The rules of good writing still apply in the blogosphere. However, there are some ingredients required in blog posts that may not be necessary in more academic writings. Below are the most common elements in a blog post.
Know the audience
Are you writing for your classmates or the general public? The tone of the blog posts should be appropriate for the audience.
Interesting and clear title
The title is your first chance to draw in readers. Keep it brief, accurate and interesting. For inspiration, read 10 bitchin’ tips for writing irresistible headlines http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/63106-10-bitchin-tips-for-writing-irresistible-headlines
Eye-catching and relevant visuals
The web is full of images. However, not all images on the web are free to use on your blog. The photo sharing website Flickr, together with Creative Commons licenses, makes it easy to find free and legal images. Read “How to use great images with the right credit ” for more information on Creative Commons licenses and finding and using free images. Whatever the source of the image, the blog post should cite where the image came from and include a link back to the image source. For example, the image on this page could be cited like this: Image by Flickr user Beyond Elements (http://www.flickr.com/photos/micromitra/7549460488/) Â /Creative Commons licensed BY 2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Tutorial for adding an image into a blog post https://wiki.elon.edu/display/TECH/Add+an+image+to+a+blog+post
Clear heading and subheadings
Do not write long paragraphs of text. Dividing the blog post into headings and subheadings add to the visual design of the blog post and are used to quickly engage the reader in the content of the post. It also makes it easier for the viewer to scan the post. Headings and subheadings have larger font size and are often a different color from the rest of the text in a blog post. Most blogging tools make it very easy to add headings to a post. To add a heading in WordPress, highlight the text and click on the “Paragraph” drop-down menu and select a heading size.
Lists and bullet points
Lists add to the readability of the blog post and can quickly engage the reader. It also makes the content easier to skim, similar to headings.
Hyperlinks and attribution
Blog posts typically reference other content on the web, like images, quotes and other webpages. Most content on the web is fair game to reference as long as you provide a citation and link back to the original content. There is not a standard citation for blog posts. Traditional citation formats like ALA or MLA work or a less formal citation is also acceptable. Make your citation expectations clear in the blog assignment. See the bottom of this page for an example of a simple attribution.
It is not recommended to paste a hyperlink as is. Instead, hyperlinks should be added to text that describes where the link is going. To add a hyperlink, highlight text that is descriptive of the link.
Wrong: 9 essential elements of the perfect blog post – http://www.bitrebels.com/social/9-essential-elements-of-the-perfect-blog-post-infographic/
Right: 9 essential elements of the perfect blog post
Tags or labels
Tags (also known as labels) are keywords that describe the blog post. Tags make your blog easier for the public to find. Search engines like Google will scan tags on a website and include them in their search results. Typically, a single post has a handful of tags.
This list is derived from the following sources:
4 Essential Elements to Writing a Great Blog Post http://goinswriter.com/great-blog-post/
Using Titles Effectively on Blogs http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/19/using-titles-effectively-on-blogs/
Elements Of A Good Blog Part II: Content Editing
Image by Flickr user Ramin Razani / Creative Commons licensed BY 2.0
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