As you progress it’s useful to know the the best way to format your blog posts. When you write a blog post there are some tried and true methods for formatting them that will help your readers understand them better as well as improve search engine optimization (SEO). Don’t worry, it’s not too hard to do and soon it’ll become a habit for you. The right formatting can make all the difference, so it’s a good use of your time.
Our top 5 tips for formatting your blog posts
Don’t Forget the White Space – Your English teacher may hate it, but when you write for online viewing it’s important that you break up paragraphs for easier viewing. You don’t want each paragraph to be more than five lines long. If they are, go ahead and break them up in a good spot so that it’ll be easier for your audience to read.
Use Plenty of Subheadings- Not only should use sub headings but remember to use the “h1 to h6” headings. In WordPress you can find that to the left in your editor under “paragraph”. Instead of just using “bold” you want to use headings instead. The search engines put more emphasis on these subheadings than they do if you just use bold. Check out this post here for more information on using the WordPress toolbar.
Use Dark Text on a Light Background – Please do not use white text on a black background or anything close to it. It is awful on the eyes and people simply won’t want to keep reading. The best is still a white background with black text. You can use some colored text for the “h1-6” tags if you want to bring attention to them. Different themes have the heading tags associated with different colors sometimes aside from bold text. Try not to blind people with your use of color, the old rule applies “less is more”!
Don’t Use Small Fonts or Script – Today with predictive settings, most people who view your site will have their browser set to make the font the size they want, but don’t purposely choose small fonts. Anything smaller than 12 point font is going to be too hard to read. It’s best not to use fancy script type fonts, most people will struggle to read it. Use fonts that are easy to read online. The best fonts for online reading are: Arial, Courier and Verdana at 12 points or larger.
Use Bullets But Don’t Get Carried Away – When you are breaking up items a good way to do so is with bullets. Bullets help break up the text and give your reader some idea of what you plan to write about in an easy to read and grasp format. Don’t over do it with bullets, but if you have a short list of items, bullets make them stand out nicely. If you have longer lists, that need explanation, it’s better to do as in this article and use subheads instead.
Finally, always use images – in your blog posts and make sure the “alt tag” is filled in. You want images that match the content you’re writing about and give the reader something to view that keeps their attention on your topic. Images draw your reader in, and even help encourage more social media sharing. For more information on finding and using images, check out our post here.