Become A Garden Writer

Become A Garden Writer

Improve or Begin to Write About Your Garden Experience

The world of garden writing is a varied one. Most of us think of it as pure nonfictional writing that covers the how-to of gardening, making a garden, and growing plants, but the best garden writing incorporates more, and there are pockets of garden writing that soar with inspirational prose and are hybridized with spiritual and motivational writing.

Write What You Know

  • …And write what you love, but that is not all.
  • Spelling is important.
  • Punctuation is important.
  • Work on improving your writing skills, consistently.
  • I want to write things for which my only explanation for writing is not, “I needed the money.”

Improve Your Writing Skills – Keep writing inspiration and tips handy

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov.

Poetic and rhetorical devices to enhance your writing. Work on improving the beauty and magic of your words.
Cultivating Words: The Guide to Writing about the Plants and Gardens You Love

Get to the gist of your goal to become a garden writer. Covering such topics as the “how-to” article and giving guidance on writing well, the will help you interest your reader and organize your outlines. The all important story telling gets a chapter, along with the nuts and bolts you will need for your blog or book.

Different Styles

…of writing are good to know and practice.

Garden Writing is Technical Writing

Though it may be primarily dressed in another form

In a sense all garden writing is technical writing. When the subject includes so much of science, such as horticulture and botany, a certain amount of precision and accuracy is needed. It is necessary to both identify the plants properly and to discuss the matter of designing and growing a garden well.

Even in a romantic fictional piece of garden-focused writing, it is important to get plant nomenclature and description correct for the reader to fully appreciate the thought and emotion being conveyed. To use some wordplay, it roots the imagination into the the fertile, substantive source of the writing.

How will the transport of the scent of lilacs be truly understood if the writing isn’t clear about the context of place, and the nature of the plant? Lilacs, for instance, are known to survive for a long time, surviving the ruin of a house or the disappearance of the other original signs of human habitation. The scent is a musky, heady sweet fragrance, and the shrub was once planted in almost every dooryard of old farmhouses. It is a plant that connects generations, and their memories of their own old homesteads…sometimes miles from where the family would finally settle. Understanding a plants persistence or ephemeral nature, its scent or unpleasant smell, where one might have happened upon it, or who was likely to grow it may make a world of difference in how to incorporate the response to a characteristic, the gardens, and the plantings into a story.

How-To Writing

In writing “how-to” information the technical aspects are easy to see. For success on the part of the reader, they need all the accurate information necessary to accomplish their desired task. Use expert information, and if anecdotal information is included, please label that so the reader can take that point into consideration in their own set of conditions.

Plants have many romantic common names, and there are enough duplicates which refer to very different plants to create some confusion, so the use of Latin names ( as frustrating as that can sometimes be…see the case of the aster or the autumn clematis…)

More Reading

Why Latin?

Be Accurate

  • Check your facts.
  • Check plant names.
  • Make it a rule to use Latin plant names, whenever possible.
  • Record up to date information on hardiness, etc.

How to Write About Gardening: Get a Camera, Open a Blog, Start Writing

writing rules

Most garden writing is “how-to” essay writing. It is largely non-fiction, although some of the best writers do use a story telling style as they describe their activities or what impressions nature makes on their lives. The format of “How to Grow” or “5 Tips to…” “10 Plants…” etc. also work well.

Try to visualize your audience. Is it a new gardener, or someone who is experienced and wants something new?

I personally do not like highly hyped garden writing, which is common in the genre. Not everything is easy, beautiful, or must-have in gardening. In fact, gardening is a highly individual occupation, with a range of tastes in what is considered ideal both in in style and method. Hype sells more, but restraint and valuable information educates leading to the success of the reader and the future cultivation of the hobby.

Anyone can have a beautiful garden that functions well for their family with all the planning helps and online tutorials that are available. I really believe that. It only requires taking the time to watch some videos and read some articles before you are ready to face the challenges and choices of making a garden.

Now, mind you, I;m not saying it is easy… or even simple, but it is easy and simple to start. And those first steps are supported with expert advice that is as close as your iPhone or PC to support you along the way.

