by Judith Pasek, MLIS Student

Does your library have a blog? Is it attracting visitors? Are people leaving comments? Many businesses are learning that providing valuable information through blogs can attract customers [1]. Libraries can use similar techniques to engage the community online. Use a blog to ramp up your library website [2]. Here are some tips for improving your library blog.

Encourage Conversation

Blogs should encourage interaction. Ask questions and invite readers to leave comments. Respond promptly to readers' quality comments. Help solve any issues mentioned. Use your library referencing skills to meet visitor's information needs. Comments can make your post more interesting.

Blog Frequently

Make a commitment to post a new blog article at least daily to encourage steady growth in readership [3]. Several times per day is even better if resources are available. Recruit multiple authors to share the workload. Develop a schedule. Assign different authors to different days of the week. Stretch a topic by breaking it into a series of related posts.

Write Engaging Content

The content of a blog is the most important feature. A fancy design alone will not keep readers coming back. Find topics that will interest potential readers. Be educational. Share information that readers can use. Tell a story. Make it relevant to them. Be novel. Add variety. Offer engaging information that people will want to share with their friends. Don't be the boring person who always talks about themselves…or their library. Leave the announcements of upcoming events or library visitor statistics to the static library webpages or newsletters.

If your library is having a pumpkin-carving contest, blog about how to compost jack-o-lanterns after the holidays. Provide recommendations for related reading materials. You can include a link at the end of the blog post to a library webpage that describes the pumpkin-carving contest. Time your blog post to coincide with the event promotion.

Identify Your Audience

Are you trying to reach children with your blog? Or perhaps the parents? If you are hoping that parents will bring their children to the library, write something that will interest the parents. Use information from library surveys, user statistics, and collection development activities to identify target audiences and interests within your user community. Develop content themes around your user audiences. Different authors can focus on different themes and audiences. Use categories and tags to help direct readers to the content they are likely to find most interesting.

Be Conversational

Blogs are among the least formal means of publication. Be personal. Forget what you learned in school about not writing in the first person or using contractions. Write as if you are talking to someone in person. Use an active voice. Let your personality and passion show. Be positive. Do be mindful that anyone in the world can read what you wrote.

Keep It Simple

Write to the reading level of your intended audience. If you are aiming for a general readership, keep the reading level below ninth grade. The most shareable articles are written simply and clearly. Avoid technical jargon and professional acronyms (e.g., OCLC, ILL) unless you define them within your post. If you use Microsoft Word to draft your posts, turn on the file option under "proofing" to "show readability statistics." The readability statistics will display after you run the "Spelling & Grammar" check. Or use one of the many online readability tools [4].

Be Newsworthy

Scan articles and other blogs for current news, trends, and interests that are meaningful to your audience. Check news aggregators such as Digg for popular stories. Subscribe to RSS feeds to keep relevant content coming to you. Type keywords into search engines and filter results by date. Enter queries into Google blog search. Sign up for Google Alerts based on relevant keywords. Do a Twitter search to find out what people are talking about now. Look for topics with some staying power, rather than the latest fad or gossip.

Once you choose a suitable news topic, add a different perspective. Fill in information gaps. Combine two topics to add interest. For example, write about what scientists are saying about the relationship between hurricanes and global warming. Link your post back to source articles and suggest additional resources.

Borrow Ideas

There are blogs written about what to write about in blogs. Many of the ideas can be adapted to libraries. A good place to start is 101+ Blogging Ideas to Make Blogging Easy by Randi Valdez [5]. If her list isn't enough to get you going, she also provided links to nine other blog articles that offer plenty more ideas. Susan Gunelius provides a list of 20 types of blog content to consider, from lists and how-to articles to answering questions [6].

Answer Questions

Collect a list of interesting questions posed to the library reference staff, and answer them in a blog post. Search for questions on social media sites such as Yahoo Answers or Quora and create a blog post around a selected topic. Type "keyword FAQ" into a search engine to locate questions and answers on a specific subject. People search the Internet to locate answers to their questions. Isn't that a primary role for librarians? Be the person who provides authoritative answers and points to quality resources.

Be Creative

Don't limit your content to text only. Include images, photos, videos, podcasts, polls, and quizzes. Make your post content visually inviting. Link to content on social sharing sites such as YouTube, Delicious, LibraryThing, Slideshare, or Pinterest.

Use a Catchy Headline

Draw readers to your site by using keywords that your target audience might type into a search engine. Provide your potential readers with a clue as to your post's topic. People often decide whether to read a post based on the headline alone [7]. Pose a question in your headline and then answer it in your post. Keep the title short so that it is easy to retweet in less than 140 characters.

Be Patient

It takes time to develop a blog following. Keep writing. Experiment with different topics and see which get more responses. Promote your blog content [8]. Share it through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Quality content that is engaging and relevant is more likely be found and shared. Research more blogging tips. Check out the resources listed below for more blogging ideas [9, 10].

Share Your Thoughts

Please share ideas that have worked for you in the comment section below. Does your library support a blog? What advice do you have for a library wanting to start a blog column? Where do you find ideas for library blog posts?

Resources

1. Rose, N. (2012, November 8). How adding a blog to your website can help attract customers [Web log]. Rosco Digital Media. Retrieved from https://www.roscodigitalmedia.com/how-adding-a-blog-to-your-website-can-help-attract-customers/
2. Foote, C. (2010, January 1). Looking to ramp up your library Web site? Try a blog [Article]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6712732.html
3. Gunelius, S. (n.d.). Blog posting frequency overview: How often should you publish new content on your blog? [Article]. About.com Blogging. Retrieved from http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/qt/BlogPostingFreq.htm
4. Holland, A. (2012, June 7). Ultimate list of online content readability tests [Web log]. Raven Internet Marketing Tools. Retrieved from http://raventools.com/blog/ultimate-list-of-online-content-readability-tests/
5. Valdez, R. (2012, May 7). 101+ blogging ideas to make blogging easy [Web log]. Go Web Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.gowebsolutions.com/101-blogging-ideas-to-make-blogging-easy/
6. Gunelius, S. (n.d.). 20 ideas for writing a blog post: Blog post suggestions for when you can't think of what to write about [Article]. About.com Blogging. Retrieved from ttp://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/BlogPostIdeas.htm
7. Carlson, R. (2012, February 7). The ultimate guide to writing incredible headlines [Article]. The Content Strategist. Retrieved from http://contently.com/blog/2012/02/07/how-to-write-headlines/
8. Lucey, B. (n.d.). 8 places you should promote your blog to get more readers [Web log]. Constant Contact Blogs. Retrieved from http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/social-media-marketing/promote-blog-more-readers/
9. Miller, M. (2012, July 30). 88 content creation ideas for better business blog posts, images, or videos [Web log]. Search Engine Watch. Retrieved from http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2195076/88-Content-Creation-Ideas-for-Better-Business-Blog-Posts-Images-or-Videos
10. Smith, S. (2012, August 2). 50 blogging ideas to steal and take credit for [Web log]. Pushing Social. Retrieved from http://pushingsocial.com/50-blogging-ideas-to-steal-and-take-credit-for/

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