How to Keep Your Posts to the Point
Content should be kept simple. Most people would rather read a single paragraph, containing all the key points, than have to stay on the same post for a period of ten minutes or more to read an elongated post, leaving with the same information that the few lines presented.
Why Should You Condense Your Content?
Readers that may be arriving to your blog looking for a specific item want to be able to get on with their lives and accomplish what they needed to find as soon as possible. In this respect, an introductory paragraph and/or conclusion paragraph that sum up what your entire post is about is essential. When you create a post that is a few thousand words long, this step becomes even more important, as many readers don’t read the entire post, unless it sincerely interests them.
Additionally, these long posts lose you visitors and readers if you constant bore them with content that they simply don’t want to sit through reading. In order to produce longer posts, it should attract new readers, follow the topic of your blog, and be an authority resource in your niche.
Blogs that report on news generally keep their posts to one paragraph, or a few one to two sentence paragraphs, only covering the essential points of the topic/news item.
Why You Shouldn’t Condense Your Content
The current format of most blogs is to present information to readers, so leaving out key points or leaving the reader requesting more information isn’t a good situation to be in. You’ll want to cover all the main points, so this typically adds quite some length to posts.
When you create resource lists, it can be costly to leave out resources that others may find beneficial, so don’t skimp when it comes to “completing” a post. Other people who “compete” with you in your niche may see this as a weakness on your part and create a similar, outstanding post that directly eliminates your power in the terms of traffic.
Key Points to Remember
If you happen to run a site that reports on news or research, remember the Six Ws - Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and How? For example, if I were to write a post about a blogger event, I could quickly sum up everything that happened there in a few simple sentences, then expand upon that with a personal anecdote about my experience.
While there are no good ways of condensing content without leaving out content and leaving readers lost, remember that unless you want to sit through and read an entire post, then it may not be worth publishing for your readers. Before, during, and after drafting a post, think about how you can paraphrase and condense content, creating key points, numbered lists, and conclusion paragraphs for visitors that need a quick snapshot of what the entire post is about. It is absolutely necessary to brainstorm before you begin writing, or you will surely get off-topic and lose interest, drawing on points that should be broken off into a new post.
