Blogging Tips
Jul 5, 2006 Print This Post
//MOOD: Tippy
//ITUNES: Rio from the album “Decade” by Duran Duran
I had lunch with my friend Roger today and we talked about blogging. It made me think of this article I had once read called Ten Tips for writing a blog post. Here’s his list:
1. Make your opinion known
2. Link like crazy
3. Write less
4. 250 Words is enough
5. Make Headlines snappy
6. Write with passion
7. Include Bullet point lists
8. Edit your post
9. Make your posts easy to scan
10. Be consistent with your style
11. Litter the post with keywords
This, then, is my question.
For those of you who read blogs frequently, what would you say are the most important things to keep in mind when you are blogging? What keeps you coming back to the same blogs over and over?
Please post your comments, because I would love to know what you think.
July 5th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Interesting topics.
I frequently scan, so when I read something I am really interested in, I find that after a few sentances I go back to re-read it seriously.
July 5th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
If it doesn’t have an RSS feed then I don’t have time for it. Seriously. As easy as it is to put one up (most blogging platforms provide them built in, you just have to post the link) and as much time as my RSS reader saves me I won’t come back if the post doesn’t come to me.
July 5th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
I disagree with the following points:
2. Link like crazy – I hate external links and rarely follow them from blogs. I’m here to read what you have to say and I don’t want to be sent 100 different places for ideas/information. That is what news.yahoo is for.
3. Write less – If you are a crappy writer or have nothing to say this is good, but if both of those are true I’m not reading your blog anyway.
4. 250 Words is enough – See above, length isn’t much of an issue.
5. Make Headlines snappy – Headlines have zero significance. Content is what matters. If you have a great headline and your post doesn’t match it I probably won’t come back.
6. Write with passion – Howabout, write with intelligence seasoned with intensity. Too often passion by itself leads to embarrassing nonsense.
7. Include Bullet point lists – I hate these.
11. Litter the post with keywords – Yeah, if a search engine is your only audience. Try developing your vocabulary and using words that haven’t lost their meaning.
July 5th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
I guess I’ll play a little devil’s advocate with tim…
Linking like crazy is the blogosphere’s version of a bibliography. Personally if you are talking about something that you read about elsewhere, isn’t it only polite to A. credit that source in some way or another, and B. allow your audience to look through the same resources you did (if they choose, if not, the letters are just in a different color – no harm done).
Post length: I am far more likely to read a post that is short and to the point… If its long I really hope it has some jokes to justify it :-)
Snappy headlines matter, if they didn’t you wouldn’t see them anywhere, and they are everywhere… If I’m flipping through my bloglines and see someone’s post on their dissertation about “Why all Cats seem French” then I am FAR less likely to read it because frankly Cats don’t interest me… BUT I might read it because its true most cats have attitudes like the French.
Bullet points enable REALLY busy and or REALLY lazy people to get through the info. Objectivity works.
I will agree on the keywords though… They bug me.
The reality of it is this: most blogs are not professional, they are personal. The people reading your blog, were either invited by you, or stumbled on it. I don’t think one should get toooo hung up on who says what should or shouldn’t be in your blog, just say what you’ve got to say!
July 5th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
The most important thing for me is that your post doesn’t LOOK too intimidating. If it’s one huge block of text, I’m likely to just skip it over. However, if you have 10 4-line paragraphs instead, I’m much more likely to read it.
Also, I’ve found (in my blogging experience) that nobody cares about what I do in the day. I almost never get comments when I write about experiences from the day, unless they are extremely funny or unusual. People like opinions. People like insights. And from you, I think people really dig the humor.
Your best posts have been the insightful ones. I also really enjoy the links to funny videos/sites. I still laugh and tell people about the “EmerJeans”. Good times, man.
I’d say these things are important:
1. Stay subjective. If we wanted objectivity on issues, we wouldn’t be at your personal blog.
2. People generally don’t care about what happens during your day, unless somehow it can relate to them or it’s amusing.
3. People love reading unique insights.
I guess I’m done rambling. I like your blog and read it regularly. Keep up the good work, and I’ll keep coming back.
