Blogging

How and when to publish a blog.

Why blog?

Blogging makes it easier for government to talk about its work, share information, and connect with people who have a common concern.

It can help you raise awareness of new and existing government services, highlight successes and things we바카라 사이트檙e learning, and start conversations with your users.

Blogs work best when they have a specific purpose. Generic corporate blogs are not as effective as they do not give people a reason for visiting them.

Use blogs for:

  • describing any work you바카라 사이트檙e doing or thinking about
  • outlining new practice or theory in a particular area
  • sharing ideas and what you바카라 사이트檙e learning
  • inviting opinions on plans or developments

Do not use blogs for:

  • duplicating information already on 바카라 사이트
  • publishing content that should be published on 바카라 사이트, such as essential information about government services, statutory guidance and policy updates
  • news stories that should be published on 바카라 사이트

Replace your newsletter

Blogs help make information accessible and are easy for people to engage with. They바카라 사이트檙e also an excellent replacement for newsletters because:

  • they바카라 사이트檙e open to everyone
  • they can be shared on social media and help you start a conversation with your audience
  • they can be found by people you may not think of as your primary audience
  • they can reduce duplication by not replicating content published elsewhere
  • they routinely get more traffic than newsletters
  • users can sign up for email updates

Getting and managing a blog

The 바카라 사이트 Digital Service (GDS) provides the WordPress platform for government blogs. The creation of a new blog is a joint decision by the 바카라 사이트 lead for your organisation and the GDS Communications and Engagement team.

Find out how to request a new blog.

Responsibilities

Every blog must have a named owner, who will be the main point of contact with GDS.

Blogs are part of your department바카라 사이트檚 digital content. Your department바카라 사이트檚 digital team has overall ownership and responsibility for all your blogs.

The blog owner must:

  • agree to post regularly (blogs that are not updated at least twice a month will be archived)
  • co-ordinate, schedule and check content quality of blog posts before they바카라 사이트檙e published
  • ensure all blog content is accessible and follows the 바카라 사이트 style guide and formatting guidelines
  • manage all blog content in WordPress
  • support contributors to publish their work
  • establish moderation principles, and ensure contributors keep to them
  • manage user accounts
  • evaluate the blog바카라 사이트檚 performance using Google Analytics and other available data
  • promote it (for example on social media or internal communications channels) and to help evaluation
  • log in to WordPress at least once every 3 months to ensure their account is not deactivated

Departmental digital teams should:

  • discuss and make recommendations on requests for new blogs before they go to GDS
  • promote the 바카라 사이트 blogging platform within their department
  • maintain an active relationship with all blog owners in their department
  • provide editorial and technical support to their bloggers
  • check content quality of the department바카라 사이트檚 blogs

GDS will:

  • discuss and consider requests for new blogs
  • maintain the availability and security of the blogging platform
  • manage and prioritise requests for changes and additional functionality on the platform
  • provide guidance to digital teams and blog owners on requesting a blog and using the platform
  • set up new blogs and administrator accounts
  • create Google Analytics accounts for individual blogs, so blog owners can evaluate their blog바카라 사이트檚 performance
  • manage the community of blog owners across government
  • provide tools and resources for blog owners

Style and tone of voice

All content should follow the 바카라 사이트 style guide and should be written in clear and simple language, as recommended in the Writing for 바카라 사이트 guidelines.

There are some additional things you need to consider when writing a blog post.

Tone of voice

Blogging offers a personal way of engaging with people. Blog posts are mostly linked to named authors, who put a face to what might otherwise be perceived as a faceless organisation. It바카라 사이트檚 this personal dimension that, for users, adds credibility and a sense of openness.

This means you should write as you speak. Write as an individual, not as an impersonal organisation or team. You should still follow the style guide but this does not mean you cannot be warm or personal.

Blogs can 바카라 사이트� and should 바카라 사이트� spark conversation. This means being accountable for the things you write and responding to comments that meet your comment and moderation policy. If you engage in dialogue, both on your blog and on other social networks, it바카라 사이트檒l improve your reader바카라 사이트檚 experience and help you learn more about them.

After you have written a blog post, read it out loud to check it바카라 사이트檚 written the way you speak. Once you바카라 사이트檙e happy, always have someone else review it and request feedback on the overall style and flow of your piece.

Creating and editing blog posts

바카라 사이트 blogs are hosted on WordPress. When you get a blog, GDS will send you your account details. WordPress looks very much like a word processor, with buttons at the top of the content section that allow you to format text, edit links and so on.

