Delving into Digital Marketing?: 6 Common Formatting Issues on Your Blog

Are You Making Any of These Simple Mistakes?

writing mistakes Many first time bloggers are so overwhelmed with the idea of producing content on a regular basis that they forget to fine tune what they produce. It’s easy to see why, from the research that goes into finding a topic and formulating a catchy headline to figuring out a way to tie the whole thing together into an actual, readable (and hopefully interesting) blog. Some of the more technical aspects of writing, especially when your writing must be correctly formatted in a word document, simply go by the wayside.

You don’t have to stay in the habit of making these formatting issues, however; becoming familiar with the issue is the first step to correcting it. Here are a few of the more common blog formatting issues and how you can fix them.

Forgetting CTAs

The Call-to-Action is among the most important ways you make a direct connection with your audience via your blog. It gives them an opportunity to take their interaction to the next level. Unfortunately, because CTAs are often the final step in the formatting and uploading process, we often forget them. Make sure that you do a quick visual sweep of your formatted blog before uploading; this will aid you in catching the absence of that vital CTA.

Dead Links

When you’re writing a blog, it always helps to link to relevant and reputable websites and articles, and doing so in your word processing program is generally pretty easy. Unfortunately, copying and pasting links correctly, especially when you’re in a hurry, can be a challenge for even the most systematic among us.

The easiest way to ensure that the links you’ve inserted in your blog do, in fact, take your readers to the correct destination, take the time to click on the link before publishing the blog. This will help ensure that you never publish a blog with dead links in it.

Forgetting Images

Many people don’t realize how important the use of an image is in their blog; firstly, it attracts readers’ attention. Secondly, using images is especially important in the modern age, when social media platforms like Instagram create a visually-centered experience for web users. Consider your own internet experience; don’t pictures make blogs a more complete experience and entice you to stay on the page? Putting images in your blog will do the same for your potential audience.

To help yourself remember to add the image, do a careful visual run-through before you publish. If you remember that pictures are important, you’ll spot the mistake right away.

Too Much Block Text

Another formatting mistake that many new bloggers make is forgetting to break up their paragraphs and provide more digestible chunks of text for their readers. The act of reading an online blog is generally something that readers don’t want to spend a huge amount of their time on; when they see a mile of block text with no spaces for relief, they aren’t likely to keep reading. Provide strategic breaks for your readers within your blog so they can absorb your points more easily.

Not Dividing Your Paragraphs Well

It isn’t enough to simply break up your paragraphs; there should be a strategy behind how you decide which topics get their own paragraph and the transitions you use to introduce or conclude paragraphs.

When you think about the reading experience of your audience, it’s much easier for them to successfully grasp your message if you provide them with a sort of loose scaffolding in your formatting. The reading experience will be easier, and your writing will appear easier to comprehend.

Not Using Headlines, Bolds or Italics

You shouldn’t, by any means, overuse the formatting tricks, but not using them at all can create a cumbersome experience for your blog users. Headlines help outline big topics quickly and easily, bolding is invaluable in emphasizing certain points; the same goes for italics, which helps especially emphasize dialogue.

You don’t want your blog to read like a flat and mechanical production; provide them with a structured, eye-catching, and engaging format so the journey towards understanding what you’re trying to say is as straight-forward and enjoyable as possible.