Creating Content on the Blockchain Part 6 -- Writing Posts

This post is part of a series I’m building to help beginners on Hive learn the basics. My goal is to help you to get a base to build on your time on the platform.

Covered So Far

In Part 1 I talked about getting an account and the first basic steps and concepts to understand.

In Part 2 I continued to build on the concepts and terms used on the blockchain. This part talks about frontends, communities and the peakd profile page.

In Part 3 I talked about managing expectations, how voting works and the rewards.

In Part 4_ I focused more on the building a following, content and posting.

In Part 5 I explored the concept of Communities on Hive and introduced some of the hundreds, if not thousands, available to participate in.

We’ve covered enough material now, you have a pretty decent idea of the basic terms for getting around on Hive and building your following. Let’s talk today about writing a post.

Posting Social Audio Content

If you create videos or podcasts, I’m going to encourage you to accompany your audio content with text to set the context. A good rule of thumb to follow when setting up the text is to look at the text without the presence of the audio/visual.

Make sure it tells the reader something, like a snippet of what they will find more of if they click the button to listen/view.

Writing Twitter Like Posts

If you’re a person who prefers to microblog with Twitter length posts, make sure you use Dbuzz.

When people come across your short posts and they see dbuzz, they will recognize them as being Twitter length and not spam.

Formatting Posts

Keep in mind, I am talking about posting on PeakD. Other frontends may have a different post editor, but the same principles apply.

The editor uses a Markdown and some HTML for formatting. Tutorial pages are available on the web if you’d like, but, I suggest you save the link to this post written by @themarkymark on which formatting you can use.

Writing Blog Posts

Once you have digested what I’ve shared with you over the first five parts of this guide, you’re going to find actually writing the content is not a lot different than writing on your own blog or a site like Medium. Except you can earn.

The layout and readability of your post will decide if a reader stays on the post or clicks away to another post.

The Basics of Layout

Visuals

Your header image is often the most import element to attract a reader’s attention. A striking, relevant image will draw the eye faster than the words in the title.

Your title is important but first you have to get the reader’s attention.

Adding images to illustrate concepts in your post can be helpful.

Many people learn more effectively with visuals. A new Hivian, @iwannabeme recently wrote a great post on the value of visuals in posts. You may enjoy having a read of it here.

Titles & Subtitles

As I already mentioned, the title of your post is important. People are busy, they would like an idea what your post is about to draw them further in.

People tend to scan through content, looking at titles and subtitles first. Your main title will be the first point of contact, be as succinct as possible

Speaking of drawing people in, following formatting conventions can also help you to be found in search engines. The H tag used for titles and subtitles is important to use correctly.

The title on your post will use the H1 tag. Search engines will see it as the title of the post. Don’t use H1 any where in the body of the post.

The use of H2 signals a subtitle, chapter or section. If you are breaking a post into self-contained sections, then use it.

Headers or subheadings are usually H3 although you can use H4, H5 or H6 if you need more levels. Ideally your headers would guide a reader scanning through it to get a very clear idea of the topics covered in the post.

Writing the Content

Your words and how you present them will determine if the reader stays or leaves. The best words in the world will be wasted if you don’t take care to present them in a way that makes your reader comfortable to read them.

Let’s look at a few items to pay attention to:

• Use emphasis sparringly. Try to avoid using bold or italics a lot or for more than a line or two. The purpose is to draw attention. A bit of bold or italic will break the flow enough to catch the reader’s attention.

Even if you want them to read the whole paragraph, putting emphasis on just the most important short phrase will serve the purpose.

• Keep your paragraphs short. Long, dense paragraphs can be difficult to follow on the screen. I know, we were taught to write paragraphs as ‘little arguments’ of the topic. That’s great on paper. We’re reading on screens.

I’ve seen a difference in the number of reads I get on my content when I break them up more. Having said that, vary the length.

• Always left-align the body of your content. Some people think centered text looks really nice. It might except it means your reader has to keep adjusting their focus to read your content. Those microsecond movements help to tire your reader’s eyes.

• Keep your sentences short. I can run on a sentence with the best of them. A run on sentence is just like someone droning when they’re talking. Shorten them up and keep them to the point.

• Don't forget to add your image sources. If you've drawn information and especially quotes from other sources, cite the source(s).

• Any quoted material should be formatted as a quote and should never ever make up more than 20% of your post. Less is better.

Wrapping up Today

If you've been following along on this series, you should be forming a solid base to grow on. There are more parts coming to expand your understanding of creating content and growing on the platform.

Drop me questions or comments about anything I've not covered.

NOTES

1. Header images belongs to author
2. This is day 29 of 30 in the #HiveBloPoMo Challenge for April.

Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.

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