바카라 사이트 blogs use a modified version of WordPress, so will likely look different to a personal WordPress account.

바카라 사이트 blogs should follow these style guidelines to make sure there is a consistent user experience across the 바카라 사이트 blog platform.

Titles

Titles should clearly tell readers what the post is about and entice them to read it. Although it바카라 사이트檚 a blog, do not try to be clever or play on words 바카라 사이트� the title should make sense in search results or when read out of context.

A blog post title should be 65 characters or fewer. This is so Google and Twitter display the full title and the user knows what to expect.

Good examples:

  • Hack the North is back, and this year it바카라 사이트檚 bigger and better
  • How we worked together to prepare for GDPR
  • Tips on how to set up and maintain your own community

Bad examples:

  • End of an era
  • The 4 magic ingredients to cook up success
  • We바카라 사이트檙e hiring
  • Weaving magic with innovation

Breaking up text

To make posts easier to read on a screen, break up the text with paragraphs, headings or relevant images to create more white space on the page. Paragraphs no more than about 5 lines long are easiest to read.

Headings

Use headings to break up the post but make sure they describe the section beneath them. People use headings to scan a page, so make them meaningful.

You can also use subheadings to break up bigger sections that already have a heading.

In WordPress:

  • use Heading 2 for headings
  • use Heading 3 for subheadings

Only use Heading 3 when you are creating a subsection within a section that already has a Heading 2.

Choosing the right images for blog posts can make them more effective and engaging. Every blog post should have at least one image. If you only have one, it should appear at the top of the post.

Images should all be at least 1,000 pixels wide to ensure they are displayed correctly in different places, including social media. They should not be wider than 3,999 pixels.

All images should also be in landscape, rather than portrait.

Once uploaded into WordPress and into a blog post, you should set the size of the image to 바카라 사이트榣arge바카라 사이트�, which is 620 pixels wide.

You can crop pictures using free tools like if you do not have image editing software.

Every post should have a featured image. This is displayed on your blog바카라 사이트檚 homepage and on social media. The image should clearly illustrate what your blog post is about. It is usually easiest to use the same image you have put at the top of your blog post.

Featured images should not be larger than 1MB.

All images should:

  • have alternative text (바카라 사이트渁lt text바카라 사이트�) that describes the image for people who cannot see it or use a screen reader - the 바카라 사이트 Design System has for images
  • be attributed properly to avoid copyright infringement
  • display the diversity of the Civil Service and its partners

Several government departments and organisations have public photo libraries (such as the ). If you do not have access to a photo library, try using:

  • pages 바카라 사이트� go to the , click on the dropdown by 바카라 사이트楢ny license바카라 사이트� and change it to 바카라 사이트楢ll creative commons바카라 사이트�
  • - search for an image, and then click 바카라 사이트楾ools바카라 사이트� and change the 바카라 사이트楿sage Rights바카라 사이트� dropdown to 바카라 사이트楥reative Commons licences바카라 사이트�

Link text

Text in links should be self-explanatory when read in isolation to make them accessible for those using a screen reader. Avoid link text that says 바카라 사이트榗lick here바카라 사이트� and phrase the link text in a way users will know what website they will be taken to if they click on the link. There is 바카라 사이트 guidance on writing link text.

Accessibility

mean public sector organisations have a legal duty to make sure websites and apps meet accessibility requirements. This includes blogs. You can find more details about this legal duty on the .

Excerpt text

Write a summary of up to about 50 words for your blog post and insert it in the 바카라 사이트楨xcerpt바카라 사이트� field. The excerpt should tell readers what the post is about and it should be written in a way that encourages them to read it.

The excerpt text will be displayed on your blog homepage and on social media. It will also be featured in email notifications sent to your blog subscribers. If you do not write an excerpt text, WordPress and Twitter will automatically display the first words of your post. This will likely give readers an incomplete experience so it is important to write this text.

You should not use the 바카라 사이트榬ead more바카라 사이트� tag to generate excerpt text.

Call to action

At the end of every blog post, you should include a call to action. This could, for example, ask your audience to:

  • follow the blog by email
  • follow the blog post바카라 사이트檚 author on Twitter
  • leave a comment and join in a conversation
  • read related posts (which you can add using the 바카라 사이트榬elated posts바카라 사이트� box)

You can put the call to action in a grey box by selecting 바카라 사이트楬ighlight바카라 사이트� in the formats drop-down bar.

