Applying the 5 Ws to Your Next Blog Post

Although it has been nearly a hundred and thirty years since Professor William Cleaver Wilkinson popularized the “Three W’s” (Later “Five W’s”) of writing news-oriented content and reporting news, you can still apply it to your blog or other forms of writing to ensure that you get all points across.

Often, people visit blogs for different viewpoints on stories that are occurring in traditional media – newspapers and on the news. They typically look for contradictory viewpoints and more local reports, which help them get multiple angles of a story. It is quite appropriate for them to look for the core elements of the post, whether it is in one form of media or another.

The Basics of the Five Ws

As you might already know, the Five Ws (and one H) is a concept that is used to getting the “full” story on something. They include who, what, where, when, why, and how. In the rare case that you generate news from reporters, you will likely already follow the format, however for the rest of you, here are some ideas to get you started using the method.

Let’s assume that you are reviewing a product, as many bloggers do on their blog, and you need to inform your readers about the various aspects of the product, ranging from why it is beneficial to purchase or use it, to what you like about the product.

• Who - What company or individual is behind the product. In a way, you should provide some background information, such as an interview or tidbits form their About page. This helps readers and potential customers/users of the products become more familiar with it before they shell out cash or time to try the product or service.
• What - What is the benefit to your readers and others that may be interested in using the product. In other words, explain what the product does rather than just promoting some affiliate/sponsored links in the post.
• Where - Where can you find the product? Is it available at a particular website, and where can you find the best deal. If you are reviewing a more web-oriented product, be sure that your readers have a “visual” link to the website, so they will be able to remember it more easily. For example, if you were reviewing the Google website (just an example) and it wasn’t common, include it as http://google.com so it is easier to reference.
• When - This is not required, but if the product that you are reviewing hasn’t been released yet, you need to inform your readers of this, or at the very least, when it became available.
• Why - Again, this word might be able to be combined with “What,” although you should be telling your readers the reason for your product review – tell them how you enjoyed using it and how effective it is. Note: Be sure that you have actually used it, rather than simply telling them that they should use it!
• How - Not always included in the maxim, but you should be aware of how the product and/or service works should a reader ask about other purposes of it.

Other Ideas

Although I used the “review” post above, you can apply this idea to nearly every post. After all, as a blogger, your main goal is to inform your readers about news, information, or products/services that may interest them. Should you leave out just a few minor details, you will lose credibility, and they will likely look elsewhere for the reviews and opinions that you were hoping to deliver.