Blogging made easy

People often worry that blogging is too hard…
… but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, blogging can be both easy and fun. Here are 10 quick tips to get you blogging right away.
Use human language which is both common sense but also extraordinarily difficult for us fluent UN-speakers. Avoid Development jargon and acronyms at all costs. Also remember: Accessibility does not mean dumbing it down, it just means making it clear.
A. Focus on keeping it short, 500-600 words (something that we don’t necessarily ALWAYS abide by but we always strive for). B. Most people don’t read past the first paragraph, so the idea is to get a little snapshot of a story in there, to hyperlink it to other stories, and bring people down the rabbit hole with you. Bottom Line: Less is more on the web.
When we say Keep it Simple we mean: one main idea per post. We get inspired and want to cram in as much as possible, mistaking the blog for a typical paper. Keep up with industry standards on how people consume online content (e.g. formatting). A blog is not a paper.
It should be written in the first person. Use “I” and not “we.” This is the expected style of a blog post. You are blogging as yourself, an expert in your field, and not on behalf of the whole of UNDP. This perspective also makes it easier to include your opinions, which makes the post more interesting. People have different perspectives, so your blog posts will reflect the diversity of your personality and style. At the same time, people do expect clear and concise writing on the web, so don’t go too crazy. :)
Make sure your tone is familiar. Writing in the first person helps, but also try to be informal, like you’re at your kitchen table talking to your friend, or your grandma. The Grandma test essentially means: If your grandma can understand what you’re talking about, then you’re on the right track.
Your question can be anywhere: Your title can be in the form of a question, you can have several questions throughout, and the end of the post is a perfect place for a question. Whatever you do, don’t conclude your post! Many people make a beautiful argument and tie it up neatly with a ribbon. Done and done! Leave people room to engage with your post. Questions are a great way to encourage commenting. And be prepared to respond and talk to people who leave comments.
Linking to other bloggers, articles and research shows that you are part of the conversation. Including links also allows people to dig deeper into the subject. This can include links to your own content (such as project pages, other posts or updates). Remember also to be social and comment on other people’s posts.
Communications people (our team) invest a lot of time and energy in marketing your blog posts on social media. Sometimes this means others pick up your posts and publish them on their own sites. But we need your firepower too. That’s why we’re always trying to get you on social media and to share with your existing networks and partners. This is all part of opening up, so we can all listen and learn from people and other organizations.
There is an art and science to using images on the web, but the bottom line is that articles with images get more views. It’s also difficult to market your posts on social media without them. Luckily our country offices have a lot of great photos, but we also need to keep issues of copyright in mind.
And finally… Don’t overthink it – just do it! Overthinking leads to writing long academic papers that detail all of your work, your thoughts, lessons learned and so on. If you have a lot to say, consider doing a series of blog posts that follow one another. Don’t pressure yourself – just write and send it out.
These blogs have in common the tips we just shared. They are well structured. They focus on a single idea. They use links throughout. They make good use of visuals and multimedia content. They use the individual perspective. And none of them are too long, mostly around 650 words, never more than 800.

Blogging made easy

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