My daddy asked me if I would write a blog post to describe how to write a blog, but for Chinese-Americans in Silicon Valley.
He said he had to do something similar once. He spoke at Google. They asked him to give a presentation on how to give a perfect presentation.
I am not sure it’s the same, but he says it is. Daddies know those things so I’ll trust him … for now. he he he
Recipe for a Great Blog Post
Great Formula for Blog Titles
Titles:
- make a promise to deliver information, solve a problem, inspire, motivate or entertain
- is 60-70 characters long
- don’t use a lot of words that would never appear in a search engine.
A search engine is a little motor that makes search things move, I guess.
First Lines in a Blog Post
A good blog post will re it or 8 (Ed: reiterate) in the opening lines that the post will deliver what is promised in the title. Look how I did that in this post.
Ideal Length of a Blog Post
A good blog post will be at least 200 – 250 words long. Unless I have more to say than can be said in just 200 words. Daddy says it’s stupid to keep writing just to have a longer blog post … or to stop writing when more needs to be said.
Most blog posts are best at about 1 minute long – reading time – or people, especially kids fall asleep or forget what it was they were reading about in the earlier parts because it got too long. Where was I?
And if a blog post is too long, your fingers get tired of swiping up and down on your cell phones … and it’s hard to read.
Sentence Paragraphs for Easy Reading
Sentence paragraphs are easier to read on small devices, too! Kind of like I am doing here.
Key Items in a Blog Post – Check!
Why Blogs Have Images
A good blog post should have images. Readers of your blogs should always be able to:
see what they are reading about
OR
read about what they are looking at.
Images will have good captions, and descriptions, too!
When you write about something that you have already mentioned in the past, you can link to that. It’s called an internal link. See below.
When you mention someone else who is really smart or refer to another place where someone said something worth mentioning, you can link to that, too. It’s called an external link.
About one internal and one external link per blog post is enough. Daddy says links are like ‘ands.’ You don’t want to keep saying, and, and and, and, and …
Good Use of Sub-headers
It’s good form to add submarine headers (Ed: sub headers). These are fat titles that show up to help people get a good idea of what you are going to say when they just scan your article … kind of like I did here.
Blog Outros Are Good Form
Outros Are Good for Blogs
Lastly – a good thing to do is to wrap up your post by saying you delivered what you promised in the title.
I write for Chinese-American kids and their parents, the growing uppers in Silicon Valley. And this is the formula I use in my blog posts … well most of my blog posts … er, some of my blog posts when I am paying attention. And when I care if the search motors (Ed: Engines) find me or not.
Not just children, but all bloggers might consider following this formula. Daddy knows best. I followed his formula and landed in KOIT. That’s another story for another day.
Mostly, I just want my readers to be happy.
