How to write good blog posts

I stumbled upon an old article that has some very good advice on writing for the web that would be very useful for bloggers (and anyone, really). I try to do some of these, but not enough.

Ironically, much of it applies to news magazine writing.

As a result, Web pages have to employ scannable text, using

• highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others)

• meaningful sub-headings (not “clever” ones)

• bulleted lists

• one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph)

• the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion

• half the word count (or less) than conventional writing

I would add that a good, descriptive blog post title is important for drawing attention to your post.

I have to admit that when I encounter a wall of text on a blog, my instinct is to scan it and even skip it entirely. The use of subheadings and highlighting would help to draw me in.

I think I need to use some of these techniques more often myself.