Dean Shareski has shared the following guidelines for blog posts.
I’ve tweaked my blogging guidelines for my grad students. Feel free to use and share. https://t.co/ETclazwGyL
— Dean Shareski (@shareski) May 28, 2015
For each blog post, use these principles to guide your writing. Use this as a guide for self assessment.
Content: As in any good writing, your ideas are first and foremost. Clear ideas, balanced arguments and specific examples make up the core of your posts.
Readability: Consider the appearance and readability of your post. Do you clearly distinguish between ideas through formatting? Making sure your font is adequate size and your post is visually appealing.
Voice: Blogs have a different feel than a traditional, published paper. They should have a clear and unique voice. At times this may be about sharing personal perspectives. Rather than being focused on purely scholarly writing, be sure to think about how to write in a conversational way. Blogs are largely about eliciting conversation.
Engagement: Blogs also are about engaging readers. A great post has an intriguing title and an introduction that makes me want to read more. Often times it might be about ending in a question or inviting people to provide additional insights or suggestions. Being provocative and understanding topics and angles that will elicit some kind of emotional response is the hallmark of popular blogs.
Media: One difference between analog and digital writing is the use of media. A great image or timely video can be used both to engage and support your ideas. Thinking about a well place, thought provoking piece of media often sets apart one blog post from another.
Links: Links are used both to acknowledge the thinking of others as well as to give gifts to your readers to be able to learn more. A post without links is more like a diary. Learning blogs should contain numerous links.
Comments: The beauty of a blog is that comments allow for clarifications and extending conversation. By inviting comments, you have a chance to add and often make your posting better. Being sure to address questions and comments is often an overlooked aspect of blogging. As well, your ability to leave a great question or insight on others blogs is critical.