Writing for a digital audience requires a different approach than writing for print. The University’s style guide provides a comprehensive introduction to writing for the web and links to other useful guidance.
Writing for blogs
Different social media platforms require different approaches to writing. For example, Twitter forces you to master the short form, whereas blogs affords a lot of flexibility with word count. Here are our top tops for writing for blogs.
Length and format
- In order to increase readability and accessibility, aim for shorter posts to be between 300 and 500 words.
- Longer posts of over 800 words are good for in-depth discussion/analysis on a particular topic, but should be used more sparingly.
- Posts between 500 and 800 words should be avoided. Research shows that “this length lacked both the focus and share-ability of a short piece and the pay-off of a longer piece.”
Writing style and language
- The most widely read blog posts are written in a more natural style, so we recommend that you try to avoid acronyms and academic terms, such as Latin words, or specific terminology that may not be well known outside disciplinary circles.
- It’s hard to read large chunks of text on the web. Use short paragraphs made up of four or five sentences maximum.
- As with journalistic pieces, ‘lead with the best.’ Don’t save your main argument or analysis for the end of the post; instead, start your article with your key points and then expand on them later.
- Write your article as a standalone piece, even if it summarises material in a longer paper or journal article. Try to present all of your argument and evidence within the text and avoid relying too heavily on information contained in external sources.
Referencing
- Links are the lifeblood of a successful blog. It’s not only very good etiquette but also vastly improves the chances of people finding your posts.
- We use links rather than citations for references. Links should direct readers to more detailed reports or other pieces of research, news items or other blog posts. Open access sources are preferable compared to those behind paywalls.
Titles
- Aim to use narrative titles – a single sentence that sums up the main argument of the article. The more descriptive and catchy the title, the more likely the article is to be read.
- Try to avoid questions.
- Try to keep titles to 15 words or fewer.