Tips for bloggers

Last Tuesday, Wendy Sawatzky – online content manager for the Winnipeg Free Press – spoke to our Editing for Print and Online Media class. She discussed her job, what it entails, and what it is like working for the Free Press.

Sawatzky also provided a list of tips and guidelines that a writer should follow when publishing anything to the web. I hadn’t really thought too seriously about my blog posts – and how I format them – but after talking to Sawatzky I realized format is everything. Online editions of newspapers are competing against everything else (Facebook, television, phone calls, email, etc...); therefore, the content must be designed in a way that is easy to read, interesting, and eye-pleasing.

Below, I have included a list of tips for online writers and bloggers...

When writing something to be published to the web:
- Keep paragraphs short (100-ish words or less)
- One idea per paragraph
- Break up copy with subheads
- Bulleted lists are great
- Use active verbs

When writing a headline for the web:
- Keep it short
- Keep it factual
- Include specifics (such as geographical information and names)
- Use key words (this will make a headline more searchable)
- Make your headlines “Elevator door” headlines (If you had to explain the most important information about a story to another person, and you only had the amount of time it takes an elevator door to close to do so, what would you say?)

When including links:
- Make sure they work
- Make sure the site you’re linking to is reputable
- Clearly explain what the reader will find at the link (meaning, don’t simply write “click here”)
- Only link to sources outside your own website when necessary

When including images:
- People look at images of things they want to buy and/or consume
- Most people ignore online advertisements
- Ordinary stock images that look staged are ignored
- Moving graphics and photo galleries are beneficial, but only if the reader is in control of how and when they move (none of that automatically-changing stuff)

When adding a video:
- Keep it short
- Keep it relevant
- Clearly explain what the video is about

Hopefully these tips are helpful! They sure changed the way I format my posts.