Would you read the newspaper if there wasn’t any titles? Would you read the newspaper if there wasn’t any sections? would you read the newspaper if it was a single block of text? Would you read the newspaper if the presentation was different everyday? I don’t think so. Then, tell me why so many bloggers don’t structure their posts?
Too many “one block” articles
I see too many “one block” articles around the bloggosphere and I don’t think it is a good practice. What is a “one block article”? It is basically an article that is not spitted in different paragraphs, so it is a one paragraph 1200 words article. What’s wrong with that approach? I can tell you this will turn down a lot of readers because let’s admit it: there’s no way you’re going to catch the reader’s attention with such a post. As a reader, when you land on a post, you like to have a feeling of what the post is about and you might also want to read only certain sections of the article. This is perfectly normal because before spending 10 minutes reading an article, it is nice to have an overview of what the post is about and if you only have 2 minutes ahead of you, you might just want to read what interest you.
Structuring is branding
Structuring your posts the same way every time is part of your branding strategy. Branding doesn’t always mean to do awesome/out of the ordinary stuff, it can be as simple as being consistent. You know, people will get used to your writing style and will get used to the way you structure your posts. There has to be no doubt that it’s you who wrote the article and the only way to achieve this is by being consistent with your writing style. When I say having a t-shirt or business cards is important to brand your business I really mean it, but as bloggers the only thing we have is our content so why not brand it?
My approach
If you are a daily/weekly reader you’ve probably noticed how I structure my posts. I like to write short paragraphs with a very simple writing style. You know, I don’t blog to win a Nobel prize, I blog to share my knowledge and whatever is on my mind. I strongly believe that to share information in this fast Internet Business, that information has to be straight to the point and ready for immediate consumption. But you know, that’s my way of doing things: “Cut the crap”. Your way might be to go with very long and complex sentences and if it works for you then that’s perfect! But if you’re wondering why nobody leaves comments, it might be because nobody understands your articles!
Your approach
What’s your approach when it comes to structuring your posts? Do you always use the same format or are you constantly changing? Do you have a style? Tell me.
I’ve had some structure issues in the beginning of my blogging but impressed with headings layout at some seohorror blog I fixed that.
Now I have consistent structure for software/web reviews (functions/interface/downsides/overall) and experimenting on rest of posts.
Rarsts last blog post..All in one media playback with VLC
lol @ seohorror layout
I also think your posts structure has greatly improved over time Rarst. I think it is particularly important for you because you do software reviews and as you pointed out, there are specific things you have to look at: functions, interface, etc.
I was thinking about this the other day: wouldn’t it be nice if you rated the softwares you review on a scale from 1 to 10 or something similar?
>wouldn’t it be nice if you rated the softwares you review on a scale from 1 to 10 or something similar?
I know some popular software blogs do that but I it’s not a good move for my blog. My reasoning is simple – I don’t post about crap, I post about good apps that I personally use for months (if not years).
So if I start to put ratings I’ll have ton in 8-10 “pick” range and occasional 0-5 “funny crap”. No scale – which totally defeats purpose of using rating.
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I try to seperate my posts into paragraphs, albeit I quite like the way you put little headings on your paragraphs to give a little ‘summary’ of what they are about to read – maybe I’ll steal…I mean borrow, that idea from you
Dan
Dans last blog post..Get Respect With Your Visitors
Structure has same importance as design and layout have. It’s a must to break your posts and make meaningful headings for similar paragraphs. It makes text a lot readable and visitors like that. I hate when i see unstructured posts, and i always just go away from the site, because i loose focus from the text and real information.
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Definitely, a long one paragraph post will look boring. I used to divide my post in different paragraphs and try to add some image on it to make it more interactive.
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I believe the structure of your posts is important if you want to get traffic from search engines. I get a lot of traffic from search engines but I make sure to structure my posts so that can happen.
I make sure to hit my keywords in the first or second sentence of my posts and the last sentence of my posts. I write three to five sentence paragraphs that hit on long tail keywords.
