Style Counsel – A few tips to make your blog content shine
OK – here is my beef. A picture says a thousand words yada yada yada – I get so bored of saying that but it’s so true. You invest your time writing a lovely piece for your blog and then you stick up some clip art / google image / modern toss to add colour / texture / meaning * (*delete as appropriate) to your lovingly personal prose.
9 times out of 10 it looks awful.
My advice – and it’s worth it – would be to use one main image to illustrate your blog post and spread the love across the whole width of those pixels. Choose an image that’s the right quality, well composed and expresses the essence of what you’re writing. Go abstract – if you can’t find an image then don’t bother.
If you really need to use other supporting images then think carefully about the arrangement. The classical [horrific] treatment is to stick an image on the left, run the text next to it and then put an image on the right and wrap the text, creating ugly rivers of copy your readers will find difficult to read.
Put the image about the text. Give it some space to breathe – honest it works!
Small images work best when they are cropped really tight – this way you see the detail instead of an array of blur.
If you’re running a team or corporate blog then stylistic consistency is key to presenting your opinions in a polished environment. Define some guidelines and communicate these to your bloggers. Good image selection / placement / arrangement are part of your brand, so give it some love.
This also applies to the tone of voice to the text you produce. We all know we should be conversational and human – it gets across some of the personality of the individual and hopefully it makes the content more interesting and unique.
I guess my last point would be about headings. You want to make them descriptive and alluring. They need to be a blend of search friendly keywords and a little bit of magic to tease the reader, grab their attention and reel them in.
Joshua wrote this on 03.04.08 – what do you think?
It's filed in the NixonMcInnes box
