10 Tips for Writing Good Content and Attracting Readers

Published On January 24, 2008
37 Comments Leave a Comment

Tips for Good Content

The design of your blog definitely helps to attract new visitors but the textual content will always rule the search engines and of course, the mind of your readers. The following 10 tips will give you some ideas for improving your content and keeping your readers interested:

1. Pick a focus or a niche.

There are something like 77 million blogs. In order to gain readers who are interested in your content, it helps to write about what you know, whether that be sports or politics or parenting. Niche blogs are a fast-growing concept, and blogs about knitting, cooking, gardening, and crafts are attracting more attention.

2. Decide if your content will be family-friendly or mature, and then stick to it.

You have to write in your own “voice”, and your content should match it’s subject. If your blog is a way for your Grandma to keep up with what your kids are doing, then you probably shouldn’t use too many swear words or have ads with scantily-clad women in them.

3. Don’t feel obligated to post every day unless you really want too.

Depending on the focus of your blog, you might not have a reason to post every day. And there is nothing more boring than a post that starts with “Well, there’s not much to say today.” Then, don’t say it! Wait until you have enough material for a complete post.

4. Treat your blog posts like a piece of real writing.

This is a mistake that so many bloggers make. It’s okay to once in a while publish a post that is made up mostly of links to other things, but the majority of your content should be carefully thought out with a beginning, middle, and end. Break your content up into short paragraphs rather than long ones. Start with an opening paragraph to introduce the topic, middle paragraphs to give information, and an ending paragraph that sums everything up.

5. K.I.S.S.–Keep it short, silly!

Long narrative paragraphs are fine if you are telling a story and it wouldn’t make sense to break the words up. Otherwise, keep it short.

See? Like that. It gives readers a chance to think about what they just read before starting to read something else.

6. When you pass along information, be accurate

The Internet is full of speculation and gossip. And if that’s the kind of blog you have, fine. But do your research first. It can be exciting to “break” a story, but make sure you have some facts to support it. Look for legitimate news sources like the Associated Press or Reuters for information that is likely to be more accurate than stories on Gawker or Perez Hilton.

7. Treat your readers like you care

I do not know a single blogger who doesn’t care if no one reads their blog. Why would you publish a blog if you really didn’t want anyone to read it? So whether you have 20 readers a day or 20,000, acknowledge their presence and their contribution to your blog. Use stats to see which posts are read most often, then write more about those topics.

8. Use your comments to continue a discussion

If someone leaves you a comment, reply to it. Either in email, or with the Comment Responder plugin or something similar. It’s like hearing someone knock on your door, answering it, and then just closing the door in the person’s face without saying anything. You can then use the comments to continue the discussion in a subsequent post. Your readers will appreciate it.

9. Keep your content fresh

We live in a fast-paced world, and there are new things happening every second. If you’d like to publish a post but can’t think of a topic, do a little web-surfing. What’s the top story on CNN.com? What is ProBlogger writing about? Which celebrity or athlete or politician did or said something interesting? Whatever your blog’s focus, there is always something new to use for a post topic.

10. Use other blogs for inspiration.

There are new blogs being created every day, probably every minute. Therefore, your content and design should evolve to reflect new ideas and even trends. For example, the Comment Luv plugin was released recently, and after seeing how it worked, I added it to all my blogs, and then started getting comments from readers that they were going to add it as well.

If you notice that other blogs within your niche are discussing the same topic, as will sometimes happen when something newsworthy is going on, then by all means write your own post on that topic. Write it in your own “voice” keeping your reader’s interests in mind, and you’ll be contributing to a much larger discussion.

It’s easy to start a blog, it’s not as easy to keep a blog going. Following these 10 tips can help you keep your readers interested in your content and coming back for more.

37 replies on “10 Tips for Writing Good Content and Attracting Readers”

Bitts Reply

The best tip is about not posting everyday. If bloggers understand this then i am sure almost everyone would end up being successful in this field. The reason why people fail is when they think they have to post daily and thus the quality decreases when this happens.

wajid khan Reply

This is great! So many good reminders here. I admittedly don’t follow all of these regularly, but I need to work them into the routine.

Thanks for the great post!

Julie Harris Reply

Very informative post. You were right in saying that in telling a story, research is necessary .Well, you have to prove that the story is true else reader won’t buy it. Pure facts are what they wanted from you. 🙂

sansar Reply

this is very informative and useful blog .since i am new in blogging i found this site information very useful to make my blog good and user friendly .so that i woul generate more visitors into my blogs.

Danny Reply

Very simply yet very useful tips.

Not sure who to offer a “thank you ” for the post, though, you have done a great job of following one of your own tips number 5(kiss–Keep it simple silly) as this can be greatly increase the chances of our posts being properly understood…

I also like your tip on “Keeping a discussion going in the comments” this can be really useful, not just as a way of increasing our comment count, but far more importantly as a way of building stronger relationships within our readership…

Rachael_ICM Reply

Great post! I believe you have covered everything, after reading this people are ready to become a blogger. I especially value the part that your write that bloggers should respond to their post. So far you are the first one I have come across that finds that really import, and so it is. When readers engage with each other because of your post you are a good blogger. But responding to comments of your readers makes you a great blogger. Engaging with your audience through comments is important for your relationship with the your readers. After all as you said, you are writing a blog for people to read it and for them to keep reading your blog.

Randal Clarkson Reply

Great website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics talked about here? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get advice from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Bless you!

Posicionamiento de web Reply

Really good advices…

I have seen some bloggs that its a crappy mix of everything, you dont know if the main topyc is this of that… some people do it just because they are bored and nobodys reading them, not even his friends.

Vishwajeet Roy Reply

I want to begin blogging and already have spent a few days trying to figure out how to go about it (nearly an hour a day) . I find this post very informative but I am still unsure of certain things.
One is that I am uninitiated to computers. So, I really don’t understand how to set up the website or which templet to chose or even how to arrange things on it.
Most blogs I read were smartly decorated. I can hardly do that.
Also, I am not sure as to what is the preferred language style of blogging. I mean most of the blogs I read had flashy kind of language whereas I am habitual of using the simple way of narration like the one I am using right now or the one used in your post. Yet, I really don’t wand my blog to seem out of place.
So, which style to use?
Also, initially do I need to propogate or I may expect some visitors to my blog despite not making an effort to get them?

outsource staff Reply

Nice post!

Thanks for the tips it is really a big help…

Content is an excellent way to receive the finest quality for your website. And doing this in a right way will surely target the customers and the search engine… Thus, it needs expertise to write.
And having all the tips to be learn is much of a help. 🙂

Jim Reply

Great advice. Numbers 2 and 8 are really important.

(#2) The bloggers voice is critical to the long term success of the blog. I use have two blogs with a more professional voice and my recently added third is a fun, humorous style.

(#8) Comments can really make a good blog great! Just look at some of the top blogs like ProBlogger where the conversation in the comments is as valuable (or more) than the post itself.

Tony B. Reply

As a freshly minted blogger, any tips like these are much appreciated. Please keep topics like this for the new guys! thanks!!!

BradBlogging.com - Increase Website Traffic With Easy To Follow Steps Reply

Sounds like a great idea. I will be sure to use these in the future 😀

Alim Reply

Really great information shared. Mind If I add the last point? “Always, Always, Always – Do a good proof-read before you publish.” Thanks!

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