(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...This is the first post in what I expect will become a series. It’s kind of like a “Question of the Day” type of post. But I like “You Tell Me” better because it suggests a desire for a more open-ended response. It may be a blatant attempt to get people to comment more - and that’s part of it. But really, these are questions or thoughts I would like to know more about and don’t think it is something I can roll up my sleeves and research. I’d rather hear it from the people.
So here is my first You Tell Me topic. What Makes a Great Blog?
I’ve read a lot of people’s thoughts on the topic and certainly have my own. But I really don’t know the answer. So shoot away. Tell me what makes a great blog (note, I’m not looking for what makes a crappy blog . . . no rants please).
[tags]comments, blogs, blogging, best practices, You Tell Me[/tags]
Chad Gramling is a baseball loving author, Christian and family man. WordUp is his platform for discussing what's on his mind, his publishing endeavors and pretty much anything else.
Horaayy..there are 7 comment(s) for me so far ;)
Whoops! - I just dropped by to thank you for leaving a comment on my site the other day - many thanks Chad! - and leave a quick comment myself and I find you’re asking the 64 million dollar question. If only I’d brought my brain with me…
But it’s a good question, so here are five things off the top of my head:
1) Updated regularly. Try to stick to the same sort of frequency. I do about one or two posts a week but I’d like to do more.
2) Posts not too long. What exactly is the right length is open to taste but I know that mine are usually too long. All I can say is that they’d be even longer if I didn’t try to keep them short!
3) The blogger should respond to comments. This encourages more.
4) Free access to leave comments. I hate having to log in! (And it goes without saying: no pop up windows etc….)
5) My personal taste: some humor!
There’s lots more of course, but that’s what floated to the top of my brain! I’ll be interested to see what other people come up with.
All good points, Simon. I tend to agree on all of them. Thanks for commenting.
Good question. I’ve seen a number of great blogs with nothing in common, so I don’t know. Different readers crave different things.
I can tell you what makes a crappy blog: Diaries, political commentary that offers nothing different than anyone else’s, safe opinions (or no opinions), avoidance of controversy…
Okay MTR. But what about blogs where there sole mission is to create controversy? Does that consitute a good blog then?
I agree with Simon.
Upon reflection the majority of my posts are fiction and quite long in length but my readers seem to be OK with that.
I also have a window that pops up for comments so perhaps I need to have a look at changing that?
I leave a lot of comments - that is because I understand how satisfying it is to receive them.
I’ve been trying to comment on more blogs lately too. Thanks for commenting Miladysa.
IMHO, just having an open mind, an active imagination and a nose for what’s going on in the world, presented creatively and with a bit of the satiric.
As Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) once explained his approach to writing, “I just write the words down and then push them around a bit.”