Take some time to craft your title, and you may find that readers are more likely to click and explore your post.<\/p>\n
Tips for writing effective blog post titles:<\/strong><\/p>\n This flowchart from Orbit Media<\/a> shows that when people come across a headline, they decide in about 2 seconds whether to click and read the post or keep scrolling.<\/p>\n Do you break up text into short paragraphs to make your posts easier to read?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Most readers tend to skim through posts, and if they come across a large block of text, they may skip it altogether.<\/p>\n It’s also a good idea to break up text with:<\/p>\n You may have been taught in school that a new paragraph only starts when the topic changes, but this doesn’t apply to digital writing.<\/p>\n Short paragraphs are good. Very good!<\/p>\n Does your post include at least one visual?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n High-quality posts include more than just text, they have visuals as well.<\/p>\n Along with being nice to look at, images serve two purposes:<\/strong><\/p>\n What sort of visuals can you include in posts? Here are a few examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you include links in your post, either to other posts you’ve written or inspiration\/ideas you’ve come across on the web?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In the past when we only wrote with pen and paper or on word processors, writing was more linear. Writing on the web is different. An important part of digital writing is using hyperlinks.<\/p>\n Hyperlinks are the heart of the web. They bring together various pages from different websites and your own website.<\/p>\n Any article you read on the web probably includes hyperlinks. It’s important for students to learn how to include these in their own writing.<\/p>\n Hyperlinks<\/strong>:<\/p>\n This Edublogs help guide<\/a> shows you how to add links to your blog posts.<\/p>\n Are the fonts you use easy to read? If you’re using colors, do they stand out against your background?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Many students love playing around with different fonts, colors, and backgrounds but it’s important to always keep these question in mind:<\/p>\n Overall, less is more!<\/p>\n Have you proofread your work before publishing?<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n No one expects bloggers to be perfect but proofread work is much easier to read.<\/p>\n Before you publish, it’s important to check your\u00a0spelling, grammar, punctuation, and spacing.<\/p>\n If you can, enlist the help of someone else to check your work. It’s harder to spot your own mistakes! Perhaps students could pair up with another student for proofreading.<\/p>\n For older students, Grammarly <\/a>is a great free online tool to check your writing.\u00a0Grammarly is 18+ but if you\u2019re aged between 13-17, you can use it with permission.<\/p>\n Have you checked that you haven’t revealed your personal information (YAPPY) or copied text\/images\/work that doesn’t belong to you?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n It’s great for readers to learn a bit about you but it’s important to avoid sharing too much information or personal details.<\/p>\n I like to tell my students to never share their YAPPY online as per in the image below. There is some other information that\u2019s more of a “grey area”. These are things that students should discuss with teachers and parents.<\/p>\n Students also need to make sure they’re not using work that doesn’t belong to them. This includes images as well as text and other content.<\/p>\n Further advice on digital citizenship and copyright:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Do you assign your post to at least one category? Bonus points if you use tags to organize your posts too!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Tags and categories on posts are used to help readers locate information in different ways.<\/p>\n You don’t have to use tags but each post has to be assigned to at least one category. If you don’t do this manually, it will be assigned to a category called “Uncategorized” by default.<\/p>\n Take a look at this chart to learn more about the differences between categories and tags.<\/p>\n Learn more about using categories and tags in this help guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do you include questions at the end of your post to encourage visitors to leave a comment?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Comments bring blog posts alive. They turn your blog from a static space to an interactive space. Some fantastic learning can happen in the comment section.<\/p>\n Readers can leave\u00a0feedback, offer constructive criticism, or share new perspectives. This can help you grow and learn.<\/p>\n You can’t assume that readers will think to leave a comment. You need to invite them. Try coming up with some open-ended questions that you can include at the bottom of your blog posts.<\/p>\n Do you approve comments quickly and write polite replies?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If you do receive comments on your post, it’s important to approve them in a timely manner and write a reply.<\/p>\n This will encourage readers to keep returning and interacting.<\/p>\n Try to make your comments high-quality.<\/p>\n Here are some elements of a quality blog comment:<\/p>\n You won\u2019t always include all of the above in your comments but these are the sorts of things you might aim for.