How well do your blog posts score out of 100?

August 19, 2010 • Glenn Murray

I know what you’re thinking: “Can’t be done”. But I beg to differ. It can… now.

Australia’s leading blogger, Darren Rowse (aka ProBlogger), and I have just launched our new ebook, The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. It’s a nice little resource that allows you to objectively measure the quality of your blog posts, from a copywriting point of view, using tried and tested best practices. For 2 weeks only, you can get it at 33% off. Instead of the normal price of $29.97, you can buy your copy for just $9.97.

How does the Problogger Scorecard work?

The book details 63 individual tips (both recommendations and pitfalls). Each recommendation is worth a certain number of points — the more important the recommendation, the more points it’s worth. Conversely, each pitfall is a loss of points — the more damaging the error, the more points you lose.

E.g. If you promise an outcome in your post, you get 2 points. But if you use “then” when you should have used “than”, you lose 3 points.

To score your post, you simply read through the book’s recommendations and pitfalls, then use the electronic scorecard to score your post. For each recommendation, select Yes (if you did heed the recommendation in your post) or No (if you didn’t), and the scorecard will automatically calculate your score. (IMPORTANT: The electronic scorecard will be released on Sept 1 at the full price of $29.97. The current version is contains a scorecard that you have to print and complete by hand. If you buy before Sept 1, however, you get a free upgrade to the new version when it comes out, and you’ll pay only $9.97.)

The higher your score, the more effective your post is likely to be.

If you write a post and you’ve followed every recommendation, and avoided every pitfall, your post gets a perfect score — 100 points. If you’ve followed only a handful of recommendations, or you’ve tripped up on a few pitfalls, your post scores fewer points.

What’s copywriting got to do with blogging? They’re both selling

I think I can safely assume you subscribe to my blog ‘coz you know copywriting’s important. And blogging too. So I won’t waste time on importance. What may not be so clear, however, is how the two are related. (And no, it’s not just because they’re both forms of writing.)

Blogging and copywriting are both forms of selling through writing. Done right, they’re one in the same. When you write copy, you’re selling products or services. When you blog, you’re selling your personal brand, affiliate products, AdSense clicks, ad space and/or authority. And maybe products and services as well.

So bloggers should be following the same best practices that copywriters follow (or should follow ;-).

The best practices

The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers covers:

• Writing — How to write engaging compelling posts.
• Scannability — How to ensure your posts are easy to scan read.
• Search engine optimization (SEO) — How to write posts that Google will like.
• Grammar — How to avoid errors that undermine your credibility.

Plus a couple of chapters on dealing with the day to day challenges facing anyone who writes for a living (or wants to).

The outcome

While The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers won’t make you a world-class writer overnight, it’ll certainly nudge you in that direction with each new post you write and score. Give it a try.

The challenge

Darren Rowse scored 85/100 on one of his posts. What can you score?

Buy The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers

Today is the official launch of The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. For 2 weeks only, you can get it at 33% off. Instead of the normal price of $29.97, you can buy your copy for just $9.97! Don’t miss out. This special offer ends Sept 1 2010 EST; Aug 31 is the last day of the special. (You might also find a couple more discounts in the book… 😉

Visit http://www.problogger.net/scorecard/ to buy your copy of The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. And please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.