I have 3 reasons never to look at your blog again

Posted on September 5, 2007, 11:19 am, by ABaN, under Blogging.

I have 3 reasons never to look at your blog again


As I was doing my usual blog surfing this morning I started to notice a pattern. Actually I began to notice several patterns, but the one that I’d like to discuss is why I won’t be nearly as likely to pay a return visit to your blog.

It’s fat
If your blog is overloaded with extra, unnecessary content I probably won’t be back. Instead of trying to squeeze every possible widget into your sidebars find somewhere else for them. 1000 ads displayed won’t get you better results than 3 to 5 ads displayed. Either they work or they don’t.

  • Remove extra stuff from the sidebar that isn’t necessary
  • Create seperate pages for things like links, and widgets
  • Tame your ads before you are over run with them
  • Make sure you optimize images so they load faster

It’s ugly
All things being equal, which it never is, the content is what is important. If everything else is perfect but the conent stinks I won’t come back. Why should I? Even if you aren’t a professional writer you should certainly make every effort to present quality content. After all what is the point of a blog except for reading and writing. If you can’t write anything more meaningful than chicken scratch imagine how much trouble I have reading it?

  • Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. Once you get it perfect rewrite it again
  • Write to your passion. Don’t write about things you know nothing of or have no desire to learn about
  • Always place the content first in your routine. Everything else follows it
  • Mix up your writing styles a bit. Bullet points are great sometimes. On each and every post they become to common and thus less effective

It’s momma dresses it funny
Take care in choosing or designing your theme. If it isn’t pleasing to the eye I won’t be back to look at again for a long while. Even worse is when your theme doesn’t fit your topic. The other day I came across a blog about treasure hunting, but the theme was single prop airplanes.

  • Make certain your theme compliments your topic
  • Spend some time, effort, and money in developing a good theme
  • When possible opt for custom theme designs
  • Don’t be afraid to revise your theme when it is warranted

Aside from those reasons what reasons do you have never to return and view a blog again?

Comment (RSS)  |  Trackback
  • Jessica - Agreed. It is skill vs will.
  • In all seriousness - it just occured to me that fixing my blog is truly a bit like my real life.

    I read an article like this, and there are some things that it hits home on.

    It's a Skill versus Will question. First, do i have the skill to make the change? And second, do I have the will to make the chnage.

    Sometimes I have both, but then reruns of Trapper John MD come on TV and well, I give up.

    Same with my exercise program - I know what needs to be done, I agree - but sometimes if just doe not happen.

    Talk to you soon!

    Jessica

    jessica's last blog post..3 Ways to Avoid Counterfeit Tickets
  • Sam - Not so much complaint as things I've noticed that keep me from coming back to a blog.

    Jessica - Do you listen to the advise and act on it, or are you like me and just go charging ahead without any thought to correcting problems? :)

    AK - Grammar isn't a big issue for me as long as the article can be understood in its current state. I do agree about typos though because a few of those can change entire meanings.
  • AK
    Grammar would also be a good place to start, correct your usage of "too" as opposed to using "to". I also have errors that have been viewed and I will correct them despite people thinking that it should remain as an "archive" post as per usual blog posts.

    Everyone fix your typos, forget the *typo asterisks, this isnt IRC! use "strikethrough" if possible, to denote editing a major update on the post before, also... do reference posts with backlinks for new info on old topics!
  • Your advice for me is the same as my boyfriend in college. A lot of the same themes.

    Back to counseling. Fix my blog. Fix my real life.

    Good stuff!

    Jessica

    jessica's last blog post..3 Ways to Avoid Counterfeit Tickets
  • Too funny.... mastering the art of complaint.

    Sam Freedom's last blog post..And Together We Shall Make Beautiful Donkeys
  • Court - I try man, I try :)
  • Lol your description on BZ was exquisite hahahaha that's funny. Very harsh, but so true! People ought to take this advice to heart.
  • Blacksky - Good to see you around! Thanks for the compliments stop by again when you get a chance!
  • First it has been a long time since I didn’t come to this blog... (shame on me maybe….)
    Look like you follow your 3 rules :). You got a really simple template ;).load pretty fast.
    Yah I agree it must be smooth for the eye. I hope mine fulfill all this.
    Continue your good work.
  • Kacey - I agree on both counts. I can't stand having to scroll down to get to content, especially when it's caused by too many ads in the way.
  • Yeah, I hate it when I have to register to comment, if the content is great or I've been a long time reader I *might* register. I hate it when the content isn't just below the fold, its two screens down (not just on the front page, every page). If the content doesn't start by the beginning of the second screen and someone hasn't recommended the site to me, I'll just leave.
  • Laarni - Good one. I hate that. In fact I don't even bother.
  • when I'm asked to register just to be able to comment. :>
  • Happily - I write long posts a lot of the time. I'm learning to mix it up a bit between long and short. In general I don't believe that long posts are a turn off, but I do believe that if you can say it in a shorter manner and get your point across you should.
  • I think you touched on about everything I would have. My posts have a tendency to be a bit on the long side actually. But for the most part people seem to think it's okay.
  • Joe - Myspace was great. Until it became more than an idea in someone's head. Oh and thanks for dropping by!
  • Good points. All we need is for a MySpace takeover, version two point oh. Ugh.
  • David - Thanks! And thanks for dropping by. I had the same problem as well until I read an article someone else wrote about cleaning up your blog. I don't remember where it was, but the principle behind it was sound. Too much clutter means fewer return visits.
  • Nice post, I have a lot of widgets in my sidebar so I'm going to remove some of them that are hardly useful.
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