Many agree that probably the most important ingredient of a blog is the content. There has been a lot of debate around how should this content be presented to the users. Some say that it is better to use an easy and familiar language to make it appealing to readers, while some others state that an academic approach would be the way to go. Who should you believe?
Well a blog is actually a mass communication instrument, so it should be treated accordingly. The way you should communicate with your readers, actually depends on some important factors.
1) The profile of the audience that you want to target
-what is the average age of your visitors?
-what level of education do they have?
-are you addressing mainly to male visitors or female visitors?
2) The niche that your blog is focused on
How do you “present” yourself?
Do you want to appear in the mind of your visitors as teacher, a specialist in your domain or just a simple guy that is blogging about something that interests you?
Some types of audiences respond better to a “specialist” attitude, while others are more likely to enjoy a friendly approach. Knowing the profile of the audience will help you understand what “tickles” them.
For example, if your visitors are teenagers, they will most probably be more receptive to a familiar language. At that age they have had enough of “teachers”, so the best idea would be to “present” yourself as one of them by using a specific language.
The niche of your blog may also be an important factor for determining this. If you are blogging about hardware components you will most probably have more success with a “specialist” image, so you have to use an adapted tech-savy language (assuming of course that you know your stuff well).
Formal or informal?
Depending mostly on the niche of your blog you have to consider going for a formal or informal manner of communication. It is important that you understand that this can have a great impact on your credibility in front of your readers. For example, if you use a formal approach in communication and your blog is focused on giving practical advices, in some situations you may seem that you are not 100% sure about what you blogging about. On the other hand, if your niche is about a sensible social issue, the best idea would be to write in a formal manner, otherwise people may consider you “square minded”.
Even though the cases when people draw their conclusions about you by consciously judging the formal or informal language that you have used in specific situations are rare, subconsciously an image is created, and they may think that another blog is better than yours, without being able to tell exactly why.
“We” or “I”?
Unless you represent an organization it is not recommended to use a “we” approach. Blogging has become a successful tool of communication due to it’s “personal” nature at it’s origins. Some bloggers tend to think that if they pose as a team instead of a one man show, they gain more credibility and may project an impression of professionalism to their users. This can’t be more wrong; it you are not really part of a team don’t try to pose for something you not because your readers will soon realize it and ultimately you will loose the audience.
Are you addressing to affective or rational side of your reader’s mind?
As a general idea, written language due to it’s nature targets the rational. This is because a message communicated with words must be processed by the brain in order to be understood. An image however addresses to the affective part of the brain. It’s goal is to trigger emotions, without necessarily explaining a precise message;
In order to target the affective side with written communication you just have to “compose” your language in such a way that will “project images” and trigger emotions in the minds and hearts of your readers and not limit it to providing information on a specific subject.
The decision to go for one way or another has to be made depending on the niche of your blog. Some specific topics (like tech stuff, for example) are suitable for a language that targets the rational side of the mind, while other topics (such as travel, gifts, etc) are more likely to ask for a language that addresses to the affective plan.
Speak their language!
Last but not least, you don’t want to look “under-educated” or superficial but at the same time you must make sure that your audience will understand what you are trying to say.
Adjust it along the way
Analyze how well people respond to the language type that you are using and fine tune it along the way until you are happy with the results. Some types of language may stimulate people to post comments while some others just makes them come back. Figure out the formula that works best for you. Also, don’t be afraid to opt for a slightly different type of language for each post (although it mustn’t be too different from the general manner of communication in the entire blog), depending on the nature of that subject.
Conclusion
If you are one of the bloggers that think that “content is the king” than you might want to dress your king with proper clothes 
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Blog content, Blogging language
