how to write great blog posts Tag

I was playing peak-a-boo with my 3 year old recently. You know this game, it's where you cover your eyes with your hands, then open them like shutters and say 'peak-a-boo!' Every time my little boy fell about laughing at this. After watching me do it a few times, he wanted to try it himself and when he covered his eyes he said, 'can't see me', then when he opened his hands he shouted, 'peak-a-boo!' This idea of 'if I can't see you, you can't see me' is so innocent, I love it. I think I'll actually be sad when he realises one day I can still see him even when his eyes are covered.

The TED Blog runs alongside the popular TED Talks platform, however it offers far more than simple information about their schedule of speakers or plans for the coming months. On TED a fantastic assortment of writers find a space to share their knowledge on issues affecting all areas of science, technology and design.

Eating your pudding before your main will fill you up and you won't have room for your dinner, you'll miss out on the nutritious part of your meal and it will go to waste. But wait, that's just stuff your mum worried about when you were a kid, right? Go ahead, eat your dessert first, who cares. If anything it will only stimulate your tastebuds and get your saliva flowing in preparation for your main. That's right, you heard it here first, dessert is the perfect appetiser, just the thing to whet the appetite before the satisfaction of the main course.

When it comes to must-read blogs you could choose ones focused on politics, or the environment, or industry. You could seek out fact-happy blogs about history, and get the latest statistics about science. Or you could read blogs about all of those things at Cracked.com. 

Last week I was sitting in a sales meeting discussing the benefits of blogging to a potential new client. After a moment's silence he said, "my biggest challenge is finding something to write about." This can go both ways, people can either a) not have enough material, or b) have too much. Hopefully this post will help you find something to write about.

Sometimes the hardest part of writing a blog post is coming up with a snappy title. Many writers find the rest easy. Thinking up the title is the starting point and once it's decided the blog post usual falls into place. Do you find it difficult coming up with blog post titles? Here's 10 places to look:

Let's get straight to the point: what do you want your blog posts to do? I'll tell you what I want mine to do, win traffic and engage the reader. This puts the reader into my funnel as a potential new customer. I consider it the job of my blog and social media to fill the funnel from the top. Therefore, it's important to know if the process is working. How can I find out if my blog posts are delivering traffic and engaging my readers? Here's 9 tools I use: