Blogging Archives - Sincera Consulting

Amplifying Reach of Your Posts – The Blogging Fundamentals

by sincera | Sep 26, 2017 | Blogging, Communication, Content Writing, Writing

If you can create good content and have mastered the blogging fundamentals, you have a skill that is highly prized (not to mention lucrative) in the market today. Whether as a job opportunity, or simply because one is passionate about writing, blogging is one of the most popular mediums of expression in the present times. We only need to look toward the various forms of social media we use on an everyday basis, to realize that a good 40% of what we see in our ‘feed’ is in the form of blogs.

What sets apart good content from not so good content? Originality, grammar, accuracy and engagement are some of the crucial factors for what qualifies as ‘good content’. To know more, read our post on “what qualifies as good content?”

One of the most commonly used platforms for blogging is WordPress which has a simple interface, and also guides you towards making your posts more readable, and optimizing it for the search engines. In this post, we introduce you to certain techniques of blogging fundamentals that will help you gain more engagement and traffic on your content – the lifeblood for your blogs.

Blogging Fundamentals – The Title of the Post

It is very important to put thought into what the title of the post should be, because your title should be a 5 second takeaway which convinces the reader to click on the link and proceed to read the post.

Ideally, your title should:

convey the essence of the post, i.e., give the reader an idea about what to expect from the post.
not be very lengthy – a title between 5 to 9 words is great.
contain the focus keyword: Say you are searching for something particular on the web, you would enter one word, or a phrase which will then link you to search results containing the word or the phrase. A focus keyword is nothing but the main topic or issue being spoken about in your post. For example: ‘personal branding.’ For your content to be visible and picked up by search engines, it is crucial for the keyword of your post to appear in the Title/ Headline, and at least 4-5 times throughout your post.

Blogging Fundamentals – The Post

(a) Making your post ‘readable’

How your post fares on the internet is largely defined by how the post scores in two categories – No.1- If it is readable, and No.2 – If it is Search Engine Optimized (SEO).

When we speak about readability in the context of web metrics, it does not just mean how effective the substance of the post is. It is also about how it is laid out for the reader in terms of how easy to read it is. Here are a few pointers to help make your post more readable –

Keeping your sentences short – Anything more than 20 words is a long sentence. Keeping your sentences short also helps the reader retain his focus on the piece, and makes your post more understandable on the whole.
Sub Headings – Wherever, and if possible, including sub headings lends to the readability of a post. While desirable, this isn’t a pre-requisite as you may or may not choose to write a post in a way that accommodates sub headings.
Paragraphs – Split your post into paragraphs to increase legibility. The size of one paragraph should ideally not be more than 150 words.
Use Focus Keywords – The more you use your focus keyword in the post, the more ‘visible’ on the web it becomes. Using it between 4-5 times throughout your post is a great number to ensure visibility.
Google picks up on these focus keywords and points the readers towards what they are looking for, when they search for a particular topic. For example, if your focus keyword is ‘Personal Branding’, using it in your post a couple of times makes your post visible enough for Google to pick it up. And then it directs a reader who may have searched for ‘Personal Branding’ on Google, towards your post.

Include Links – Including links to the research that you may have done for your post is a great way to help increase traction for the post you are putting out. This is also a great way to share more knowledge with the reader, and a good practice to help gain visibility for good content – even if you may not have created it. Remember, what goes around, comes around. 🙂

(b) Search Engine Optimization or SEO

Simply put, SEO, as its name suggests, is a way of ‘optimizing’ the reach of your post on the web to make it more ‘visible’.
Writing a ‘Meta Description’ for your post –A meta-description is nothing but an abstract of your post in not more than 156 characters. This meta-description is what appears under the title of your post when posted on social media sites. What you write in these 156 characters to describe your post, helps the reader decide whether or not he clicks on it and reads it.
Remember to include your focus keyword in the meta–description – This is a huge plus in increasing the visibility of your post.

Blogging Fundamentals – Image for the Post

The image you choose for your post is very important because in this case, it is especially true that ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’. If there were 3 things that added up to determine whether or not a viewer will click on your post, they would be the following –

The title of your post
The meta-description of your post
The picture along with your post

Choose an apt picture to go along with your post, and as the writer, you would be in the best position to relate a picture to your post, so it is worth spending a few minutes on.

Remember to give credits to whosoever the picture belongs to. Google penalizes the web pages which use pictures which are not open source (free for all), without attributing credits to the same.

Besides the techniques of blogging fundamentals elaborated above, which will help your content gain more visibility, to help you make your content more robust, there are certain common errors you should avoid. These are what we call ‘the 5 cardinal sins for a content writer – content writing mistakes’.

