Washblog || More Readership for Your Blog Story

More Readership for Your Blog Story

By noemie maxwell
Wed Feb 14, 2007 at 08:20:46 PM PST
Section: Diary Topic: Alternative and Community Media

Here's a list of some of the factors that I think draw readership to blog stories. This is a list of suggestions -- my first attempt to describe what I think I've been observing. Obviously, every suggestion is not going to work for every story. The ability of a story to draw readership also depends on the drawing power of the site itself. And that drawing power is largely determined by whether people want to read the stories there. Excellence and readership tend to go together, but not always. Great stories languish unread. The point of this diary is to help people get that readership for good stories -- and also encourage good research/writing.

The quest for readership is a constructive political act. Blog stories and comments that get read provide information that traditional media ignore, improve the overall usefulness of the blogosphere (which benefits the progressive blogosphere in general), build synergy and connections among people working various issues and causes, and provide a place for people to practice democratic speech.

This list is also posted as a separate page on Washblog, accessible through Washblog's WELCOME AND FAQ page -- along with html and some other information. I'll update it as I learn more and get suggestions/comments.

CONTENTS

--READERSHIP
--WRITER'S CHECKLIST: ETHICS, READABILITY, ETC.

READERSHIP

RELEVANCE, VALUE, TIMELINESS
Some key relevance factors: new information relating to current events, controversies, campaigns, new research, policies, people, trends, etc. First-hand accounts of events, quotes, breaking news, interviews -- unique factual information, links to good resources.
You have probably a fraction of a second to convince the reader to go beyond your title. Once in the story, you want to keep them there. Research has shown that readers tend to scan web pages in an F-shape -- the first two lines, then down the left-hand side of the page and to the end. So try to get your most relevant content in that "F"....
Another dimension of timeliness -- less important and more difficult to judge -- is what time of day and day of the week to post your story. Weekday mornings and weekday evenings between 6PM and 10PM tend to have more readership than other times. Current events -- such as an election or a big story -- affect readership, as well.
DETAILS, LOCAL INTEREST & HUMAN INTEREST
Attention is attracted to more specific info. Name the city, name the person (check your ethics), describe the impact of the policy or event or trend. Give a little story or example that relates the trend or issue to real-life impacts. Provide dates or years. Provide images, when possible.
PROVOCATIVE & CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT
Controversial topics -- especially when related to Washington state -- and your original analysis and strong opinion -- attract readership. Avoid general theorizing and pontificating -- anchor things to the specific. Support opinion with facts or reasoning. Be honest about what you think -- i.e, call a lie a lie if you can show that it is. But please avoid questioning or denying the humanity and worth of other people. Avoid defeatist or conspiracy writing.
READABILITY
Formatting is easy on the eye and the content is organized well, spelled ok, and expressed with the reader in mind. Make the top part of the story short and informative.
In general, you want to provide as many clues for the reader as you can that you've organized your story so they can benefit without undue hassle.
Make your sentences short if you can. Break up long sections of text with headings or images. Put things in blockquotes or bulleted lists. You'll find an HTML "cheatsheet" on the Washblog Writer's Checklist that is linked to Washblog's FAQ page.
CREDIBILITY, AUTHENTICITY, TRUST
Early on in a story people will form an opinion of the author. Over time, writers build reputations. Stories that are positive; that are seen to be fair and reasonable; that are written for the benefit of the reader -- even if they are also supporting a party or cause, and that include the personality of the writer, are more readable. Overblown rhetoric can be a turnoff.
Check your facts, verify quotes and statements, and print corrections quickly when you make a mistake.
ADVERTISING, NETWORKING, LINKING
If you have a story that you think people will benefit from reading, let them know. If you're at an event to write about it, let people there know. Get their contact information and send them the story when it's published. If you mention a person or organization, send them an email and tell them how to find the story. Invite them to comment on the site. You can even arrange for a conversation where several commenters come on at once. If you go to an in-person event shortly after posting a story -- advertise it there. Cross-post your story to other sites like DailyKos or an Indymedia site.
READERS' COMMENTS
Posts with more comments get more readers. Comments on a story can be the best, most informative part. If you are going to post a story that you have put a lot of time into writing and/or would be improved by community input, consider asking for comments in advance. Try to join in on the conversation and respond to comments that your readers post.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
Link and reference to people and organizations that others should know about. If you learn about something from another blog or site or article, say so and provide a link. Before you delve into a topic, see if other bloggers have posted on it and link to them.
FOLLOW-UP, CONSISTENCY, TEAM-WORK
The better the writing from each contributor, the more audience the site itself will attract. Following up on stories -- and providing ongoing content on issues -- helps build a return audience.
GOOGLE AND OTHER SEARCH ENGINES
Much of Washblog's readership, perhaps a quarter, comes from Google and other search engines. Descriptive terms toward the top of your piece and clear writing get better search engine results. High quality hyperlinks -- links that lead to credible pages such as research institutes, established non-profit organizations, academic sites, and well-maintained blogs -- also increase the likelihood of high search-engine rankings and cross-postings from other organizations.

