Writing for a blog is very different from most other forms of writing. It is precise and up to the point. Blogging involves communicating ideas in the most reader friendly manner, in a style and tone that appeal to the niche audience. While there is an ever continuing discussion on nuances of writing a great blog post, writing good content for a blog is an art that can be honed only with experience. Nonetheless, here are some guidelines that can help you create a ‘well written’ blog post.

Introduce with impactful headline

A good headline catches reader attention immediately. Choose a title that is self-descriptive and impactful. Don’t forget that your headline could be read in an RSS reader, a search result, your blog archive, or a bookmark. Keep it short with not more than 6-8 words.

Express your opinion

Blogs are a catalog of expressions or personal opinions of the blogger on a variety of topics or a particular niche topic. As a responsible blogger, it is your obligation to provide your readers with honest opinions, interesting tips and useful resources in least amount of words.

Provide resourceful links

Spruce up your blog with links to helpful resources pertinent to your post topic. You can also post links to free-for-download web tools and e-books or other popular posts in the same niche.

Keep it short

An ideal blog post should not be longer than 350 words. Give maximum information in least amount of words.

Make your posts easy to scan

Use bullets, lists, subheadings, tables, images to catch the eye of the reader as he hurriedly scans through your blog post. Use italics and bold letters to break monotony.

Initiate an engaging discussion

Keep your readers involved by introducing a popular topic for discussion, ask them questions, and encourage readers to leave comments. Active interaction with the readers  is an effective way to publicize your blog.

Proof read before publishing

Before you hit the publish button, check for grammatical errors or punctuation mistakes. Make your blog clutter free and arrange text in an ‘easy to the eye’ manner. Use a simple color scheme and avoid large graphics.

Remember you are writing for the search engine as well. Don’t forget to stuff keywords into your text.