How to engineer your developer blog posts to have bigger impact | Claire Giordano | PGConf.dev 2024

@clairegiordano How to engineer your developer blog posts to have
bigger impact CLAIRE GIORDANO @clairegiordano • @pg_at_msft • @AzureDBPostgres • @citusdata • @PosetteConf

Engineer Dev Manager PM Marketer Writer Open-source champion Community Lead
Podcast Host @clairegiordano @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Citus = Postgres open-source extension that first got me
involved with PG

It’s not just open source, it’s open engineering.” “ @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Warning: Lots of dog illustrations in talk Hello Zucca!
@[email protected]

@clairegiordano This talk has 2 parts... What you write Where
you send it 1. 2. @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Or as they say in “marketing speak”... What you
write Where you send it 1. 2. Content Distribution @[email protected]

@clairegiordano So first, let’s dive into CONTENT! 1. 2. Content
Distribution @[email protected]

You & Your Frame of Mind The Edit Cycle Explore
2 aspects of CONTENT @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #1 – Write with a specific reader in mind
Who do you want to read your post? Write to that person @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #2 - Pick good topics! Searched for Inspiration: Stack
Overflow, Slack, IRC, Reddit, Twitter, Mailing Lists... Incognito browser & Google Trends Useful “Interestingness factor” @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #3 – Have EMPATHY for your readers! EMPATHY @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Source: www.gapingvoid.com/blog/2016/04/18/i-feel-your-paing/

@clairegiordano Empathy should be your True North  Care about
reader more than yourself  Recognize they’re busy & in a hurry  Remember—they don’t know what you know @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy #1: SCANNABILITY Your readers are busy—and in a
hurry! While the manufacture of rubber goods is in no sense a secret industry, the majority of buyers and users of such goods have never stepped inside of a rubber mill, and many have very crude ideas as to how the goods are made up. In ordinary garden hose, for instance, the process is as follows: The inner tubing is made of a strip of rubber fifty feet in length, which is laid on a long zinc-covered table and its edges drawn together over a hose pole. The cover, which is of what is called “friction,” that is cloth with rubber forced through its meshes, comes to the hose maker in strips, cut on the bias, which are wound around the outside of the tube and adhere tightly to it. The hose pole is then put in something like a fifty foot lathe, and while the pole revolves slowly, it is tightly wrapped with strips of cloth, in order that it may not get out of shape while undergoing the process of vulcanizing. When a number of these hose poles have been covered in this way they are laid in a pan set on trucks and are then run into a long boiler, shut in, and live steam is turned on. When the goods are cured steam is blown off, the vulcanizer opened and the cloths are removed. The hose is then slipped off the pole by forcing air from a compressor between the rubber and the hose pole. This, of course, is what is known as hose that has a seam in it. For seamless hose the tube is made in a tubing machine and slipped upon the hose pole by reversing the process that is used in removing hose by air compression. In other words, a knot is tied in one end of the fifty foot tube and the other end is placed against the hose pole and being carefully inflated with air it is slipped on without the least trouble. For various kinds of hose the processes vary, and there are machines for winding with wire and intricate processes for the heavy grades of suction hose, etc. For steam hose, brewers’, and acid hose, special resisting compounds are used, that as a rule are the secrets of the various manufacturers. Cotton hose is woven through machines expressly designed for that purpose, and afterward has a half-cured rubber tube drawn through it. One end is then securely stopped up and the other end forced on a cone through which steam is introduced to the inside of the hose, forcing the rubber against the cotton cover, finishing the cure and fixing it firmly in its place. Source: the Paris Review: How Mechanical Rubber Goods Are Made. February 14, 2014 @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy = SCANNABILITY Your readers are busy—and in a
