Have you ever ever written a sequence of posts to your weblog – a set of posts which can be intentionally linked collectively?
When you haven’t, I hope I can persuade you to present it a attempt.
Some bloggers really feel writing a sequence of posts is extra daunting than writing particular person posts. However it’s typically simpler to provide you with concepts for a ten-post sequence than for ten stand-alone posts.
Right here at ProBlogger we’ve run plenty of sequence over time, together with 31 Days to Construct a Higher Weblog, which I’ll be coming again to later on this submit.
So why must you write a sequence of posts as an alternative of simply particular person posts?
How a Collection of Posts May Enhance Your Weblog
Writing a sequence of posts, even a brief one, could be helpful. Particularly, it provides you the chance to:
- Dig deep into a specific matter, showcasing your experience.
- Encourage readers to maintain coming again for extra.
- Create loads of inner hyperlinks between your posts (good for each search engine optimization and inspiring readers to dig deeper into your website).
- Construct a complete piece of content material readers can bookmark, share, and preserve coming again to (particularly you probably have an introduction submit or an index of posts).
Even when your weblog is new, you possibly can nonetheless run a sequence. In actual fact, it may be a good way to get some stable cornerstone content material up there early on.
Two Totally different Approaches to Operating Your Collection: Which is Proper for You?
If you have a look at a sequence of posts on the blogs you learn, you’ll most likely discover they fall into certainly one of two classes:
Kind #1: Time-Restricted Collection of Posts
This kind of sequence runs for a set time frame, and each submit revealed on the weblog throughout that point is (normally) a part of the sequence.
For example, a three-part sequence of linked posts could seem on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And on the next week, the blogger goes again to standalone posts.
We’ve carried out this on ProBlogger with ‘Theme Weeks’ equivalent to Creating Merchandise Week — a sequence of 5 weblog posts on find out how to create merchandise to your viewers.
This method works nicely if you wish to create cornerstone content material, or construct up a bit of sequence content material you would possibly use later for an book and even the premise of a course. (Extra on that later.)
Kind #2: Ongoing, Common Collection of Posts
This kind of sequence can run indefinitely, with posts showing on a particular day of the week or month, and even at a specific level within the 12 months. And standalone posts seem as regular between installments of the sequence.
The sequence would possibly seem like:
- A roundup of stories/posts in your area of interest every Friday. (We used to do that in our “Studying Roundups”.)
- An ongoing month-to-month sequence on the primary Tuesday of every month. For instance, in case you weblog about wholesome consuming, you would possibly publish a brand new recipe initially of every month.
- An annual evaluate of your progress in your area of interest every December or January.
If you wish to construct a way of consistency and group in your weblog, this is usually a good kind of sequence to make use of. It may possibly additionally enable you to beat blogger’s block, because it provides you particular issues to weblog about. (Properly, a minimum of a number of the time.)
Coming Up With a Nice Thought for a Weblog Submit Collection
It may be powerful sufficient developing with an concept for one weblog submit. So how do you provide you with an important concept for a sequence?
For a hard and fast sequence with a restricted variety of posts, you would possibly search for:
- A subject that you simply’ve already lined, however not in a lot depth. A sequence may provide the probability to essentially dig into the subject and study totally different facets of it. We did this on ProBlogger with a sequence on visitor posting.
- Newbie-friendly matters that will make a great introduction to your weblog or area of interest. The posts themselves may all be on totally different matters, however you possibly can hyperlink them collectively by having them aimed very a lot at freshmen.
For a daily, ongoing sequence, you would possibly search for:
- One thing you might weblog about just about indefinitely. It may very well be the week’s information in your area of interest, your month-to-month outcomes from affiliate marketing online, or widespread errors you see freshmen making in your subject.
- A selected model of posts. You can have a weekly “Q&A” like Trent Hamm’s “Reader Mailbag” on his weblog The Easy Greenback, or a “month-to-month motivation” submit the place you gather collectively inspiring quotes.
