Sunday, January 26, 2014

Components of a Successful Blog

To see my Grow Your Blog post, click here.

With a cup of tea in hand, I spent many hours yesterday visiting some of the blogs participating in the Grow Your Blog event. It was too blustery and cold to venture far from home anyway. I made some observations along the way and have composed a list of some of the components that I think are necessary for a successful blog. This is not a comprehensive list, just my personal reflections on the subject.

Let's first discuss FONTS. While some of those fancy fonts are quite artistic, many of them are extremely difficult to read, especially for anyone who is visually challenged. I understand that you want to express your individuality and creativity but, seriously, I simply navigate away from a blog that I have to strain my eyes to read.

With an aging population, and many of us baby boomers reading blogs, you want to make your blog as appealing as possible to keep people coming back. A lightly coloured font on a light or white background, white lettering on a dark background and type that is too small are major issues for me and most likely for others as well.

Keep your paragraphs short and sweet. Long rambling blocks of text that go on and on, seemingly forever, are difficult to follow along with. Set aside a lot of the flowery adjectives too. Minimize your words for a greater impact.

And don't forget photos, lots of photos! Human beings are visual creatures. We need the constant input to keep our interest. Using original photos you've taken yourself is the best option. You avoid any copyright issues that way. With a bit of practice and some rudimentary editing skills, you can create a visually pleasing blog experience for your readers.

Frequent posting is important. Twice a week would be the minimum I would recommend. I understand that 'life' happens sometimes but having weeks or months between posts is not good. You will quickly lose followers that way. Your posts don't have to be long, just interesting. You want your readers to look forward in anticipation to your next post.

Now comes my pet peeve for the day, people who sign up for a blog hop and do not follow through. I can't tell you how many blogs on the list I visited yesterday, that not only did not have a Grow Your Blog post up, but some had not posted ANYTHING for a long time. Why did they bother signing up in the first place? Kind of pointless, in my humble opinion.

17 comments:

  1. I noticed quite a few people who hadn't posting in a long time too. And I clicked away from people who had difficult to read fonts...

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  2. I have to agree with the pet peeve! I clicked a few of the bloggers on the GYB challenge and they hadn't done a post was very disappointing. I have been a follower of yours for a while but just dropped in to say hi...again :)

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    1. Thanks, Laney, for dropping in to say hello. Your loyal readership is appreciated.

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  3. I think some people have this intention of doing more with their blog, but they have issues actually getting to it. Initially I hope they were just having issues with blogger (and some were) but after awhile I realized that people who had not posted since July were unlikely to post at all. (I was up very early and trying to account for time zones and ppl who sleep in)

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    1. I do understand, Emily, that life and other issues can get in the way sometimes. But good intentions only carry you so far, and your followers will drop off rather quickly.

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  4. I too love a post that has good clear font and lots of photos.
    Sharon

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  5. I'm so with you on the small font and crazy fonts .. Don't make me strain to read your writing.

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  6. You have stumbled across one of my major pet peeves. I absolutely hate it when I am jumping around on a hop and find a blog with no updates. I totally understand life happening (heck I am dealing with plumbing issues right now) but at least put up a post letting your audience know that you haven't totally forgotten your obligation.

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    1. I agree that a little bit of consideration goes a long way. Sorry to hear about your plumbing issues, I had the same trouble last weekend.

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  7. I agree with your last comment (and many of your other points), especially when someone goes to the massive effort, as did Vicki, even to accommodating last minute participants. I realize folks are in many stages of their development as blog communicators, but "forgetting" such an event really does not show serious intention to stay on task.

    It was good to read your immediate impressions, Bonnie... we can all improve our presentations :)

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    1. I look at my posts from when I first started blogging and I can see so much improvement in my style and presentation. I read a lot of blogs now too and know what works for me as a reader.

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  8. Thanks for sharing your tips about blog readability. I just took a second look at my blog and double-checked the colors of font vs background. Any additional tips on blogging always appreciated. I also checked out your Etsy shop. You have some lovely pewter. Have a great day!

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    1. Thanks, Louise. I'll be adding more pewter pendants in the coming weeks.

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  9. I am visiting from the party and I saw this first, I agree with you-especially with the fonts. some of the fonts are soooo small-very difficult to read-so I skipped over most of those yesterday. and I was going to post something this week about the party too-One can not just sit there by the computer and hope others will come to you-one has to reach out and invite them to your blog "home" as well.
    I remember last year I was so excited when I ran into a weavers blog and wrote how excited I was to meet her-never once got a reply back or welcome. so just like when meeting people face to face for the first time-one must interact to gain friendships.
    sorry about my long reply-Kathy

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  10. I agree with all your points. I'd like to add one more- those who continue to have a "No reply blogger" status. When visiting SO MANY blogs, it takes a lot of time to respond back to people's comments, which I always try to do. I can't tell you how many times I have typed a reply to a comment, or started to, and then noticed they have a "No Reply" status. Frustrating!!!

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  11. Bonnie I couldn't agree more. In the two years That I've been a blogger I've been constantly trying to improve my presentation but even before I started I tried to analyze what it was I liked about the blogs I visited regularly. Most important to me was ease of readability, no eye strain and I love to be able to SEE the pictures. SO often there might be a good picture but it's just too small. No dark background please, it just is not good graphically. We all start out not knowing what we're doing but there's always room for improvement.

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  12. here, here! I would also add that I hate text that is enormous, word verification and pleas to follow the blog. I see some bloggers who only post once a month, but post 3 or 4 posts in one day, scheduling posts is so easy.

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