hurry! While the manufacture of rubber goods is in no sense a secret industry, the majority of buyers and users of such goods have never stepped inside of a rubber mill, and many have very crude ideas as to how the goods are made up. In ordinary garden hose, for instance, the process is as follows: The inner tubing is made of a strip of rubber fifty feet in length, which is laid on a long zinc-covered table and its edges drawn together over a hose pole. The cover, which is of what is called “friction,” that is cloth with rubber forced through its meshes, comes to the hose maker in strips, cut on the bias, which are wound around the outside of the tube and adhere tightly to it. The hose pole is then put in something like a fifty foot lathe, and while the pole revolves slowly, it is tightly wrapped with strips of cloth, in order that it may not get out of shape while undergoing the process of vulcanizing. When a number of these hose poles have been covered in this way they are laid in a pan set on trucks and are then run into a long boiler, shut in, and live steam is turned on. When the goods are cured steam is blown off, the vulcanizer opened and the cloths are removed. The hose is then slipped off the pole by forcing air from a compressor between the rubber and the hose pole. This, of course, is what is known as hose that has a seam in it. For seamless hose the tube is made in a tubing machine and slipped upon the hose pole by reversing the process that is used in removing hose by air compression. In other words, a knot is tied in one end of the fifty foot tube and the other end is placed against the hose pole and being carefully inflated with air it is slipped on without the least trouble. For various kinds of hose the processes vary, and there are machines for winding with wire and intricate processes for the heavy grades of suction hose, etc. For steam hose, brewers’, and acid hose, special resisting compounds are used, that as a rule are the secrets of the various manufacturers. Cotton hose is woven through machines expressly designed for that purpose, and afterward has a half-cured rubber tube drawn through it. One end is then securely stopped up and the other end forced on a cone through which steam is introduced to the inside of the hose, forcing the rubber against the cotton cover, finishing the cure and fixing it firmly in its place. Source: the Paris Review: How Mechanical Rubber Goods Are Made. February 14, 2014 @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy = SCANNABILITY Your readers are busy—and in a
hurry! @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Example A real-world example: a multi-tenant TODO application Example
#1: Turning H2 Section Headers into Newspaper headlines (not subject titles) Boring: Much Better: @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Example A real-world example: a multi-tenant TODO application PgBouncer
How to set up PgBouncer (our preferred connection pooler) Example #2: Turning H2 Section Headers into Newspaper headlines Boring: Much Better: Just ok: Much Better: @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Example A real-world example: a multi-tenant TODO application PgBouncer
How to set up PgBouncer (our preferred connection pooler) Conclusion Cheat sheet for tuning Postgres autovacuum Example #3: Turning H2 Section Headers into Newspaper headlines (not subject titles) Boring: Much Better: Just ok: Much Better: Don’t do this: Much Better: @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Not everyone is a reader! People’s brains process information
differently @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy #2: VARIETY OF FORMATS Don’t just include paragraphs
of text! To make your blog post more accessible to different types of people, use: @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Imagine David Rowley’s blog post about: “Speeding up sort
performance in Postgres 15” without its charts >>>> @[email protected]

