by Doreen Martel

Created on: January 18, 2010   Last Updated: January 18, 2012

If you blog for clients, the chances are high that you will be blogging on a variety of topics.  Add to this the likelihood that you maintain your own blog in addition to client blogs. In order to maintain an active readership, you need to capture the right tone on each blog in order to achieve success.  Here are some tips on how to capture the right tone for blogs.

Know your subject

It is a well documented fact that if you know your subject well before writing about it, then capturing the right tone is simple. You do not have to be an expert to write an effective blog post.  However, if you are writing a blog post, properly researching the topic will help you capture the right tone for the blog.

Know your audience

Your audience appeal will mean the difference between regular traffic and lack of traffic to a blog.  If you know who your audience is and you write at a level that is consistent with their expectations, they will continue to come to the blog. Knowing your audience is critical to capturing the right tone for blogs.  If you write a blog for teens the tone should be appropriate for them. However, a blog post offering advice to freelancers would require a completely different tone.

Templates and Formats

You may not think that your choice of blog templates or formats have much to do with the tone of your blog.  Nothing could be further from the truth. The "feel" of your blog says a lot about you and the level of professionalism that a reader can expect from your blog.  A blog about music and a blog about law would be expected to have different tones.  Putting a loud, flowery, colorful template on a legal blog would immediately create a tone. Perhaps not the tone you wanted, but a tone nonetheless.  Use your widgets with caution and if you are including advertising through AdSense or other sources check your keyword usage for ads that could be offensive.

English usage

Pay particular attention to your use of language on a blog.  Using slang, words that are "trendy" and cursing sets a tone that you may not want for your blog.  Be sure to pay attention to the comments that people are leaving on your blog as well.  While you certainly do not want to consider censoring people at the same time, you do not want to change the overall tone of your blog with inappropriate comments.

Writing good strong blog posts is a must for any blog. Anchoring keywords and rich SEO content is also required. However, do not overlook the importance of the tone of your blog in writing and administering a blog.  These are just a few of the items that will help you capture the right tone for blogs.

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