Bling out your articles with what I call “blog jewelry.” Like jewelry, too much “blog bling” can distract & be gaudy. Used well, blog bling makes your articles:

  • more attractive & eye-catchy

  • accentuates points

  • more social media friendly

  • can be coded to boost SEO (ask me how)

  • encourages comments, fwds, & shares.

A monotonous, long-winded block of writing is boring & dull on the eyes. We all prefer to skim & skip around articles – even to see if it’s worth it to delve deeper. Thus, why not make your blog articles stand out & more eye-catchy?

7 Jewels to bling your blog:Image of Gold Macbook Air Uniquely designed and crafted by Stuart Hughes

1) Phrase-bolding helps to highlight specific points which may be hidden within a paragraph.

1b) So does colored text, italics, indents — and other — creative punctuation!

2) Short paragraphs: Short words, short sentences – adds white space & keeps it airy.

3) Ampersands & numbers attract the eyes.

4) Sub-headings: Numerical or bullet points, quotes, links, or pulled-out phrases.

5) Images: Photos, diagrams, headshots are worth a 1000 words.

6) Sign-off with a Blog Signature, like an email signature. Ensure your contact info goes along for the ride, when a reader prints the article or if another website ‘scrapes’ (steals or syndicates) your content.

7) Conclude with a Comment Ask, a blog article’s call-to-action. The lamest call-to-action is offering a free consultation or ‘call us if you have any questions’. Instead, use calls-to-comment: Ask readers to comment or “do something” independent of a “free consultation.”

To help, I’ve put together The Do-something Dozen (12 ‘alternative’ calls-to-comment).

Email me for this list!

Do you see any of these tricks of the trade in mainstream media or popular blogs? Have any other examples? How much is too much? We can all learn from your examples of gaudy blog posts; link to them in your comments!

~ Vik @ phoneBlogger.net