@clairegiordano TIP: Don’t forget about Accessibility (A11y), especially: @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy #3: READABILITY  Write at 3rd or 5th
grade level Source: HemingwayApp.com @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Empathy #3: READABILITY Write in a conversational voice 
Write to 2nd person “you”  Write how you speak  As if explaining to a BFF over coffee “If you’ve been running PostgreSQL for a while, you’ve heard about autovacuum. Yes, autovacuum, the thing which everybody asks you not to turn off, which is supposed to keep your database clean and reduce bloat automatically. Source: Debugging Postgres autovacuum problems: 13 tips, by Samay Sharma on the Microsoft TechCommunity Blog @[email protected]

@clairegiordano EMPATHY Checklist for Blogging Scannability  Section headlines (not
subject titles)  Bullets  Bold-font prefix to bullets  Short sentences  Short paragraphs  Whitespace  Tables Variety of Formats  Not just paragraphs of text  Diagrams  Tables  Screenshots  Code blocks  Captions for images  Alt-text & H2s for screen readers Readability  Conversational voice  Write how you speak  2nd person (“you”)  Teaching BFF over coffee  Write at 3rd or 5th grade level @[email protected]

You & Your Frame of Mind The Edit Cycle @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #1 – Embrace the iteration Writing = Editing Gotta
do the work Unless you’re famous (and your posts get traffic even if crappy)—a good blog post will involve editing and rewriting @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #2 – It’s OK for your first draft to
suck Dirty little secret: Everybody’s first drafts are a mess Give yourself permission to write things that aren’t perfect! “Perfect is the enemy of the good” @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #3 – Feedback is a gift Good reviewers are
GOLD: they see things you missed, give you actionable feedback @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #4 – Pro Tip: Focus what you ask reviewers
to do! Make it easy for reviewers to give you what you need People will not review everything—you can pick their focus, or they will @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #5 – Get your scissors out Cut, cut, cut.
Keep this advice from Stephen King’s book “On Writing” in your mind. If you can’t bring yourself to “kill” your darlings, just push them to the “cutting room floor.” @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #6 – Fork your draft into several shorter blog
posts These 3 posts by my teammate Andres Freund @ Microsoft were all part of the same first draft. @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #7 - Keep it simple KISS = “Keep It
Simple, Stupid” Use analogies to help readers put concepts into mental model they already know Move details into footnotes Write at 3rd or 5th grade level “IF ONLY IT WERE SIMPLE TO KEEP IT SIMPLE” @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #8 – Read it out loud Your ear can
“hear” mistakes that your brain will self-correct when reading silently Reading it out loud is good way to assess if it’s in a conversational tone of voice @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Improving SEO of post
increases likelihood it will perform well in search results Don’t need to be “SEO expert”, just some basic SEO skills Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist
 Good content is paramount @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist
 Good content is paramount  Title discoverability & clickability @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Scribble lots of bad title ideas, to find a
good one TITLE OPTIONS, need to frontload most important terms since Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) often truncates the title at 60 chars, including spaces... 1. What's improved in the PostgreSQL 16 query planner 2. Improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 3. Top 10 improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 4. Most valuable improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner 5. What’s new in the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 6. Deep dive into the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 7. Understanding the Postgres 16 query planner: what’s new? 8. Why Postgres 16 is better at optimizing your queries than PG15 9. Ways the Postgres 16 query planner is better than ever 10. Reflecting on all the Postgres 16 query planner improvements 11. Understanding the Postgres query planner & how PG 16 makes it better 12. A developer’s view of the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 13. What’s new in the Postgres 16 query planner / optimizer 14. Understanding what’s changed in PostgreSQL 16’s query planner 15. Understanding what’s new in PostgreSQL 16’s query planner @clairegiordano

@clairegiordano 3 techniques for assessing Title ideas.... 1. Most important
terms in first 60 characters? 2. Incognito searches 3. Boring vs. interesting @[email protected] TITLE OPTIONS, need to frontload most important terms since Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERP) often truncates the title at 60 chars, including spaces... 1. What's improved in the PostgreSQL 16 query planner 2. Improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 3. Top 10 improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 4. Most valuable improvements to PostgreSQL 16 query planner 5. What’s new in the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 6. Deep dive into the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 7. Understanding the Postgres 16 query planner: what’s new? 8. Why Postgres 16 is better at optimizing your queries than PG15 9. Ways the Postgres 16 query planner is better than ever 10. Reflecting on all the Postgres 16 query planner improvements 11. Understanding the Postgres query planner & how PG 16 makes it better 12. A developer’s view of the Postgres 16 query planner (aka the optimizer) 13. What’s new in the Postgres 16 query planner / optimizer 14. Understanding what’s changed in PostgreSQL 16’s query planner 15. Understanding what’s new in PostgreSQL 16’s query planner

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Don’t need to be
“SEO expert”, just some basic SEO skills Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist  Good content is paramount  Title discoverability & clickability Use Terms your readers use Avoid general terms (“solution”) Avoid pronouns (“it”, “this”) Relevant keywords in Anchor text for hyperlinks Relevant keywords in URL @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Don’t need to be
“SEO expert”, just some basic SEO skills Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist  Alt-text for graphics  Author Bio shows EAT: Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Examples Bios designed to show EAT Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness
Some debate among experts how much EAT affects SEO... do it anyway! @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #9 – Optimize for SEO Checklist of basic SEO
skills that can help make your post more “discoverable” via search engines! Claire’s Simple SEO Checklist  Good content is paramount  Title discoverability & clickability  Use Terms your readers use  Avoid general terms (e.g., “solution”)  Avoid pronouns (e.g., “it”, “this”)  Relevant keywords in Anchor text for hyperlinks  Relevant keywords in URL  Alt-text for graphics  Author Bio shows Expertise, Authority, Trustworthy (EAT) @[email protected]