Videos and social media

You can embed social media content into your blog by pasting the URL into a new line (make sure it바카라 사이트檚 not formatted as a clickable link). This works for:

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo

To add content from Instagram, select 바카라 사이트楢dd Media바카라 사이트� and then 바카라 사이트業nsert from URL바카라 사이트�. Paste the link and click 바카라 사이트榠nsert into post바카라 사이트�.

You should include subtitles or a transcript when adding videos to your blog, to make them accessible.

Twitter cards

바카라 사이트 blogs support Twitter cards, which allow you to add photos, videos and other media to your tweets. Your blog is already set up so that the 바카라 사이트榗ard type바카라 사이트� is set to 바카라 사이트榮ummary below large image바카라 사이트�.

You may need to check if you have an image set under 바카라 사이트榠mage fallback바카라 사이트�, to make sure an image is always displayed (for example, if you forget to include a featured image in your post or if an error occurs).

Categories and tags

Every post should be categorised. If you do not do this, it will appear as 바카라 사이트楿ncategorised바카라 사이트� on your blog. It is important to categorise blogs correctly to help users navigate to other content that may be of interest, and help blog channels to strengthen their narrative. You can also use tags in your blog, but tags should not be considered a replacement for categories.

You should:

  • capitalise the first letter of any categories or tags (for example, 바카라 사이트楥ontent바카라 사이트� not 바카라 사이트榗ontent바카라 사이트�)
  • use categories as your primary navigation (use fewer than 10 categories in total for your blog) -add text to category pages to describe what they바카라 사이트檙e about
  • tag only if it바카라 사이트檚 absolutely necessary (for example, if there is a user need to group more than 1 post via tags)

There should be a featured post at the top of every blog. It appears in a grey box and is usually the latest blog post to be published. To make it appear, check the 바카라 사이트楩eatured post바카라 사이트� box in WordPress. Make sure your featured post has a correctly sized featured image.

Author profiles

Blog posts must display your full name (for example, 바카라 사이트楯ohn Smith바카라 사이트�), not your WordPress username (for example, 바카라 사이트榡ohnsmith바카라 사이트�). To fix this, edit your user profile. You can also write a sentence or 2 about yourself on your profile page.

You can create 바카라 사이트榞uest author바카라 사이트� profiles for authors who do not have a WordPress account.

Posts can have more than one author, but ideally no more than 3. The author should be the person who has written the post and not a list of people who have worked on a particular project.

Author images

Only include an author바카라 사이트檚 image in a post if it serves a purpose, such as illustrating a profile piece. Do not include their image just to show who they are. You can add an image to an author바카라 사이트檚 profile instead.

You can add an image to your own profile by signing up to and creating a profile image for yourself.

You can add an image for guest authors by uploading a picture to their profile.

Evaluating your blog바카라 사이트檚 performance

As a blog owner, you have access to your blog바카라 사이트檚 Google Analytics account. You are responsible for regularly evaluating your blog바카라 사이트檚 performance.

You can find a range of data relating to your blog posts and user behaviour in Google Analytics, including:

  • numbers of page views for each blog post
  • sources of traffic to your blog (for example social media, Google search or referring sites)
  • bounce rates (proportions of users who only saw one page on your blog)
  • search terms users entered into the search box on your blog to search for content

Email blogeditors@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk to ask for access to your Google Analytics account if you do not already have access.

Users who have not accessed their Google Analytics account for more than 6 months will be removed.

Archiving a blog

Blog owners can ask GDS to archive a blog that is no longer needed. If your blog is not being updated regularly, GDS will contact you to see if it should be closed.

Once your blog has been closed, its content will remain online. GDS will update its description to say that the blog is no longer being updated.

How to archive a blog

  1. Contact the 바카라 사이트 lead from your organisation. You need to decide whether to just archive your blog or also migrate its posts to another blog, such as a parent department blog.

  2. Email blogeditors@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk with your archiving request. You should include the reasons for archiving the blog, when you바카라 사이트檇 like to archive it by, and whether you want to just archive it or also migrate posts to a parent blog.

  3. Write and publish a short final post on your blog to let your users know it will no longer be updated, and explain why. Include links to where users can find information about the topic on 바카라 사이트, if relevant. Set this as the 바카라 사이트榝eatured post바카라 사이트�.

  4. Edit your blog바카라 사이트檚 바카라 사이트楢bout바카라 사이트� page to tell your users this blog is no longer being updated.

  5. On the agreed archive date, GDS will take the blog off the all blogs list on , and disable comments and email alerts. GDS will also inform you of any other steps you need to take.