Not knowing your audience –
versus knowing your audience can do a world of difference to the quality of content you put out + enhance engagement.
Errors –
of any kind. Grammatical, punctuation, plagiarism, irresponsible articulation of your thoughts (i.e., misuse of your freedom to express) – all of these contribute to making your content a recipe for disaster.
Writing without a synopsis or summary –
stick to a summary of what you are writing and exactly how you are going to tackle it – point by point. Make a short synopsis before you get started and try not to deviate. This synopsis should be drawn up at the research phase itself.
Being verbose –
It may be tempting to use big words and fancy phrases, but what use if they are lost on your readers and scare them away? This connects to what we said earlier about knowing your audience. Have a thorough sense of “who” you are writing for, and write in a simple, effective language that will put your point across. Besides, what makes a piece of writing very attractive is how simply, yet effectively it has been articulated.
Not making enough use of your creative talents –
Sky is the limit when it comes to experimenting with your creativity through the content you create. Feeling like writing a food blog post on healthy summer eating? Google fruits and find out what citrus based recipes could trickle into a post on light-hearted salads and smoothies. Use analogies and make your piece truly shine, truly come alive. Try adding texture where none is possible – yes, even in that straitjacket report on the financial outcome of the latest IPO to have come to Wall Street. Make it resonate and let your words really talk.

Creating good content online is both an art and a technique. While the content you write may be absolutely great, without a basic knowledge of blogging fundamentals, you may be stumped as to why your ‘great content’ isn’t receiving any engagement. Investing time in learning about certain basic skills and techniques about web metrics, and incorporating them into your work is a certain way of gaining success in the world of content creation. Have you tried out these great tools for content writing? Give it a go! Wondering what a career in content writing would entail? Read our short guide to a content writing career, here.

5 Simple Life Hacks to Help You Write Better

by sincera | Dec 9, 2015 | Career, Communication, Communication Skills, Content Writing, Managing Yourself, Motivation, Productivity, Writing

Being a writer is a full time job. You are not on vacation even when you are on vacation because you are constantly thinking about what to write next! Being creative 24*7 is quite a challenge and a very difficult one to live up to. We, at Oorja Biz Ops have been brainstorming about changes we can bring about in our daily life, to help refuel the creativity. Here are five hacks that will work for you to write better (they certainly did, for us !):

Write Better Hack #1 – Start your day early

Being an early riser has a lot more advantages than you think. This is the best way to give your day a head start. Schedule the first 45 minutes of your day to write five hundred words of anything you can think about. With consistent practice you will see your writing skills improve significantly in just a matter of weeks. Accomplishing a task right at the beginning of the day is also a great confident booster and keeps you pumped up all through the day.

Write Better Hack #2 – Replace the caffeine

Did we hear a collective gasp? We know what coffee means to writers. For many, it can be impossible to start a day without a cup. However, it is a proven fact that a regular dose of caffeine is not a very healthy thing for your body. Caffeine also causes anxiety and restlessness which may not be what you need when you are already on the edge due to work stress. Try and replace caffeine with healthier options like green tea or even regular tea or some other healthy beverage. Might be worth it to give it a shot and notice the difference!

Write Better Hack #3 – Find ‘me time’

Gifting yourself some time is the healthiest thing you can do for yourself and the best hack to trigger your writing creativity. Set aside about 45 minutes of your day, every day, to recharge your soul simply by indulging yourself. Cook, bake, garden, sing, dance, paint – whatever helps you connect with your inner self and makes you happy. Finding ‘me time’ can be a tall order given the lifestyles we lead. This problem may be solved by going back to what we said about waking up early. That way, you will have more time than you usually do. Even if it’s just an hour earlier, it still gives you some space to fit ‘me time’ into your otherwise cramped day.

Write Better Hack #4 – Read Often, Read More

Read as much as, or more than you write. Reading helps recharge your intellectual resources and keeps those brainy ideas flowing. Reading fires your imagination – the stuff writers are made of. As Stephen King wrote in “On Writing”:

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. . . .

It’s hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written, but I know it’s true. If I had a nickel for every person who ever told me he/she wanted to become a writer but didn’t have time to read, I could buy myself a pretty good steak dinner. Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

Just like a balanced diet is essential for a healthy body, balanced reading is crucial for a healthy mind and will make you think in different directions. Make sure your reading list consists of a mixed dose of current affairs, fiction and non-fiction. What you read, reflects in what and how you write.

Write Better Hack #5 – Be Honest with Yourself

While it is crucial to have expectations from oneself, at the same time, it is important to have goals which are practical and achievable. Setting long term targets on a high-on-red-bull day, probably isn’t a good idea. What we mean is, enthusiasm is vital, however, a lot of times we tend to become over enthusiastic with our goals and go on over drive trying to achieve them. Being honest with yourself about what you can and cannot achieve in a given period of time does not mean tardiness, it means being practical. But then, a little pressure now and then does help to shoo the devil called Procrastination away!