The great thing about nature is that it wants to grow and thrive. So you are bound to have a number of successes. Failures are just learning opportunities, anyway. Write about both your successes and your failures; they both make interesting reading material.

Keep It Conversational

Writing in a conversationally is a style that mimics the way we communicate verbally. Almost all my online writing is done in this manner, which means I play fast and loose with numerous ellipses, sentence fragments, and such devices.

Common Writing Tips To Review – Do you have these skills under your belt?

 

“Read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King

  1. Be clear, and edit, edit, edit.
  2. Avoid cliches.
  3. Use, but don’t overuse, adjectives and adverbs.
  4. Try to use as many of the five senses as possible.
  5. Research and validate your facts.

Who’s Who in Garden Writing – A sampling of those authors I like, and why

Gertrude Jekyll, famous garden author

Gertrude Jekyll, famous garden author

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Helen Van Pelt Wilson

You may not be familiar with her name, as she was an American garden writer more popular in the past generation, but Helen Van Pelt Wilson was a writer whose warmth and love of garden plants sparked enthusiasm for creating gardens and growing things for many, including me. I recently purchased two of her out-of-print books through Amazon, so I could have copies on my bookshelf, since I had borrowed the library’s copies so many times.

His writing is clear, fascinating, and expert. John Brookes tackles the difficult task of covering a wide range of topic and does so with seeming ease. I love his books, filled with the best of illustrations to inspire and informative in the way only an excellent teacher can match. I own many of his books, and would gladly own them all.

Penelope Hobhouse

I love English Garden Writers in general, but Penelope Hobhouse has been the one to mark my sense of garden color and fired up my imagination more than any other. She, too, tackles very broad garden subjects, but it is her intimate garden experiences which I love to hear about and the illustrations of her matchless garden plant combinations which inform my own gardening.

Tracy Disabato-Aust

This is a garden writer from my own native Ohio. That is not why she is one of the best garden book authors, though. She creates garden books which are practical, inspiring, and ultimately the best for American gardeners. She manages to provide expert information that almost any gardener in the USA can use. That is a tall order for so vast and varied a country, but perhaps that accomplishment is due to her great design sense and the fact that she concentrates on the plants. You learn much about gardening by reading her books and they point to straight to the garden to put the head knowledge into experience. She is my favorite contemporary author, at this time.

Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll is an example of how a garden writer may be an arbiter of taste and change the landscape of how we make our gardens. Influenced herself by William Robinson, her writing grew from her landscape design prowess and reputation. She is still influential today and her ideas are the foundation of creating perennial borders and monochromatic gardens. Her most famous books have reappeared in reprints that are revised for plants name accuracy ( since many of the names have changed over the years) and with colored illustrations.

 

 

Penelope Hobhouse – Expert and Enjoyable Garden Writer

Penelope Hobhouse is an example of fine garden writing at its best, from her expertise on plants to her accurate and enjoyable prose.

In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World

Start your own collection of her fine tomes.Her expert guidance through some of the great gardens makes for an excellent tour.

Garden Writing

 

Ilona’s Garden is a Website…. and my garden

I write about what I know – a key to better writing

Some websites are impersonal things. They are a company or about a product, or general information or lots and lots of information and writers. That is great- sometimes it is just what you need and want. But sometimes someone has decided to share a bit of their life and the wisdom garnered from their own experiences. That is what my garden website consists of, in Ilona’s Garden. Come visit with me and read about the plants I love or what I know about garden design. Or you can visit the blog on my new domain: Ilona’s Garden Journal for conversation and whatever is going on in the garden and during the season….

 

If you would like to know more about gardening my website holds the keys of my experience of many years in my central Ohio yard. It is always growing! I like to blog, play around with trying new stuff, garden (of course).

Designing for Zazzle and Cafepress are two new avenues I’m taking. Mainly on Zazzle, to help supplement income for online costs and to use my graphics and photos in an alternative way.

