After reading Darren Rowse’s excellent article “Using Examples to Give Your Blog Depth” on Pro Blogger, I thought it would be useful to elaborate on his points and summarize some key methods of increasing your blog’s value to your readership.

In his article, Rowse explains how providing examples when writing theoretical or instructional content can boost its overall power and usefulness. In his case, he was instructing photography bloggers on how to improve their articles by providing illustrations, both visual and textual, to better explain their points.

The Power of the Image

Probably the most obvious method of providing examples, crisp, clear and properly sized images will give your blog the visual element it needs to attract interest and support the explanations given by your text.

Using photo editing programs like Photoshop is highly recommended so you can adjust the aesthetic quality of your images and also optimize their size to that they load quickly for your visitors.

Often, as Rowse’s examples show, taking pictures specifically related to the post will show your expertise and dedication to the subject matter at hand. For example, if you are writing about how to build a great snowman, you can go out and take pictures of each action, from the first snowball to the well-placed carrot.

Images don’t have to be exclusive to photographs. You can come up with drawings, screenshots and diagrams to show your readers how you tackled a problem step by step. This will allow your readers to carefully follow your instructions with ease. If you want to talk about making a tactical chess move, you might try to come up with a grid of the board so you can effectively illustrate the strategy rather than simply writing “bishop to queen”.

Interactive Elements

Audio and Video applications are widely available online and will give you to opportunity to demonstrate tactics, strategies and solutions in dynamic and interactive ways. For example, our good friend The Code Master uses video tutorials to explain JavaScript and other coding languages. While providing text instructions would be a simple way of explaining things, he goes the extra mile to fully illustrate what exactly needs to be done to accomplish the task at hand.

Linking to other blogs and websites is another pivotal way of elaborating on a point in your posts. If you are discussing an election and mention recent polls for example, you could have an outbound link to the pollster or news agency so users can see exactly what you are referencing. This will boost the reliability and effectiveness of your writing and win the confidence of your readers.

Stories and Case Studies

Not all examples have to be visual or interactive, they can be a major part of the writing itself. Providing readers with your personal experiences relevant to your topic can be illuminating and will give your advice or commentary authenticity. For example, if you were writing about survey methods, you might include a funny story about a difficult interview or how you managed to come up with your questions.

If you don’t want to relay your own experiences, you can use specific case studies or research findings relevant to your topic. You can do this through linking, as described above, or by including it in the post itself (with the proper citations, of course). If you were writing an opinion piece on drinking and driving, you can increase the persuasive power of your argument by highlighting statistics from a recent survey.

The Practical Principle

In conclusion, the use of examples in your posts helps turn theoretical or cold information into practical and actionable knowledge. Using examples will not only give your readers greater insight into your topics, but will also give them a better understanding of who you are and where you are coming from.

Presenting yourself as authoritative, authentic and action-oriented blogger speaks to your audience on several levels. It encourages them to participate in your blogging endeavours as they begin to share their own personal experiences, strategies and resources. When you use examples, your blog will show its value with greater clarity, rendering blogging as an ongoing learning experience for both the writer and the reader.

Good Luck!