In today’s society, there are an incredible number of bloggers. However, there is always one frequently asked question: Where does one begin to know how to even put their blog together and organize the material they’ve written? Well, there are several different ways to organize your blog. The style of blog always needs to be taken into consideration. The author may also need to decide whether they want to have a more formal feel or a more friendly, personal feel to their writing. Another thing to keep in mind is the layout and design that the blogger hopes to achieve.
Styles
So, what different styles of blogs are there to choose from? Some of the most popular styles are personal, private, military, how-to, and reviews. If the style is personal and the author chooses to post about their opinions or personal experiences the blog could be more free flowing and unprofessional.
Private blogs can be made if one is interested in keeping a private diary or timeline of their life on their computer for convenience, personal flare, and privacy. Some members of the military decide to start blogs to post about where they are, what they’re experiencing, and to keep in touch with family.
How-to and review blogs are the most popular styles and are mostly informative or give insightful critique.
Personal vs Professional
Now, why does the style matter? This plays a huge role in deciding what tone will be used throughout the blog. Personal, private, and military blogs can all be seen as a more personal style because the blogger may speak casually about their varying topics. On the other hand, the how-to and review bloggers will probably tend to stick with a more professional tone since their audience is trying to learn a new skill or form an opinion. Military blogs may also be written in a more formal manner if the goal is to have more political discussions or compare different cultures around the world.
Each different style has perks. If the blog has a personal feel to it, the readers might feel more inclined to start discussions. These blogs also have the potential to be more entertaining and offer a sense of community. On the other side are the professionals. These bloggers will usually choose to go with a more formal style of writing when trying to persuade the reader to agree with their opinions. The other reason this is frequently used with how-to blogs is because it will make the audience feel like the writer is intelligent and know what they’re talking about.
Layout/Organization
Finally, the blogger can use this information to decide how to organize their pages of writing. If the blog is personal, the blogger may decide to go with a very laid back layout. Meaning, they may like to add pictures and wrap text around them in an almost scrapbook-like fashion. They may not worry about entering new paragraphs or indentions and their blog might end up looking like a series of long text messages from a friend.
The organization of a private blog will completely depend on the author. Since it’s very likely they’ll be the only person that will ever see the blog, it will greatly depend on what they choose to write about. If they want an online diary, they could have the exact same set-up as a cliché diary. They may start with the date, address someone/something (i.e. Dear Diary,), and then continue to write freely.
Military blogs will obviously depend on whether they choose to be formal or informal. If they decide to be informal it would be suggested to use a layout closely resembling a letter and perhaps try to include photographs. However, if the blog is professional, they may write almost like a newscaster would. They could use a heading and add a paragraph or two underneath about the specified topic.
How-to blogs will probably be the most self-explanatory layout. The most common way to organize the material is by using a simple numbered list. Each step is almost always accompanied with a photograph to help further explain what they reader is supposed to be accomplishing.
Reviewers may have the most variety in organization. There are several options all depending on how long the review is, what it’s about, and if the blogger wants an in-depth article or more scannable material. So, one of the first options is putting a list of links to different pages with the content all separated neatly; the other option would be to just continuously post reviews separated only by title.
As far as writing the content, the blogger could: make a bulleted list of arguments, explanations, and opinions; write a product review as if they were going to turn it into a college professor and follow standard formatting procedures; or perhaps they will only write a short paragraph that is quick and to the point- though this isn’t necessarily the best option from a professional standpoint.
Design
There is always a level of creativity whether it is a professional blog or a personal blog. Photographs, layout, and design will always have an impact on how the audience reacts to the blog. If the writing is professional but the color scheme is crazy and the font is childish, no one is going to take the material seriously. If the blog is being written from a personal standpoint, the author should definitely try to make their blog unique- like using backgrounds relevant to the content (i.e. a military blog using camouflage background.)
Overall, the goal is to make a neat blog that makes an impact. Looking into things like WordPress hosting is also helpful- WordPress hosting makes it so that any of the technical issues are taken care of by the host. Try to stick with a very simple color scheme and keep the design consistent throughout. Bloggers need to keep in mind their style, tone, and overall goal.