July 5th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
I think it matters most to know your audience. The original cited bullet list seems a relatively decent list to follow if you are trying to grow your readership. The comments Tim makes seem important to keep this blogs current readership. Not everybody likes that sorta thing. In fact, the same person is a different type of audience to different blogs. Some I devour deeply, others I scan.
If you are blogging to keep connected (or rather others to feel connected with you) then volume of posting is important; it’s about regular, familiar connection
If, however, you are blogging to reveal part of you that folks can pickup but not fully explore in a 30 minute lunch appointment, after meeting you in Meijer, or during the melee that is leaving church on Sunday ;-), then a deeper topic is probably what A) suits you the author and B) the readers.
So, I find myself wondering? Is Noel trying to grow his market (and justify continued time creating posts?), seeking to improve things for the current readers, or doing some research cause he likes that kind of thing? Maybe all three!
As for what I like here, I feel like Noel is my web agent, crawling the net for informative and funny stuff. Granted I also try and feed him things that come across my desk. Since I have this blog feeding me info for next to no time investment, and just a few moments repurposing or repackaging, I can easily keep some geek cred. :-O
There are plenty of places that could help me do that, but here I also get exposed to somebody I respect who is transparent about thinking about life. (respect is the key word above).
-Mr Cheese Wall
July 5th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Be funny.
At least once in a while. If you write with humor and wit—even if I don’t agree with you—chances are I will keep coming back.
There’s nothing I detest more than self-righteous bloggers trying to sound smarter than they really are with their psuedo-intellectual ramblings.
You aren’t some sort of journalistic elite now that you have a blog. Everyone has a blog. My mom has a blog. So be funny!
July 5th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
There are only a few musts for me.
1) Spell Checker & Grammar Check – check your spelling & Don’t use words you’re not sure the meaning of just to sound smart because when you’re wrong you sound really dumb and it’s really annoying because if you are not a writer it shows because you have a long post with “big words” mixed in and it makes your blog annoying.
2) avoid posts that are just long streams of conciousness, a sentence or two is ok but I’ve noticed a number of people type like they talk for a few paragraphs and it takes too much brain effort to try and pick apart what they are getting at.
3) links are useful – if there was already an article written on the subject you’re speaking of, please link to it because chances are the person the wrote that article is more qualified to do so than you and i’ll find out it wasn’t your thought or report in the 1st place and think less of you.
4) post frequency – if there are more than 10 days between posts and most of the posts say “I want to Ted’s house today and played Halo… I should start to blog more…” you should not have a blog
5) comments – if you can’t handle alternate views, opinions and thoughts about a particular subject don’t blog about it. Blogging is part of a community and the great thing about it is the ability to dialogue on certain issues or thoughts and give room for others to oppose you, counter you and learn from you as you learn from them.
I have a lot more thoughts I could share, but for timesake I’ll leave it at that.
July 5th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Something that is super important for readers in this day and age is that writters are real. Too much masking goes on. And a good title…such as “To Own a Dragon” or “Blue Like Jazz”. Something that makes people think, “What?!” That and humor. Because, let’s face it, stuff that is funny no matter what the content is good for something. Oh, one more thing…awesome underground video clips are a must. Post on.
July 5th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Be Honest and always questioning
July 6th, 2006 at 11:32 am
I think that it’s funny that inside a bullet point list tim said he hates bullet point lists.
Blog consistently and keep it interesting, relatively short, and varied in subject. That is how you keep people interested.
July 10th, 2006 at 10:04 am
I guess maybe I’m different than a lot of blog readers. I just like to see what is going on in the day to day lives of my friends, so if it’s personal and honest, I pretty much like it.
But I do agree with the person who said it is better for a post to not LOOK intimidating. I will read a lot of little paragraphs. If it’s a huge paragraph, I might not.
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