1. How to write a successful blog and make sure people read it Jo Thompson Coon
PHoCuS meeting – Plymouth – March 2018

2. How to write a successful blog?
Why do people blog?
What do they blog about?
Top tips for things to do and avoid
…and make sure people read it?

4. Why blog? Help establish writing as a routine
Small, self-contained, motivating to see something finished
Helps you to get to the point
Short, no room/time for waffle, highlight what is really important
Encourages you to write for a specific audience
Helps you to reach & discuss with different audiences
Freedom to explore ideas
Opportunity to invite comment and discussion
Easy to share via social media /
Boosts citations of your research

5. Why blog?
Communicate research findings / accompany publication of a paper / avoid paywall
Discuss research ideas with a relevant audience
Think through an idea
Comment/reflect on/share take home messages from a conference
Discuss methods and methodological choices
Engage with potential audience throughout a project
Raise the profile of your research or group
Comment on topical issues
Personal ‘web space’

7. Why blog? To communicate research findings

8. Why blog? To communicate research findings

9. Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience

10. Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience

11. Why blog? To think through an idea
LSE Impact blog
EPPI-Centre blog

12. Why blog? To share research findings from a conference
evidsynthteam.wordpress.com

13. Why blog? Raise the profile of your research

14. Why blog? Discuss topical issues

16. Top tips before you start
What’s it for?
Who’s it for? Write FOR your audience
Which platform? Wordpress.com – free and easy
How often? Should be a pleasure not a chore
What will you blog about? Research, conferences, things I learnt?
Own blog or a contributor e.g. National Elf Service, The Conversation
Group blogs – share the work, diversity of ideas, invite guest posts
Use images – your own if possible! unsplash.com
Use DOI links to publications – so that picked up by Altmetric etc.

17. Things to avoid Jargon / acronyms
Making it too long and complex – 1000 words max – most readers don’t read to the end of web content
A writing style that is wordy & waffly – keep sentences and paragraphs short
Commit to writing too often so that it becomes a chore
Using images without permission – plenty of free image sources e.g. unsplash or use your own
If writing up reflections on a conference – get them out quickly whilst people are still thinking about it

18. How to turn a journal article into a blog post
Should take 2-3 hours max
Aim to reduce paper from words to 1000 words
Cut out methods – not important to blog reader – link to paper for details
Cut out introduction – just need a couple of sentences to provide context
Cut out discussion – just need a couple of sentences with what next
Write a narrative title – describes research – 280 characters max
Include a trailer paragraph – 3 or 4 lines – why is this interesting?
Main body of blog should address - What did your research efforts discover or conclude? What do you make of your key findings or conclusions?
Front load / start with high impact/most interesting
Include at least one table or chart – explain properly / do they help tell the story?
Use digital links for references
End with a decisive/interesting statement
Include clear link to paper with DOI number

19. … and make sure people will read it…
Social media – Twitter / Facebook
Tag the people you want to read it
Tell people you’ve tweeted
Tag them into your tweets
Use topical hashtags e.g. #WorldChocolateDay #WednesdayWisdom
Don’t be afraid to bang on about stuff, ask people questions, tag in your heroes, refer back to what you’ve been doing/writing about

21. #thingswelearnt at #GESummit17

22. #thingswelearnt

23. https://evidsynthteam. wordpress

27. 13/02/2015

28. Why bother?

29. Where can I look for inspiration?
EPPI-Centre – thoughtful, reflective posts
Mental Elf – blogs by many researchers hosted by Andre Tomlin
Evidently Cochrane – often combine findings from several reviews into one blog written by a clinician
Why the long words – Zoe Ashton – health literacy
PenCRU Family Faculty – posts from families
The MESS – Methods in Evidence Synthesis Salon – specific methodological comment
The Realist Hive – lively, fun posts about realist methods
Sifting and sensemaking – reflections on methodological/decision-making processes in projects
Research that cares – wide variety of posts – personal focus
Learning, Knowing, Doing – implementation science
Head of Department’s blog – English