Writing a blog to widen the reach of your research
Capture the interest of new and existing audiences. By presenting complex ideas in an accessible way, a blog can get your message across to more people.
For academic researchers, a blog can widen the reach of their research, translating their findings into accessible insights. What is more, it can enhance your visibility as a researcher, contributing to fostering opportunities, collaborations, and discussions with other researchers, policymakers, experts and the general public.
Follow this blog-writing guidance for tips and advice.
Creating a captivating headline
Think of a catchy headline that makes it clear what your blog is about. Alliteration can help make it stand out.
Are there any relevant words related to current topical issues or terms that the layperson would use? These could be popular keywords in search engines that would make the most of Search Engine Optimisation (which matches words entered into the search engine with words used within your headline). For example, “Adapting to the new normal: innovation and collaboration in longitudinal studies during COVID-19“, made use of the commonly-used term ‘new normal’ that was referenced in media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Remember to keep your headline within 60 characters; this way it should appear in full when featured in search engine results.
Accessibility
It is important to ensure that you make your blog as accessible as possible. Tips on making content accessible include:
- Hyperlinks: make sure you use descriptive hyperlinks that make sense when read in isolation/out of context. For example: write ‘CLOSER website‘ instead of https://closer.ac.uk.
- Emphasis: avoid the use of bold or italics for emphasis. By default, screen readers do not inform users of any bold or italicised text. Headings can work just as well.
- Complex diagrams: avoid images of text. Relevant information conveyed within an image should be added as alternative text. As a rule, alternative text should be kept brief, the shorter the better and preferably no more than 150 characters.
A final note
A nice way to end your blog is to provide some suggested relevant further reading. Any follow-up blogs, recent papers/research that you have produced, or links to any websites that you work on.
Once your blog is published, you may wish to use social media to promote it. Check out our ‘Using social media to disseminate your research’ page for further advice.