Lesson 6 - How Audiences View Content
From prior lessons, you have gained:
- A better understanding of why we tell stories
- How to tell a big story with smaller articles and blogs
- Where to find inspiration
- Tools to be an organized storyteller
The next lessons are the culmination of how to use these storytelling skills to grow as a disciple.
This lesson is a little bit technical, but don’t feel like this is a writing class.
How do you share your blog with people you haven’t met? Many people ask questions, discover ideas, and even find answers using Google and other search engines.
When you publish a blog on the internet, there are ways to make it more visible to people using search engines. These same tools also help people enjoy reading your blog.
Here are the basic rules:
- Find Your Topic: Think about your main point. What would someone ask Google?
- For instance, “discipleship training” is a common term used in Google Searches
- Use Your Topic in the Title: Choose a title that answers the question using your topic.
- For example: 5 Reasons Discipleship Training Helped Build Confidence in Sharing My Voic
- Use Headings: When you create a blog, use headings to make reading easier. Instead of a lot of paragraphs, you can read the headings and understand what a blog is about. A simple rule is adding a heading at the beginning of each section:
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- Titles: Heading 1 (H1)
- Body: Heading 2 (H2)
- Conclusion: Heading 2 (H2)
- Keep your headings short-just a few words to let readers know what to expect
- Use Bullet Points and Lists: Everyone loves a list. Audiences can follow along or jump ahead.
- Numbered lists or bullet points help to break up long paragraphs.
- Use Images: Pictures help to engage readers. Especially on a smartphone or tablet, images help to break up the words.
- Be Concise: Most blog articles are 500-1500 words. If you have a lot to share, you can create multiple blog articles that connect to each other like chapters in a book. A link between each blog helps readers navigate your big story easier.
Write Fresh Content: A regular cadence within your blog helps search engines and real people engage with your blog.
During this activation follow these rules and compare the finished blog to your earlier blogs. These simple steps really help to make your writing jump off the page and appeal to your readers.
In this activation, we are focusing on rewards. This can be a time to reflect on your time thus far at YWAM or you could think of another time you enjoyed the reward of hard work.
REWARD Psalm 92:12-13 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
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