12 Most Aspiring A Words for Bloggers
Did you participate in the A to Z challenge in April? Many writers put their skills to the test in the challenge. The premise was to write 26 posts — one for each letter of the alphabet.
I was too cowardly to compete but I was jealous of my friends like Amberr Meadows who did such an amazing job with it. Can you truly use this format for any niche? If you participated I would like to know what you wrote about. Please leave a comment below.
One thing that came out of the A-Z challenge was a brief flash of creativity. I began making my own list of words that every blogger should know about. While I may not have 26 posts in me, I hope these amazing “A words” for aspiring bloggers will help you on your writing journey.
1. Asynchronous
Also know as Ajax, it is the way you should program javascript to speed up your website.
2. After the deadline
A spell checker that also examines your text for cliches, passive voice, and more.
3. Analytics
What you need so you can measure your accomplishments and make progress towards your goals.
4. Avatar
Have one, we want to see you smiling back at us when you write or leave a comment.
5. API
API will allow you to show off your Twitter followers, Feedburner subscribers, Flickr photos and more on your blog.
6. Accessible
Think about how all readers will navigate your website, including those with disabilities; follow these guidelines.
7. Anti-spam
You will want a plugin that blocks spam; Akismet, GROW Anti-spam, or a Captcha of some sort.
8. Attitude
Bland writing makes for boring copy, take a position and get your readers commenting.
9. Attention
Wow your readers by paying attention to their comments and queries; go the extra step to help them.
10. Answer
Write posts that are answers to your audience’s questions, this will attract loyal readers who find your content useful.
11. Action
Explicitly ask your readers to take action, be bold!
12. Attainable
Set reasonable goals and don’t expect growth over night.
What other a words would you add to the list?
Featured image courtesy of chrisinplymouth via Creative Commons.
Susan Silver
Susan is a copywriter who crafts content strategies that rank. She is also the community manager for Gygax Magazine. She shares information on business, social media, and writing.
7 comments
1 Like
I think I bring #8-#10...still working on #11. I definitely leave each blog post with questions for the reader and an invitation to engage in the comments. I am still reluctant when it comes to Call To Action (so 2 out of 3 of my last posts had stronger Calls to Action because they were time-sensitive). Nice list, Susan.
@dbvickery Progress is good. I suffer from another problem...Too many CTA's! Eeep, it is more confusing I think to ask your audience to do 2-3 things than it is to leave it out. Generally people figuring things out on their own if your writing is heading in a particular direction.
@amberrisme Thanks Amberr, I wouldn't have written this without your awesome series. It is one of the best resources for new bloggers around.
1 Like
Great list Susan! Are we going to get 25 more lists like this?
The only thing I would disagree with is the captcha. So irritating to so many people!
@sharongreenthal True, captcha's are annoying. So is spam. I had a client that almost got dropped from here host because she was hit hard by it. I advised her to remove her email from her website and replace with an image or a form. It helped and the attack stopped.
Spam has to be dealt with in some way and that is one way to block it.
Let’s be social!
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