The post "How to write a section for your blog (and why you should)" appeared on ProBlogger.
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Have you ever written a series of posts for your blog - a collection of deliberately related posts?
If not, I hope you can convince me to give it a try.
Some bloggers think that writing a series of posts is more intimidating than writing individual posts. But it's often easier to come up with an idea for a series of ten posts than for ten individual posts.
Here at ProBlogger, we've produced several series over the years, including 31 Days to Blog Better, which I'll come back to later in this post.
So why write a series of posts instead of individual posts?
How a series of posts can grow your blog
Writing a series, no matter how short, can be rewarding. In particular, the following is permitted:
- Go to a specific topic and show your expertise.
- Encourage your readers to come back again and again.
- Create lots of internal links between your posts (both good for SEO and encourage readers to dig deeper into your site).
- Create well-researched content that readers can bookmark, share, and return to (especially if you have a primer or a post index).
Even if your blog is new, you can start a thread. In fact, it can be a great way to get solid core content right from the start.
Two Different Ways to Start a Series: Which One is Right for You?
If you look at some of the blog posts you've read, you'll probably find that they fall into one of two categories:
Type 1: Limited Edition Limited Edition
These types of chains run for a certain period of time, and all blog posts published during that period are (usually) part of a series.
For example, a three-part series of related posts might appear on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Next week the blogger will return to freelance blogging.
We've done just that with ProBlogger's topic weeks, like Product Creation Week , with a series of five blog posts about creating products for your audience.
This method works well if you want to create basic content or create a series of content that can later be used as the basis for an e-book or course. (More on this later.)
Type 2: Current Post Series
These types of series can continue indefinitely, with posts appearing on a specific day of the week or month, or even at a specific time of year. Separate posts seem normal between episodes.
The string might look like this:
- A collection of news / publications in your niche every Friday. (We did this at our reading meetings .)
- The series is broadcast on the first Tuesday of the month. For example, if you blog about healthy food, you might want to post a new recipe at the beginning of each month.
- Annual review of progress in your field in December or January.
If you are looking for consistency and a sense of community on your blog, this can be a good type of thread. It can also help you avoid blog bans by providing you with blog-specific content. (Well, at least a few times.)
Come up with a great idea for a series of blog posts
Coming up with ideas for blog posts can be very challenging. So how do you find a good idea for a series?
For a static thread with a limited number of posts, you can search for:
- A topic you've already covered, but don't go too deep. Series can allow you to understand a topic and explore its different aspects. That's what we did with ProBlogger's guest posting series .
- Starter topics that make a great introduction to your blog or niche. The posts themselves can be on different topics, but you can combine them with a focus on beginners.
For regular continuous strings, you can search for:
- Something you can blog about almost constantly. This could be weekly news in your niche, monthly affiliate marketing results, or common mistakes you see with newcomers to your industry.
- individual writing style. This could be a weekly Q&A post or a "motivational" post of the month where you collect inspirational quotes, like the readers' inbox for Trent Hamm on The Simple Dollar blog.
If you have a lot of ideas and don't know which one will work best, why not ask other bloggers to contribute? (If you don't know many other bloggers, the ProBlogger group on Facebook is a great place to meet some of them.)
Structure a series of blog posts
I hope you are now confident in structuring your individual blog posts. If not (or you need a refresher), check out these posts by subject matter expert Ali Luca:
- How do you plan to publish your blog from start to finish
- 5 important items to check in every blog post
But when you create a string, you also have to make structural decisions about:
- The series as a whole. It needs a beginning, and if it's not the current series, it needs an end. These can be short compositions or special compositions (for a longer series). For example, you can write a letter that introduces the series and explains the next step. You can update this post later with links to different parts of the series.
- Individual publications in a series. How would you organize them to "fit" as part of a whole? Can you; Can you:
- Use a certain type of image or tag your images in a certain way
- Name the letters in order
- Have a specific format for each post, such as a brief summary at the beginning and a challenge or task at the end.
