Blogging during the holidays is like giving your pet a bunch of presents—readers like to open up your blogs and see what you have to say at all times of the year.
By Shelley Widhalm
Writing a blog, even during busy holiday times, can be a cheerful enterprise.
Blogging can fit in with holiday lights and letters, holiday get-togethers and fancy holiday parties. Blogging weekly, every other week or monthly is a commitment, and the holidays should be a way to celebrate the desire to blog—even if parties and good food offer the bigger draw.
You can do both—write quickly and efficiently (or hire someone else to be your ghostwriter/ghost blogger) and still have time for the other fun.
Your readers look to your blog and expect to see what you write at all times of the year—even at Thanksgiving and Christmas, Hanukah and any of the other holidays. That’s because blogging is a way to build your expertise. It’s a way to spread your thoughts, ideas, opinions and knowledge. And it’s a way to promote your project, event, company, service or favorite topics.
Blogging Basics
Here are a few “rules,” or things to keep in mind about blogging:
- Blogs should follow a schedule to keep up the interest. Weekly is best, but monthly is OK. Inconsistent blogging causes you to lose readers and get lower rankings from the search engines. Blogging on a regular basis is a way to give updates and provide new material, provide fresh content and get higher rankings.
- Blogs can vary in length. Blogs are considered short at 300 to 500 words and optimal or medium length at 500 to 700 words. Blogs that are 1,000 words or more are considered long or article length.
- Blogs should have short paragraphs—usually one to three sentences—with lots of bullet points and subheads within the content.
- Blogs should have original content targeted to a specific audience with new, updated and engaging material.
- Blogs do best when they follow a theme and focus on a topic or set of topics to keep up the interest.
Make Blogging Fun
How do you make “the rules of blogging” fun? Think of it as work with a reward. Literally, do the writing and then go to the party, knowing the work is done. Acknowledge the accomplishment, tracking it on a spreadsheet or a check-off list. Make it part of your routine.
Break it up into smaller tasks. Write for a few minutes and then set it aside to make it feel like less work. Write about something that interests you or find an angle that is interesting within the subject that may not be as compelling.
And, best of all, create a blogging editorial calendar with a weekly, bimonthly or monthly plan to identify what you covered and would like to cover. Do this for next year, turning your holiday cheer into a New Year’s resolution. Happy Blogging in 2019!