Printed magazines bring flair to the printed page by liberally changing their designs. The successful magazine will alter the design according to the content of their article. It will present text in the short bulleted form, have sidebars, and be appealing because it caters to the wandering eye. Blogs generally have the same format for each article, regardless of content. Here are some lessons you can learn from the print magazine.
- Headlines create sales: Just as there are many magazines competing for rack space, your blog is competing for attention and viewership. To be noticed, editors must have something appealing on the cover which lures the readers into opening the book. ‘Yet another weight loss plan’ is not as interesting as ’15 untold secrets of dieting.’ Editors will constantly push the envelope to discover the most fascinating subjects for readers. Look at the headlines that print magazines offer and compare them to your blog posts. Are yours sizzling?
- When possible, use expert advice: Most printed magazine articles will quote the advice given by experts. This adds authority to the article because the snippets that are offered act as a testimonial to the text. A blog post which quotes someone else within your field will garner more authority than going it alone. Keep an ear out for what your friends are saying. Place those items into your blog posts and you will gain attention.
- Layout changes according to content: In magazines, there will be several factors which remain constant. There may be regular features. There might be headers and footers on each page which identify the magazine. Everything else about the layout changes according to the content that is being offered. Magazines will place lots of defining pictures within the course of the content. Column widths are liberally altered. As a blogger, you might want to learn how design elements are placed into a post and alter them.
- Only the best makes it to print: It takes a lot of time and care to design a layout around an article. Editors want to make that design time worthwhile by offering only the best content. You should take the time to carefully craft the content of your articles. You might have a lot of ideas for your blog, but posting many mediocre articles is not as effective as posting one great one. The magazine publisher has a limited amount of space, so they fill it with great content.
- Graphics are essential: The graphics and the content of the magazine work in tandem. Many articles will use a large faded picture on the page, highlighting the important points with pictures that are set apart from the rest. Graphs and charts can be used to further illustrate an idea. Your blog posts should demonstrate your concept through words and graphics, rather than merely words. Provide a lot of information through your pictures.
- Simple language speaks to readers: Article writers will seek to use the simplest language available to convey their thoughts. They will be forced to remove the unnecessary words and search for action verbs which perfectly highlight a notion. Not all of your blog’s readers will have a college vocabulary. Be aware of that fact, but do not talk down to your readers. Argue your case simply and effectively like magazine article writers.
There is plenty to learn from printed magazines. Editors accept articles which are intended to increase their subscriber base. Magazine designers use exemplary designs while using language that speaks to the common person. By taking lessons from magazines, you can increase your blog’s readership.
James Adams writes regularly for Cartridge Save, but is also a well known contributor to tech blogs. He writes reviews Dell ink cartridges and other supplies for a UK based printer cartridges online store.
Do you need help with Starting A Wordpress Site?
Then...use Thesis just like the pros around. Even if you are not a pro, Thesis has a great supporting community and forum to help you with questions on how to use Thesis. Finally, if you need access to resources that I use for my business online, check out my resources page. You will find goodies and gems that might help you as well.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: lavenderuses
October 12, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I totally agree with you Bryan. A well-designed blog with good graphics will get more reader time than one that is poorly laid out with too many ads splashed all over so that you have to hunt for the post. I bounce off those sites quickly! Good content is a must and I like how you take the printed page in a magazine and relate it to our blogs. Great post Bryan. Keep it up.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderuses recently posted..Growing Lavenders-Are You a Purist
Hey there Patricia, thanks for stopping by! Aesthetics are incredibly important when it comes to attracting readers, and magazines have spent many years fine tuning the art of creating a visually appealing page
Twitter: webmaster_serve
October 13, 2010 at 5:42 am
Good post, it’s important to make your headline relevant to the reader, though the article needs to be helpful and well written, but before someone has your full article sitting in front of them they will be looking at a list of article headlines
Biodun | UK ecommerce forum recently posted..HOSTGATORCom COUPON CODE
James
Man, how sweet this is! I’ve been saying pretty much most of what you’ve said on my blog repeatedly. Write great headlines, write well – concisely with simple language and good grammar – and back up what you say with concrete examples. Unfortunately, some people don’t get it, and you see the same mistakes over and over again. Oh, well, as long as we can impact one person it’s worth it.
Thanks for sharing.
Michael
Michael recently posted..Rant 1- How Not to Blog Like a Jerk
Twitter: alexanderthegry
October 15, 2010 at 4:00 am
You can’t really do the same job as a magazine, but you may be inspired by one. The magazines have specially trained people and departments that have to think about this things.
Titles are usually the first thing a possible visitor see, on other websites, so it should be as bombastic as you can do it but also has to have a connection with your content and doesn’t have to exaggerate it, because is nothing a visitors hates more then being promised something and getting something else.
Also, how would someone know he wrote a mediocre article? Because, me for example, I am trying to write the best everytime and I always excited by what I write.
You talked about the layout, I want to say that I have seen lots of bloggers who are not using float for images in their post. A image sitting on the left side with text wrapped around is more aesthetic then a centered image with the text under it.
Axel@Jocuri recently posted..Karate Kung Fu
Twitter: andrewrondeau
October 21, 2010 at 6:10 pm
James
Magazines are great for headlines.
I just purchased a product that listed over 1000 titles from the Cosmopolitan magazine.
Whenever I wrote a new blog post, I now scan the headlines, adapt and make my own.
Andrew
Andrew @ Blogging Guide recently posted..Writers Block- Not As Bad As You Think
Wow a handy tip Andrew, i do agree that magazine headlines have to be catchy to get attention.
I agree for above mostly when you print something there should be graphical pictures that are very attractive for readers. keep it up !!!
the vocab on your site is very nice
headline is the best most important thing for our sales. I appreciate your work as this post will improve our skills regarding content writing and printing. thanks for everything you put here to bring this fabulous post,.