Here I am explaining all about post starters and how they can benefit your blog. They have helped me get more clarity for my readers and maybe they can help you too. This is part of our Blogging Help series.
WHAT ARE BLOG POST STARTERS?Blog post starters - you may have learned about them at school when they were called topic starters or story starters or introductory sentences. They are the sentences that lead your readers into your post. They introduce what the entire text is about so that readers know what to expect. They explain the purpose of your post.
EXAMPLES OF BLOG POST STARTERS
This post discusses . . .
I'm exploring the interesting idea of . . .
This is an easy-to-read guide, that will help you find...
I'm super excited to talk about...
It's time to review some of the most annoying...
Below, you will find . . .
In the first post of the series we explored...., and this post is all about...
In this post, you will learn...
I’m going to give you a step-by-step in how to...
This,..., has happened to me many times so I am going to help you...
WHY WE SHOULD USE BLOG POST STARTERS
- They help your readers understand what the post is about.
- They are useful when sharing your post on social media.
You may already be using these but maybe you are not. I see many bloggers that do not use these and just launch straight into their topic. Often they waffle on a bit, I cannot understand what the post is about and I lose interest.
Sometimes, as bloggers close to our own topic, we can presume that our title says it all but that may not be true. Other times readers are drawn into reading a post by a cryptic title and the use of the blog post starter really helps them understand what they will be reading about.
If you are not using post starters, please consider doing so, as it makes it much easier for the reader to decide if they want to keep reading. Anything that helps your readers is good... right? It also helps build trust and authority in your blog in general. It gives confidence to your reader that you have a topic and you are going to stick to it.
If you share a lot on social media, including other people's posts, you will understand that blog post starters help others to reshare your posts in a way that makes your topic clear.
Consider which of these is better to share and makes more sense to potential readers:
1. It Was Just Crazy.
Remy needed the vet and then the car broke down. We went to so many places I can't even remember.
OR
2. It Was Just Crazy.
Today I am going to explain about the unbelievable events that occurred on the craziest afternoon of my life.
Maybe you will agree with me that 2 is much better as it explains what the blogger will be blogging about?
HOW I CREATE BLOG POST STARTERS
I often create my post starter after I have finished a post. This way I can summarise what I have written about. For me, it is easier to just start writing and to commit some thoughts to paper before considering the introduction. This allows the creative part of my brain to have free reign before I use the evaluating part.
I hope I have convinced you to start using this idea in some of your posts, if not all of them. Also adding post starters to your old blogs is a great way to revamp them and reshare them. I would love to hear from you in the comments... do you use this device when blogging and what do you call it? Maybe you could share a link to a post of yours where you use an introductory sentence? In addition to using strong blog post starters or sentence starters, you want your entire post to read smoothly and coherently. Grammarly can help. Their writing suggestions flag confusing sentences and provide feedback on how to make your writing clearer, helping you put your best ideas forward.
YES I AM A GRAMMARLY AFFILIATE and they do have lots of FREE services including their Basic writing suggestions that check your Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, and Conciseness.
YOUR EXERIENCE WITH OPENING SENTENCES ON YOUR BLOG.
Maybe you already use what I call 'blog post starters' on your blog. Maybe you did this from your school days or maybe you learnt this as you were progressing on your blogging journey. Or are you someone who just launches into a post? I would love to here from you about your experiences and how you start your posts... do you have a formula? Please let me know in the comments below.
