When you look at the most popular blogs online today, they all share common traits. They are clear in their message. They are simple to read and do not have complicated text formatting and other distractions. These blogs are also usually quite quick to understand. Even if they are long form content, it is often quickly apparent that their content is worth bookmarking for later.
With that said, many still could use a bit of help in refining their writing style to suit today’s audience. To keep it simple, we will stick with basic tips focused on… simplicity, clarity and quickness.

Simplicity

The saying “keep it simple stupid”, or KISS, is important to remember here. Keep your sentences short, your paragraphs short, and your vocabulary somewhat basic.

Most sentences should be twenty words or less. If you can keep them shorter without disrupting the flow of your work, that may be better.

The length of your paragraphs should usually top out at four or five lines. Keep your text broken up to make sure that your readers do not get lost in a “wall of text”.

Use accenting measures like bolding phrases, using italics, underlines and subheadings as well. This all helps your content to stay simple and easily scanned.

Clarity

Even though most people are of a reasonable level of intelligence, keeping things simple is important. We live in a world where short Facebook status updates and 140 character Twitter messages are the norm.

People have other things to do, watch and read. They don’t want to spend a long time trying to figure out your message. If you adhere to the tips on simplicity above, you will already be most of the way there.

The most important point here is to remember that your titles and subheadings are vitally important. Each one should be engaging and should be specific enough that your readers fully understand what the next section is about before they read it.

Quickness

The previous two points build nicely to the last point. You need to place as much focus on quickness as you possibly can. If you accomplish your goals of achieving clarity and simplicity in your writing, quickness should naturally follow suit.

In some cases, it may actually be beneficial to give away the punchline in the opening of your posts. Let people know the point of your post, then spend the rest of the time actually doing so. If people know what they are going to get early on, they may be more likely to continue reading.
In an effort to make their websites content rich, many bloggers spend hundreds and hundreds of words dancing around a point. This rarely works. When it does, your audience will eventually lose interest and go to another site that makes similar points in a more appealing fashion.

A related point to consider here is whether to serialize your posts. For complicated topics, it may be best to keep them segmented into multiple posts. These are easier to digest as well as to create.

Conclusion

Writing for blogging is obviously quite a bit different than writing a book or an academic research paper. You need to make an impact on your readers. You can’t do this if nobody actually reads your work. Focus on these tips, make your point strongly and reap the rewards of an engaged audience.