I’m not always a grumpy blogger. That being said, last week’s post, 5 Reasons I Will Stop Reading Your Blog, struck a chord with readers. Interestingly, most readers agreed about the what they don’t want to see on their favorite blogs. Taking a look at their comments, as well as approaching your own blog from a reader’s perspective is a great way to improve your writing and your following.
Today, I want to do a 180 and talk about the reasons I want to read your blog. People choose to read blogs for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the topics that you write about. Nothing against you or your blog, but I’m just not interested in reading fashion blogs (I long ago gave up trying to be fashionable). My kiddos are long grown up, so parenting blogs are out (though a grandparenting blog…). My interests lie within health and fitness, running, food (vegan specifically), and blogs about blogging.
So, taking topic out of the conversation, here are the reasons that I want to read your blog.
Authenticity
You hear the word ‘authentic’ thrown around a lot when people are talking about what is important to project to readers, but it isn’t frequently defined. To me, authenticity means staying true to yourself. Don’t try to mimic another blog or writer, don’t pretend to be an expert if you don’t have the knowledge, and write about what you know. It means telling the truth to your readers, but it doesn’t mean that you have to tell them everything about your life. Just being honest with what you do reveal.
Authenticity also means looking after your readers’ best interests. If you’re going to review products, you must be honest. It is not authentic to write about how you love a certain product so, so much, then two weeks later you’re giving a similar review to a competitor.
Other things that come to mind about when I think about authenticity: Accountability, responsibility, charity, consistency, and maintaining core values.
Make it Easy on Me
I love to read blogs that are clean and crisp, with a large enough font that I don’t have to make adjustments. Black text on a clean white background is my favorite. Bright colors make my eyes hurt.
Teach Me
Blogs that teach me something will keep me coming back. I love to read about great workouts, delicious recipes, blogging and social media tips. Other people will come for fashion tips, potty training advice, and so on. If you are an expert, or have experience in a variety of specialties, people (and I) will read.
Awww! Pretty Pictures
I love pretty pictures, don’t you? Large, clear, well lit pictures of interesting subjects make me happy. Take the time to learn a little about your camera, or at least practice taking good pictures with your phone. Edit your photos if necessary to fix flaws, change the size, or brighten them.
It Looks Great on My iPad
I do a lot of blog reading on my iPad, and I frequently even use my phone, and do many other blog readers. Even though Google started punishing blogs that don’t have a good mobile page, I find many blogs still have printing that is too small, overlapping ads, and those stupid sidebars that block the print on the left side of the page. So, take a look at your blog on a tablet and a phone. If it doesn’t look good, and you want me to read your blog, fix it.
Keep it Interesting
Just because you write about my favorite topics doesn’t make it an automatic follow. There are a lot of bloggers out there, so you must give me something interesting to read. Obviously different readers have different interests, so think about what your readers want. And give it to them.
And Keep it Short(ish)
This may be a case of do as I say, not as I do, but still, super long posts are hard to read, even if they’re interesting. Like a good movie that just goes on too long, I get bored. Keep it short and sweet, edit out the rambles, and I will be there to read your every word.
Make it Obvious You Care
There are many ways to let readers know that you care. Responding to comments is a big one. I understand that it can be hard to keep up (and I’m certainly not perfect about it), but carrying on a conversation with me lets me know that you care about my opinion and my feelings. Other ways to show you care is by keeping the ad clutter to a minimum, do your best with your spelling and grammar, and generally remember that things that bother you on other blogs will bother your readers too.
What makes you want to read a blog? Why do you read mine (brave question there!)? How do you define ‘authentic?’
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Meatless Monday with Tina and Deborah
Meatless Monday with Annmarie
Inspire Me Monday with Janice
Anything Goes with Marilyn
Bonnie, the Pin Junkie
Tip Tuesday with Debbie in Shape
Wild Workout Wednesday with Annmarie, Michelle, Sarah, and Angelena Marie
Wednesday Wisdom with Nanna’s Wisdom
The Blog Booster Party with Kathleen
Friday Fitness with Jill
LOVE this! I like to read blogs where the writer’s personality shines through. It honestly doesn’t really matter what they’re talking about, I’ll probably read it if there’s enough personality involved (if I like their personality ofc). Everything else you mentioned is important to me too, but that’s definitely number 1.
Great point. My favorite bloggers become like friends, so yes, I love it when their personality shines through their words.
OMG- the print thing! The older I get, the more I appreciate white backgrounds and reasonable print. Big enough and no weird fonts, please. Lawd, I sound old… 😉
LOL, but it’s true. I have pretty good eyesight (insert “for my age” here). I don’t wear reading glasses, not even the cheapies. But some blogs just drive me crazy with the small print!
I love this post Debbie – and your post about why you don’t want to read someone’s blog. Such great tips and advice in both of them. I’m drawn to read blogs for all the same reasons you are (and the reasons I read yours!) – authenticity, interesting stories that teach me something and it definitely helps if a blog makes it easy for me to read!