@clairegiordano  Embrace the iteration!  It’s OK for first
drafts to suck!  Feedback is a gift  Focus your reviewers  Get your scissors out & cut!  Fork into multiple posts  KISS = Keep it simple  Read it out loud  Optimize for SEO Mastering “The Edit Cycle” when Blogging 9 Editing Tips @clairegiordano

@clairegiordano That’s it for Content. Now onto: DISTRIBUTION 1. 2.
Content Distribution You & frame of mind The Edit Cycle @[email protected]

@clairegiordano True or False? “We’ll know which blog posts are
‘good’ by how much traffic they get.” True False @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Distribution trumps content.” @[email protected]

@clairegiordano 2 aspects of DISTRIBUTION, let’s focus on Promotion Publish
Promote @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #1 - Pro Tip: Before you promote, doublecheck “unfurl”
Twitter/X caches og:image for over 24 hours, so if it’s wrong when your post is first tweeted, your post won’t have the correct graphic on Twitter/X for a loooong time! • LinkedIn Post Inspector • Slack unfurl Screenshot of an unfurl on Slack, just drop URL into a slack to yourself @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #2 – Syndicate your blog to Planet Postgres @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #3 – Go to where your readers are That
means promoting on lots of channels “All the socials” • Planet Postgres • X/Twitter • Mastodon • Threads • Slack • LinkedIn • Reddit • Discord • Hacker News (YC) • Postgres Weekly • Citus Newsletter • Link in GitHub repo @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #4 – Rinse Lather Repeat Different times of day
& time zones Multiple days Don’t be hesitant to share it again, especially if different time of day, esp. if sharing a different “point of view” Only ~1-2% of followers see a tweet @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #5 – Keep Twitter/X momentum by recycling tweets RT
your own tweet after ~12 hours QT your own tweet after ~1-2 days QT other people’s tweets YMMV

@clairegiordano #6 – Be there for the Q&A and the
conversation One-way promotion is considered advertising. As “OA” (original author), embrace the Q&A. Especially on Reddit & Twitter. To stay constructive, wear kevlar as needed. @[email protected]

@clairegiordano #7 –Karma is a 2-way street If you shine
a light on the work of your teammates and friends—they’re more likely to do the same for you! @[email protected]

@clairegiordano PROMOTION Tips & Checklist for Blogging Promotion Tips 
Doublecheck ”unfurl”  Syndicate to Planet Postgres  Go to where your readers are  Rinse lather repeat  Recycle tweets  Be there for Q&A  Karma is a 2-way street  Use “Promotion Checklist” Promotion Checklist  xxx  yyy  zzz  aaa  bbb  ccc @[email protected]

@clairegiordano Devil is in the details. Checklists can help @[email protected]

@clairegiordano But if there’s just 1 thing you remember from
this talk... @[email protected]

@clairegiordano EMPATHY @[email protected]

Have you heard of this podcast for developers who love
Postgres?  Monthly  15+ episodes  A-ma-zing guests aka.ms/PathToCitusCon Hosted by Claire Giordano

aka.ms/PathToCitusCon A podcast for developers who love Postgres

with topics like....  Becoming expert in PostgreSQL  From
dev to Postgres specialist  Journey into Performance benchmarking  My Journey into Postgres monitoring  How I got started as a developer  Why people care about PostGIS aka.ms/PathToCitusCon Hosted by Claire Giordano

65 Say hello to our podcast’s new name, rolling out
in the next ~month..... aka.ms/TalkingPostgres

66 Check out the schedule! aka.ms/posette-schedule (formerly Citus Con)

@clairegiordano  Asad Khan  Ashley McNamara Willis  Charles
Feddersen  David Perell  Hugh McLeod / Gaping Void  Isaac Alves  Marco Slot  Melanie Plageman  My Nguyen Credits & inspiration go to...  Rachel Agyemang  Sarah Novotny  Stephen O’Grady  Sumedh Pathak @[email protected]

@clairegiordano @[email protected] aka.ms/PathToCitusCon z aka.ms/posette

How to engineer your developer blog posts to ha...

How to engineer your developer blog posts to have bigger impact | Claire Giordano | PGConf.dev 2024

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