I‘ve spent a hell of a lot of time developing or helping develop people’s blogs. I dig it, but it’s not nearly as fun as writing persuasive copy. However, the similarities between the two (copy and blog development) are pretty big.
In fact, if you have a blog then this might be pretty pivotal in how you (and your readers) look at it…
When writing copy you focus on the words you choose and the pictures they create in people’s minds, the emotions they create.
Great blog posts are written this way, too. But, reading your blog is not the same as reading a letter. Your words share attention with menus, links, browser buttons (the back button!), and every other widget that’s on the page.
All these things vie for attention. Especially when you have doo-hickeys flashing, rotating, sliding, and people’s faces. How are your words going to compete with all that?
Your words are what persuade your visitors to do what you want them to do. An effective blog design removes all distraction from the page so you don’t stop them from doing whatever it is you want.
Sort of like writing good copy, you strip away the things that aren’t important, don’t matter, and that don’t affect your goal.
You minimize friction and highlight calls-to-action.
Whether your using social media, SEO, or paying for traffic with AdWords you have a goal you want met when folks come to your page. Now, they’re not going to click a “Buy Now” button for a new home so the typical strategy for a Realtor is to convert those visitors into email subscribers.
Both your copy and your design can facilitate folks meeting that goal. It’s a matter of removing the things that distract from the goal and highlighting what it is you want folks to do.