Blogging 101: The basics of good blogging

[Image: blogging101]As I spend more time talking to people who are new to blogging, I’m realizing that there are a lot of basic concepts and questions that I tend to skip over just because they seem obvious to me. But obvious to someone who has been blogging in some form or another for five or so years is not necessarily obvious for everyone else.

So I’m going to do a series of ten basic blogging concepts. Ideas and practices that will make your blogging better and your blog more popular.

Tip #1: Keep it short

As a rule, people on the internet have shorter attention spans than Reese’s Monkeys, and can be distracted with similar ease. The average size for a really good blog post hovers somewhere around 250 words. Enough time to really hit what you’re going to say, but without too much messing around.

I like to compare blogging to television; it’s episodic, whereas magazine articles and books and papers are more like movies---you have to find a way to kill off at least three main characters in the space of a couple of hours if you want to be considered for an Oscar.

If you have something longer to say (like 10 blogging tips), break it up into different posts. People will find it easier to read, and you’ll find it easier to write. Everybody wins.