When it comes to writing a blog post, there are several things that make the writing style differ from, say, a newspaper article or a content marketing post. Of course, there are sometimes overlaps since businesses now often use blogs in order to connect more with their audience. That said, there are certain conventions that blog-style writing should follow, even if yours is a blog for business purposes.

Read on to find out how you should be writing if you want to nail blog posts every time.

Website style

The reason this is the top of the list is that blogs are website-based: the first thing people see when they click the link is the layout of the website. Additionally, people often skim-read when reading things on a screen.

Good formatting uses a constrained column width to make it easier to read, as well as a reasonable text size and font.

Formatting

In addition to the website, each blog post should also be formatted. Use headers and sub headers to separate out the information – large blocks of texts can be too intimidating! Furthermore, you can experiment by using lists and bullet points to further separate out bits of information. Your users will thank you for this, and that leads to an improved user experience.

Use images

Again, the website-based format of a blog means that using images is a great way to catch user attention. The images should be relevant to your content and ideally, they should suit your house style. Images are an easy way to add that little bit more to the text. But here there is one problem: property rights. Even the sites that offer images under creative commons licenses don’t give you the scurity that the image is really under that license, because they just get them from the internet, and sometimes in their research they are misslead by others.

Keep it simple

Short sentences and short paragraphs are the key to blog writing. This relates back to the fact that people on the internet tend to have shorter attention spans. Short sentences are easier to read and understand. That said, too many short sentences consecutively, without punctuation and clauses, can seem very stilted and not flow naturally, so be aware of that.

Converse with the audience

Blogs are very informal pieces of writing. You should be connecting with the audience, making them feel that there’s some common ground between you. This means using personal pronouns (I, you, we) and writing as if you almost know one another. Being too formal is likely to put readers off, especially because they look for a sense of trustworthiness in the brands they’re loyal to.

Invite feedback

One of the great things about blogs is that you can actually open the conversation to your readers. Finish off your posts with calls to action such as “tell me what you think in the comments box!” or ask them their opinion on the topic you have been writing about. Not only is this a brilliant opportunity to drive engagement, but it also provides a sneaky opening to gain some feedback about what you have just said. What better way is there to get to know your audience?

Something to note is that spammers often target the open comments on blogging websites. If you do have commenting enabled, then make sure you check the comments and remove ones that give your brand a negative image. Most blogging software allows you to delete such comments.

Final thoughts

Writing a blog is not so hard once you get the hang of it. As with anything, practice makes perfect, so stick at it and make sure you update regularly to keep your followers on the hook. Above all, follow the above tips to adapt your style to one that resembles a blog, and before you know it your business will be booming.