Link the posts in your series together
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1293499
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1298062
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1293514
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1298393
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1293519
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1298408
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1297000
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1298413
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1293534
https://new.c.mi.com/th/post/1298107
https://vk.com/@filmystr-ganzerfilm-smile-siehst-du-es-auch-2022-ganzer-film-auf-de
https://vk.com/@filmystr-ganzerfilm-hui-buh-und-das-hexenschloss-2022-ganzer-film-auf
https://vk.com/@filmystr-ganzerfilm-the-menu-2022-ganzer-film-auf-deutsch-hd
https://vk.com/@filmystr-ganzerfilm-ticket-ins-paradies-2022-ganzer-film-auf-deutsch
https://vk.com/@filmystr-ganzerfilm-ein-weihnachtsfest-fur-teddy-2022-ganzer-film-auf
https://vk.com/@rrqliam-ganzerfilm-lyle-mein-freund-das-krokodil-2022-ganzer-film
https://vk.com/@rrqliam-ganzerfilm-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-2022-ga
https://vk.com/@rrqliam-ganzerfilm-der-gesang-der-flusskrebse-2022-ganzer-film-auf-d
https://vk.com/@rrqliam-ganzerfilm-die-mucklas-und-wie-sie-zu-pettersson-und-findus
https://vk.com/@rrqliam-ganzerfilm-one-piece-film-red-2022-ganzer-film-auf-deutsch-h
https://muckrack.com/kurt-shaw-1/bio
https://caribbeanfever.com/photo/albums/iumeoximesle
https://backlinktool.io/p/DAM8tLNToaVNwPIvCQeN.html
http://zacriley.ning.com/photo/albums/iumeoximesle
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https://party.biz/blogs/125392/186857/iu-meoxim-esl-e
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https://paiza.io/projects/5rLE3j01K_G_Vzmq4GM7Iw
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https://tech.io/snippet/kprsEST
https://paste.feed-the-beast.com/view/f49baac6
https://ide.geeksforgeeks.org/4fca0f4a-acb8-4031-8534-0424a5cd32bf
It is important to link the parts of the series together so that readers can easily navigate between them. Remember that not everyone will read your series after you publish it.
Some readers will be interested and then want to watch the whole series. But (hopefully) more will appear in your series on search engines or social media in the coming weeks and months.
You can combine posts in any way you like. Here are some things you can try. (You may want to use two or three per post.)
- Create a tag or category for the series, that's what we do with the guest post series . Readers can access all episodes of the series by clicking on the tag/category name. If you have a series of weekly/monthly posts running, this is probably the best way to organize them.
- Include a link to previous episodes at the top of each post so readers can easily return to any post they missed.
- Create a page or post with links for each post in the series. You can do this before the series starts and update it as each part is published or do it retroactively.
- Place links at the bottom of each post so readers can easily navigate through the thread leading to the next installment. (Of course, you'll have to go back and add it after the next parts are posted.)
- When you mention a topic already covered in a thread, add links to the body of the post. (You can also refer to previous posts and link to later posts in the series.) This prevents you from repeating yourself too often and makes it easier for readers to find the information they need at any time.
Example of a link to all posts in a thread below the post
However you decide to aggregate your posts, make sure you're consistent. Be sure to check back after the series ends to see if there's a chance we'll be working on some additional links.
Continue the series of blog posts
Once you've finished a series or written one that's been running for a while, it's worth considering whether you can turn your series into something else.
it means:
- Bundle your texts into a free e-book, possibly with additional content . For example, if you publish ten months worth of recipes on your blog, you can put those recipes into an e-book and add five recipes that you haven't published.
- Publish your post as a product , such as a paid e-book or even a course. (31 Day to Better Blogging evolved from a series of posts into an e-book, and now we've turned it into a course .)
You can also use the mini-series as inspiration for a feature-length series or an ongoing series as an opportunity to drive readers to your blog.
I'd love to hear how you use the series of posts or what ideas you have for future use. Leave a comment below to share your thoughts with us.
For even more help with content creation, why not try one of our 7-day content races, where I'll help and guide you through your blog plan and 6 new pieces of content in 7 days.
This article was updated on 1 December 2022.
The post "How to write a section for your blog (and why you should)" appeared on ProBlogger.