Add Depth and Interest To Your Blog Posts
There are ways to make your blog posts a whole lot more interesting.
Do you use some of these techniques?
You should.
What do you see when you look at this image?
OK – so it’s two flies right? Yes it is…. but look a little harder.
Have you ever used one of those crazy eye cross eye 3D multidimensional pictures? This is one of them. Relax, cross your eyes a little and stare (for a more details version of how to see the 3D impact read here). Do it right and the the ‘flies’ become one very 3 dimensional ‘fly’. If you like the effect I’ll show you some more in a link at the bottom of this post.
What does a 3D image have to do with Blogging?
In this post I want to share 13 ways to make your blogs go deeper and become more multi dimensional.
- How deep do your blog posts go?
- Do you bang out a post that covers the basics of your topic and then hit publish?
- What would happen if you just took a few extra minutes once your next post was finished to ask yourself – how could I make this post more useful to readers?
Over the last few weeks we’ve been exploring 10 points in the writing of a blog post where it is important to ‘pause’ and take a little extra time in crafting the blog post.
Today I want to explore a question that you can ask yourself after writing a blog post (and before hitting publish) that I have found can exponentially increase the impact and effectiveness of a the post.
It is a question that I think can help good posts great and help it to stand out from the clutter of millions of posts going around the blogosphere at any given time.
The question is simple:
“How can I add more depth to this post?”
A theme that I continually go on about here at ProBlogger is ‘creating useful content‘ for readers. The question about ‘adding depth’ is all about making your post more useful. An alternative way of asking it would be:
“How can I make this post more useful?”
13 Ways to Add Depth to Your Next Blog Post
Following are 13 of simple techniques that can add a new dimension to your post – techniques to make good posts great:
1. Use Examples
Too many bloggers simply talk in theoretical terms and don’t ground what they are talking about in reality. There’s nothing wrong with ‘theory’ but you can do your reader a real service with two simple words – ‘for example’. Show how the theory can be applied in an actual situation and you’ll make your post much more effective. Readers will not only come away with an idea of how to do something – they’ll have seen it in action – something which takes them a step closer to actually implementing it in their own lives.
Adding examples to posts is something I’ve been doing for years without really thinking about it. I just searched on Google for “for example” on ProBlogger and found it used over 1000 times.
For example (I had to add one here didn’t I) – check out my post on how to find new RSS subscribers to a blog where I give give examples on every 2nd point that I make.
2. Add an Analogy, Story or Metaphor
An example need not just be a ‘link’ – it can be some kind of story or analogy that helps readers to unpack what you’re writing about.
As I’ve discussed earlier in this series – stories are particularly effective ways of opening blog posts – however they are also useful within and at the end of posts. They engage the imaginations of readers, help to reinforce what you’re saying and can be very persuasive tools.
As Brian Clark of CopyBlogger writes – “Stories allow people to persuade themselves, and that’s what it’s really all about.”
Personal stories can also be very effective at establishing common ground between you and your readers – something that makes people be able to relate to you.
Read more on using different types of stories on a blog.
3. Add Your Opinion
If you’re writing about ‘news’ or linking up to something another blogger is saying – don’t just report the news or tell your readers to go read something because ‘it’s good’ – tell your readers what YOU think about what you’re linking to.
Giving your opinion takes your post to a new depth, it stimulates readers to think about their reaction to what they are reading, creates conversation, adds value and helps to make your post unique. Don’t just echo the news around the blogosphere – inject something of yourself into it.
4. Suggest Further Reading
One of the simplest ways to add value to a blog post is to recommend other reading that a reader could do on your topic.
Read 9 more ways in the source article.
Have You Added Depth To Your Blog Post This Week?
Put A New Dimension On Your Blog Posts
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