Design on the mind

Every now and then all bloggers experience what is known as ‘bloggers block’. When it comes creeping in, it can be a terrifying affliction; the pressure of making that next post as original and interesting as the last, grows. As the blogger tosses and turns at night, unable to sleep he feels his once eager readers slipping from his grasp… OK, maybe it’s not that bad but every now and then we all struggle for inspiration so I thought I would (humbly) write a few top tips to help design bloggers or in fact any blogger keep the creativity flowing.

1. Obviously there is always inspiration out there in your fellow bloggers’ work. Reading other blogs regularly will often spark a good idea for your own blog. You can add a new perspective to their point or spot a tangent that they haven’t mentioned. It is good to be inspired by someone else’s work; you can credit them, quote them and link to them to show your appreciation. (Of course it isn’t good to just blatantly steal someone else’s copy).

2. Use a tool like wordtracker to do some in depth keyword research; find some little niche phrases to blog about, you may be surprised at what you find.

3. Have a think about recent web or graphic design projects you have been working on. Have you come across a technical issue that you could write about? Have you learned a new way of doing something or achieving a new effect in a design program that you use? These are going to be particularly interesting to other designers.

4. Have you just completed a design project? Perhaps a post about what you have achieved for the client might be interesting to potential clients. This is definitely one that you shouldn’t do too often though as a blog that constantly blows its own trumpet all the time is rather dull.

5. Have a jolly good rant…go on; don’t hold back, you know it will make you feel better! As long as the rant has an objective and bears some relation to your topic it can work really well. Some of the best blogs I have read have been pure rant. Again, this is not something you want to do all the time you need to have some positive stuff in there too.

6. Put your self in your reader’s shoes for a moment and think about what questions they might need answering. What information have you got that might be really useful to them? Having an objective like this can help the writing process too.

7. Take the time to read books and magazines on your industry; these are going to be filled with stimulating information on your niche topics that will give you some ideas to bounce around.

8. Try to write from a different perspective sometimes, perhaps looking at the industry in a broader sense rather than focusing on details for example. Also try looking at issues that concern the industries that are in some way connected to yours.

9. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to write a massive long essay every time. Short blogs can be just as effective and actually easier to read, particularly as web readers have a much more limited attention span.

10. Keep a little list somewhere of ideas, issues and facts that you can keep coming back to for inspiration. Often I will see a particular thing on my list a few times before I actually attempt to write about it and usually each time I see it I have a new angle on it or a new idea of a good way to write it.

11. If the bloggers block has a real tight hold on you, it is always an option to offer a guest blog spot to another blogger. This will give you a bit of breathing space to recoup your writing energy. This brings me neatly on to my next tip:

12. Take some time out away from your computer, go for a walk or pause to chat to someone about something unrelated. This is a good way to freshen your mind. You never know you might be able to start a blog with “A funny thing happened to me on the way to the shop…”

13. A good way to post regularly is to cover a topic or issue over several blog posts or in several parts. This not only gives you a bit more time to write but also gives the readers an incentive to come back.

14. Find something that you don’t know the answer to and blog about that, asking your readers for their opinion at the end of the post. This not only humanises you but gives people the opportunity to help you. Got to be a good thing – we all need help sometimes!

So, if like me you sometimes find yourself staring hopelessly at your computer desperately waiting for something to happen; try some of the above.
Hope this is helpful…if you have any bloggers block tips to share it would be great to here from you.

Toni

Other related useful articles:
20 types of blog posts - battling bloggers block
blogger block poem
Getting past bloggers block

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During the process of designing a website I find that very often the job of writing the copy for the site is completely underestimated. I suppose to the client the look and functionality of the website are foremost in their minds. Of course these are vitally important, but getting the copy right is also important and should not be overlooked.

When you actually sit down to write about your own company or services you will probably find that it is quite hard. It is not uncommon for people to struggle with it and then have to extend the deadline of their website or seek professional copywriting services at the last minute.

The main thing to remember is; keep reminding yourself of who you are writing for. Firstly you are writing for your web visitors (or human audience) who you will hopefully convert into customers. Secondly you are writing for the search engines to ensure good positions in the listings.

For your human visitors the main things to bear in mind are:

• Focus on the benefit to the reader – Be sure to tailor the copy to the reader’s interests or the benefits to their business. How can your product or service make a difference to them? Nobody wants to read endless drivel about when your company was founded, what you eat for breakfast etc etc.

• Keep the first paragraph of any body of text simple and to the point – readers can get the information that they want quickly and then make the choice to read on for more detailed information if they want to.

• Don’t confuse your objective with long words or over wordy sentences.

• Check your spelling and grammar – Not very professional to have misspelled words all over the place.

For the Search Engines, bear these points in mind:

• Keep each body of text focused on a researched key phrase – The search engine crawlers scan the text and analyze it to find out what the page is about. It is important that you thoroughly research the key phrases that your visitors use, so that your page will be listed high on the search engine results pages for that term.

• Keyword Density – Getting the balance right is important. You need to make sure that the relevant key words/phrases appear in the copy but you don’t want to over do it either. Google in particular can spot a piece of copy that is overloaded with a key phrase a mile away and you might be penalized for keyword stuffing. (Your human readers won’t like it either).

So, whatever your product or service, be sure to keep both audiences happy when writing the copy for your website. Any other top tips out there?

Toni

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