Blog writing guide

Sightsavers’ blog exists for individual members of staff to share and discuss their views and opinions online. We use blog posts to: 

• Share our expertise and add to our credibility on health and inclusion 
• Share opinions and individual voices 
• Give an insight into our work 
• Contribute to wider development sector discussions (both topical and general) 

Blog posts should be part of a strategic communications approach, not standalone pieces of content. Before you start writing a blog post, speak to the relevant comms manager for health, inclusion or NTDs. If your blog is cross-thematic, speak to the comms strategist (Nasseem Khanum) or head of comms (Maria Gandara). Discuss how your post will contribute to a specific comms objective. Do this as far in advance as possible. If you know there are events or conferences that might be good blogging opportunities throughout the year, flag them as early as you can. 

For example, you might propose a blog about a new research study addressing an evidence gap. This would meet a research comms objective to ‘highlight the role and impact our research has on our policy, advocacy and programmes.’  

There are three main questions to ask before writing a blog.  

1. What’s your point?
   What’s the one message you want your blog to communicate? Try to put the main point of the blog into a single sentence that sums up what you want to get across. 
2. Who are you writing for?
   Think about who might find your blog post interesting, and who you want to read it. What can you tell them that they don’t already know? Is there something you want them to do? You need a clear idea of your audience before you start writing. If you don’t know who you’re writing for, how do you know what will appeal to them?
3. Should it be a blog?
   Blog posts should communicate your unique and specific point of view. Is a blog post the right fit for what you want to communicate? Would it be better as an article or programme update? If you’re just sharing factual information, it might be better in another format. 

Need help with writing, editing or proofreading your blog post? Raise a service desk ticket for creative services: editorial and publications. Give as much notice as possible. At least two weeks if you’re drafting your own blog post, and longer if you need help writing it.  

Aim to make your blog post between 500-800 words long. You can either launch straight in, or start by setting a scene, sharing an experience or telling a story. By about paragraph three it should be clear to the reader what the point of the blog post is. If you take too long to get to the point, you may lose the reader.  

Once you’ve introduced your main point, expand on it. Make sure information is in a logical order and each paragraph flows from the one before it to the one after it. 

To conclude, sum up or reiterate your main point. You could end on:  

• A decisive statement 
• A question 
• A recommendation of what’s needed 
• A challenge to the reader  
• A view of the impact that has been/could be achieved 

 Remember that blogs are opinion-based – they’re not academic papers. It’s fine to write in an informal style and it can help to write as though you’re chatting to or emailing a friend or family member about your work. This doesn’t mean you need to oversimplify; if your point is clear, it will be easier for any reader to understand. It will also make your blog more appealing to a wider audience. 

Suggest a title for the blog – note that this may need to change to meet web layout requirements. If you’re not sure what the title should be the comms managers or editorial team will be able to help. 

Once you’ve finished your draft, run it by a colleague for feedback. If it needs signoff from someone in your team, now’s the time to share it with them. 

Try reading it out loud. This will help identify sentences that might need work.  

Check: 

• Does it communicate your unique viewpoint and voice?  

• Is it written in clear, plain English?  
• Will it make sense to your intended audience? 

Images should be as high resolution as possible. Photos taken on a mobile phone are usually not high res enough to use but will occasionally work. For blogs, photos should be in landscape format. You’ll need to provide information on: 

• What’s happening in the photo 
• What country it is in 
• Any relevant names, roles or dates 
• Who took the photo  

You’ll also need to confirm you have consent from the people in the photo for us to use it.  

If you don’t have a suitable photo, it’s also fine for you to suggest an image you’ve found in iVillage that could work. If your blog is about a particular country or area of our work, the image must reflect that.  All blog posts include a photo and one-line biography of the author. Please provide a photo of yourself and a sentence about your role. For example: Lucy Muchiri is Sightsavers’ technical adviser for social inclusion in East Africa.

Contact: 

• Ruby Cardona Senker, inclusion comms manager 
• Khadijah Bello, NTD comms manager 
• Mithila Hore, Inclusive Futures comms manager 
• Nasseem Khanum, comms strategist 
• Maria Gandara, head of comms 

• What’s your point? 
• Who are you writing for? 
• Should it be a blog? 
• Have you reviewed your writing? 
• Have you supplied a good quality image (with consent)? 
• Have you supplied a one-sentence biography and photo of yourself?