WRITER'S CHECKLIST: ETHICS, READABILITY, ETC.

Check your facts.
Check ethics. The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics is a good standard. There are some differences for bloggers who, unlike journalists, for example, do not need to aspire to objectivity.
Check readability. Some factors:
- Short story tops
- Consistent and "tight" formatting (avoid extra space)
- Attention to spelling
- Spelling out abbreviations, defining specialized terms
- Giving context at the beginning - who, what, when, where and importance
- Variety in the length of sentences and paragraphs - with a good number of shorter ones
- Concrete examples/ stories / quotes - real people, places, and things
- Elements that break up large sections of text, such as images, blockquotes, section titles, etc.
If you are an editor or featured writer, decide whether this post would be better as a front page or a diary (see below)
Consider if the title and first few lines will be likely to bring outside readers in.
- Titles: Avoid abbreviations except for the most common ones (WA, USA, etc.), and try to make your title descriptive of the story content. Here's a good article on titles from Politics and Technology: Headlines are critical content.
- Opening sentence: Orient the reader to time/place/issue. Try to get some aspect of your most important message in the first line or two
Provide hyperlinks or contact information on local and state organizations whenever possible.
If you write about a state or local organization or public figure, send a link to your article to that organization and invite them to come comment.
When you do a post that you think might be interesting to people or groups you know, send out an email with a link.
Finally, keep the top part of your post short (generally no more than three medium-sized paragraphs), and keep images no wider than 550px (wider than that distorts the page).

< Eric Oemig announces Resolution to Investigate in Olympia | Double dipping continues >

More Readership for Your Blog Story | 8 comments (8 topical)

Very nice, thank you

But, since I don't use a work computer for poliucal or blogging purposes, I'm more likely to post on weekends and evenings. Not that I'm saying many of the Washbloggers are wasting time on the job :)

Dave Gibney Pullman

by gibney on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 06:09:58 PM PST

rating

Weekends can be the best by noemie maxwell, 02/15/2007 07:08:47 PM PST (none / 0)
I would never (waste time on the job)! n/t by emmettoconnell, 02/15/2007 09:11:33 PM PST (none / 0)

Blogging @ work

Not easy to do! You need to be a desk jockey with all-day access to the internet in order to be effective. Or just be independently wealthy like Noemie.

by Brian on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 09:22:09 PM PST

rating

:) n/t by gibney, 02/17/2007 01:19:09 AM PST (none / 0)
Economic factors by noemie maxwell, 02/17/2007 01:36:50 PM PST (none / 0)
Or unemployed... by The Left Shue, 02/18/2007 08:29:25 AM PST (none / 0)

Or self-employed by dinazina, 02/18/2007 10:37:44 AM PST (none / 0)

More Readership for Your Blog Story | 8 comments (8 topical)

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