Little Known Secret About Garden Information Online

writing secrets

writing secrets

Maybe it is better known than I think, but the web is flooded by poor or just plain wrong garden information. It is true… and garden writers, in the confines of their hangouts sometimes will bemoan the fact. It isn’t a matter of a gateway, or a degree, or anything like that. It is a matter of experience with plants and gardens.

I noticed this when I was first writing my beginning pages on Geocities. There were garden websites that were getting quite popular, even though their creators knew little about gardening…. they were quite good at marketing and at making community. That is an expertise in itself, but it doesn’t help people garden successfully, except when they share their own hard won advice. And that is the secret sauce: real gardeners who like to talk “over the fence” about what is working for them and the basic how-to science and art of making a garden ( things like propagating plants, and building soil….etc,etc.).

Right now, there are a flood of garden writers coming online and making blogs from mainline media, like magazines and newspapers. It raises the quality of the writing, and sometimes of the information, but it also seems to bring the system of inbred networking and impersonal disconnect from that industry. That is just my opinion, you may think differently, but I still hold out for the individual voice of the everyday gardener who will tell you the truth when something won’t work for you. Or is just as glad at a small vegetable patch as at a magazine ready potager layout. Because it is all just as good, when it comes to people loving their little plot or -if they have it- spacious stretch of landscape, whatever makes it yours. Size doesn’t matter; well, it kind of does, but not in the way we think (mostly in how much work is involved).

Anyway, I want you to know why I keep laboring on creating a website for gardeners. I have LOTS of information and links going out to other great sources . It isn’t always easy to find my sites in the flood of new websites and blogs! But that is OK, once you find it I hope you will bookmark and then offer your suggestions on how it can be better for you. I invite you to do that by commenting on this lens, or joining the Ilona’s Garden Facebook page, which has discussion and comment opportunities and you can upload pictures of your own gardens,etc. That is an idea! I love other people’s gardens.

The marketing and writing lesson which I could away from the Squidoo community and others that count in creating truly helpful information is “to focus in”. That was something that was starting to get obvious as early as a couple years into writing about gardening. It is a huge topic when all the variables are factored in: climate,soil, plants,environments, animals,even fashions…. So my focus is not just Ohio, but on the groundfloor of “Central Ohio”. And from there everyone who has similar circumstances or similar needs for plants can benefit.

The little known secret for everyone is to find quality sources for your garden information. Sometimes hooking in with someone who gives you leads and links. That is why I started The Garden Librarian, too – to wade through the many garden books and find the best.

A comprehensive guide to garden writing.
The Penguin Book of Garden Writing

The Modern Writing Tool – A Mac Pro Computer

I switched to the Mac when I had to replace my laptop. There is so much going for the design and capability of this tool that you will be happy you made the decision to buy it.

A Place To Write – A Beautiful Inspiration To Write Daily

Can you imagine yourself sitting at a lovely writing desk, before a large window looking out into a blooming garden? can you picture yourself inspired to write all about the effects of the garden on your life, on your thoughts, and how you created the gardens with love? Can you convey the emotion of your heart when you peer into the face of your favorite flower? If you are not a garden writer yet, you may have all the makings of one. Give it a try.

a pleasant place to write

a pleasant place to write

Let Grammar Girl Help You – Improve your writing

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips)

Everyone can use some help on their grammar, and good grammar is a must in good writing.

Blog Well – No matter what your topic niche may be

ConcreteLoop.com Presents: Angel’s Laws of Blogging: What You Need to Know if You Want to Have a Successful and Profitable Blog

 

Better Writing Links

 

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    A couple of weeks ago we asked our readers to share their writing tips. The response was far beyond the initial expectations, and the quality of the tips included was amazing. Thanks for everyone who contributed. Now, without further delay…
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    One of the things I like best about social media is the way it helps me discover talented writers. They remind me a lot of distance athletes with their…

About Niche, Evergreen, And Seasonal Writing

About Niche, Evergreen, And Seasonal Writing

=It is all old news now: blogging is /and has been/ changing. If you are new to creating a blog and writing online, maybe these terms are new to you. Or maybe you are like me, and never really “got it”, needing to bone up on these pillars of blog success and learn some new “tricks” at the same time. With the tsunami of internet blogs comes a necessity to keep your head above water just to get an average number of readers. But fear not, there is still opportunity and with good old grit and determination online writers can still craft a following while pursuing their dream of creating a body of work.

