THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Blogging is a rewarding and fulfilling career. It lets you do what you love while earning a handsome paycheck.
Since you are reading this post. I am sure you got a fascination for blogging.
No matter where you stand at present in your blogging career. You do wish to ace it further.
A blogger’s writing tone is the tool that sets the platform for success. Most of the newbie bloggers take years to hone their writing. In the absence of effective content writing. They end up wasting their precious time and energy. This further leads to frustration and despair.
I understand this blogging life cycle well. As an amateur blogger a decade ago. I too had my share of struggles.
I am glad that with time I was able to overcome them. That is why today I introduce myself as a professional blogger.
Back then I longed to have a process that could guide me to understand the nuances of blogging. My quest helped me find a lot of information for effective blogging.
With regular iterations of using that information for digital content writing. I then zeroed into using a handful of those content writing techniques.
Read further to know them.
The Best Content Writing Techniques That Will Make Your Blog Valuable
1. No Use of Jargon
“The imperative ordinance for efficacious writing is to write in simple words.”
The sentence above is an oxymoron. It defeats the purpose it tries to preach.
I came up with that sentence to stress the importance of simplicity. Rather, I should rephrase the same sentence as – “Simple words create effective writing.”
As you can notice, common simple terms ease reading. Thereby increasing the engagement rates. Hence, the audience connects better with you and your blog.
Complicated words may impress your English teachers. But then, blogging is not about luring some authorities to gain a mileage. Instead, it is about connecting with people at large. Such connections build on the pillars of candidness and empathy.
Both these emotions cannot serve complicated jargon. Thus, communicating in a simple language is of vital importance.
With experience, I know that it is difficult to write in simple words. More so when the topic is technical. That is why I use Hemingway App to keep my writing under a check.
You can use it to check your Readability Scores. The lower the scores. The easier is your content for reading by a generic audience.
As a rule of thumb. I keep my reading scores below 6. This article scores an impressive Grade 4 on the app.
2. Short Sentences
The longer a sentence. The more likely it is to confuse a reader.
Short sentences, much like small words are easy to consume.
Attention spans for web content are low. So, to make the most of your readers’ time. You must consider “writing short sentences” as one of the basics of content writing.
Being precise. The short sentences focus on a single agenda. Thus, they are effective in clarifying the goals of the content.
As a general rule. I ensure that none of my sentences contain more than 20 words.
The average number of words per sentence for this article is 9.
3. Short Paragraphs
Once you adhere to the first 2 basic rules of content writing. Then, following this one is easy.
The theory behind writing short paragraphs is the same as the previous 2.
The shorter the paragraph. The easier it is to read.
It is a challenge to go past a concentrated wall of text. The more the blank space between sentences. The less stressful it is to consume content.
You should never include more than 5 sentences per paragraph. That way your audience will be able to digest even a lengthy piece of content.
This article has an average of 2 sentences per paragraph.
4. No Adverbs
As a kid, I had no idea that in my adult life I will grow cautious of Adverbs.
It is through greats like Hemingway and Stephen King that I got to know about the “no adverb policy”.
English Grammar does include Adverbs as legitimate parts of speech. But some of the Adverbs do nothing except confuse the writing.
Some of these problem creating ones are – very, actually, and seriously.
All these adverbs ending with -ly treat all the verbs as same. They do not depict the degree of verbs.
For an instance, in the sentence – “He is very hungry.”
You do not come to know how much hungry the person is.
Either the person could be famishing or starving.
Famishing means an extreme state of hunger. While Starving refers to the stage of being hungry that leads to death.
Hence, the adverb “very” creates ambiguity.
Thus, the general Adverbs are a big NO. Instead, you should expand your vocabulary to find the appropriate adjectives and verbs. But using some of them in moderation is fine.
To sum up the theory of Adverbs. I find the following meme apt.
5. No Passive Voice
This one took me a long time to master. As I write short fiction as well. I am inclined to use a lot of passive voice for the same.
So, that trait carries in my Blog writing too. But unlike fiction, Blogging is in real-time.
That means writing in a passive tone gets depressing.
For an instance, consider the sentence – “A lot of money is made through Blogging by me”.
Now have a look at this one – “Blogging makes me money”.
Both the statements suggest that for me, Blogging is a means to make money.
The former is in a passive voice. Plus, it is long, boring and sluggish. Whereas the latter statement is in an active voice. It indicates a direct and clear action.
Thus, I am sure that you know which voice to avoid for your web content writing.
