You’re a writer, right? You know how to put together words, sentences, right? Then you should be able to write a blog post, right? Maybe, maybe not.
Blog writing is slightly different then writing an article or a column. The number one rule of blogging is “Content is king!”. You are responsible not only for what you write in the blog, but the look and feel of it as well. Not only that, but getting that content to the your targeted reader is part of what blogging is all about.
First, let’s talk about the post itself. A post of two hundred and fifty words is a good length to start with, though some posts can and should be longer and some can be shorter. Write clearly and concisely. Just as your third grade english teacher told you, run on sentences are bad. Misspellings and bad grammar are worse. You are your own editor, so you need to be extra diligent about how your post looks! Write your post in your word processing program, spell and grammar check it, then post it. Many a blogger has a sad tale to tell about losing a carefully crafted post written on their blogging platform, only to lose it to some internet glitch.
Remember to add some relevant links to the material you writing about. This adds depth to your writing, provides a way to cite other authorities for your theories, and helps to promote your site by getting the attention of the bloggers to whom you are linking.
Add “keywords” in your post title and in the body of your post. Again, this helps the search engines identify what your blog is about and helps them rank your site. Google list these keywords as the most popular keywords for astrology:
monthly horoscopes
astrology readings
astrology compatibility
moon sign
zodiac signs
daily horoscope
horoscope
astrology signs
astrology and horoscopes
astrology online
free daily horoscopes
horoscope for today
astrology reports
astrology birth charts
astrology love
These are the search terms that come up most often in astrology searches on Google. Work them into your post to help to get your blog noticed.
Don’t forget to add “tags” to your blog. Tags help the search engines identify the content of your blog. If you are using WordPress 2.6 or Blog Spot there is a space below the blog to add your tags. Otherwise you can add tags to the bottom of your post by typing the following: [tags] tag one, tag two, tag three[/tags]
Post often enough to build a portfolio of good blog posts. Two to three posts a week is a good place to start. Eventually, your blog entries will create a critical mass that helps the search engines recognize you as an authoritative source
Add artwork to your post. A picture is still worth a thousand words and people find a post more interesting when a picture is on the page. While you need to be careful about copyright infringement, there are plenty of free art resources, many of them only requesting a link to their site. By far the coolest of these is Nasa’s Photo Journal This site has a plentiful and colorful supply of planetary photos and rendered art work, all public domain, your tax dollars at work.
If you have any questions about blogging, post a comment below
