Recap:
Day 8's challenge is to write 15 bullet points on what appeals to me on other blogs.
- First one is very obvious. A clean design and layout! Things have to look pretty and professional to some degree.
- Reviews! I feel like a pretty great way to get an initial impression of a blogger is to check out their most recent review. There needs to be one that I find pretty easily on the main page.
- I love when a blog has their own unique feature going on. It doesn't have to be the most original thing in the world, but something I can remember them by.
- I want to see pictures of books I'm interested in. I want to know what's your taste in books so I'll know what to expect when reading reviews.
- Moderately frequent posts! Doesn't need to be every day, but I think three quality posts a week is a healthy number.
- Answer your comments! For me, I think it shows that a blogger truly cares when I see them have a ton of comments and they answered them all pretty thoughtfully.
- Longevity? In general I trust bloggers that have been around longer more to continue blogging. It's easy to decide to have a blog during the honeymoon stage, but to stay committed... that's a big deal.
- A readership. I love visiting blogs that build relationships with their readers. That means the blog is doing something right. This doesn't mean followers; it means comments. This isn't something necessary to follow a blog, especially for us newbie bloggers, but it's something I tend to notice and appreciate.
- Voice- everyone writes in a specific way. I want to notice what makes you and your blog different, so have some personality.
- I like blogs without too many buttons and stuff on their sidebars. I don't want it to be too cluttered.
- I also like it when I can easily tweet your post.
- I love funny GIFs. If you can find some way to incorporate them on your blog, I'll enjoy it all the more.
- I also like following via GFC. I know, it's old and outdated. It's also the easiest way to follow. All you do is open your dashboard, and BAM, there are the posts! So I like when I can follow you that way. I'm sorry to all you Wordpress people... I follow you guys with Bloglovin' so make sure you have that!
- I don't like Comic Sans as a main font used everywhere. It's really none of my business what font you use, but I personally can't stand it, especially in large quantities.
- Also, please no music or random stuff flying across my screen. I know, it's adorable, and it's your blog so your rules. I hate having to find a way to exit all the extra stuff.
Phew, I'm done! Near the end, I definitely ran out of things to say.
Agree/disagree? What do you find appealing on blogs?
-P.E.
Agree on the design, longevity and comment answering, and I definitely look at how they review & their general voice as an important indicator as to whether I'll enjoy the blogger as a friend to chat books with. I also like links to other sites (Goodreads and Twitter mainly) so I can see how they interact on a more personal level. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree, although I'm lazy and I suck so I don't always check them out on Twitter or Goodreads. I need to work on that.
Delete-P.E.
#10, #11, and #15 = OMG so underrated as factors in blog design.
ReplyDeleteOur #1 is definitely content, though. Because we tend to read blogs through an RSS reader, the design only matters when we click through to comment. So what we want more than anything is a good conversation about books -- whether through discussions posts (like we tend to do) or through reviews.
That's interesting because I tend to visit the actual blogs. Agreed though. Awesome content is number 1. You can get over pretty much anything if the blog you're reading is awesome.
Delete-P.E.
I hate when music randomly starts playing! Definitely agree about content-I don't want all memes-I want reviews too!
ReplyDelete