Before I start this article, I want to get something out of the way: I’m new to the Steemit community. This is the first posts I write after the Introduce Yourself one. Feels like you shouldn’t be taking advice from me, right?
That being said, I’m already an avid user of the New page. My constant refreshing of the page has led me to realise that a lot of posts lack blog-like content. And since I like to think I know a thing or two about digital marketing, I couldn’t keep quiet.
In an effort to raise the quality of the content being posted in this website, I thought I’d focus this article on what constitutes a blog post and the minimal structure it needs to follow. I’m not gonna write bullet points to follow, I’m just here to create a discussion.
Headlines taken from Huffingtonpost, ManRepeller, and Buzzfeed.
Blog posts revolve around a topic. Think of something, anything, and then think of one or several ways to approach said topic. Let’s say I can’t take cats out of my head, so I pick them. Then, the only thing left it’s to decide what do I wanna say about cats. For example, Which cat breeds are the friendliest? Reasons why having a cat is better than having a dog? My friends have some funny stories about their cats, here are my favorite. And so on, until you find something you can actually write about.
Easiest way to find something to talk about is to recur to things we know or things we’re passionate about. In order to write a blog post about Space X, I would need to do a lot of research, read other articles from different websites and then write. This process might take me more than a day and chances are I would end up copying by bits what I read online.
Instead, if I chose to talk about my hobbies or things I already know about, I won’t feel the need to replicate what other people say. Of course, you can do some research online if you feel like you have to, but don’t let that affect the approach you’re taking on the subject you choose.
Another mistake I’ve seen repeatedly on Steemit it’s pictures or videos posted with a title and no other kind of context. It’s true that an image can say more than a thousand words, but readers are named like that for a reason, and unless you’re a cartoon artist, you’re gonna have to earn those upvotes by actually writing.
Image created by me.
Where can I draw the line about what constitutes an article/blog post and what not?
If I posted only an image of a dress, that’s not a blog post. However, if I posted several pictures of the dresses on the last Ellie Saab A/W 18 collection, added some context about the designer, gave a brief explanation of each dress and a short conclusion, that would be a blog post.Same with videos. Your hands are not gonna fall off for writing a paragraph or two about what’s being said in the video you just posted. Even if it’s a video of yourself! Tell us what’s going on or we’re not gonna willingly click on a 3 minute video. Also, don’t assume people will know what you’re talking about. Explain yourself and link to other stories you’ve previously posted.
Last but not least, learn to manage your content. Decide which topics are you gonna talk about during the week. Find the schedule that works for you. Not all of us can post an entry everyday, and that’s okay! Focus on quality over quantity and you’ll see your followers and engagement rate go up.
Hope you found this to be helpful. Let’s talk on the comment section, friends!