The Anatomy of a Post
July 14, 2008 by BloggerNewbie
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- The Beginning
- The Middle
- The End!
Thank you, good day and see you tomorrow!
I guess we should go into a little more detail about the anatomy of a post. The actual beginning starts with your title or headline. Surprise! If your headline is intriguing, it will induce your visitor to read more. It must be interesting and captivating. Do you know the percentage of posts that get overlooked because the title is uninteresting? Think about what captures your attention. Why do you stop and click? I read an article yesterday (sorry, I can’t refer to it because I was everywhere yesterday) about how to write effective titles and they advised not to be cutsie or punny (my words). I like cutsie and punny. Personally, I think they draw people in for a second look. Works for me!
Now it’s time to explain your title and engage your visitors to stay for the rest of your post. Is it going to be funny and entertaining or serious and educational or a combination of both? The beginning component of your post lays out the topic and content. It also is the excerpt that shows up in search engines. Readers will decide from here to read further.
The middle – that’s where all the fat is (he he – now that’s punny!) The content should contain sub-titles about each different thought. Readers will scan the sub-titles, and if compelling, will read that section. Sub-titles should be bold & beautiful.
Graphics and pictures are worth a thousand words. They also capture the attention and may keep you there reading a little more. Sometimes it’s difficult to find a graphic or picture to try and describe what you are writing about. If it doesn’t make sense or doesn’t add to your post, don’t put a graphic in.
Wrap it up. You should summarize your post and highlight your points of interest. The end is also a great place to entice your readers to return again – Y’all come back now ya hear!
I read a post from Brian Clark of CopyBlogger entitled Five Ways That Strategic Bullet Points Make You a Stronger Blogger. It was a great post and you should check it out. I especially liked the last strategy “Cliffhanger Bullets”. I was thinking that not only would that be a great bullet approach but also a great way to end your post. You would be engaging your reader to come back again another day. Always invite people back and always invite people to interact with your discussion.
What do you think about titles or headlines? Do you have a headline that you will never forget?
Well I worked double-time today. I wrote this whole post twice. The first time, just as I was signing off with a quote, the computer shut down and I lost EVERYTHING! And I was even a good BloggerNewbie and saved as I was going. I don’t know where it saved to, but I couldn’t find it. After wasting too many hours looking, and the advice of my husband (who is almost afraid of computers) I decided to rewrite. Naturally, it wasn’t as brilliant as the original. I now need to surf the web and see what I can come up with for tomorrow. Everything on the web is interesting and intriguing so I am sure you are now compelled to come back tomorrow and see what I found…
