This page is under construction
Over time i will add more information here, I’ll put this page in updates if there’s any updates
Info
For this project, you’re going to write a number of professional blogposts about the choices you make during the project. These won’t be graded on writing level, but a well written blogpost does convey the message more clearly. -My school
What is a blog?
The word blog comes from weblog(web log), which means that someone on the web has written a log or piece of text about something that they have learned/discovered/came up with/etc. The exact definition of blog differs on who you ask though.
On our projectsmart-energy, the following definition will be used:
*A blog is an informative or inspiring series of short, personal pieces of text which appear online and regularly with an informal writing style.
The goal of a blog is to inspire or give something useful to the reader. The content will be read in a more chill manner giving the blog a personal element.
Of course, the web part of a weblog means that it has to be online somewhere, people need to be able to read it after all, and the log part of a weblog means that it consists of multiple pieces of text(logs).
The nice thing about a blog is that it doesn’t have to stand up to any standard or writing style you learn in schools. You can use your own informal writing style, which makes it easer to write. (look at it as if you’re writing down your own thoughts)
The structure of a blog
The structure of the blog (or at least according to my school) consists of 5 different parts:
- The title
- The paragraph structure
- The images
- The call to action
The title
The title of your blog will be the thing that catches the reader’s attention. Make it interesting or enticing to read. It also sets the theme of the blog.
The paragraph structure
A blog consists of short pieces of text, so this means it has a bunch of small headers/paragraphs. The use of (sub)headers will make your blogpost more organized and easier to navigate trough Make small paragraphs ranging from 3 to 8 sentences and use many whitespaces. If there’s a new subject then you need a new paragraph on a new whitespace. Use bullet points for lists and and make your blogpost easy to read.
The images
Images can give extra context to your blogposts (plus it also makes it look nicer). Of course your images need to support your posts, so don’t adding random memes to your blogposts (I’m not stopping you though).
The call to action
A call to action is what it says, to call your reader to do something(an action). This can range from making them comment on your blog, to clicking a link somewhere or making them try something out you wrote about. For example: Click this link to get some tips for a good call to action(it’s written in Dutch).
A good and catchy title
people make quick decisions
Chartbeat, a company that specializes in web analysis, did some research on the reading behaviour of users. They discovered that only 20% of the content of a webpage is truly read.The other 80% just reads the title and some headers before they decide if they wanna read it or not.
A short attentionspan
Because the internet blasts you with information on things like social media and newsfeeds, people have developed a very short attention span (literal goldfish have beaten some of ya’ll) The overflow of available information means that readers want to decide quickly if they want to spend their time on something. This usually means they only read the title and either move on or not.
Clickbait
We all know it, a title that’s too good to be true or sounds really wild. Clickbait is the term used to define misleading content to pull the attention of readers to the page/video/article/etc.. The goal of clickbait is to get more traffic to the desired target for things like more advertisement money. Usually the title has little to do with the actual content or tells it in a misleading way. Clickbait-titels are exaugurated, mysterious, or interesting. They play with people their emotions or curiosity because, like mentioned before, people usually only read the title.
A good title
The trick to a good title is to find the right balance between clickbait and making the title tell what the article is about while piquing the reader’s interest.
Be as concrete as possible
Be clear what the article is about. If people know what you’re writing about, they can immediately decide if they’re interested or not. For example: “school spying on my home”, although funny, would not be a good title. “using smart meters to be more eco-friendly” would be a better title.
Use lists (numbers)
Titles with numbers in them usually interest people. For example: “5 ways to improve your health”
Why, what and how
Titles that start with why, what or how will always pull readers. For example: “why you should buy McDonald’s this Christmas”
Dont make your title too long
A short title of like two words is too vague, but don’t put a whole sentence in there. It’s important to find balance in the amount of words you’re putting in a sentence, something between the 3 and 10 words should be fine. If you want to convey more information you can also put it in your intro.
Use some variety
It is smart to not always use the same type of title, it will get stale quickly that way. Change around some of the tips in this section if you don’t know how.
So now that you’re all caught up on how to write blogs, go out there, and write stuff! Be creative! Learn something new! But most importantly, have fun while doing so :3