Excellent Blog vs. Just a Blog

[cldnails]

Squirrels.

If a blog doesn't contain pictures of cute squirrels I immediately throw my monitor out the window.

[waffles]

What about dogs?

[Sadu]

For me, the design gives credibility to the content.

Every so often I find a great blog (content wise) with no design flair whatsoever, and I wonder what they were thinking.

Adsense + bad design screams poor quality, as does the Wordpress default theme with the blue box aka "I can't be bothered spending 5 mins changing a theme so my content must be bad".

The content, as previously mentioned, needs to have it's own style. My blogs tend to swear a fair bit, because that's how I carry on in real life. If I think something is sh*t, I'll say so on my blog rather than watering it down for a family audience. This may offend some people, but it strengthens the relationship with my real audience. A blog that attempts to appeal to everybody will usually fail, so it's important to identify who the blog is for and write to that. I mean to say, if you write a blog on web design that everybody can understand, web designers and technical people won't read it because they already know everything you are saying.

You can tell real content from "article directory" content straight away. A good blog has no sales pitch and is brutally honest about whatever it's discussing.

I also like a bit of meat in blog posts. It's really infuriating to go to a site and read a 2 sentence blog post about what someone's cat happens to be doing that day, or a statement of the total obvious. You have to wonder what the point is of these type of posts.

Paid links / posts don't bother me at all, providing they account for only a small portion of the content. I don't get upset reading a paid post (understanding this is how the blogger gets paid for their time), but I need to see at least 90% non-paid content before I can take the blog seriously.

1 post a week minimum is what I like to see, and make it a good sized post with something interesting. Original images go a long way too - in a world where stock photography rules the business sites, it's refreshing to see some original photos in blog posts (even if the photography isn't amazing).
I tend to think less posts are better than "filler" posts.

Another factor is the quality of comments on a blog. Nothing scares me off more than an abandoned blog post chock full of viagra spam. A real sign the owner does not read or care about their blog. If the comments are well moderated and people are posting intelligent adult conversation, this is a big sign of quality.

[cldnails]

In regards to design, I'm still on the fence. I appreciate a visually appealing blog and I'll be more proned to read the first time, but it doesn't have a lasting impression. Proof positive are all the generic layout blogs out there that have 1,000's of subscribed readers.

A blog is about content, pure and simple.

[cloudtrance]

# Whetting a blog with regular useful posts is the key..One should maintain a consistent 'post cycle'. Personally for me though I love writing a lot, sometimes I hardly find time what with a busy fulltime job schedule

#The most important thing is loving what one does. It surely does come out when one is reading the posts.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by mac1205

Does my "nut" when i see the adsense before I see content, I typically just close the browser in anger!!! Even if other tabs are open... ok maybe not that far but agreeing with the above points:

A great eye candy-ish design and good content.

*grin* .. I never notice Adsense .. thanks to AdBlock Plus that is

With regards to the eye candy .. well .. most of the time I'm reading blogs in my RSS Aggregator, so I don't get to see what the site looks like until the content actually drags me in ... so I've stick with content, content content !


Woohoo ... this is my 100th post .. Must get a T-shirt now ...

[maldives]

It is all about content & the layout.

[ptamdagr8]

heeheee.. i wud visit the same blog over and over again to leave a trace of my own low PR site so that.....hehehehe

well, i visit them regularly because of the contents... but i also look at the designs..if its not that appealing, then i leave those blogs.. coz u can find the same thing somewhere else..

[css25]

Originally Posted by Julie

I look at these factors:

1. Does it have a unique design?
2. Content
3. Voice & perspective of writer
4. Knowledge of topic
4. Consistency in posting

I agree with you. Well, I have a blog, but it is just a blog I think . I just want to keep it as my own references, especially webmaster-related article.

[Manish Pandey]

Unique Content it is!

[css25]

Originally Posted by Manish Pandey

Unique Content it is!

