Guest Post: How To Entertain Your Blog Readers To The Very End By Kelly Edwards

Today I would like to welcome Kelly from Bringing Up Georgia. If you haven't visited her blog before, here is a little more about her:

Kelly Edwards is a 28 year old mummy blogger based in Northamptonshire, blogging about being a first time mum to baby Georgia with humour and honesty. In her professional life (when not on maternity leave!) she’s a content writer for a number of leading exhibition stand providers where she manages a number of blogs.

Kelly has some fantastic tips for bloggers about keeping readers interested until the end of your posts. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Entertain your blog readers to the very end by Kelly Edwards

 

Online readers are like toddlers. If they get bored half-way through reading your beautiful article, they’re off with no sign of commitment onto something else, leaving half read blogs trailing in their wake.

It can be a gruelling world for bloggers to counteract this but there are a few rabbits you can pull out of your hat to make sure they stay entertained to the very end.

Learn about online reading habits

To take advantage of these tricks, it’s important to know how people read online. Knowing this will make it easier for your readers to carry on reading, giving them no cues to bolt.

Unlike reading a book or magazine article, there’s something about the online world that demands speed, accuracy and attractiveness.

Most people would probably stick with a magazine article to the bitter end if it started to get a bit dull, but the same can’t be said for online articles. Any reason to ditch the article and move on and most people will take it.

Online eye gaze studies

Eye gaze studies have shown that when people read online, that they read in an F, or E shape. Top left to top right, then down the left hand side, jotting in every now and again to read headings and scan copy.

This means that readers first see the title, then scroll down and scan headings. It’s very rare that people read online as intensely as they do with a printed material.

So, here are a few online reading habits and tricks you can use to make it as easy as possible to captivate your audience.

Use headings to break up your content

Take advantage of how people read online by adding headings – at least 2-3 headings per 400 word article.

Not only will this visually break up the article, but it will also make sure that the reader knows what’s in store in the article. This gives them positive reinforcement as to why they should continue reading.

If you also add these with a heading 2 tag, then this will help with SEO to show search engines what your article is about.

Keep sentences short and simple

 

People rarely read as intensely online as they do in print. This means that people will often skim read articles, missing words every now and again but getting the basic gist.
This is why it’s important to keep your messages and sentence structure simple. Short sentences are easier to read, while longer sentences add extra complexity that will turn off an online reader.
As well as keeping sentences shorter, language should also be simplified. People don’t want to have to work hard to read online reading complex jargon. So, if there’s an easier word you can use… use it. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, or adds some oomph to your article.

Short paragraphs are easier to skim read

When skim reading in an F or E shape, keeping paragraphs short can help your article look more enticing to read and mean that each line is a potential inlet.

As well as providing an extra inlet, it having shorter paragraphs is less visually daunting than a huge block of text that seems like a chore to read. They’d rather not read an essay as it’s harder to take in what you’re trying to say!

So, use up to three sentences per paragraph and you’ll be providing some great inlets, with more of your article being skim read.

So, use these three simple tips to improve your article writing and you’ll be sure to keep most of your audience to the very end – like I have with you!



 

Fab tips there from Kelly! Now time to show her some love.
Visit her blog, Bringing Up Georgia
Find her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram
And don't forget to leave her some comments below!



 

 

 



 

Y Is For You Decide!

Day 25 of my A to Z Challenge. Y is for You Decide!.

If you don't know how this works, I've posted the link back to the rules of the challenge at the end of this, along with a link to yesterday's post. If you want to read my full alphabet, just keep following the links. Each day has a link back to yesterday's post.

On Saturday, I wrote a post about writing for yourself (check it out here if you missed it www.myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/w-is-for-writing-for-yourself.html). This might sound contradictory to that but bear with me. As I said in the that post, I write for myself, as in I write my true opinions, even if they might not be the popular opinions.

That doesn't mean I don't value my readers' input - I do! I enjoy writing my blog, and I want people to enjoy reading it.

Which brings me onto today's topic - You Decide! What do you, the reader, want to see more of? Less of?

Don't be shy - I am throwing the gates wide open!

