No one knows for sure how many blogs exist anymore. The exponential growth is too hard to track.
As of 2017, there were 350 million blogs from Tumblr alone. Blogging has come a long way since the early days of online diaries in the 1990s.
But because there are so many blogs out there, it’s crucial to find ways to make your content stand out from the competition. While there are many ways you can do that, one of the most important is to focus on the mechanics of writing.
Read on to learn 10 tips for how to write better.
1. Take It One Sentence at a Time
Writing a moving, powerful, engaging blog post can feel overwhelming. The key is to just focus on one sentence at a time.
The sentence is an essential ingredient that will turn into great content. Work on making each sentence you write meaningful and succinct.
Don’t repeat the same idea to drag out your word count. Make sure each sentence packs a punch. If it doesn’t, delete it.
What’s left will be a series of impactful sentences that are free of rambling.
2. Paragraphs Should be Short and Sweet
Modern readers skim text, especially for online content.
Long, dense, convoluted sentences belong in classic 19th-century literature. It has no place in current blog writing.
Break up your content into easy-to-digest tidbits. Paragraphs with three sentences are ideal.
Forget what you learned in high school. The seven sentence paragraph is dead. Unless maybe you’re working on your thesis.
Long paragraphs will bore your readers. They’ll likely click off your page in search of a page that’s skimmable.
3. Adopt a Conversational Tone
One of the tricks to writing better blog posts is to take on a conversational tone. Even if your blog is serious in nature.
A blog by definition is more casual than, say, a webinar or press release.
Go ahead and ask questions, make references to pop culture and let your personality shine. Your readers are there for you. Let them see you!
4. Stick to One Tense and Perspective
If you’ve forgotten, perspective is all about who is doing the action in a sentence. Be careful not to jump from “we” to “I” to “one” in one paragraph.
Same goes with tense. Don’t switch from past to present to future unnecessarily.
It’s just messy. It’s also a sign that you didn’t proofread before hitting publish.
5. Make the Opening Paragraph Count
Your readers are going to decide if they want to bother reading to the end by the first paragraph. Make sure your opening is succinct and clearly identifies what your blog post is all about.
Your readers don’t want to waste time reading irrelevant content. Let them know exactly what they can expect and deliver it.
6. Nail Your Call to Action
Did your English teacher ever describe the essay as a sandwich? A blog post is similar.
The closing paragraph should mirror the opening. It needs to wrap up the article and include a clear call to action.
You wrote that blog post for a reason. What do you want from it?
More follows on social media? For readers to subscribe to your newsletter? Use your closing paragraph to ask for the action you want.
7. Proofread Line by Line
It’s incredibly difficult to proofread your own writing. Our eyes tend to gloss over familiar text.
Concentrating on each line of text will help you improve writing skills. The flow of your writing will improve as you focus on one line at a time.
Plus, you will set build credibility with your readership if you don’t have spelling and grammar mistakes. Always run a spell checker before posting.
8. Cut Out Filler Words
There are hundreds of words in the English language that don’t add meaning. They just add word count and take up space.
Be ruthless in cutting them out of your writing. Words like “very,” “really,” and “just” are prime examples.
9. Ask If Your Content Is Useful and Informative
Before you hit publish, ask yourself this question. Your goal is to educate your reader. If you can do it in an engaging way, you’ll build up a steady group of followers.
It’s also important to show not tell in your blog posts. Your blog is not your saltbox. Don’t brag or use this as a chance to toot your own horn.
Let your blog visitors decide if you are an industry expert. If your content is valuable, they’ll come to the conclusion on their own.
10. Take a Writing Course
One of the best ways to learn how to improve your writing is to practice. And what better place to practice than in a writing workshop?
A writing course will help you polish your sentence structure, grammar, and word choice abilities.
You don’t have to be a creative writer to benefit from writing courses. Look for ones that cater to professionals looking to hone their blogging skills. View here for available writing courses.
Final Words on How to Write Better
We hope you found these 10 tips on how to write better helpful. Always think about your audience as you write. If you follow these tips and keep your audience in mind, you’ll be well on your way to crafting exceptional blog posts.
Remember, content is king. Quality content not only gets more eyes on your page but also affects your online reputation.
How’s your online reputation? Not sure? Use our free reputation audit tool to find out!