• Let the post emerge naturally from your interests – if you aren’t interested, no one else will be.
  • Let your uncertainties show. You may be asking questions, not giving answers – and you never know who will reply or even contribute to the museum’s research hoard.

  • Break blog posts up with subheadings, different fonts, images, and audio and video (if resources allow). People browsing the web need varied format fare.
  • Save jargon such as “benchmarks” and “stakeholders” for the trustees’ report. Resist filling the first paragraph with thanks to your funders – most readers aren’t interested, and the ones who are will find the information wherever you put it (the funders will find it there too).
  • Give the goodies upfront. Don’t hide the biggest nugget in the last paragraph.
  • Be topical and tie in with current events if you can.
  • Consider vlogging (video blogging) and make sure this is also posted on YouTube.
  • Asking stakeholders to write blog posts is a great way to drum up interest in volunteering, membership or supporting the museum in other ways.
  • Check institutional guidelines – or write some. These can be sent to guest bloggers too. Cover things such as tone, length and image format.
  • Ensure your blog posts are as accessible as possible for visually-impaired readers using screen readers by describing images and putting navigation links on the right-hand side.
  • Blog post titles should do the same job as newspaper headlines. Make them snappy and intriguing – avoid being vague or misleading. A list of keywords can help support staff who are less confident writing titles.
  • Don’t stuff a post with keywords. Including certain words or phrases will be helpful for a post’s Search Engine Optimisation, especially if these are included in the title and URL. But a good Google ranking doesn’t matter if the blog post doesn’t read well – keywords can always be added in after a post has been written.
  • Don’t be discouraged if no-one comments on a post. Many people tend to engage by sharing posts on social media rather than by commenting directly.
  • Let the blog evolve – blogging is about process rather than perfection. Some things won’t happen until the keyboard is tapped.

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