First Some Definition

What is a niche?

It is a specialized subject area. Preferably your niche is narrowed down to the point where you have appeal to a loyal tribe of people who share your interest. The alternative is to have a broader area of interest, but create a prolific amount of articles which have good authority. My own example is that my sites mainly revolved around the topic of gardening. Since that was such a broad topic, I further reduced the scope to  Central Ohio Gardening , with an emphasis on home landscaping design. Even there, I am finding that I must greatly increase the output of articles to improve my online standing. The point of having a niche topic is to build authority and gain readership by reducing your competition for keywords and interest. It is a combination of catering to Google for search engine results and catering to those who wish to find authoritative information on their favorite subject.
What are some other popular niches?
DIY Home Decor
Do It Yourself  Crafts
DIY Interior decorating
Selling Homemade Items
Self-sustaining lifestyle
Grow your own food
Use alternative energy
Preserving Foods
Simpler Living
Green living
Organizational Skills
Lifehacks
Actually, these are all highly saturated topics now, but by studying “long tail keywordsA long-tail keyword is a keyword phrase that contains two to three words” you can successfully choose a good niche topic for your blogging. I have seen advice consisting of writing on a certain long tail keyword for a few key posts, and then branch out to adding posts on other related keywords for your chosen subject matter. I tend to write as the muse hits me, but this tip strikes me as a more organized and targeted approach. Even though my blogs are established, I think that is good advice to round out my own content.

What Is An Evergreen Post?

evergreen

Evergreen through the seasons

As may be surmised, no matter what the season year, in and year out, something that attracts reader’s interest  is called “evergreen content”. Posts that have no expiration because they hold long term interest. What type of topics might qualify for this type of article?
    • Instructional “How To” Tutorials
    • Product Reviews
    • Top Tips
    • Lists
What do people love to read about? Food, romance, money, weight loss, their pets …you know, the usual. It’s the usual because we are perennially interested in these topics as humans. And that… is Evergreen.

Seasonal Writing

The seasons give rise to traditions in food, holidays, activities, and many other types of subjects that perennially pop up and create interest in our writing. Here is a list of common topic examples by month:
January: 
  • dieting
  • depression
  • taxes
  • money, budgeting, earning extra income
  • New Year’s resolutions
  • weather
  • baking, recipes
February:
  • Valentine’s Day
  • football
  • income tax, spring,
  • Chinese New Year
  • love, romance, dating.
March:
  • Daylight savings time
  • St. Patrick’s Day
  • Spring
  • Easter, Palm Sunday, Passover
  • diet, exercise
April:
  • April Fools Day
  • fashion, shoes
  • Crocus, Tulips
  • spring birds
  • relationships
May:
  • Spring break
  • Mother’s Day
  • spring flowers
  • babies, children
  • gardening
  • travel
  • graduation, prom,
  • summer employment
  • weddings
June:
  • Weddings, graduation
  • summer, summer break
  • children, games
  • travel
  • outdoor activities
  • Father’s Day
  • summer employment
July:
  • Fourth of July
  • cameras
  • Independence Day
  • Warm weather foods (barbecue, ice cream, salads).
August:
  • summer activities
  • back to school
  • computers
  • college, dorm
  • students
September:
  • Labor day
  • Clothing
  • Canning
  • Fruit
  • Health
  • Harvest
October:
  • Crafts
  • Autumn
  • Halloween costumes
  • Baking
  • Fashions for fall and winter
November:
  • Remembrance Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • Turkey, holiday recipes
  • Gifts
  • Baking
  • Black Friday
December:
  • Christmas, holidays
  •  Ornaments, Christmas trees
  • Winter, cold, ice, snow, snowflakes
  • Winter sports
Writing Schedule
To take advantage of seasonal searches, write your articles 3 months in advance of the expected interest dates.

