This document provides guidance on how to write a successful blog and strategies for getting people to read it. It discusses reasons for blogging such as communicating research findings, discussing ideas with relevant audiences, and raising the profile of one's research. Top tips include choosing a blogging platform, determining a posting frequency and topics, and using images and links. The document also recommends keeping blog posts short (1000 words or less), avoiding jargon, and promoting posts on social media by tagging people and using hashtags. Examples of effective blogs are also listed.

1. How to write a successful blog and make sure
people read it
Jo Thompson Coon
PHoCuS meeting – Plymouth – March 2018

2. - Why do people blog?
- What do they blog about?
- Top tips for things to do and avoid
…and make sure people read it?
How to write a successful blog?

4. Why blog?
• Help establish writing as a routine
• Small, self-contained, motivating to see something finished
• Helps you to get to the point
• Short, no room/time for waffle, highlight what is really important
• Encourages you to write for a specific audience
• Helps you to reach & discuss with different audiences
• Freedom to explore ideas
• Opportunity to invite comment and discussion
• Easy to share via social media / email
• Boosts citations of your research

5. Why blog?
Communicate research findings / accompany publication of a paper /
avoid paywall
Discuss research ideas with a relevant audience
Think through an idea
Comment/reflect on/share take home messages from a conference
Discuss methods and methodological choices
Engage with potential audience throughout a project
Raise the profile of your research or group
Comment on topical issues
Personal ‘web space’

7. Why blog? To communicate research findings
http://www.evidentlycochrane.net/dressings-healing-pressure-ulcers/

8. Why blog? To communicate research findings
https://researchthatcares.com/2017/04/10/and-the-beat-goes-on/

9. Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience
https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Blog/tabid/3097/Default.aspx

10. Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience

11. Why blog? To think through an idea
LSE Impact blog
EPPI-Centre blog

12. Why blog? To share research findings from a conference
evidsynthteam.wordpress.com

13. Why blog? Raise the profile of your research
http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/realisthive/

14. Why blog? Discuss topical issues
https://headofdepartmentblog.wordpress.com/

16. Top tips before you start
• What’s it for?
• Who’s it for? Write FOR your audience
• Which platform? Wordpress.com – free and easy
• How often? Should be a pleasure not a chore
• What will you blog about? Research, conferences, things I learnt?
• Own blog or a contributor e.g. National Elf Service, The Conversation
• Group blogs – share the work, diversity of ideas, invite guest posts
• Use images – your own if possible! unsplash.com
• Use DOI links to publications – so that picked up by Altmetric etc.

17. Things to avoid
• Jargon / acronyms
• Making it too long and complex – 1000 words max – most readers don’t read
to the end of web content
• A writing style that is wordy & waffly – keep sentences and paragraphs short
• Commit to writing too often so that it becomes a chore
• Using images without permission – plenty of free image sources e.g. unsplash
or use your own
• If writing up reflections on a conference – get them out quickly whilst people
are still thinking about it

18. How to turn a journal article into a blog post
• Should take 2-3 hours max
• Aim to reduce paper from 4-5000 words to 1000 words
• Cut out methods – not important to blog reader – link to paper for details
• Cut out introduction – just need a couple of sentences to provide context
• Cut out discussion – just need a couple of sentences with what next
• Write a narrative title – describes research – 280 characters max
• Include a trailer paragraph – 3 or 4 lines – why is this interesting?
• Main body of blog should address - What did your research efforts
discover or conclude? What do you make of your key findings or
conclusions?
• Front load / start with high impact/most interesting
• Include at least one table or chart – explain properly / do they help tell the
story?
• Use digital links for references
• End with a decisive/interesting statement
• Include clear link to paper with DOI number
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/01/25/how-to-write-a-
blogpost-from-your-journal-article/

19. … and make sure people will read it…
• Social media – Twitter / Facebook
• Tag the people you want to read it
• Tell people you’ve tweeted
• Tag them into your tweets
• Use topical hashtags e.g. #WorldChocolateDay #WednesdayWisdom
• Don’t be afraid to bang on about stuff, ask people questions, tag in your
heroes, refer back to what you’ve been doing/writing about

21. #thingswelearnt at #GESummit17

22. #thingswelearnt

23. https://evidsynthteam.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/if-you-want-to-go-fast-
go-alone-if-you-want-to-travel-far-travel-together/

27. 13/02/2015 27

28. Why bother?

29. Where can I look for inspiration?
• EPPI-Centre – thoughtful, reflective posts
• Mental Elf – blogs by many researchers hosted by Andre Tomlin
• Evidently Cochrane – often combine findings from several reviews into one
blog written by a clinician
• Why the long words – Zoe Ashton – health literacy
• PenCRU Family Faculty – posts from families
• The MESS – Methods in Evidence Synthesis Salon – specific methodological
comment
• The Realist Hive – lively, fun posts about realist methods
• Sifting and sensemaking – reflections on methodological/decision-making
processes in projects
• Research that cares – wide variety of posts – personal focus
• Learning, Knowing, Doing – implementation science
• Head of Department’s blog – English