I read a lot of blogs. I like to study them to see how their authors present their material. Not counting architectural concerns (template, platform, etc.), there are three aspects of a blog post you should concern yourself with for effective presentation of your material. You can see them as three legs of your blog stool. Here are your legs:

1. Blog SEO
2. Blog Content
3. Blog Aesthetics

Blog SEO

When I say blog SEO, I am referring to the usual things that encompass on-page SEO - keywords, links, tags, photo elements, etc. How you SEO your blog makes a lot of difference as to whether you will rank well for the important terms you want to rank for in the search engines. Of course, blogs have one advantage that ordinary web content does not have. Blog search engines like Technorati and Blog-Search will index your pages and you’ll get traffic from there. But you’ll increase your traffic if you treat each blog post like a separate web page and SEO them as you would your web content.

Blog Content

Blog content, like website content, consists of anything you place in your posts. Mostly text, but it also includes photos and graphic elements. The effectiveness of your blog content is determined by the same set of standards that have always contributed to the effectiveness of good writing, graphics, etc. You are, after all, writing sales copy. It should follow the rules of good sales copy as if you were writing marketing collateral in the traditional sense.

Blog Aesthetics

Blog aesthetics simply means, “Does it look good on the page?” Have you effectively presented your material? That goes for the content, the graphics, the links, everything! How does it look to the naked eye?

Anatomy Of A Blog Post Title

Let’s take a look at a blog post I recently discovered. XLNT Idea, Inc. manufactures CD and DVD duplication equipment. Their blog, located at www.dvdandcdpublisher.com, is the point of discussion for today.

Here’s a screenshot of the first half of a blog post from the XLNT Idea blog on August 11, 2007:

Let’s talk about the blog title, shall we? Notice three things: Length, Keyword Positioning, and Structure.

Length and structure are intertwined, so let’s talk about them together. The structure of your blog post title should be such that it sparks curiosity. That’s the first thing your potential readers will see, before they even visit the blog. After all, it is your blog post title that will appear in Techorati and Google. Make it interesting and you’ll get the click. Make it too long and people won’t read it.

This particular blog post title does spark curiosity. It appeals to anyone interesting in impressing their boss. Who doesn’t want to do that? Plus, it promises a benefit. That’s always a plus for your blog post title! So while it may be a little on the long side, I’d say the title works for this blog post because it does spark curiosity and promises a benefit so well. But there is one thing I’d change about this blog post title and that has to do with the position of the keyword.

Keyword Positioning In Your Blog Post Titles

Keyword positioning is very important. You want your keyword as close to the front of your blog post title as possible. That’s so the search engines will see it and know it right away. Remember, search bots aren’t humans. They can’t think. They see and act. Let them know as early as possible what your important keywords are. While this blog post title is effective, I believe it can be improved with one simple change. See what you think:

CD Presentations: A Surefire Way To Make Good With Your Boss And Ensure You Get That Raise

By moving the keyword to the beginning of the blog post title you ensure that search engines and human readers alike know exactly what you are talking about. The first title focuses on your boss, but the real gist of the blog post is how CD presentations can help you get in good with the boss. A subtle difference, but an important one.

And one final note on blog post titles: Use active verbs. They catch your reader’s attention and hold it longer. “Make good” versus “get in good,” “get a raise” versus “ensure you get that raise.” See which one sounds stronger?

Stay tuned. Monday we’ll discuss subheads and h2 tags in your blog posts.

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