I also make sure to format my phrases or words in bold if they are important. I’m happy to do this because it has increased my search engine traffic 300%.
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I split my posts into small paragraphs… Personally when i read other blogs and I see a paragraph with like 10 block lines my eye tends to wander else where on the page…
Also don’t just separate the paragraphs to separate them… there should be a flow from paragraph to paragraph, otherwise the reader might theink they missed soemthing.
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@Rarst: Cool, you know what’s best for you blog and I think so far your vision has served you well so stick to your current plan
I agree btw hehe
@athlon24: Yeah bold is cool man, helps put emphasis on certain parts of the article. Well, just as long as the whole article isn’t in bold
I don’t use list either, but I think it has helped a lot of bloggers in the past into getting SU traffic and stuff like that.
@Dan: haha no problems with stealing/borrowing, buddy! In fact I would like you to take the idea if you like it and think it can help you
@Judit: Totally agree, I also lose focus when I end up on a post that is just a single block of text and doesn’t have any sort of structure. I like when you say structure has the same importance as design. It is so easy to concentrate on making the blog “look good”, but what about your content?
@Hussein: Yeah dude, I think images in posts are good to catch attention. I haven’t done that a lot, but this is something I’ve always wanted to go with.
@Franklin: Very good strategy buddy and thanks for sharing that! I would have a question for you though: Do you optimize your posts for SE straight out of the box? What I mean by that is: My approach is to write the article for people and not for SE and after a week, after all the daily readers have read the article then I can go back and optimize for SE. Thanks for sharing!
@ZK: I don’t know if less content is the key, but SEOed can’t hurt in terms of SE traffic.
@eric tan: Yeah dude, you do have a good writing style and I actually enjoy reading your posts because they don’t feel “heavy”. I also agree with the flow, it’s important to separate the article into paragraphs and not into articles!
@Sire: Thanks for dropping a comment dude, I think you’re new here! Yeah bullets are great to show really simple and straight to the point content. I think it is a pretty good technique. For photos, they are also great way to catch people’s attention and I really have to get into that!
Hi Ben, as you know I blog about Cars. So I break my paragraphs at car features – from technical stuff to interiors and then exteriors and sometimes comparing it with other cars. These things get a new para on each of my posts, accompanied mostly by respective images. After all you can’t write a car post without its pic! Now coming back to your point “Structuring” of posts. A well structures blog is more readable and gradually the readers get used to it. Don’t change it often. Also using headlines (as you do) before each para doesn’t get you bored. So, when writing long posts break it into paras and headline each of them. Great post as usual.
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I try to make my paragraphs two sentences each…maximum. With double right sidebars it can get pretty bunchy otherwise.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Blog Review: Thou Shall Blog Dot Com
Structure is a MUST dude lol. I like to break my stuff up, into small paragraphs of 1 – 3 sentences. And I add lots of spaces
I also like to add pictures to the post, usually starting with one on the left, then one on the right later in the article.
That’s only if it’s long enough. If the main content of the post is a video, then depending on how long the article is that goes with it, I may not do all these things.
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I just keep it easy to read (whilst including my writing style of course
). That means paragraphs(not too long), bullets if needed, subheadings etc.
Much like everyone else I guess hehe.
Pictures etc are good to illustrate points as well…
As long as it all flows together and isn’t all bunched in the same place I think its a win.
@Rituraj: That’s good man. Because you blog about technical stuff, I think it’s really important to structure your posts accordingly. That means one paragraph per point you cover like you mentioned: exterior, interior, etc. The picture is more than essential on a car blog!
@Dennis: Yeah dude, I don’t know about 2 sentences maximum as it makes very short paragraph and it might seem like your jumping from one idea to another, but if it works well for you then I guess go this way hehe
@Joe: Ohhhhhh the sammich man decides to make an appearance! lol
Yeah, I think putting space in your posts is a good practice because it lets your post breathe a little bit and it’s easier to read! I tend to go very straight forward when I post a video…hehe
@Leila: Yeah I agree, the key point here is to make it easy to read!
