Blog posts can be a little dry; excuse me, I meant, web writing can be a little dry overall. Blogs aren’t the only online medium to blame. One problem is that blogs and online articles have gotten so SEO friendly. Some bloggers are excellent at making their posts search friendly AND personable. However, if you’re just focused on SEO, it’s easy to spot, annoying, super boring to read, and won’t lead to long term readers.
Another problem is that there are so many darn blogs around. Anyone can offer information on say, coffee or computers (and tons of bloggers do) but when you’re competing for readers to stay and read your post on coffee vs.the other guy, you better inject some life into your post in order to gain reader attention and keep it.
What attracts readers can vary, but here are some good ideas (i.e. tactics that gain my attention and keep me reading your posts):
You’re funny – but not mean funny: I like smart and funny bloggers who tell it like it is without being overly mean. I can deal with a little mean, but if rude is always your means to funny, it gets old.
You write about what I’m looking for: Obviously people want to read what they’re looking for. If you write for a main stream topic blog (say cooking) and yet you ‘re always writing about obscure irrelevant topics like shoes, OR bizarre food tips, such as snails in homegrown basil, you likely won’t get too many long-term readers. If I hit a cooking blog it’s because I want tips I can use.
You write about an obscure topic: I KNOW I just said above not to do this, but in some cases writing about something new and cool or odd is a great way to gain come-back readers. Using the cooking blog example again, you could have an entire obscure cooking blog, and that’s what you’d be known for. This is using odd topics to your advantage. There’s a fine line between drawing folks in with weird topics and still giving them info they can use though, so be careful.
You are human: I hate blog posts that offer up fact after fact without ever getting personal. I don’t need to know everything about you, but some personality is nice. When I’m reading about a topic at a blog, sure, I’m interested in the topic, but what keeps me at your blog vs. the other guy’s blog is that you have an opinion about your topic.
Your posts are visually pleasing: You hit enter, add relevant well-placed images, use bold text when necessary, and keep the posts easy to scan. If I cringe when I look at a blog, I leave and look for info elsewhere. Maybe that makes me a visual snob, but I’m betting I’m not the only one.
You are passionate or can fake it: This sort of goes along with the human aspect noted above, but there’s a little more to it. Even if you inject personality, you may not keep my attention if I can tell you’re bored or uninformed about your topic. I’ve written on topics I’m not personally passionate about, but one, I always feel like people can tell (I hate trying to fake it) and two, I never last long. I get bored and quit OR worse the blog suffers. Blogs written by folks who aren’t passionate, or who can’t fake it well just seem like dead space trashing up the blogosphere.
All of the above gain my attention. What gains your attention?
I will read almost anything that is casual, human, and passionate. If I come back, that means I want to read more (obviously), but I also want to get another peek into the author. he best authors tell their life story over many,many posts.
Think brevity. Get to the point. Reading online is unlike anywhere else. Unlike television or books, where you commit 30 minutes to solely one activity, reading online competes with your e-mail, that piano-playing cat video and many other distractions. You want people to read your words, remember what you said, and return.
snails in homegrown basil? Hmmm..you know…if they were marinated in a little Earl Grey tea, and then breaded with panko..
This is great, Jennifer. I totally agree.
The other thing that I hate is food blogs that use stock images..I want to see what YOU cooked not what someone else did….Bloggers that are so open minded their brains have fallen out..bloggers that are so closed minded that their brains have developed gangrene from strangulation AND anyone that isn’t you, Deb, me, or a few others. Oh, and bloggers that are so exclusive that they only read four or five authors and leave smart alecky comments on their friends blogs.
Other than that..I am good.
@Alex – I like casual too. Forced college style writing is not what I want to see at a blog for sure.
@Ed – people do have short attention spans online, or so most of the research says. One of my major faults is going long. I’ve been working on it. Short is best online.
@Marye – you crack me up. You know I’d never eat snails, in tea or otherwise 🙂 I agree about the food blogs that use stock images. After reading a blog, like yours, with actual food images, I hate when I see boring food photos. On the other hand we’re not all as good as you with pictures (lucky).
I also like brevity or at least a post that I can skim.
In the easy-to-read category, short paragraphs are a must.
I avoid blogs that describe themselves as “hilarious.” There are a few other key words that immediately turn me off that I hilariously blogged about here: http://greenroomthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/05/hints-for-bloggers.html.
Great post! love this blog
Hello to all 🙂 I can?t understand how to add your site in my rss reader, wonder how this works..
ilginc buldum ben izininizle bende sayfamda yer vericem.