When it comes to blogging, what you write and how you write are not the only criteria that decide the success or failure of your blog. Though the content is extremely important, there are other contributing factors too.
Contents In Page
Other Factors
- The way you post your content, meaning the style of writing and expression matter when it comes to getting the readers’ interest.
- The way you keep your readers entertained matters when it comes to the number of readers who come back for more
- The ease of access, commenting, etc matters when it comes to the overall experience of reading your blog
- The blogging service you use matters when it comes to the reach and publicity of your content
- The added features on the blog itself matter when it comes to adding comments, reactions, etc that can help with SEO.
Overall User Experience
For any reader, the overall reading experience is extremely important. No matter how good the content is, if it is not presented in an attractive and interesting fashion or if accessing it is complicated and time-consuming, you can rest assured that most of those readers will not be coming back to your site.
How To Improve
Here are some measures you measures you can take as a blogger, to ensure your readers have a better experience when they visit your blog:
Make The Content Better
Here are some ways you can make the content itself sound or look better:
- Videos
Add more relevant videos to your post. This can be something funny related to the topic, something witty or out of the box. This will give a break to the reading and refresh their minds. When many people are writing on similar topics, people tend to read more than just one blog. Hence, what they remember here is not what you wrote but the general consensus about the topic. A video in your blog that is catchy and makes your post unique, people tend to remember it better.
- Anecdotes
Add a few anecdotes and quotes from famous celebrities, etc. This will resonate well with the crowd that reads more than just one topic. Avid readers can relate to such anecdotes and comments, which will make your content more interesting and appealing to them. Also, this will make your content different from other blog posts.
- Categorize
When you are writing frequently and would like to cover up on various topics, create categories. This way your readers can read what interests them and leave out the rest. Also, this ensures the reader does not miss out on posts related to their line of interest.
Give Them More
Give your readers more than what you are actually writing.
- Links
Have links to other related articles or websites from your blog. This will not only enable them to learn more about what you are writing but will get you some money too. Ensure the links you use are completely related to your topic of discussion and nothing random. This will only irk the reader and also affect your SEO. Also, ensure the links are genuine and not spam.
- Image
Add images to your blog post. You can have a feature image next to the topic so that your reader knows what exactly they are clicking on and are going to read. This will make your content visually appealing and have more people clicking on the link to your post.
- Expert Opinions
Add expert opinions and summarize your content. This way the readers know your content is credible and is actually backed up by someone who knows about the topic and is reputed in the related industry.
- Icons
Include sharing icons so that your readers can share it on social media easily. The more they share, the more your blog gets read and noticed. This is good for you and your blogging business.
Make It Attractive
When your blog looks attractive, it is visually appealing to the reader and makes them spend more time on your blog or come for more. Also, the visual appeal is what attracts them to the blog initially before they understand and like your content or style of writing.
Here is what you can do to make your blog look more appealing:
- Navigation
Have an attractive navigation bar on top of your page, so that your readers feel they are in a totally different part of your blog. Also since this navigation is solely dedicated to your blog, it will enable your readers to navigate between your own posts. This will make it easier for them and also get you a number of reads and likes.
When you have categories, put the most sought-after categories on top and others in the bottom if space permits. Ensure it doesn’t look too cluttered.
- Smaller Span
Keep the view span of your blog small. When the span is smaller, the eye travels lesser; this makes it very easy to read. When a reader has to go from one end of the screen to the other or worse yet, if they have to scroll sideways to read the entire line, it is going to be very difficult and discouraging.
- More Paragraphs
Split your content into paragraphs. Short and crisp paragraphs filled with information is always more attractive than big paragraphs where one cannot make out the end and the start of the next paragraph.
Give your paragraphs suitable and catchy headings or subheadings that will make the reader go on. Ensure the sentences are also short and precise rather than beating around the bush. Using bullet points is also a good option.
- Color
Do not add too much color to your text. Colorful text and pages may look bright and attractive but when it comes to serious reading, black text on a white background is what works best.
- No Dates
It is not a diary entry for you to date it. Many readers prefer reading recent posts and may not open a post simply because of the date. Even if you are updating the post on a regular basis to include all the latest details, the date on top could discourage people from clicking on the post to read it.
If at all you feel the date has to be added, ensure you don’t highlight it. Highlight the “last updated” section if you must.
