Discussion: Blog writing style

[LD]

This is a general discussion type question…how do you approach writing for a blog? Do you write in first person? Perhaps create a fictional character? Do you describe the content in the post? Are you assertive in getting surfers to the sponsor, or is it more of a soft sell? Do people even read what you write…. Should you go on an on, or limit your post to 150-200 words?

What are some things that work? I understand the use of keywords somewhat, and I'm sure there's no yes/no answers...just trying to get some input from people who know how to make blogs work.

Thanks!

[anasporn]

Bunch of q's here ... here are my answers:
I use a conversational first-person style, and make no attempt to be anyone other than myself. Hard vs soft sell depends on my mood. I am positive people read what I write, and one of the most effective posts I have ever done was by calling a site nasty, disgusting, gross, and truly perverse. I guess knowing my personal kinks and predilections, my readers simply needed to see what could provoke such a response from me. 90+% CTR and some sales. Word count? Never give it any thought. I use the Mini-Skirt Rule: "Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting."

[teenrave]

I generally post galleries, so I write about a two secntace description of my gallery for that post.

Remember you have two audiences with a blog post. 1. the Reader 2. Search Engines

[Useless]

Originally Posted by teenrave

I generally post galleries, so I write about a two secntace description of my gallery for that post.

Remember you have two audiences with a blog post. 1. the Reader 2. Search Engines

Yes, and your approach appeals to neither.

[anasporn]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Yes, and your approach appeals to neither.

[walrus]

The advantages to having mulitple personalities is that I can always write posts as myself.

Other than that, I do everything you said. For nudes I tend to do the soft sell and try to weave a fantasy out of the picture I post.

For babes, it tends to be a harder sell.

For hardcore stuff, I get hardcore with my writing style.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that my style changes depending on a number of issues but usually along niche lines.

I also don't count words (I can't count that high as sometimes I do get overly verbose).

As for keywords, I let the topic determine which keywords will be used but I will say I never pay attention to density. I'll use a phrase a once or twice and include it in the post title. Or not

[BadWolf]

I tend to write up as much info as possible on a site or model as I can find, look at as much of the content as I can and then synthesize that into a post or series of posts.

I don't worry too much about keyword density either, I try to write as naturally as possible.

[BadWolf]

Originally Posted by anasporn

I use the Mini-Skirt Rule: "Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting."

Who doesn't love a good mini-skirt?

[Beaver Bob]

150-200 words is usually good for me. If I'm feeling lazy and uninspired, I settle for 100. Hard vs Soft sell also depends on my mood.

[faxxaff]

I try to provide background info to the site I am selling and inside info about the model in both the article and the image caption. I rather use the 'we' than 'I' to give more authority to the statement :-)

[anasporn]

Originally Posted by faxxaff

I rather use the 'we' than 'I' to give more authority to the statement :-)

How? When I see a single blogger use "we" I either think s/he has MPD or is employing "the Royal We" in which case suggests meglomania.

[teenrave]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Yes, and your approach appeals to neither.

There are ways to tweak your writing by putting keywords in and such, bolding keywords also. You also when you write want to keep in mind what you are trying to say and what is your general theme topic.

If the post or whatever is about teen, you want to make sure you use the word "teen"

[walrus]

Originally Posted by teenrave

There are ways to tweak your writing by putting keywords in and such, bolding keywords also. You also when you write want to keep in mind what you are trying to say and what is your general theme topic.

If the post or whatever is about teen, you want to make sure you use the word "teen"

Nice tips man, I'm sure UW can use them. I've heard he needs all the help he can get!

[LD]

Originally Posted by teenrave

bolding keywords also.

Are you talking about bolding as in formatting? Make the actual keyword a bold format? I dunno, that seems distracting...but wtf do I know???

[Beaver Bob]

Originally Posted by LusciousDelight

Are you talking about bolding as in formatting? Make the actual keyword a bold format? I dunno, that seems distracting...but wtf do I know???

I usually bold key phrases a couple times per post.

[whitey]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Yes, and your approach appeals to neither.

+1

[whitey]

Originally Posted by BadWolf

I tend to write up as much info as possible on a site or model as I can find, look at as much of the content as I can and then synthesize that into a post or series of posts.

I don't worry too much about keyword density either, I try to write as naturally as possible.

Best advice there is for blog posts. Well said.

[teenrave]

Yes google looks at Bolded words and gives them more priority. It also gives header tags priority.

[Simon]

For those who find bold words distracting in blog posts and think that it's probably not very surfer-friendly for your readers, consider that there are ways to use CSS to avoid visually displaying things. For example...

<style type="text/css">b,strong {font-weight: normal;}</style>

HTH

[anasporn]

I bold or italicize words/phrases that I want to catch the surfers' eyes. Most online surfers will "scan" instead of actually reading, and there are formatting tricks to catch their attention long enough to get them to slow down and actually read.

unordered lists
key phrases/short sentences bolded
occasional italics
keep paragraphs short (avoid the "wall of text" ... Walrus!)

There was an old article by Jakob Neilsen several years ago about it ... but that was saved to the computer before the one that died Friday ... tbh I am not completely sure it's still available online but it was a true gem about how people "read"/scan online info.

[LD]

Originally Posted by Simon

For those who find bold words distracting in blog posts and think that it's probably not very surfer-friendly for your readers, consider that there are ways to use CSS to avoid visually displaying things. For example...

<style type="text/css">b,strong {font-weight: normal;}</style>

HTH

That's pretty cool! I did bold a few words in my blog...now I'm starting to like it as long as I keep it to 2 or 3 words/short phrases.

[kickass]

I always liked blogs written in the first person or as if you were one of the guys or girls on the scene.

[BadWolf]

Originally Posted by anasporn

I bold or italicize words/phrases that I want to catch the surfers' eyes. Most online surfers will "scan" instead of actually reading, and there are formatting tricks to catch their attention long enough to get them to slow down and actually read.

unordered lists
key phrases/short sentences bolded
occasional italics
keep paragraphs short (avoid the "wall of text" ... Walrus!)

There was an old article by Jakob Neilsen several years ago about it ... but that was saved to the computer before the one that died Friday ... tbh I am not completely sure it's still available online but it was a true gem about how people "read"/scan online info.

Dunno if this is the one but:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

[anasporn]

Originally Posted by BadWolf

Dunno if this is the one but:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

That's the exact article! Good reading for those motivated to go through it.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by anasporn

Good reading for those motivated to go through it.

According to the first two lines of that article, I'm already guaranteed not to read it.