Intentional Blogging 8 Formating

Finding time to do everything is a challenge.  So is formating blog posts for busy people.

This is the age of skimming or scanning documents.

So if you want to post readable and enjoyable post Jeff Goins has some suggestions.

Here are a few ideas for writing scannable content:

• Keep your posts short. 400-600 words is ideal. (If you go longer, break up the content into readable chunks.)
• Use subheads. This breaks up your content into scannable chunks.
 (If you can edit the HTML of your blog, this is usually the H2 or H3 subheading tag.)
• Use numbered lists. These are fun to write and read.
• Use bullet points. Bullets can actually make you a better blogger. I plan out most of my posts using bullets.
• Have fun with formatting. Make good use of the bold and italic formatting options.
• Keep your paragraphs short. I mean, really short. Two to three lines, at most. Absolutely no more than four. This is a blog, not a book.
• Write like you talk. Blogging is different from your doctoral thesis or newspaper article. Blogging is about community. There needs to be a conversational flow to your content.

• Give people a chance to respond. When people have an opportunity to share, they're more engaged in what they're reading. Allow readers to join the conversation through commenting or via social media.
• Link to quality content. People love clicking anchor text (that's the little blue -- or green or red, depending on the site -- text that indicates a link on your page). Give them something worth clicking. Try linking to some of your best content (and maybe some of your friends', too). This catches scanners in the act and holds their attention. 

And if you are looking for more reading material, try this post: How to Write Scannable Content

Jeff has been sending weekly lessons on how to write better blogs. This is lesson 8.  The first lessons were on beginning, focus, voice, type, content, lists and searches. Hopefully they are easily found in my search option.  But I would recommend getting the fully detailed lessons from Jeff himself.