Essential blogger's tips

30/01/13

Before starting my position as Creative Industries Marketing Assistant at the British Library I’d never written a blog.

I’d dabbled in writing but it was never really something that I could take real ownership of. I was surprisingly nervous when I wrote my first article.

I was a bit all over the place, not really knowing what to write or how to write it. My manager, Fran Taylor, who also writes for our Inspired By… blog gave me my starting point. She told me to just write from my point of view and to be personal.

This was the best advice I could have started from. So now I’ve decided to write a blog about how to write a blog.

Not about setting one up and getting it in a good position on Google, but how to communicate, which is the most important thing and the rest will follow.

I’ve listed my top tips below and I hope you find them useful!

1. Be yourself

Most people take on a persona when they start writing, a character they can slip in and out of at will. The only character you should be when writing a blog is yourself. If people are taking the time to read your blog, then they’re interested in what you have to say!

2. Address the reader

It’s no good talking abstractly. It’s important to make the reader feel like you are talking directly to them, having a conversation rather than a lecture. So, using words like “you” and “us” are key to making the audience feel involved.

3. Keep it simple

I am guilty of this. For some reason, when people know that their writing is going to be published in some form, they immediately start using words that in everyday life they would never use! Not only jargon, but using five words when one will do.

4. Include pictures

I know that this seems obvious and there are occasions when you might not need to use pictures but it definitely helps. It draws the reader’s eye and keeps it there – even if it is only momentarily. If you’re confronted by a dense block of text, it’s easy to switch off.

5. Can you skim read it?

This is the question I ask myself every time I finish writing a blog. If I was browsing on the internet and came across my blog, would I be able to understand the themes and messages of it by skimming it. Do my eyes flow over it easily? It’s supposed to be easy reading, although that isn’t to say it can't be detailed.

There are probably a million different ways to write a blog, everyone has their own style, but for me, these are the five things that are universal, transferable and a good starting point for the novice blogger, just like I used to be!

The Centre is running a series of Web in Feb activities to help you and your business capitalise on the power of the internet.

Written by Olivia Fine, Creative Industries Marketing Assistant.