Indeed so! Unique content always attract more visitor. Having a awesome blog layout but don't have unique content (just like my blog, LOL!) doesn't promise to attract a lot of visitor.

[James Trotta]

Honestly the only blogs I read regularly are my own. That's because I'm involved in the discussions.

So I think that blog posts should be worth discussing and that comments should be permitted.

[lucia]

Originally Posted by cldnails

Squirrels.

If a blog doesn't contain pictures of cute squirrels I immediately throw my monitor out the window.

Then you will enjoy one of my brief forays away from knitting, "Rumpy's Haiku".

If it turns out people truly love squirrels, I will need to post updates on Rumpy's current adventures.

[cldnails]

Originally Posted by lucia

Then you will enjoy one of my brief forays away from knitting, "Rumpy's Haiku".

If it turns out people truly love squirrels, I will need to post updates on Rumpy's current adventures.

Lol, that's not a tailless squirrel it's a rat.

[lucia]

More topically, I visit blogs for content. Period.

If I like the content, I'll deal as long as layout that doesn't break or crash my browser. I also find the blogs I visit over and over tend to have spare designs and quite honestly, I know lots of people visit blogs with very spare designs.

Heck, I love Volokh.com (as do many people). Would anyone even begin to suggest that blog has "a design"? I also like The Yarn Harlot -- her very popular blog won her a book contract, and she's on book 5 or 6 now.

[lucia]

Well, if he's a rat, he had a peculiar interest in lady squirrels. ( They all seem to reject him though. )

[moniquebriand]

- Moderation speed is key. There may be times when someone requires an answer immediately. Moderation before postings go live cuts in on this in a major way.

- Less moderation of posts to enable for real-time replies. Have the posts automatically post and then the moderators can review all posts from there and make deletions/edits/etc.

- Ability to have enough space for a great signature file with hyperlink capability.

- Daily new content being added.

- The forum has a great web presence/ranking.

- Attracts members with skills that they are willing to share along with great advice.

- A variety of members are adding current and valuable content.

- Fully functional Private Messages section.

- Forum rules are clearly outlined and easy to access.

- The moderators do not skew content through their approvals/declines of posts.

- Negativity which is non-constructive is kept under control.

- I don't want to see a free for all in terms of people trying to pitch their products, rather great discussions with some sales offers are great.

- Discussions on a wide range of topics but within a specific area.

- Easy to navigate the forum.

- Forum sections are clearly identified and well described. - Forum sections are clearly identified and well described. There are specific sections for specific topic areas to make it quicker to find the information you are looking for. This applies especially when you need to look through archives or older posts for answers rather than asking the same questions.

- Contests run to encourage contributions.

- Tangible step by step instructions/advice can be found on how to do many tasks and such.

- Content and links and such are posted in the forum rather than people always saying to send a private message.

- I want to see quality and well thought out responses rather than being cryptic or lacking.

[lucia]

I agree with many things you suggest, but I think both forums and bloggers need to be wary of this:

Originally Posted by moniquebriand

-
- Ability to have enough space for a great signature file with hyperlink capability.

If you permit too much in the way of sig files, you risk seeing this:

Originally Posted by moniquebriand

-
- ... a free for all in terms of people trying to pitch their products, rather great discussions with some sales offers are great.

Forums need some space for a signature file, but visitors need to be forced to keep it brief.

[moniquebriand]

I hear what you are saying Lucia.

Although, if you do not allow for much in the way of a good signature file, it will cause people to use their post to pitch you.

I see signature files as the proper place for a little sales pitch.

I agree that there should be limitations on the signature file to discourage signatures which are too distracting or too long.

My signature file preferences are:
- allow 6 lines maximum, including line spaces,
- allow the ability to hyperlink,
- limit the use of color to just black text and blue hyperlinks, and
- limit the use of fonts to keep them all relatively the same size and look, while allowing bolding, underlining and italics for emphasis.

Monique Briand