Creating a community through your blog

By Connie Rossini

Portrait of Two Friends By Pontormo (photo credit: Wikipedia).

Since it's the first of the month, I'm again writing from the Catholic Bloggers' School (aka my home office) about how we can better spread the Gospel through our blogs. This month, we're discussing building a community, particularly through using the comments box.

Invite your readers to comment

 

Community requires two-way communication. If you want your readers to feel a connection with you and your blog so that they keep visiting and tell others about it, you should encourage them to voice their opinions.

Try to ask your readers a question related to your post. When a reader asks you for advice in the comments box,  invite the rest of your audience to respond. That way, readers begin interacting with each other, as well as with you.

Reply to every comment

 

When I first started blogging, I frequented some of the most popular Catholic blogs. Since those bloggers rarely responded to comments, I had the same practice. Of course, some of them receive hundreds of comments a day, whereas I was lucky to get one or two per post at that time.

After a few months, I discovered some of the wonderful blogs written by (future) CSBN members. I was surprised to see that they responded to each comment. I started doing the same. Not only has this encouraged more people to chime in, I feel much more connected to those readers I have never met in person. I am getting to know a bit about some of them that I would never have known otherwise. I feel like less of a teacher and more of a friend.

Always be charitable

 

Not every Catholic blogger gives a good example of charity in the comments box. That's a shame. We are trying to spread the Gospel, so we should live it. If someone's comments anger you, take time to calm down and pray before you reply. You might be surprised at the result.

A few weeks ago, I had a comment from someone who blogs on the "errors" of the Catholic Church. I did not try to persuade him of the truth of Church teaching, but looked for what we had in common, and emphasized that. We had a few exchanges, before ending very charitably. He even said, "God bless you!" at the end. I could have made this into an argument that turned us against each other. Thank God for the grace to do things right!

Learn from your readers

 

Twice I have made the mistake of forgetting the question I had asked readers to comment on. Both times  I misinterpreted what my reader said, because I wasn't looking back at the question. I was taking her words out of context. And, yes, it was the same reader both times! She still follows me, God bless her, and I hope I've learned my lesson.

Last week a reader wrote "LOTH" in the comments box. It took me a few moments to translate that into Liturgy of the Hours. When I responded, I also wrote "LOTH." Then another reader had to ask me what the acronym meant. Oops! I should have realized that if I didn't understand it right away (and I pray from the LOTH daily), other readers wouldn't either. The comments are not just for the blogger's benefit, but for all your readers. Make sure you are clear.

I am going to make a point of explaining any terms that may be unfamiliar in my or a reader's comments. I realized that some of them might not be familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours at all, so I briefly explained what it is. Then another reader provided information about the Divine Office app.

Ask readers for clarification

 

I recently read that to make the comments box more interesting, you should ask your readers for more information about their comment. Could they explain themselves further? Give an example? Recommend a resource? When you ask a specific question of an individual, you begin learning about the person, not just his or her view of your blog post. You are likely to have a longer, more memorable conversation. You show you care about their lives. This forms a stronger bond. It can also give you ideas for future posts, as you discover what your readers really care about.

Do you have any more tips on interacting with your readers? Can you give us an example of a particularly interesting or fruitful exchange?


Connie Rossini is the administrator of Catholic Spiritual Blogs Network. Her personal blog is  Contemplative Homeschool.

Blog titles that say "Click on me."

By Connie Rossini

 
 

Choose your title for maximum readership. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

 
 This post is part of our monthly series, Catholic Bloggers' School.
 

 Avoid flowery language

Members of CSBN know that I sometimes change the titles of their posts on our site. Partly from reading posts about blogging, partly from watching the stats on this blog, I have learned a lot about the types of titles that draw readers in. A good title will bring readers from Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. It will make your subscribers open their email sooner.


Titles that work well for creative writing don't often work for blogs. For example, I'd love to write a post called Blogging in Borrioboola-Gha. If you're not a fan of Charles Dickens, that title would likely puzzle you. Some people might click on it just out of curiosity. But how many people would search for "Borrioboola-Gha"? A better title on the same subject might be Family Before Blog. That's not as creative or interesting, but it conveys to a wider audience what the post is about. And someone might even Google it.

You don't want to bring just any traffic to your site. You want to bring people who are actually interested in what you have to say. Make it easy for them to find you.

Ask a question

Do you know your ruling grace? Are you a jackass for Christ? Can you love God for just one minute? These are three of our recent posts at CSBN.