6. References
Names dropping is a feat that I could never conquer in my offline World.
That is why I make up for it in my Digital world through References. Quoting References is like pointing out that someone prominent concurs with you. Though it is the other way round.
You put references in your content to prove that you did your homework well. That way you do not bear the brunt if anything goes wrong.
Moreover, you earn some comradery when the person you referenced has a positive clout. Though it can backfire in a few cases.
Hence, do not do a mere copy-paste of someone else’s theory. Instead, present your own unique point of view via their theory.
When you do so. You do –
7. Use Conversational Language
Blogging being a mass medium connects with many people at once. But, the connections that happen due to blogging are personal.
That means your content is not a one-size-fits-all solution. That is the reason that you have to write a lot of posts to drive a certain point.
If I were to summarize this Blog in one sentence. Then, it would be – “Start Blogging”.
But you know that those 2 words will never ever work. I have to come up with the monetary merits of blogging. I have to show how Blogging will work for various professions. Plus, I know that I have to keep doing it all forever.
Such posts cannot work if as a writer you are not conversational. Conversions open up personal experiences, which are fruitful in forging relations.
Of all the content writing techniques mentioned in this post. It is this one which is vital.
8. Visual breaks
Since you are reading this. I guess this point does not have much merit.
On a much serious note. Most of your audience will bounce off if you keep boring them.
That is why you must include visual breaks in-between your content.
Images, GIFs, Videos are great to break the monotony. I include 1-2 visuals per 1000 words. You can do more if your topic demands so.
Though ensure that they adhere to the SEO rules. Else, they might sabotage your intents of increasing engagements.
9. Do Not Over Stuff Your Keyword
As the Google algorithm evolves, the more it fuses the Content Writing/Marketing and SEO.
These days all the 3 are more or less the same.
For this article, the keyword(s) is – Content Writing Techniques. It exists in the content with a minuscule density of 0.4%.
Keywords for a content writer are important. But that does not mean that you need to cram your content with them.
Repeating the exact same set of keywords will make you appear a rookie.
Rather you should explain your keyword in the finest details as much as you can. So, that brings to my next tip –
10. Write In-depth Articles
Once you are set on a mission to connect with your readers. Then, this one tip becomes easy to execute.
If you follow the content writing techniques mentioned above. Then, your writing is bound to become in-depth.
That makes your writing tone solid and brimming with Authority.
This, in turn, lets your readers put in their trust in you. So, the more you pour your heart out in your writing. The deeper and enriching the conversations follow. Thus, the cycle keeps repeating, and that in turn makes your tribe stronger.
The average word count of posts on this Blog is 2000+ words.
11. Use Appropriate Headings
This one tip is on the organizational aspect of digital content writing format.
Can you imagine what would this post look like without Headings?
The entire words would go haywire due to lack of order.
That is why a set of Headings are necessary to keep chaos at bay.
I use a lot of Headings in my writing. I make a good use of H1 to H4.
In digital writing parlance, H1 refers to the most important Heading. While H4 is 3 notches lower to H1.
Appropriate use of Headings is soothing to the human eyes. It also eases the job of the search engine crawlers.
You must use them to bring sanity to your content.
12. Transition Words
If you are a professional blogger. Then, using Transition words in your content is a must.
As the name suggests. These words connect one sentence to another.
In this article, Then, Moreover, So are the examples of Transition words. These are the connecting links between sentences.
The transition words add a significant amount of structure to the content.
They help usher the readers towards the goal of the article. You can consider them as little arrows that prompt the audience towards a conclusion.
That brings me to –
Conclusion
Content Writing deters many. Lack of writing skills is one of the main reasons why people dread Blogging.
Much like most of the creative activities, Writing needs persistence.
With continued efforts towards improving your writing skills. You can come up with better content for your blog/ website.
Apart from a fresh and original writing tone. You also need to adhere to certain writing norms.
Else your writing appears raw and amateurish.
This article enlists a handful of content writing techniques that uplift your Content. You can begin to make these changes in your content the moment you finish reading them.
They are easy and do not take many technical skills to master. Once you get regular in involving them in your writing. You will notice better engagement rates of your content.
I have included all the tricks of the trade that I have learned so far in my Blogging journey. Though I am not sure if there are other few that I am not aware of.
I would be glad if I could come up with an evolved version of this article sometime in the future. Till then I would love to Read, Write, and Repeat all my learnings.
Header Image Courtesy: Pixabay