Thank you. And for the same reasons I read yours.
I like blogs with lots of pictures and not TOO much writing, or if there is – it’s cut up into 1 or 2 sentence paragraphs!
Small paragraphs are the best! I’m glad you qualified your “not too much writing” requirement (my paragraphs are pretty small!! 🙂 ).
It’s recently come to my attention that my blog isn’t very reader friendly on an iPad but ok on mobile. Eeekkk!! I’m trying to figure out how to fix it. Any ideas?
I’m not sure (not being a design pro). Some of your ads block part of the print on your blog. I’d guess it’s something to do with your theme, but I just don’t know. I know that all my ads on my iPad view are at the bottom of the post instead of alongside, but I didn’t do anything special to get them there. I usually read your blog in Reader View when I’m on my iPad.
Which actually brings to mind another post idea. Do you tell other bloggers when something is not quite right on their blog? Does it sound bitchy or will they think you’re a troll? I see mistakes sometimes and I want to tell the blogger, but I usually don’t.
…because you tell me stories.
HECK Im not even picky if the stories are fabulously edited and made too too pretty.
I am a story lover.
Thank you! That makes me feel so good. One of the speakers from IDEA a couple years ago was Bo Eason, who specializes in teaching people how to tell their story. It is a goal of mine, so I love hearing that you like my stories.
Great points. Readability is a must, and stories or posts that make me think will keep me coming back!
Readability in all its aspects: Clean, big-enough font, good grammar and spelling, and generally good writing.
Yes, yes, and yes!!!
And I loathe when blogs are loaded with ads, especially ones that slow my computer down.
I got rid of some ads that were really slowing things down (including Blogher). Much faster now (though still could be faster).
Great article! I’ve heard that longer posts are actually better for SEO, what are your thoughts on that? I always feel a pressure to write more because of that.
I believe that say that posts from 800 to 1,000 words are the best for SEO. I don’t think that’s too long as long as it’s interesting. Most of my posts tend to run that long.
this is great-I love to feel like I know the bloggers through their stories. Talk about your struggles and your successes. Keeping it real keeps me coming back.
I agree that it feels like some bloggers become close friends. You cheer for them, cry for them, etc.
Yep. My problem is definitely my own wordiness. I know I have a tendency to be verbose! But so many thoughts…
I understand. I’m pretty wordy myself 🙂
couldn’t agree more! I love blog posts that are pretty, fun and useful 🙂
Thanks! That’s it in a nutshell 😉
It isn’t really that hard to have a blog that is worthy of reading but Debbie, as you know it takes work and dedication. I love your posts about blogging as they are always so helpful. Thanks for sharing with us at #WednesdaysWisdom and hope you will join us at #OvertheMoon linkup on December 7. Have a great day!
Thanks for the invite! I’ll be there! I think having a readable blog is very doable, but with so many blog choices, one should strive to be the best they can be!
These are excellent tips, and I just went back to your post about things that make you not want to read a blog and I whole-heartedly agree. I’m definitely guilty of committing a few of these crimes and am looking forward to making my blog more user-friendly in the not-too-distant future! Thanks for sharing your insights 🙂
I’m glad you found it helpful. None of us are perfect, and we are learning all the time. I know that I’ve made many of the mistakes that I’m writing about!
I agree with Giselle about the blogger’s personality – I want to feel like I know the blogger when I finish reading the post. I really don’t read too many blogs from my iPad because of the reasons you mention — sidebar social buttons and ads covering text, popups, as I’m reading or commenting the page keeps scrolling back to the top, etc. Oh, and that type thing — I love the look of the light gray text that is so popular now, but I just can’t read it! 🙂
Reading on the ipad can be really annoying, but I usually do a lot of my blog reading very early in the morning, before I even want to turn my computer on, so I’m stuck. On the really annoying ones, I either skip it altogether, or if it’s a blogger I love I put it in reading mode.
Love how you flipped this from last week! Genius! All great points here and I will try to work on them. Funny you mentioned font as I just did an update to my blog and increased the font size. Great convo here. Have a great weekend.
Thank you! I prefer to think of it as genius instead of a lazy way to get more out of a topic 🙂
Good stuff Debbie. I do think authenticity is so important. It’s amazing what people point out about me just by reading what I write! #FridayBlogBoosterParty
Shellie
It’s so true that you can just feel when a writer is being authentic. When they are trying to be someone else, or, I see this more, trying to be something for everyone (which is impossible), it shows and it just feels wrong.
Love both this week and last week’s posts. Inspiring.
Thank you. I just looked at your blog. Beautiful and now I want to try equine guided meditation. It sounds lovely. I had horses when I was a teenager and I think they helped me survive adolescence.