Is there a topic you want me to cover? Tell me and I will do a post on it! A particular subject or area you want to know my opinion on? Tell me and I will write a piece on it! Anything you want to ask me? Seriously, no holds barred, ask me and I will do an answer post! Maybe you would like me to review your blog, book, website etc?

You can submit any questions, requests or just general observations 3 ways: in the comments section of this post, via Twitter @randommusings29 or email me randommusings29@gmail.com. Include your blog name/link to be referenced in the post, and your Twitter name for a shout out when the post goes live or if you want to remain anonymous, just let me know!

All of the feedback from this is going to be used in July's theme - All About The Reader. I am also looking for some guest posters, to write posts about them. It can be anything - a product you love, a day out, a diary style post, facts about you, literally anything about you! For more details and to take part, please email me randommusings29@gmail.com

To re-iterate, I might regret this, but anything goes! I look forward to hearing from you all!

Do you think this is a good idea?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)


Link to rules: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-z-challenge-whos-with-me.html
Link to X Is For X Factor Of Writing: http://www.myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/x-is-for-x-factor-of-writing.html

L Is For Lessons Blogging Has Taught Me

Day 12 of my A to Z Challenge. L is for Lessons Blogging Has Taught Me.

If you don't know how this works, I've posted the link back to the rules of the challenge at the end of this, along with a link to yesterday's post. If you want to read my full alphabet, just keep following the links. Each day has a link back to yesterday's post.

Since starting my blog back in February I feel like I have learned so much. When I first started my blog, I didn’t plan on it being a long term thing (read more about that here: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/why-i-started-blogging.html) Once I fell in love with blogging, and wanted to keep doing it I knew I had a lot to learn, and fast!  What I’m about to share with you is a list of 10 things I’ve learned since that time (and wish I'd known when I first started out).

1.That Twitter is your new best friend.

Previous to blogging, I’d never really bothered with Twitter (I prefer Facebook to keep in touch with friends). Twitter is brilliant for promoting your blog, because it’s so easy to find like minded people. Where on Facebook, you can’t go around adding random strangers just because they blog (unless you want your account suspending of course), that’s exactly how Twitter works (I will be going into this in a lot more detail on “T” day of the challenge so stay tuned!).

2.That blogging is a social thing.

I always imagined blogging to be sitting alone at your computer writing posts for your blog. I mean it is that, but it’s so much more. At the very least you interact with your readers, replying to comments etc. I have met loads of great new people now that I blog.

3.There is a real community feel to blogging.

Carrying on from the above points, bloggers have their own community on Twitter. I always imagined that bloggers are in competition with each other, so there would be a lot of back biting and bitchiness (I mean you wouldn’t see Asda saying how great Tesco’s latest offer is right?) This so isn’t true. I can’t stress enough how wrong I was on this point. From what I’ve seen so far, bloggers support each other and cross promote each other. They retweet links to each other’s blogs, they comment on each other’s blogs and they interact with each other. I’ve also seen a lot of blog posts from established bloggers giving advice on everything from improving the look of your blog, through to getting more traffic.

4.You have to put yourself out there.

In the first few weeks of blogging seriously, I naively thought that I would write posts, post them and people would read them. In theory, that’s how it works, but there’s a little more to it. Unless you want your blog to only be read by your own friends and family, you have to promote your blog through social media. Take a deep breath and just do it. What’s the worst thing that can happen?

5.That bloggers like interacting with readers and other bloggers. 

Before I started my blog, I did occasionally read other people’s blogs. So many times, I wanted to comment on what I had read and always thought along the lines of “No, it’s cheeky” or “Why would they care about my opinion?” It’s not cheeky, and bloggers do want your opinion. I love getting comments on my blog. The writer/reader relationship is definitely a two way street and its great hearing your reader’s thoughts and opinions on topics you care about.

6.That being a blogger is about more than writing your own blog.

If you write a blog, chances are you want people to read it. So do other bloggers. You can’t expect people to come and read your blog if you aren’t willing to do the same for others. I don’t mean you have to read every blog post you come across, but find some blogs that interest you (see here for some great blogs if you need inspiration on where to look http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/k-is-for-killer-blogs.html), read them regularly, and leave comments. Follow the bloggers that interest you on social media.

7.That blogging is time consuming.

