I have been asked a couple of times recently on tips for writing blogs for nonprofits. Thirteen doesn’t seem like the best number, but I am not superstitious, so here they are:
- Make it personal. Pretend that you are writing an email to a friend. Your tone and manner should be friendly and not “corporate sounding.”
- Stories are great. Sharing the impact of what you are doing is powerful and builds trust with your audience. Who doesn’t want to support an organization that is making a difference?
- Have a focus. You don’t want the blog to be too general or broad. Be really sporadic about updating us on the office manager’s cute new dog
- Write about one thing per post. If you have multiple topics, write multiple posts and schedule the other posts for different days — just change the publish date to the date you want the post to become visible. It is like getting a buy-one-get-one-free deal when you discover you are writing two posts instead of one!
- Engage your audience. It is great to ask opinions and feedback and get others to share. Until you build an audience, encourage your supporters and friends to leave comments.
- You don’t have to write a lot. A paragraph or two is just fine.
- Make it scannable if it is long. In email marketing, I am always telling people to keep it short. A blog can be longer if you have good content, but make sure you use subheads. The goal is for someone to be able to scan your subheads and get a gist of what you are writing about.
- It is great to have a summary in the first paragraph or a subhead that has some punch.
- Have a great title. Your title is important. “July Update” is not going to get me to continue reading.
- Pictures are great. Even a couple of shots with captions can be effective for making a point.
- Videos are great, but keep them short. A 10-minute pan of the sun rising is not too exciting. A one-minute testimonial is better.
- Encourage people to take action. What would you like them to do after reading your post? Don’t assume they will know: tell them.
- Link to other things. Of course, linking to other places on your website is great, but don’t limit yourself. Just make sure links open into a new window so they don’t leave your blog.
What would you add to the list?
Jeffery is the Creative Director and Principal of Spire2. He brings marketing expertise from a variety of industries. He excels at understanding clients' corporate objectives, translating them into brand positioning and executing marketing materials that exceed expectations.
4 thoughts on “Blog Content Ideas: 13 (lucky) ways to make sure your blog has great content”
Would you change any of these tips for those writing blogs related to for-profit organizations
Thanks for asking. I think the list is just as applicable. One difference. The non-profit has a built in purpose— to show activity and that they are making a difference (not to say one couldn’t have other strategies). I think a for-profit has to have a clear strategy in place on what the blog is trying to accomplish and have correct expectations on the time required to build a successful blog.
How often should you post new blogs? I’ve heard every day to once a week. I know it should be frequent, but how frequent is frequent?
Lorraine,
Great question. I would say that the answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your blog. I don’t publish faithfully, but that doesn’t make my blog bad (I hope). I utilize it as a resource for prospects who want to know how I think, and to be helpful for clients who are trying to stay on top of the ever changing landscape of marketing communication. I don’t fool myself into thinking that people are going to come to my site just to check if I have something new on my blog. I point people to my blog content through my email marketing. If you are trying to make your blog a destination then you would want to publish daily so that people who will visit can be confident that every time they return there will be new content.
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