When you’ve acquired a number of concepts and aren’t which might work greatest, why not ask another bloggers for enter? (When you don’t know many different bloggers but, the ProBlogger Fb group is a good place to satisfy some.)
Structuring a Collection of Weblog Posts
Hopefully, you already really feel assured about structuring particular person weblog posts. If not (otherwise you want a fast refresher), try these posts from our material skilled Ali Luke:
However if you’re structuring a sequence, you additionally should make structural choices about:
- The sequence as a complete. It’s going to want a starting and, if it isn’t an ongoing sequence, an finish. These is likely to be brief sections of a submit, or posts in their very own proper (for an extended sequence). For example, you would possibly write a submit to introduce the sequence and clarify what’s coming. You’ll be able to then replace this submit with hyperlinks to the totally different elements of the sequence.
- The person posts inside the sequence. How will you construction these so that they ‘match’ as elements of a coherent entire? You can:
- use a particular kind of picture, or model your pictures in a specific approach
- title the posts constantly
- have a specific format for every submit, equivalent to a fast recap initially and a job or task on the finish.
Interlinking the Posts in Your Collection
It’s essential to hyperlink the elements of your sequence collectively so readers can simply navigate between them. Keep in mind, not everybody will learn your sequence as you publish it.
Some readers will likely be busy, and can wish to meet up with the entire sequence later. However many extra (hopefully) will come to your sequence in future weeks and months by means of engines like google or social media.
You’ll be able to interlink posts in any variety of methods. Listed below are some you possibly can attempt. (You might even wish to use two or three in every submit.)
- Create a tag or class for the sequence, which is what we did with our visitor posting sequence. Readers can then get all of the elements of the sequence by clicking that tag/class identify. When you’re working an ongoing sequence of weekly/month-to-month posts, that is most likely one of the best ways to organise it.
- Put a hyperlink on the prime of every submit resulting in the earlier half(s), so readers can simply return to any posts they missed.
- Create a web page or submit with hyperlinks to each submit within the sequence. You are able to do this earlier than you run the sequence and replace it as you publish every half, or do it retrospectively.
- Put hyperlinks on the backside of every submit resulting in the following half, so readers can simply undergo the sequence. (Clearly, you’ll want to return and add these in when you’ve revealed the later elements.)
- Add hyperlinks to the physique of the submit everytime you point out a subject you’ve already written about within the sequence. (You can even return to earlier posts and hyperlink them to later posts within the sequence.) This protects you having to repeat your self rather a lot, and makes it simple for readers to search out the knowledge they want at any given level.
An instance of hyperlinks to all of the posts within the sequence on the backside of the submit
Nevertheless you select to hyperlink your posts collectively, be sure to’re constant. And keep in mind to test again after ending the sequence to see if there are alternatives to work in some additional hyperlinks.
Taking Your Weblog Submit Collection Additional
When you’ve accomplished a sequence, or have been writing an ongoing sequence for some time, it’s value contemplating whether or not you possibly can repurpose your sequence into one thing else.
Which may imply:
- Bringing your posts collectively as a free book, maybe with some bonus content material. For example, in case you’ve revealed ten month-to-month recipes in your weblog, you might put these recipes into an book and add 5 additional recipes you haven’t revealed.
- Publishing your posts as a product, equivalent to a paid-for book and even an ecourse. (31 Days to Construct a Higher Weblog went from a sequence of posts to an book, and now we’ve turned it right into a course.)
You may additionally use a brief sequence because the inspiration for an extended one, or an ongoing sequence as a possibility to get readers concerned in your weblog.
I’d love to listen to how you’re utilizing a submit sequence, or what concepts you will have for utilizing them sooner or later. Depart a remark under to share your ideas with us.
For extra assist creating content material, why not attempt certainly one of my 7-day Content material Sprints the place I’ll information and help you to create a plan and 6 new items of content material to your weblog in simply 7 days.
This text was up to date 1 December 2022.