If you immerse yourself in the blogging world, it is time consuming. I post at least once a day, but everyone is different, and there are no hard and fast rules on how regular to post. Work with the time you have. Remember though, it’s not just about the time it takes to write a post. There’s also scheduling tweets, answering tweets, replying to comments on your blog, replying to emails, and reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. I feel like I now have a second (unpaid) full time job. But I love blogging, so it doesn’t feel like work, and I wouldn't change it at all!

8.To be confident in my writing.

I’ve also learned a lot about myself through blogging. I think it’s made me more confident as a writer. I used to write something, re-read it and then the doubts crept in, and I would edit it to the point that it was totally ruined. I now write, re-read and only edit typos, or parts that don’t make any sense. I am confident enough to publish posts written in my voice without removing the passion from them by over editing, until they sound like form writing. I know there will still be people out there who don't like my choice of topic, or the way I write, but that's ok. I've made my peace with it.

9.That SEO is important.

Obviously, nothing beats good content. But good content is only half the battle – it’s kind of pointless writing brilliant posts, if no one can find them. Aside from promoting posts on social media, SEO (search engine optimisation) is another brilliant way to direct traffic to your blog posts. I’m no expert on this, but what I have learned is this; you need key words in your title. If someone Googles a topic you are writing about, you want to be found! So for example, if you wrote a post about how cute the new royal baby is, you wouldn’t call it “How Cute Is That Baby?” because it’s unlikely anyone would be searching for that. Call it something along the lines of “The Royal Baby: Britain’s Cutest New Princess”, because reader’s are much more likely to be using Royal Baby or New Princess as their search terms. Also, if you are using images, make sure the alt tag is a real representation of the image. For example, if you use an image of a rose, don’t label it as just a rose, try something like “Valentine’s Day Red Rose” to allow your image to be more searchable.

10.You will never please everyone - and that's ok.

Like real life, you will never please everyone with your blog. People all have different tastes in what they would like to read about and the style it is written in (wouldn’t life be boring if this wasn’t the case). Find your voice and use it. Primarily, you must write for you. Posts about things you are passionate about sound so much more real than if you are writing about things you don’t care about just to generate traffic, and in my opinion, this is more likely to lose you readers than gain them.

What would you add to this list?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)

Link to rules: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-z-challenge-whos-with-me.html

Link to K Is For Killer Blogs: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/k-is-for-killer-blogs.html

Why I Started Blogging

Not many of my friends know I blog. I know a lot of experienced bloggers will say I should promote my blog on my personal Facebook etc, and I understand where they are coming from - its a lot of potential readers! I choose not to do this for 3 reasons:
1. I don't want to be that person always self promoting in a place which is primarily for keeping in touch with friends.
2. I don't want my friends to feel obliged to read my posts.
3. If I get feedback on my writing, I want it to be honest, and I think friends tend to be nice, even if they didn't really like it.
Anyway, I got a little side tracked there! One of the few people who does know I blog asked me why I started. I thought it was a good question, and here's my answer:
Blogging isn't something I've always wanted to do. I've thrown the idea around before, but never in a serious, let's do this, kind of way.
At New Year, I wrote my resolutions, and one of them was to start writing a book. This is something I have always wanted to do, but keep putting off.
I knew what I wanted the book to be about. Its going to be fiction, but based loosely on a bad relationship I had which you can read about here; http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-relationship-that-made-me-grow-up.html
I've wrote short stories in the past but always total fiction, and always in 3rd person, and I want to write this in 1st person, so I started a blog to see how that would work. To use a cliché, to find my voice.
Originally, I was going to write a few posts and then delete the blog. I tried just writing on Word, but it didn't work. There was no motivation as it felt pointless. Its funny, because I never expected anyone to read the blog posts, but knowing that there was a chance, no matter how remote, meant there was a point to the writing.
To my surprise, people started reading my posts - not many but a few - and I continued to post.
I enjoy writing, and I'm pretty opinionated so it made sense I enjoy writing this blog.
That's when I realised that blogging wasn't just the means to an end for me, its something I want to continue doing, and I started to promote my posts on Twitter etc and got a few more readers.
I really do enjoy writing, and I now couldn't imagine not blogging.
I would be interested to know what made other people start their blogs.


Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)