Quality Content Only: 4 Tips to Enhance your Blogging Skills

Out of the millions upon millions of blogs out there, how many would you say offer quality content? If you ask me, I’d say that the smallest of fractions—a mere handful—feature content that’s worthy of a person’s time. It’s no small task to become part of that small fraction, but if you can beef up your content and make it appealing enough, there’s no limit to the traffic and attention you’ll receive. Everyone on the web is looking for the best of the best in content, and you can deliver that for your niche if you try hard enough.

It’s one thing to say that you’ll write quality content, but how do you actually do it? I have four mini strategies to offer bloggers looking to improve their writing. They’re not the typical calls for proper grammar and snappy writing—those should be common sense by now. I’m talking about real solutions to the very real task of content creation.

Find an intriguing angle

A successful blogger doesn’t make their mark on the blogosphere by copying their peers. You’ll never get anywhere if you just follow a few big name blogs and copy/paste their posts to your own personal blog. What’s the point in that? Real blogging isn’t about regurgitating information from another web site; it’s about transforming that information—whether its breaking news or the unveiling of a new tech device—into a compelling story that involves your readers. It’s not enough to tell your readers that an event happened; you have to put your unique angle on a piece of information to draw them in and make them feel connected to it in a personal way. Without that personal touch, you’ll just be a dry news blog.

Ask more questions

You want to make your readers feel involved in the action of your blog’s topic. It should be like you’re the only valid lifeline between them and the niche of your blog, whether it’s education, sports, tech, or marketing. One of the best ways to make your readers feel involved is to ask questions of them constantly. I’m talking about writing rhetorical and direct questions into all your blog posts in an effort to open an earnest dialogue with your readers. Asking questions and talking to readers in the comments makes you as a blogger seem more human and relatable, and that’s a positive quality to possess in the blogosphere. Try ending your posts by asking about the reader’s thoughts on the subject, or an open question designed to generate comments.

Use more visuals

Most people on the web have a short attention span and scant patience, which means that they’ll click away from your blog at the drop of a hat. Too much writing can easily deter a reader. This makes for quite the precarious situation as a blogger, because you want to inform your reader with well written content, but you don’t to overdo it and lose traffic. I find that one of the best solutions to this problem is to break up the body of a large post with various visuals.  These visuals can take any form, it’s up to you as the blogger to decide which would be best for your readers: stock images, infographics, charts, and enlarged quotes are just a few options at your disposal, and any of them would likely increase the chances that a reader would finish a post. Think about it: an otherwise dry post about online colleges versus traditional colleges could be made much more palatable to the average reader with a few informative charts on the subject. Similarly, a post about an exotic locale in South America would look better if accompanied by a few pictures of the landscape.

Take a risk

The web rewards risky and innovative behavior. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at all the sites with the most traffic. They didn’t get where they are by playing it safe. No, the top bloggers on the web made their claim to fame by cultivating a unique online persona with personality, wisdom, and a keen sense of what works and what doesn’t for their readers. To achieve such success, you have to act similarly, taking risks in your niche by speaking your mind and staying loyal to your beliefs at the same time as you seek to inform and better your readers. It’s a tough job to pull off, but it can be done if you optimize your content.

Samantha Gray freelances by day and tutors high school and college students in her spare time. Samantha enjoys giving readers advice about the ins and outs of getting your bachelor’s degree online. She welcomes questions and feedback at samanthagray024@gmail.com.