Does grammar affect your Blog?

You Slow Down Your Reader

Think of each mistake like a speed bump. Each time a reader notices a grammar or spelling error in your post, it slows them down. It may be a small bump that makes them say – “oh she meant this” – and then move on. Or it may be a larger one and your reader has to re-read it just for your words to make sense. Either way, lots of errors means lots of speed bumps and your reader probably won’t take that “route” again.

You Muddle the Meaning of Your Post

Picture the most beautiful story you could tell. Now add in some bad grammar or misspelled words. Kinda loses its luster, right? Sure some stories are hard to ruin but a polished post sure sounds a heck of a lot better. With a post free of mistakes, you keep the reader’s focus on your overall story, not individual words that are incorrect.
Same goes for blog posts that aren’t based on a story. Say you’re writing a tutorial. Well, if it’s full of extra-long, run-on sentences, it may be harder to understand your tutorial.

You Could Miss Out on Brand Opportunities

Most people who are looking to work with bloggers are in PR or Marketing. As a marketer myself, we’re picky when it comes to writing. PR and marketing people want the brand they represent to have top-notch bloggers writing about them. This means you could get picked over if your blog posts are riddled with errors.
So, treat your blog like your resume. It IS your resume. (The only difference I’d argue is that an occasional mistake shouldn’t dissuade a brand from working with you whereas a single mistake on a resume could get yours tossed into a “not interested” pile.)

So What’s the Fix?

People on the Internet have short attention spans so the fewer grammar or misspellings you have, the more likely someone will enjoy that phenomenal blog post of yours.
The fix is simply to proofread your posts. If you’re someone who knows grammar and spelling isn’t your strong suit, then make it a point to work on improving those skills bit by bit. Yes, we all make mistakes but we can always improve too.

Resource: http://www.blogclarity.com/grammar-spelling-blogging/

Some Blogger advice

Some students may have difficulty getting started with a blog.  If students decide to use blogger.com as their blogging application, they will need a Google account. Many students already have Google accounts. They would have made one if they have a gmail account. If they have a Google account, they can sign in with their gmail email and password and then create a blog.  If students do not have a gmail account, they will have to create a Google account.  Google will prompt students through every step.

There is no wrong way to sign up for a blogger account.  When naming the 1st blog, be creative.  I called my blog lccc-CIS-141 because I wanted to use it for the course.  Students should be creative when naming their blogs because it will become part of their blog URL.   Here at some tips for creating a blog name.  This blog will be a personal blog building their personal brand, it should not be called CIS-141.

https://www.gobloggingtips.com/creative-blog-name/

Blogging

Week 2 of the class is all about blogging.  This is a great way for students to show off who they are within a website. Since this class is all about building/enhancing a brand, a blog is a great way to do this.

Some students may want to show off writing skills and they can do it in a blog. If some are not enthusiastic on writing, perhaps they would like to post more memes/graphics/videos with a few sentences to go along.  Graded posts must be at least 200 words, but others can be of any length.

Blogs help build businesses!

By the end of the semester, students should have a robust blog started, with a Web address that can be included in resumes, LinkIn and other social media accounts.  Employers want to know who they are hiring and what better way than by reading a series of posts over a few months.

For students who will not use their blog for anything more than within the course, hopefully, after a few months of writing in a blog, they will be more prepared to achieve their goals after college.

Welcome email

I sent out the welcome email to all the registered students.  Classes do not start until Jan 17th, however, students can get a jump start by getting their Wordpress account setup and access my website. They also need to sign in to their Blackboard Learn account and make sure they have no issues accessing their account even though the course will not show until Jan 17th.

I was happy to see students accessing the Wordpress site with no issues.  Not all the students have accessed the website though.  I hate having to use email to communicate with students as they do not always look at their email daily.   I can't wait until we all can communicate via social media.

1st issue; Questions by one of the students, if they do not have a smart phone or tablet, what will they do for the social media video assignments? I will have to think about this.