What makes a good blog? If the answer was so simple just about every blog out there would be good. Although not everyone wants there blog to be good, some want their blog to be great and others just blog to keep those who know them informed and wish not to have some world famous blog.
Darren Rowse has done a survey on why readers unsubscribe from your blog. This got me curious about what makes a good blog. I did a search on Google for “what makes a good blog“. The first result that came up is a post almost over a year old, what makes a good blog by JA Konrath. This got me thinking about doing a bit of comparing between the present and a year ago.
I will comment on a few of the points JA Konrath made and I’ll be adding a few of my own.
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Content is King
This is so very true and still has not changed much over the past year. But how much content is enough to keep bringing users back? The first two reasons why users unsubscribe is because there are too many posts and too little posts (respectively). This means you need find some sort of consistency.I have found proof of that hypothesis in that the daily updates of plugins and themes on weblogtoolscollection.com works best in single consolidated posts.
Mark from Weblog Tools Collection. -
Ask Questions, Be Friendly, Be Controversial
Nobody knows everything, the internet is full of people with expertise in almost every field. If you need help, then ask, there are so many people out there willing to help. Ask for opinions and give your own, blogging is all about your opinion. Although try not to be too offensive or negative. It contributes to readers not coming back or unsubscribing. -
Link Love and Giving Credit
Linking to relevant sites and/or articles in my opinion is a good thing. It keeps the flow of traffic around the internet balanced, I think. A blogroll can be very beneficial for bringing in traffic. Link to people you know and they will most probably link back. Deliver good content and you are bound to receive inbound links. Your site can’t possibly contain all the content in the world, linking is not a bad thing as some people think. -
Limit Self Promotion
Self promoting yourself is not a bad thing but over doing it or doing it too ofter is. It is hard for me not to promote myself on my own site but that was the whole idea of starting Tyler Reed, to promote myself. However I try not to over do it. Another reason people unsubscribed was because of the author’s ego or too much self promotion. -
Clever Advertising and No Feed Errors
Blogging can become a good source of income over a period of time, however too much advertising or advertising in the wrong places can be damaging to a sites reputation and readership. Diversifying your income can be a good thing if you do it the right way. (note: I will be writing an article on smart advertising within the next week, so look out for that).
Keeping your feeds error free is crucial. There is nothing worse than a feed that delivers duplicate content, missing content or no content at times. -
Good Post Titles and Good Formatting
Being descriptive with your post titles is very important. It gives the reader and idea of what to expect as well as improving search engine indexing. Try and sell the reader with post titles.
A blog with good formatting shows that the author takes time on his posts and is also easier on the reader’s eyes. These are both things that keep readers hooked to your blog.
I am no expert and nor do I claim to be, these are my opinions on what makes a good blog. I have read a lot on the subject and have not just thumb sucked random points out of thin air. Please feel free to criticize, expand on ideas or add more.
Tags: blogging
I dont think post titles are necessary most of my other blogs that became intensely popular never had them.
I think its all about the writer their friends and what people consider popular someone i consider immensely popular has 150 blogs that link to her others say thats nothing but she has dedicated readers.