How to write a compelling post!

Blogging, prompts, Sadje's View, You Asked

This week, Tanya asks our opinion about this quote;

TODAY’S QUOTE;

” The first thing you learn when you’re blogging is that people are one click away from leaving you. So you’ve got to get to the point, you can’t waste people’s time, you’ve got to give them some value for their limited attention span. ~ Alex Tabarrok

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This is fundamental fact of blogging;

There are way too many blogs posts to read and only that much time available to each of us to do that!

So the answer lies in writing content that is;

Interesting

Entertaining

Thought provoking

Enlightening

And concise

The trick is to engage the reader in the first few lines of the post. I personally think that too-long blog posts are rejected by the readers because no one has the time. Make it short and meaningful. Make it funny or entertaining, and make it informative, so that the reader wants to know all the facts.

I mostly write short poems. I rarely go above 250-300 words in any of my posts. I personally have little patience to read a very long post. Though there are a few storytellers that writes such entertaining stories the length doesn’t matter.

I like the phrase ‘Limited attention span’! This is the bane of our lifestyle. So adapt to it and produce writing that does not take too much of the reader’s time!

Do check out this post from Hugh on how to kill your blog!

Written in response to Blogging Insights- NF # 51, hosted by Tanya

#Keepitalive

#BloggingInsights

Published by Sadje

I am writing to express my opinion, share my experiences and to maybe provide some insight. My blog is addressing women at 50 ( but men are welcome to read my posts) ,their issues and the questions that come up at this stage in life. I don’t aim to teach, but to learn together.

Published

70 thoughts on “How to write a compelling post!”

  2. This really hit home today, Sadje! I’m halfway through a post and I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with it. I’m questioning my writing on this one; I feel it’s too stilted and I may lose people by sentence two. Lots to think about. Thanks for the ear worm. 💡

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. If the blog post’s title and excerpt of the post don’t entice me to click the ‘read more link, then I’ll move on even before reading the first few lines.

    Regarding the length of blog posts, I don’t mind. If it’s interesting, I’ll read the whole post if it keeps me hooked. If it’s short and not interesting (once I’ve got past the title and excerpt), I’ll move on to the next one. SEOs such as Google also rank posts higher containing more than 1500 words. However, if a short post has lots of comments and engagement, then SEOs will also take them into account.

    Thanks so much for linking to my recent blog post, Sadje.

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. Your post was very relevant to this topic Hugh. Many bloggers follow the advice of experts to write long posts to be noticed by the SEO but I feel that that is counter productive. Thanks again

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. It depends on whether you want more traffic, followers and visitors to your blog via SEOs or not. If bloggers are happy with the number of followers (and I know many who are not looking for more followers and visitors), then SEOs do not matter. If you want the same people to keep coming back week after week (or day after day), then SEOs won’t matter.

        I’m always thrilled when I get people who have never left me comments before, leave me comments. Many find me via search engines, but word-of-mouth also plays a big part (such as you linking to my post).

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        1. You’re right, I am not interested in attracting new people through SEO. I shudder to think if all the people, who supposedly follow my blog, start commenting on my post, how will I ever find time to respond to them. I’m okay with interaction between our own community.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  15. I agree with you, Sadje. I simply don’t have the time to read long posts, with a few exceptions, as you point out. Practicing clarity and being concise is also a a good skill to have in all aspects of life.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. Geese that let themselves into the house, a donkey that gives chase through the neighborhood, spooky cows, and bear stories… my posts are lengthy. I try to keep it to no more than two pages but it’s impossible to tell a good story with a more limited word span! Besides that, I write so that I can save these stories for my son and his children someday. 🥰🤗

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s great. You’re correct that you can’t tell a good story in less than 2 pages. And an interesting story grips the reader till the end.

      Like

      Reply

  23. So true Sadje. People have limited timeframe to waste so getting to the point by being concise is indeed key and Thank you for raising these points: writing Interesting, entertaining and thought provoking content as I usually do on my fashion blogs. Great blog once again🙏😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  24. Pingback: How to write a compelling post! – Site Title

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