Generally Speaking

Building a solid base of evergreen content within a niche is a good way to start out with your blogging. It is also a great way to view where an established blog might flesh out their appeal. If you are interested at all in making income from your writing, I’d say these concerns should rise to the top of your writing “to-do” list. You are much more likely to hit your target when focused, then using hit or miss style of building your blog. Myself? When free to experiment with writing topics, as in my time on Squidoo, I found that evergreen content and creating a niche were best combined for success in drawing readers and earning money. Today, one of the fastest ways to get these articles seen and grow in traffic has been through the use of Pinterest. Utilizing social media is the next step, after writing a foundation of solid content. Nt Amazon Storefront

Blogging: Tend Your Vineyard

Blogging Tips

I’ve been blogging for more than a decade. That seems hard to believe, but it is true. During that time I’ve cycled through a number of trends and “pro” advice, and one thing about internet writing that is ALWAYS true is that it will constantly change.

So how do we find “evergreenContent that keeps having value over time” advice?

Quality

Like any business certain things don’t change very much and one of those is quality. Quality lasts, and that is true of writing and photos.

This is a variation on the oft-repeated “Content is King”.  Besure you putting up content, because the online reader is voracious. I used to joke that that blog always wanted to be fed more content, “Feed me!”, but it isn’t a joke, so pace yourself. And post the best, constantly improving, content. that you can.

Consistency

This was my hardest lesson; and the most important.

You must develop consistency as a blogger.

It doesn’t have to be every day, or even week, but it must be regular and something your readers can count on.

Since it was always my biggest challenge in life to be regular about anything… I have suffered most in building my blog from shortcomings in this department. So here are some motivators for you:

  • Being a consistent writer will improve your writing.
  • It will help build your loyal “tribe” of fans.
  • It will keep the search engines happy with your blog, if you continually add content that is original and of good quality.
  • It will help you to develop good business work habits.

Writing with consistency helps you develop a rhythm that also creates something of a flow and is a generator of inspiration.

 

Pick Up The Pace

Aim for two posts a week if you can. I have several different blogs, and some of them only recently have congealed into their topic focus. They started as experiments or I had some loose idea of what I wanted to write, but now they are gelling into a true fix on subject and intent.

Now that I know what I want to focus writing about, I am posting. Choosing a subject that is large enough, but that I’m interested in, has helped to give me motivation to write.

Take this blog for example, it began as a revival of one single page that I had originally developed long ago in my first website. I remembered how I needed to compile my most helpful tips and links in making my website at that time. All the things that I was learning, although I was a newbie, could be helpful for other newbies!

Now that blogging has changed so much and the learning curve is steeper before we see results, I know these articles will serve a need.

Writing more often has become one of my main goals for these newly minted blogs.

Tend Your Own Vineyard

I spent a lot of time writing on free sites, most recently writing for Squidoo, and now Hubpages.

There were several reasons for this:

  • Squidoo ( now defunct) was promoted as a way to increase links to my website.
  • It was fun with an active community of new acquaintances. It taught me a great deal about marketing.
  • It earned me money.
  • Hubpages continues in the vein of earning money online, but all sources nowadays are diminishing.

Tending ones own vineyard is advice from the Bible. It means taking care of what you own and can harvest from. Everyone wants you to jump onto their wagon and work in their field of dreams. We do that for the kinds of reasons that I listed, but we ought to, first, grow and maintain our own blog.

Write for your own domain and sites, first. Be very judicious about the time you invest in others blogs and sites.

Why?

  • They own it, run it, and make decisions about it without you. Your interests come very low on the totem pole.
  • They can change it, close it ( witness Squidoo, and Geocities before that) and there is little you can do, but be ready to change gears.
  • You may lose work.
  • You will keep increasing your time and effort investment.

And those are not even all the possible “cons” in the equation.

So while I like to keep my hand in writing for such places, and they do pay me (which is often reinvested in these self-hosted blogs), my best advice is to mainly work on your own blog. Build it, improve it, keep consistently adding articles and creating a masterpiece of work.

 

In Sum

You know the drill by now:

Write.