 When your title is a question, readers want to discover the answer. Make sure you give it to them, or give them the tools to find out for themselves!

How to ...

Starting your title with "How to" lets readers know they will learn something from your writing. If you are running out of ideas for your blog, brainstorm a list of how-to posts. You could get a lot of hits from searches this way.

Numbered lists

If your post is about saints who are known for answering prayers, title it 5 Saints Who Never Fail You. If you're making suggestions for All Saints' Day dinner, call it 3 Delicious Recipes for All Saints' Day. I have done posts beginning with 4 tips, 3 ways, and 5 reasons. These titles are easy to remember if readers want to return to your blog in the future. Your tips are also easier to remember in a list.

Titles are not the most important part of your blog post, but without a good title few may click on it. It doesn't matter how good your post is if no one reads it.

Catholic Bloggers' School: Great beginnings

by Connie Rossini

The Virgin Mary Reading by Antonello da Messina (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

 


What's the difference between a post that never gets read and one that gets shared multiple times on social media? Often it's how the post begins.

Master novelists know how to hook their readers in from the first sentence. They start with humor, mystery, excitement, or an intriguing idea. Consider these story openers:

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..."  (A Tale of Two Cities  by Charles Dickens)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife." (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

"In the last days of Narnia..." The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis)

Don't they make you want to read more?

Of course, a blog post isn't a novel. But since it's much shorter (like people's attention spans), it's even more important for bloggers to come to the point quickly. This is challenging in the blogosphere. Blogs got their start as online journals, and many bloggers like to share their daily lives with their readers. The temptation to ramble never goes away. Sometimes I want to share tidbits of my life with my audience that don't directly relate to my subject matter. I've decided the best place for those is FaceBook, rather than as slow introductions to my posts. Besides, that gives readers an added reason to "Friend" me.

Why do people read your blog? If you're a member of CSBN, chances are they want to grow in their faith. Let them know right away how your post will help them. You can do this in your title or in your first line. Or you can pose a question that used to plague you. It's probably plagued your readers too. If you're writing about a virtue or spiritual practice, tell a brief story of a saint who exemplified it.

Here are some first liners you can steal from me for future posts:

• I realized today I know nothing about following God. Nothing.
• Have you ever wondered why...?
• Francis de Sales has always been one of my favorite saints.
• The biggest surprise in my spiritual life happened when...
• I just read a book that changed my life.
• If I could live life over, I would be humble from the start.
• Have you prayed the Rosary lately?

Besides keeping your readers on the page, great beginnings can bring new readers to your blog. Search engines analyze your title and first paragraph to determine what your post is about. If you want someone to be able to find your blog through key word searches, make your first paragraph meaningful.

Challenge: Create some great first lines that your fellow Catholic bloggers could really use. Share them in the comments box. Then try to use one or more in the next month.


Connie Rossini blogs at  Contemplative Homeschool.

Catholic Bloggers' School: Appearances matter

by Connie Rossini

This post is part of a monthly series to help our members and other Catholic bloggers improve our blogs for the glory of God.

Painting by Albert Anker (photo in Public Domain).

There are two good reasons to make your blog visually pleasing. The first is evangelization. Fr. Robert Barron has said that evangelizing in today's climate should begin with Beauty, rather than truth or goodness. Beauty attracts people who may not otherwise have their hearts and minds open to the faith. The second reason is more practical. If your blog is hard to read, surfers may skip right on by, no matter how great the content of your posts.

Over the past several years, my husband and I have researched basic design principles for both old and new media. Here are some tips I'd like to share with you.

The easiest text to read is black type on a white background

There is a reason newspapers and books are generally black and white. Tests since the 1980s have shown that this is the easiest combination to read. Now, some people say that color combinations on the computer are a little different, because so much light comes from the monitor that people who spend hours looking at white backgrounds get eye strain. But generally, white (or other very light) text should be kept to things like titles, rather than large blocks of text.

There should always be good contrast between your text and background colors. And using bright colors as a background for your text--especially when the text is white--is not only hard on the eyes. It also emphasizes your background, not your words. Presumably, your words are the most important thing on the page, unless you are posting audio or video content. Keep distractions from your text to a minimum.

Don't distract your readers with patterns, garish colors, and animation

We don't need to add to the ADD problems rampant in our culture. Give your blog a clean look. Minimalist blogs can be very effective. If your readers' eyes are constantly wandering away from your post, how will your words sink in?

