Hi there! Time to tackle my second series of "5 tips"...

Most Internet readers don't read everything in a blog post - they just take what they can from "scanning" and move on to the next search result.

This is true for any content available on the Internet - blog posts, sales letters, Web sites, you name it!

Here are 5 tips I find useful for writing blog articles for the Internet, along with my comments:

Tip 1 - Short & Simple

Write simply, using simple, accessible vocabulary - try to avoid any jargon. Write short sentences and use short paragraphs.

The idea is to maintain accessibility - big blocks of text are not accessible. Hard-to-read words are not accessible. It just makes your content harder to read and more at risk of being skipped.

If you have too much content for one post, split your article in multiple posts.

A few blog-writers suggest to try and limit your blog posts to roughly 250 words. I'm not sure I could restrain myself to only 250 words, but the idea of limiting the size will help you in many ways: keep to the essential, keep it simple, split in multiple posts. So you can only win here.

Tip 2 - Think About Keywords

Humans are not the only one reading your blog - search engines are too! And they'll try to get a sense of what your article is about by looking for keywords. Think about the words you are using. Try to vary your vocabulary a bit to cover various ways of saying the same thing.

Search engines will pick up on that and it will increase your chances of being linked to relevant search keywords.

Tip 3 - Hook Your Readers With a Good Title

In a list of search results, your post title is what will be most visible. Use catchy titles that calls upon the readers. Don't be afraid to address the reader directly in the title (use "you").

Don't forget to hint at what your article is about either! And those keywords I mentionned earlier - search engines *really* love titles!

Tip 4 - Proofread Diagonally

I mentionned "scanning" in the introduction. Scanning a page means moving your eyes from the top left to bottom right, allowing them to stop at whatever catches their attention. Don't force yourself to read all of the content.

Your eyes will stop at whatever pops - usually titles, subtitles, words in bold and words in italics.

Reading only these parts, what did you get from the article you were scanning?

If your readers don't know any more after scanning than when they first opened the page, they're already on to the next search result.

Its up to you to space out your text (paragraphs!) and mark the pertinent bits of information on your post with titles, subtitles, bold and italics.

(NB: Search engines "scan" too - so it'll help you on both ends)

Tip 5 - Resist the Urge to Submit

It really depends on what kind of person you are - if you're a perfectionist, perhaps the tip should be "Click on Submit Already!" - but I chose the more careful path for the tip.

Try to have a little break and re-read your post at least a few hours later before posting it. Even better: try to have someone else read it and comment. Just make sure it's someone that's not afraid of letting you know what they really think...

This proofreading pass will allow you to make sure the feel of your post is in line with what you're going for. And it'll help you figure out which bits of text you want to make stand out for your readers who practice the art of scanning...

So these are my favorite tips for writing any kind of content on the Internet. Some of them are second nature to me by now... but for a few of them, I really need to discipline myself!

What other tips would you have on that topic?