<\/p>\n Examples are always helpful to show students. Here are some examples of posts from Student Blogging Challenge<\/a> participants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You’ll notice the annotated posts don’t necessarily include all<\/em> of the 10 elements described above. Blogging is a learning journey and it’s also a personal representation of yourself. So you don’t need to follow a formula although having some tips to refer to is always helpful.<\/p>\n Raise the bar and reap the rewards!<\/p>\n Check out the examples from students in:<\/p>\n 2nd Grade: Miss Blessings Class<\/span><\/p>\n Cherie Blessing is an experienced teacher and longtime blogger\u00a0from central Vermont in the United States.<\/p>\n Cherie’s class blog is called The Great Adventure.\u00a0<\/a>Her student blogs are linked to her class blog using My Class.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Let’s take a look at examples from two of her young bloggers. The students use pen names. These students have just turned 8 years old proving you’re never too young to blog!<\/p>\n Emily is\u00a0a grade 10 student in the\u00a0Performance Learning<\/a>\u00a0Performance Learning<\/a>\u00a0at Seycove Secondary in Canada. Her school uses\u00a0a\u00a0CampusPress\u00a0<\/a>network to host their impressive blogging program.<\/p>\n Emily has been blogging for nearly 3 years. You can read about her experiences with the Student Blogging Challenge in this post<\/a> (she made a video about the challenge with two friends).<\/p>\n The following annotated post <\/a>is just an example of the high-quality content that Emily regularly publishes on her blog. She’s an exceptional student and role model for other bloggers.<\/p>\n Along with excellent writing, Emily includes creative graphics, charts, and diagrams to make her posts a true delight to read.<\/p>\n Due to the length of Emily’s post, only snippets were included below. Be sure to read the full post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nadia Matveyeva is an English instructor from a university in Kazakhstan. She started a class blog this year with her second-year college students.<\/p>\n 2019 is the second year her students have been learning English.\u00a0They were excellent participants of the Student Blogging Challenge.<\/p>\n Here is one of their\u00a0posts\u00a0<\/a>about family celebrations in Kazakhstan for the new year. It was written collaboratively by\u00a0Nadia K., Lisa T., Christine M. and Farisa S. The poem was by Sasha R. and Ruslan B.<\/p>\n Due to the length of the post, only snippets were included below. You can view the full post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n My Class: Student Blogs Made Easy<\/a><\/p>\n Different Approaches To Using Student Blogs And Digital Portfolios<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![\"Flowchart](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/cost-benefit_1-1d40f2p-2lpys4m.jpg\")
<\/a>2) Short Paragraphs<\/h3>\n
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3) Visuals Or Multimedia As Well As Text<\/h3>\n
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4) Internal And External Links<\/h3>\n
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5) Fonts And Colors<\/h3>\n
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6) Proofread<\/h3>\n
7) Digital Citizenship<\/h3>\n
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![\"Be](\"https:\/\/studentchallenge.edublogs.org\/files\/2019\/03\/Dont-Yap-About-Your-YAPPY-Kathleen-Morris-2019-1vob0nj-qdnjpm.png\")
<\/p>\n8) Categories And Tags<\/h3>\n
![\"Comparison](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/Back-to-basics_-categories-and-tags-Edublogs-18gjrt6-1bp9msj.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n9) Questions<\/h3>\n
10) Comments<\/h3>\n
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Summary Poster: What Makes A Quality Blog Post<\/h2>\n
>>Download a PDF version of the poster<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/What-makes-a-quality-blog-post_-The-Edublogger-1at5p6i-14xcxid.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStudent Examples Demonstrating Elements Of A Quality Blog Post<\/h2>\n
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Fluffy: Spring<\/a><\/h4>\n
![\"Fluffy](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/Fluffy-blog-annotated-19420xm-1kcfzhn.png\")
<\/a><\/h4>\nBee Buzzer: Colonial Farmer\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n
![\"Bee](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/Bee-Buzzer-blog-annotated-1l9rxjz-2lisees.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n10th Grade: Emily<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"Emily's](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/Emily-blog-annotated-1kgfl6c-1mtgl8a.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHigher Education (ESL): Mrs. Matveyeva’s Class Blog<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"Mrs](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/Mrs-Matveyeva-blog-annotated-11t5xng-25rqjsq.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFurther Reading<\/h2>\n
![\"Check](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/10-Elements-Of-A-Quality-Blog-Post_-Tips-For-Teaching-Students-PINTEREST-1-1sn9ybf-1af900z.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![\"Check](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/10-Elements-Of-A-Quality-Blog-Post_-Tips-For-Teaching-Students-PINTEREST-2cjpyyr-1fyjxlc.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![\"Check](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/05\/10-Elements-Of-A-Quality-Blog-Post_-Tips-For-Teaching-Students-17s3xhj-1yyi5t1.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"