In the offline world, we use all our senses to help give context to what we see, hear, and read. We react differently in a haunted house on Halloween than we would if we were in our own home and costumed people started jumping out of every nook and cranny.
Similarly, the sign I’ve shown here can mean different things, too, depending on where you encounter it (just who stores children?).
Online we have less to work with, but we still pick up cues when we visit a website or blog – from the site’s name, people’s reputation, post titles, banners, headlines, the content, and maybe even who referred us.
Here at the Happy Accident, you know that you’ll read about social media or a closely related issue, perhaps with a writer/illustrator bent. That’s the context you get from looking around (I hope!).
If you visit my friend Terry’s Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub Blog, you know you’re going to find posts and resources about children’s literacy.
The context cues are important, as they help you communicate with your readers quickly and clearly. They guide expectations, let you cut straight to the chase when you post content, and often give a reason for someone to keep coming back.
Sure, your site is “yours,” so you can talk about anything. But if you want consistent readership, you want to make sure you’re largely on point with your posts. You offer up what your readers expect, in the broadest sense. You stay in context.
When you veer broadly from your site’s theme, and we all do from time to time, it’s important to set your readers up for it so that you’re able to make the impact you want.
For example, I’m quite fond of my post up today over at GottaBook. It’s about the power of reading aloud, sharing stories, and father-son relationships. It’s more personal than most of my posts, but it fits the themes of that blog.
If I were to run that post here, I’d need to set it up. It doesn’t fit here on its own, and, out of context, it wouldn’t have the impact it has at GottaBook. In fact, I suspect it would cause head-scratching – not the reaction I want! I’d need to give it context.
When you create content, ask yourself what are people expecting when they get to your site – or what you’re hoping that they expect – and use that as a prism to look at what you’re doing. Keep context in mind and use it to your advantage to create material that resonates.