Produce quality and keep adding to quantity.

Be a consistent writer and post regular articles.

Add to this (very important today):

Participation and growth of your social media.

You don’t have to be in everything, but you should be growing a presence in the communities that bring value to your blogs. Google Plus 1, Twitter, Facebook Pages, Pinterest (this one is huge for me), Instagram, and many others including their byways that help to collate the many social media avenues (Rebelmouse is one).

Write for yourself, your own domain and sites, first, and in a regular way.

Go ahead and participate as a content writer elsewhere, but remember your priorities.

Tend Your Vineyard

How To Write A (Good) Blog Post

How To Write A (Good) Blog Post

Let’s deconstruct how to write a good blogpost:

  • Catchy Headline
  • Clear Photo (at least one, preferably Pinterest-worthy)
  • Strong introduction
  • Easy to scan information: headings and bullet lists help
  • Good word flow in well written content

 

These 5 points are the basics of a good blogpost.

5 points for writing a good blogpost

No matter how much you write, one of these areas of the blogpost can always improve. I believe we should always strive to better our product, no matter what form it takes. I’m an information junkie and love to read great posts, and I’m always trying to improve by learning how to put together great advice from experts and make it my own.

  1. That first one, the catchy headline, is always a challenge. Try reading Copyblogger’s advice
  2. Appropriate photos can be a challenge, but with an iPhone and Camera+ app, and Instagram, the process starts to improve. Photos with a Sony digital camera and photo editing were a very time and effort consuming process. Now it is easier with a recent version of your phone. (see updated advice below)
  3. Remember basic rules of writing a good essay? Those apply to the first paragraph, the introduction. Make it controversial, or make it something generally agreed upon, then introduce your topic and what the reader can hope to find in your post.
  4. This has to do with the format of the page. Break it up into easy to digest pieces, divide with heading, hand out bulleted lists. I am still working on this.
  5. Try reading the post out-loud. Does it seem choppy? Hard to understand? Abrupt transitions? If it is hard to tell, try printing out the entire post to work on, this extra work would be important for cornerstone content that you wish to have as “evergreen” posts that will draw readers time and time again.

Evergreen Posts

these are topics that people perpetually desire to read (hence the “evergreen” label). Instead of season holiday or subject lines like “Back to School”, Health, finance, and beauty continually draw interest.

Heading Reminders

Headings ought to be in order: H1 is the title, H2 is the next main topic, and H3 will line up under the H2, etcetera.

Run-on-sentence mindsets like to forget the formatting.

Don’t make that mistake!

how to write a good blogpost

Created a catchy illustration in Canva. Could be used as the feature photo, at the beginning or end of post, as well.

How to Edit a Good Blogpost

  1. Read through your content before posting. Make sure you have enough of the written word to give the necessary information and that your thought process is easy to follow.

Rearrange paragraphs and sentences if necessary. Keep learning to write better. Lots of advice is available.

Continue editing by following these next steps:

The Next Most Important Points For Good Blogposts

  • Check Your Spelling
  • Check the Grammar and Punctuation
  • Edit Your Writing
  • Use White Space, Reduce Clutter

After you have written a post, it is time to edit, revise, spellcheck, and improve sentence structure making sure the punctuation is properly used to best advantage.

Another helpful online app is called “Hemingway”. Try that out.

This and most programs now utilize AI. For some editors, within WordPress, or in browsers, AI is quite simple to use. It may take some getting use to in other applications, but it is time to get some practice with prompts that will give the desired outcome.

The AI Caveat

You might be tempted to just let the machine write everything for you. But this will not give your blog the identity you desire. In case you think this won’t matter: the future for writers will not be in spitting out info, it will be in the imprint of their own personal creativity.

So far, the AI content can seem meaningless and generic. Where it will go? That is yet to be seen. For now, use the tools to check your work, to act as an editor, to do jobs for which you need other’s expertise.

My Weak Spots

For writing a good blogpost, yours may be different. But watch out for these writing faults:

I do play fast and loose with this at times, but I used to go over my work repeatedly correcting mistakes, and still do when I have the time. It is far better to look twice before pushing the publish button.