#Wednesday’sWisdom
I definitely agree with keeping it short. Long posts are hard to read. In some long posts, the blogger repeats the same thing. Or covers so much territory I get lost. I find few that are worthy of a long read, but when I do I usually save for another time.
I know that I have a tendency to go long, so this is always a kind of “do as I say” kind of thing, but I agree. Long posts can get rambling because the writer goes off topic or adds too many topics. I actually have taken some of my long posts and broken them into two or three separate ones.
I was recently told that my posts can get a bit lengthy, so I will definitely try to work on that!
As I said in the comment right above, I can get pretty wordy too, so do as I say… 🙂
You know, it depends. If you’re telling a story, staying on topic, long can be fine. But sometimes if you (and I mean everybody, not just you 🙂 ) start introducing other topics, you may as well split it into a couple different posts. That solves a couple problems, reducing the length and figuring out what to write next!
Yes!
In addition to keeping classic black text on white background—plenty of breaks between paragraphs (long paragraphs are so much harder to read on a screen!) and/or easy-to-read numbered or bullet lists, and no more than 1 pop-up. Nothing more frustrating than trying to read an article with things popping up constantly all over the place!
Love your definition of authentic <3
Thank you. People throw that word around a lot, but it really could mean different things to different people.
People don’t realize (and wow, I’ve just used the word “people” a lot of times within two sentences!), that blogging is different than regular writing, where a paragraph is like a complete thought. When you’re writing a blog post, you want to kind of stick to that concept, but you also need to make your post readable, so splitting up that paragraph, though it may feel “wrong,” is necessary.
You are so right about authenticity. A person who get let there true colors shine through always grabs my attention. Your blog should be a reflection of yourself so if you are faking it, it will show. And yes to the length as well. If I’m reading a post and it just keeps going on and on, you’ve lost me. Good bye, I’m through. Found you over at Sharefest.
Thanks Lowanda. I think sometimes bloggers are trying to appeal to a wide range of readers, so they have a hard time letting themselves shine through. You just can’t please everybody, and not every reader is going to be interested in your blog. Instead, write to “your” readers, and your authenticity will shine through.
I just started blogging and I’m going to keep these tips in mind!
Thank you! I’m glad you find my post helpful!
I used to follow the “keep it short” mantra, until I realized that it can really kill your bounce rate. Instead of writing toward a specific word limit, I work toward answering the question or fully covering the topic at hand–and cutting out rambles, of course. 🙂 Great tips!
Excellent tips, now I’m off to read the other post! 🙂
Great post Amanda. We can all use all the help we can get. And the more clear you are the better we can become.
I read blogs that have quick tips and ideas to motivate and inspire me. I just found you through Because I’m Cheap Sunday Blog Hop. Will be checking out more of your blog posts.
Great tips! I like to read blog that are funny, or if I feel like this person has a similar sense of humor as me. Of course drool worthy photos are always good too and probably the number one thing that attracts me! I read this blog today, because Lindsay linked to you, but I do enjoy your blog and find it to be very informative 🙂
Authenticity is a big draw for me. It’s #1 on my list of why I would read and follow a blog. The big turn off for me is dark backgrounds on which I have to struggle to read.
Another great post! And so true. I think authenticity is one of the most important things to me. I mean, not every recipe or thing you do is perfect. Why even try to portray that? But I’ll admit, I had a hard time sharing a photo of a pot of chili I was making… all because I had a huge splash of chili on the stove that you could see in the photo. Then I realized something, it looked “real.” Thanks for sharing on the #SundayBlogHop 🙂
Great post! Definitely gives some perspective on the blog world. I always love to hear how my readers experience my blog but I haven’t tried surveying my blog readers yet. Thanks for sharing your thought, Debbie. This is really helpful.
Oh, I’m so horrible about replying to comments! But I totally agree with you about all of these – this is what makes me want to read a blog, too!
Hi Debbie,
I agree with all your tips except “Keep it Shortish.” As you know from reading my posts, I’m pretty thorough.
1. I believe if you do something, you should do it right which means thorough.
2. I heard SEO improves if long
3 I heard people share if long
4. I understand “boring” but I break up the text with bold, Headings, and screenshots.
We will see. Tomorrow I have a post being published that’s extremely short for me.
Thanks for bringing your post to Blogger’s Pit Stop last week.
Janice, Pit Stop Crew
If you’ve read many of my posts you know I can get wordy too. Sometimes the topic deserves a longer post. Many times it does not. It’s like a two hour movie. A good one you’re surprised when it’s over because the time went so fast. A boring/bad one by 1.5 hours you’re looking at your watch wondering if it’s ever going to be over.
I like to read other people’s work too. But one thing I find really annoying is that the comments that are the newest are at the end of a long list of comments.
All the above are great reasons why I would want to read a blog…apart from the “Keep it shortish” Part. I love quality in quantity . Most shortish blogs give me lots of fluff and very little value…In mu opinion anyways 🙂
thanks for sharing Debbie 🙂