I like to use colors on my blogs, but I make sure they will compliment a variety of photos and convey a  meditative mood. I have always favored purple, and I learned a few years back that in color psychology, purple is said to represent spirituality--hence, the blue-purple wallpaper here.

Use beautiful pictures

At CSBN, I try to find one great work of art to illustrate each post. This not only makes the page attractive, it also helps us get lots of hits from people who see the photos on Pinterest.

As a side note, we should respect the copyright of others' work. Not every photo you find on the web should be "borrowed" for your blog. Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia have countless photos that are in the Public Domain or Creative Commons that you can use. I almost always add a caption that lets my readers know I respect copyright laws. Photographers and artists appreciate this! Some are trying to make a living off their work. Don't use it without proper permission.

Don't forget white space

You'll notice that all our posts here have lots of white space at the top. White space gives the eyes a chance to rest. It makes your blog feel peaceful. It makes your photos and text pop out more from the screen. This is an old, well-known design trick.

Be consistent

Readers should recognize your blog by its design.  It's okay to tweak things and make changes infrequently, but overdoing it may chase readers away. Your blog design is a reflection of yourself. Readers enjoy getting to know the personality on the other side of the monitor. Don't confuse them.

Although we have eighteen bloggers now at CSBN, I use the same font and general layout for all our posts here. Our group blog has its own character, just as our individual blogs do.

These are just a few design basics to get you thinking. You don't have to hire a professional designer, nor go beyond the free templates at Blogger or WordPress to have an attractive blog. But it does require some thought. Remember that your content is ultimately more important than your design. Let the latter serve the former, not the other way around.

Catholic Bloggers' School: tighter writing

by Connie Rossini

This post is the first in an intended series to help us improve our blogs for the glory of God. I hope to post an article once a month, with interviews, quotes, and guest posts from various experts in the future.

 "Content is king," says the cliche. You may have the world's greatest insights, but if your writing is difficult to read people will skip to the next blog. How many millions are there, after all?

A first step in improving your writing is making it tighter. That means saying the same thing in fewer words. Consider these two paragraphs:

1)    Many years ago, when I was first submitting articles to be published in our local diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Times, I realized I was using too many words. My natural tendency in writing about a subject was to use about 800 words, but my editor wanted to limit the column to 500-600 words. That meant I had to chop at least 200 words (25%) off my first draft. It was a challenge! However, I found that I could do it while improving my writing. I learned to make every word count. I got rid of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, parenthetical phrases, and the like. After a few months of practice, I found it was much easier to write a shorter column from the start. I had formed the habit of tighter writing. My new "natural" column length was just right for the needs of my editor.

2)    When I first began writing columns for our diocesan newspaper, I found my natural tendency was to use 800 words. My editor wanted a column of 500-600 words. I had to chop 25% off my first draft. What a challenge! However, I found I could do it while improving my writing. I learned to make every word count. I excised unnecessary modifiers and parenthetical phrases. After a few months' practice, it was easier to write  a shorter column from the start. I had formed the habit of tighter writing. My new "natural" column length was perfect for my editor's needs.

I cut 45 words to go from version 1 to 2 without sacrificing clarity. The second paragraph may not be  brilliant, but it's concise and precise. Using fewer words requires stronger verbs and nouns, which are more poignant. It breathes confidence and expertise. Readers trust you not to waste their time.

Avoid these common phrases

Here are some commonly used phrases and more concise substitutes (some of these examples are taken from The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White):

Every now and then - sometimes
Over and above - beyond
I thought to myself - I thought
as to whether - whether
owing/due to the fact that - since/because
end result - result
my personal opinion - my opinion
for all intents and purposes - (It's best to rewrite the sentence without this phrase)

Get rid of the words very, really and about. They weaken your writing. Choose stronger verbs that don't need a modifier. For example, leaped  is not only less wordy than jumped high - it also paints a more vivid picture.

Use active, not passive, voice. Instead of, It is believed by most people, write, Most people believe.  Avoid starting sentences with there is or there are.

Short blog posts can still be wordy, while long posts can be tightly written. Almost everyone uses needless words from time to time - er, sometimes. Don't focus on the number of words, but on the necessity of each word.

Try this: Write a new post and count your words. Try to reduce them by 10-20% without sacrificing clarity. Then share your post with us by linking to it in the comments below.


Connie Rossini is the administrator of Catholic Spirituality Blogs Network.  She blogs at  Contemplative Homeschool.