Blogging with Clarity – I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone
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Whether you use your blog to sell something, interact with others in your niche or just get out a message, writing with clarity is essential. Clear writing is convincing, more likely to connect with your reader and get a response. Most of all, clear writing is more likely to produce the results you want, such as a sale.
If your reader doesn’t understand what you’re saying, he isn’t going to spend the time to figure it out. Like most web surfers, blog readers have short attention spans. When they hit a roadblock like unclear writing, the look for the nearest link and they escape as quickly as possible.
So, how do you improve the clarity of your writing in your blog? I can think of a few steps you can take:
- Organize your writing: Outline your post before you write it, and make sure your post has a logical flow to it.
- Edit your writing: Don’t put up your post immediately. Sit on it for a day, and look at it again. When you do, ask the question “Does this convey the message I’m trying to convey?”
- Learn to write with precision: Get rid of unnecessary words and phrases. Watch out for redundancy. Never use eight words to say something when it could be said in three words.
- Open your writing up to constructive criticism: Ask someone to proofread your posts before they go live. Once they’ve read it, ask them: “What is the message this post conveys?” If it doesn’t match up with what you intended, go back to the drawing board.
- Keep your writing simple: While you don’t have to stick to small words, the more simply you write your blog posts, the more readers that will be able to understand.
- Finally, you need to review your posts after they’ve been up: Look at the comments. Are there questions in there about your meanings? If so, figure out where your weakness was and fix it for next time.
With a little dedication and attention, you can turn your muddied blog posts into laser-sharp attention-getting posts.
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Nice list here.
I follow most of these steps when I go through writing an article or blog post. I really like asking a few people to look at my post before I publish them on my blog.
I really like keeping things a simple as possible too. I’ve sen some blg post where I didn’t really understand what they were trying to say.
I also welcome criticism because my point of view is not going to be the same as the next person. It gives mea better understanding on what others think on a particular topic and helps me develop a more broader view on the topic.
I know what you mean when you read posts that you don’t understand. That is what a lot of bloggers really need to start working on. Clarity is everything but I do hope you ask questions. But I also hope that they respond to your questions.
Edit and then edit again. Chop what you don’t need. That is all.
I could really benefit from organizing the post ahead of time. I often just start “free writing” and then clean it up afterwards. I do preview it in the blog unpublished a few times though.
It may sound strange, but I seem to notice mistakes way faster (and easier) when I look at the post in the preview of the “blog theme” as opposed to “text only” in the WP-admin.
Great tips as usual COW.
Cheers
Jay
Of course, I agree with you. You need have very good writins skills. And your opening line should also be powerful.
Those are important steps but often people tend to forget those while writing, including myself.
Hmm very good post. I write post in MS word check spelling and everything and then bring that into Wordpress
I do the same thing. I think it is always easier to catch mistakes in Microsoft Word also. It seems like you can see more of what you are writing then if you would use the actual browser.
Nice blog post Cw. Clarity is everything in blogging so if you just read over your blog post a couple of times before you post it you should be OK. It is like when we took advanced composition, read it like you are the reader and see if you would understand it yourself.
Sweet tips,
Franklin
Great post John. I usually write my posts in microsoft word, check If everything is fine, spelling, grammar mistake and the sort. Then just paste it into wordpress. I usually also write my posts few days before actually publishing them online.
Interesting….Although I am new to this world, I was proofing in MS Word first. However, when I copied and pasted from MS Word to wordpress, it created a disaster of a mess for my blog when viewed through I.E. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with my blog, but after some research I realized that HTML and MS Word don’t mix all that well… But yes…I now type up in note pad first
You just have a knack for getting out the right tips at the right time!
I have come across many bloggers who write as if their heart is not really into it. A few misspellings could be pardoned but when in a single post there are more than ten blunders both in spellings and sentence construction then there is course for alarm.
I personally write in MS word, edit and then import to notepad before pasting into wordpress. The notepad is necessary as MS word most times adds some funny formatting which may not display well in wordpress.
I find that when I don’t take the time to mind map my posts and articles they tend to ramble.
Creating that outline first allows me to put things in the right order and stay focused.
Thankfully, for our first, original site,
http://www.for-the-troops.com , I create very little blog content.
It is a blog-driven, charity-based site honoring the servicemen & women of our (U.S.) Armed Forces. The blog’s content is specific: they submit their stories & testimonials of gratitude to the military. They explain how, in their words, the military made them better people: leaders, managers, organizers, etc.
I do, though, check for spelling for them- in case something is overlooked. But, they create the content. It’s their life stories, so it’s their words. For that, we promote what they are currently doing. Since most contributors so far have been fellow internet marketers, we promote their sites, etc.
That all said, when I create my other sites- (1280+ domains. Anyone wanna buy any? Ha!)- I will absolutely perform due dilligence when posting. I bought some copywriting courses as well to help me write better with clarity & focus.
Thanks!
Just to add my 2cents…
Make use of structural elements. Lists, like in this post I’m writing my comment to, and sub-headings greatly help to navigate within an article.
Great information. We should all take to heart. i know when I am in too big of a hurry I do sloppy work. I am committed to take better care of my writing. Thanks for the great reminder.
Okay Cowman, this is a good one. I don’t let my posts sit, not always. Unless I’m writing it ahead of time. I try to proofread, but I notice the mistakes easier once I either preview it in the theme or after I post it
sum bee
I need to make sure my stuff is clear man.
Thank you for your consistent valuable information. Most blog posts out there is simply a lot of junk, and a you say if you give your visitors valuable information, they will most probably come back to your site.
It has been my experience with your site. You have been a great inspiration to me. Thank you
Great post Jason. Clear writing is so important and I usually write step-by-step posts these get a really good reactions from my readers.
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE. AS A BEGINNING BLOGGER EVERY BIT OF GOOD/GREAT INFORMATION HELPS. I ALSO GET A LOT FROM THE COMMENTS AS WELL-FROM THE SEASONED BLOGGERS. SUCCESSFUL BLOGGING TO ALL,
GABRIEL
Use your blog’s spellchecker and read the post outloud recording it into your cell phone’s voice recorder…play it back and then you’ll know if it makes sense
I agree with what you wrote on this post. The biggest points that I would tell people to focus on would be to always be open to constructive criticism.
Also, keep it simple, ALWAYS. Personally, I like to write the way I speak. In other words, I write my blogposts as is I were saying them, as if I were speaking with the reader. It really does help make the post more interesting and easier to read.
I`ve just launched a blog and at first i just posted articles without fully checking them, sometimes there were little mistakes that i had to edit, but your 5 points should help me improve!!
your post here seems to parrot(meaning you think like another blogger I read some times). I respect his ideas and his writing style. You hand out some really clear, and helpful advice.
thanks so much for that.
Great tips. I find myself rambling on and on too much on my blog and need to remember to keep it concise. No one reads blogs to read a novel!
Hi John,
I could’t agree with you more on this.
I find it annoying to read a blog post with tons of typos and grammatical errors. This shows me that the writer doesn’t care enough to check things over and therefore puts their credibility in question.
Your idea about writing a post and “sitting on it” overnight before posting is a good one. This is what I do now and it works very well. In fact, I’ll sometimes prepare a post several days in advance now.