And finally, after putting our neck on the line, we leave you with the words from our idol and mentor, Seth Godin :

The biggest takeaway for anyone seeking to write is this: don’t go looking for the way other authors do their work. You won’t find many who are consistent enough to copy, and there are enough variations in approach that it’s obvious that it’s not like hitting home runs or swinging a golf club. There isn’t a standard approach, there’s only what works for you (and what doesn’t).

We hope you enjoyed our post. We would love to hear from you on what you do to help you write more and write better!

Five Takeaways on Blogging from my First Five Posts

by sincera | Dec 11, 2011 | Blogging, Life, Writing

Blogging is very new to me. I have done a lot of business writing (large proposals, analytical reports, endless information forms and long emails) but had never actually sat down and written for myself. I got introduced to this whole new world when I became active on Twitter – and with a little bit of push and a whole lot of support from my Twitter Fairies, I plunged in.

I have now written one post a week for five weeks and here are a few things that I have realized :

Takeaway #1 : Writer’s Block is a Myth – Even for someone like me for whom writing does not come naturally, the key is to get started and keep going. Decide a topic close to your heart and let the words flow. As Seth said :

Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better. Write like you talk. Often.

Takeaway #2 : Discipline, Discipline, Discipline – Setting small goals and sticking to them helps. I decided to post once a week come what may. I see a lot of abandoned blogs (with excellent posts) and it makes me sad – enthusiasm needs feeding and discipline is a great way to keep the enthusiasm alive.

Takeaway #3 : Little Rituals set the Mood – Develop your own rituals to get you into the writing zone. I keep aside a favourite diary and a pen gifted by my dad for writing my blog. I write in lists of five to keep me focused. Rituals do help in channeling creative energies and act as triggers for inspiration.

Takeaway #4 : Creating vs Curating Content – Curating content is interesting but creating your own content and seeing it shared and discussed gives a BIG high. If I find something of value I love sharing it, but sharing my own content gives me immense satisfaction – it is so much more fun.

Takeaway #5 : A Blog is another window to the World – This is one of the biggest benefits that I have got from my blog. Through comments and shares, I have met people with common interests and different views. It is a great conversation starter and a pointer to wonderful people and writing that I would not have otherwise stumbled across. What better way to improve writing than by reading what has been written?

So, what I have realized in my blogging journey so far is simply that much like anything else in life, in writing too – you get what you give. It is best captured in the quote below (I love quotes :)) :

“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.”

— Harlan Ellison

Please do share your experiences on blogging – what prevents you from starting to write, what inspires you to write, what keeps you going, how has blogging changed your world ?

Five Leadership Lessons from my Teams

by sincera | Nov 13, 2011 | Leadership

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
– John F. Kennedy

When I look back on my career so far, leading and mentoring teams for the best results has been the most fulfilling among all my experiences. While a lot has been written on what examples leaders can set for their teams, not much focus is there on what leaders can learn from their teams. Leaders and their teams are part of one ecosystem – to succeed and grow, BOTH leaders and their teams need to keep the channels of learning open. This week, I took the opportunity to list down a few of the valuable lessons that I have learnt over the years from my team:

Lesson #1: It is OK to pass on your leadership hat to the team sometimes – There are times when you have to lead from the front, but there are also times when you need to sit back and let your team lead. Not only do you get a break from the “always on” mode, you also get to see a fresh perspective in action. Empowerment benefits the leader the most.

Lesson #2: Sharing Bad news is as important as sharing Good news – As a leader, my first instinct was always to “protect” the team, to not let anything demotivate them. I have learnt now that transparency is extremely critical, you have to trust your teams enough to process all information – good or bad – for them to feel valued and empowered to deal with all situations.

Lesson #3: Learning happens best when experienced and not “taught” – We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves. A leader has to be patient and wait for the right time to transfer wisdom – and the right time is when the team is ready to learn. You have to allow people to make their own mistakes, it’s tough but it is only then that the lesson is most valuable.

Lesson #4: No matter how big the challenge is, a tightly knit team can overcome it – Everyone has unique skills and strengths that can be leveraged to face difficult situations – much like a herd of buffalos facing lions and hyenas, the strongest circle around the herd protecting the one ones who have not grown strong horns yet – all moving together in the same direction.

Lesson #5: Influence is longer lasting than Authority – Today’s organizations are complex and most often have matrix structures. We can gain credibility and make a larger impact in business, without the positional authority of a job title by persuasion, motivation and engagement. The satisfaction and results that I get through these relationships go on longer than titles and reporting structures generally last.

I have learnt so much from my teams – possibly more than they have learnt from me – I end with a big THANK YOU to all my teams, present and past for being my companions on this journey of growth and discovery.

“No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.”– Althea Gibson