@raraici sorry, I skipped your name in the last post. I don’t know if there’s a direct relation for that, but it certainly helps.
I think my approach is very fluid, and I think back to when I went to school and was taught that as a process. I tend to believe that schools today don’t teach that as much as trying to determine whether or not students understand the concepts or not.
Of course, structure also depends on what one is writing about. Whereas I’d hate a post that was one 1,200 word paragraph, I also hate posts where every paragraph is two sentences. And I’m thinking I must be the only person in the world who still uses semicolons.
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And that’s a shame, Sire; I wonder if they even teach people how to use them anymore.
Mitchs last blog post..Book Writing Series Part Five – Editing
I just write
Sometimes what comes out falls naturally into some form of structure
Sometimes it’s a big old block
Forcing a predefined structure on something creative like writing is bizarre imo. Let the words show you how they want to be.
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At the moment, I am still developing my branding strategy and getting my flow together. I am still new to the blogging scene, but catching on quickly and I can see how consistency can be beneficial to your business as a blogger.
In the future, I plan on developing my brand around my logo, color scheme, and content areas that are all focused on my niche.
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Couldn’t you make the argument that just following proper grammar will dictate a well structured post? The problem is that bloggers let SEO get in the way of just writing and that leads to some dilemmas where the SEO in you wants to structure one way, but the person who passed high school English classes wants it another way.
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Mitch – Hey! YOU got problems with 2 sentence paragraphs?!?!?! LOL
As I said to Ben, with my theme the way it is if I go even 3-4 or more it looks really bunched up to me…I dunno, I never actually polled readers on it.
I do use semicolons.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Blog Review: Thou Shall Blog Dot Com
Dennis, I hate when a long piece is a series of two line paragraphs at a time. There’s this thing about consistent thought that I learned in school, which says you start a new paragraph when you have something new to say. Otherwise, things just get spread out for no reason at all.
And I’m going to be looking for those semicolons. lol
Mitchs last blog post..Book Writing Series Part Six – Publishing Your Book
Ugh, I don’t like those one-block posts either! Reading online is a little different than reading something in print (but not by much).
We tend to read fast online. You might say we’re almost impatient, which falls in line with the “give it to me now” mentality our society has adopted. That’s why I try to break my paragraphs up because I think readers are less likely to skip over my posts if they see bite-size chunks.
Additionally, it helps call out the point I’m trying to make as well because isolating something in a short chunk gives it a little emphasis.
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Structure is very important to our readers and I always did not more than 5 sentences in a paragraph. Lately, I like to add pictures (sometimes a video) into my post.
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Mitch – I’ll attempt longer (normal?) sized paragraphs. It looks horrible to me but maybe not to others.
*shrug*
Dennis Edells last blog post..Blog Review: Thou Shall Blog Dot Com
Dennis, don’t change anything based on what I’m saying. Rather, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying.
My main point is that if one is still on the same “thought”, breaking that thought up into multiple 2-sentence paragraphs makes no sense. That was the kind of trick some kids used to try when they were told to write a 10 page paper in school. Sometimes a paragraph only needs two sentences; if that’s the case, go for it. But if someone wrote a 2,000 page article and every paragraph was only two lines, I think I’d go nuts.
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LOL good point.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Blog Review: Thou Shall Blog Dot Com
@Mitch: haha good one with the semicolon
I don’t use them to be honest, but I agree it has its use in structuring a post 
I also don’t like very much 2 sentences paragraph, but you and Dennis went over that subject. hehe
@Underdogblogger: I will have to disagree with that. I don’t think it has anything to do with creativity. Creativity is what you write about, structuring your posts is just a way of tweaking your posts to catch the reader’s attention and it also shows that your are consistent.
@Freddie: Dude, you already have a way to structure your posts and it’s really easy to notice. I think you are already being consistent and I know what to expect when I read one of your posts. Essential IMO.