People have given me helpful info on times that I have overlooked proper spelling or written in an obscure manner. I wish I had more input! If you have a friend or colleague who will help you edit, treasure that person.

As the original post was written in 2014, more than ten years down the pike I will update this advice.

Updating Blogpost Good Writing Advice in 2025

The above information has proven to be classic. I would still follow each point to create a good blogpost.

Adding some catchy or illustrative graphics are an all-important edition to a topnotch blogpost. One of the most useful apps has been Canva. It now requires a premium membership fee, but is worth it. You can make sizes for social media easily inside the app. Need free? Use something like Unsplash for that.

Canva has turned out to be a tremendously powerful creator app, with AI within, and abilities far outside the original simple graphics.

To improve SEO I depend on  the Yoast SEO plugin for my WordPress sites. It is free. Writers are still dependent on Google for getting an audience, and SEO helps.

Writing good content, while important, is only one part of the work. Look into how to use social media to broadcast it and build an audience.

…Resuming the original post…

Perhaps you would improve with the use of an editor app or program. I have used Scrivener and Evernote, although I’m slow to learn how to coordinate everything.
A successful blogger I know used Scrivener and other helps, and I am trying to follow his lead in becoming more effective.

The important points to remember when creating a blogpost are that it (1) be memorable, (2) social media worthy, and (3) useful to your readers.

In sum, although there may be an infinite number of tweaks and improvements we may make, these are the core components of good blogposts.

Make your blogpost interesting, entertaining, and/or useful

One Last Thing

I have been seeking to improve my blogs and one thing that keeps coming up:

Include a Call to Action

This is a “marketing term”, but it has become a widespread inclusion in the summary of a post. The idea is that the reader gets involved with either being asked to comment, “like”, or sign up for the newsletter (don’t have one? More on that in the future.)

I have started to do this. So, please sign up for my garden newsletter… it is more than gardening.

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Magnetic Headlines

direction

magnetic forces at work?

I know nothing about them, but Copyblogger knows plenty, so I spent some time on Brian’s famous site reviewing some of his helpful information. You can go straight there or listen to me chat a bit.

How To Write Magnetic Headlines

I went there through a twitter link ( I follow Brian and some others from the days I was in ‘Third Tribe’). I seem to struggle with the actual how-to for some reason, but I have learned so much about copywriting, marketing, and other foreign subjects from reading people who taught in his grand experiment.

I wasn’t ready. Maybe I will never truly be ready, but I’m taking the plunge in many of the things I learned. After all, I don’t wish to only write for myself. Like on this site!

This is classic : Headlines that get results.

Make Sub Heads

Attempt to make them relevant and interesting

That is a lesson found in some of the information ( I tend to follow a rabbit trail of posts on some of these sites). I think I format my posts better, but I have been experimenting like crazy with themes that give me styling and possibilities that I want.

But writing headlines? I used to be so wordy and esoteric ( See? I use words like that). Then I switched to prosaic and dull, ” just the Key words, Ma’am, please.” Now I am supposed to captivate you. At sixty+ I don’t feel captivating. But I will try.  Sometimes daily writing drums you down, but I like the idea of further refining your focus. That is what I am trying to do in life, so why not my writing?

My latest post on Ilona’s Garden was in a post format called “projects” that was built into my Theme. I still struggle with making my own post formats. And now that sentence is an example of what not to do: digress.

Anyway I wrote a resource page on Composting, which I hope to grow into a major source over the coming year. Composting is important to me, and I personally want to do it better. I figure there might be others like me.

Example

Look at the page and then tell me what you think of the headline, etc.

Composting, A New Pile Of Info

Offhand, I’d say that while it has a nice pun, it is too broad in scope. Also composting articles have been done to death, but usually they are scarce on good, complete information. The best ones are specified to particular categories of the composting process.

I wanted something where you can read it and go out and make your compost that very day ( you know, set it up, to actually make the compost takes time).

So. Did I accomplish the goal? What would draw a reader deeper into the page?

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