience does. Avoid confusing your reader by staying away from industry jargon and acronyms.
Also, avoid redundancy and unnecessary words. Stay on topic and don’t ramble needlessly. Anecdotes are fine if they help you clarify your point. Talking about your cat is a big no-no unless you can make an object lesson of it. Even then, there’s probably a better object lesson somewhere.
What about you? What examples have you seen of blog posts that failed to get the point across?