For branding your logo, color scheme, etc. I agree that it can only improve your website’s branding. Keep up the good work
@Justin: Good point, grammar is too often neglected in this business. I try to be careful with my grammar, but I think I should use a spell checker just to guarantee a good level of quality.
@Mark: Yep, good point buddy. It seems like people don’t relax on the Internet, always in a hurry and always looking for more information fast! While you can try to fight against that, understanding this fact will definitely help you structure your posts accordingly. I think we have a very similar approach on that subject: simple, straight to the point paragraphs.
@Norhafidz: Good stuff buddy! Adding videos and pictures is a very good way to catch the reader’s attention. As I mentioned before, I think I should try to add more pictures in my posts.
@Wei Liang: Good stuff buddy! I think we have a similar approach when it comes to structuring posts then. Except the pictures…which I have to add!
I don’t know if I agree that structuring does much for branding. I mean if you have a really unique way up structuring your articles then it is a possibility, but overall I think a good structure just makes reading easier and doesn’t have much to do with branding.
Adam
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@memo: Not sure what you meant by that…Do you mean that structured posts are a question of perception and that it is hard to structure a post where you throw a bunch of ideas?
@Adam: Hey buddy! I think it does help branding and here’s why: It doesn’t help you brand your website the same way a logo would help you or the same way a t-shirt would help you, but if you are very consistent in the way you write and structure your posts, you can become well known for “that structure”. To me, you’ve successfully achieved that if you guest post and a reader thinks “Man, that sounds like Ben/Adam from xyz.com…Oh, it is Ben/Adam!”. You know what I mean?
I agree that the main purpose is to make the reading easier!
Thanks for dropping a line buddy!
Ben,
Yeah that could be the case but your structuring would have to be very unique for somebody to pick you out of a bunch just by the way your post is set up.
Your voice and writing style are almost completely unique which play quite a bit in the role of your branding, but just the way you place bullets and headings seems to me like a factor that most people wouldn’t notice.
Then again I could always be wrong. Maybe you could test it somehow. Start a blog under a pen name and see if people figure out if it is you or not.
Adam
PS. Stopping by is the least I can do for a Ninja.
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Well, I usually skip that ““one block” article” for the most part. Breaking it down into different paragraph with heading for each has been the practice here at thoushallblog.com and I can’t think of any other way of better presentation.
I’ve just learned a new trick by Brian @ Copyblogger on the use of questionnaire as an opener, something I’m yet to perfect but it does make sense obviously since it comes from the master of copywriting.
Yan
The Smiling Bloggers last blog post..10 Tips for a Blog Design Makeover
(PS. WOW this is a popular post! Got back to my email this morning and at least 30 emails were comments on this post
nice one Mr Frog-like person))
@john to be future proof, its probably better to go with the bolding of the text. The powers that be are working on redefining the purpose of the header tags. Pretty much the same way that the FONT tag was changed.
Michael Henrys last blog post..Where I’m at: Free Flu Shot Clinic
I’m finding a bloggers template has a lot to do with a nice structure to a blog article these days. I own 8 blogs… trust me only 2 A are readable but the point is some article looks nice and other don’t even when using the same structure.
A blog theme and template design is of most importance to have a nice article structure… proper spacing, font type, font size wow there’s so many things to take into consideration…
Placement of images si also of most importance…
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Good explanation…well structure post is about branding too….
Well i do customized my post in my love blog – Cupid Blogger Dot Com
Check it out…
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I try to break text up into shorter paragraphs while highlighting either the first sentence of the new paragraph or leading with a title. I also try to add a photo to make it visually appealing. I try and stay away from long posts because I don’t particularly like reading long posts (I find myself skimming) so I figure that my readers wouldn’t like it either. If you do write longer posts, I think it becomes particularly important to have good visuals and play with the text so that it’s easy to read.
I also almost always close my posts with a question (or two or three). Earlier on I never did that. Once I started to, I started eliciting a greater response from readers.
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I defintely agree with having no one-block posts. Another little tidbit I like to do is, mention other articles similar to the one I'm writing, and have a link to my own post inside that article.