I have been an avid blog reader for quite some time, and even though I have pared my blog down a fair bit with the relaunch to steal Martha Stewart's crown, I am quite the verbose blogger. You wouldn't really know that if you hadn't been reading me for a while. But, I have gotten the hang of it and have learned from my mistakes, which is evidenced by my greatly increased viewership.
I also peruse websites and blogs and tweets and flickrs (oh my!) all the time, always on the lookout for something entertaining to follow and keep bookmarked. I have an enormous bookmarked list of everything categorized every which way but by color... which might be next. I have gotten quite good at weeding out the crap.
So, I have compiled a list of things I love and loathe about places I have visited, and tips for the great beyond, in hopes that it helps you maintain readers. I can't promise it will bring you more, but it will certainly keep you from losing people.
1) ALWAYS include photos. I don't care if it is a picture of you getting a colonoscopy, don't be nothing but a solid column of words. Conversely, don't be a solid column of 20 photos either.
Nothing turns me off faster than monotony, and failing to break up your long rants on how much you hate taco salad without at least one photo of the taco offender (or a colonoscopy!), bores me to tears.
You don't have to be photoshop savvy, or even know how to take a non-blurry picture, but take the time to give visual breaks periodically to your reader. Photos are an excellent placeholder for those who are constantly distracted by other things. They don't have to even relate to what you are talking about, just make sure you explain peculiar photos. Remember, if you are bored reading your own writing while proofreading, imagine how bored your readers are.
Exceptions can be made. You don't necessarily have to have a photo if you are only alerting your readers to the fact you fell in the bathtub and cracked your head open, therefore you won't be blogging until you learn to stop bleeding. It isn't necessary.
2)Take the time to learn proper English, proper writing skills, and how to use a thesaurus. Oh, and typos are ok.
I stuck these together, because they all go hand in hand. Writing a blog allows for some creative license, since you are writing out the thoughts in your head as opposed to writing a proper novel. So, certain rules can be ignored.
This doesn't excuse you from completely destroying the English language.
I will discontinue reading anything where the writer has proven that they cannot conjugate verbs, spell relatively easy words, or can't use "your", "you're", "there", "their", and "they're" in the correct manner. It shows a lack of intelligence. If you aren't sure on something, look it up!
Expand your vocabulary as well. If you always think something is "awesome", it's time to broaden your horizons. There are numerous ways to say something is especially wonderful, or terrible, or whatever, without resorting to the same word. You might be surprised.
The one thing I do forgive is typos. Spell check doesn't catch everything, and it is easy to transpose letters when typing fast. Hell, my keyboard likes to ignore 10% of the letters that I type. I try to proofread, but somehow things still make it through. So don't sweat it. Just do your best to make sure it clean.
3) Stop being way too vague or way too technical.
Facebook and Twitter are the worst offenders when it comes to people being too vague and cryptic. That doesn't mean I don't see it on someone website/blog occasionally.
If something is so personal that you can only say "something really awful happened today" or "it was the best ever" without even promising to explain what it means at a later date, then don't say it at all.
It is rude because it makes us, as a reader, feel excluded. It is as if you are making an inside joke that we are the butt of, or deem us too inferior to possibly comprehend what is going on. I have been known to scour someone's known links in search for a clue as to what might be going on.
Also annoying: being way too thorough with an explanation. Thoroughness has it's place. If you are being instructional, or need someone to visualize something for a specific purpose, then by all means, add in the details.
But if you are detailing how you hacked off your finger, complete with measurements of how much bone is sticking out, or the exact color of the pus coming out of the incision, and you aren't trying to help someone in the same situation, you have over-shared. This also goes for people who are nerdy enough to think that I care about the technical explanation on how they managed to get in a car accident, complete with diagrams, and second by second time lines.
Unless you have a specific purpose in what you are trying to tell people, and it is helpful, keep it simple and understandable.
4) Don't overly self-promote, overly rant and rave, and don't be obsessive.
This is a big one for me. I have no qualms with people promoting their wares and tooting their own horn on occasion as part of their internet interaction. We can't make a name for ourself if we are in obscurity.
The problem begins when it becomes an obsession. I have had to stop following many people on Twitter because 99% of the time it is them self-promoting. I do not need to be notified every single time you sell a hat or list a vintage dress. If you do a general tweet 50 times in a 30 minute time period, you are annoying me, and preventing me from reading other people's tweets.
Don't devote your blog to how awesome you think you are. It is narcissistic. If you want to devote your blog to your craft, then by all means, cover your craft. Show me finished items, how you do what you do,and works in progress. I love to see that sort of thing. Just spare me the "I'm better than you" speech.
Also, be aware of ranting and raving. I will admit we all have our days we need to vent, but if you go on a 10,000 word blog rant on how much you hate Kanye West, I'm gonna stop reading. Simply put, you can have your opinion, but being long-windedly hateful for no constructive reason reminds me of grade school. Keep your unhappiness short and sweet, then move on.
5) Stay up to date, and remember to inject a bit of your life into what you write.
This is pivotal in a blog world. I don't just read a blog, I form a pseudo-relationship with the blog writer.
If you do not make a reasonable attempt to update your blog at least once every 2 weeks, then don't blog at all. Very often I find blogs that are interesting, but the person goes months without updating and is always apologizing for not blogging more.
I have a short blog memory. Unless you have specified that you will be out of town, or something of the like, if you stop regularly updating, I will stop following you.
This goes hand-in-hand with injecting your life in your blog. I end up captivated by a person's life when I read what they write. It doesn't require much to get me interested, but I want to know a real person is writing what I read. I have actually been brought to tears when someone I never met wrote that their dog died of cancer.
That is why it is so important that you stay updated in your blog/website/twitter/etc. If you aren't regular, people feel as if the friendship is fading away. They will feel like the jilted friend.
Hopefully, these 5 tips will help you fix some of the issues that may be keeping you from having a higher readership. As always, have a wonderful day, and remember to click my sponsors!
