Today I’m beginning my fan week, a week dedicated to visiting and supporting other bloggers (you can find more details here). All week I’ll be visiting new blogs, reading their posts, and hopefully following a few. And I’ve been thinking about what makes people want to follow a blog? What blog elements make a us click on that ‘subscribe’ button to get more from this blogger? Today I’d like to present four things that make me more likely to want to follow a blog. But I’d love to hear from you on this too!
Relevant or interesting content. I follow mainly writing and bookish blogs, because that’s what’s relevant to my interests. So I’m more likely to follow blogs that write on these subjects. But sometimes I come across a blog that isn’t necessarily all about writing or books but that has interesting, unique thoughts and opinions. Blogs like these make me want to come back to see what else the blogger has to say because I find their thoughts interesting.
Well written and formatted posts. A blogger might have the most interesting opinions in the world, but if they can’t write them down coherently then I’m unlikely to take the extra to puzzle out what they meant to say. And I tremble inside when I see posts that are walls of dense text with no paragraph breaks or posts that are littered with spelling mistakes that make my eyes skitter over the computer screen.
Clean layouts. There’s something so attractive about an uncluttered blog layout. I enjoy looking at blogs that have plenty of empty space, not too many needless widgets stacked in the sidebar and a simple text font for the posts. Making the follow button, pages and archives easy to find makes a blog so nice to navigate and a pleasure to visit. I’m more likely to want to come back to a blog which is friendly on the eyes and easy to navigate.
Friendly bloggers. I love following blogs with friendly bloggers who make the effort to at least answer their comments. Connecting with other bloggers is where the real magic of the blogosphere happens, and the comment section is often where great friendships are born. I’ve gotten to know many of my great blogging friends from chatting in the comments.
These are just a few of the things that make me more likely to follow a blog. Now it’s your turn. What makes you want to follow a blog? What are some amazing blogs you’ve followed recently?
Oh well said! I agree with everything, especially about reading blogs of people who write the same sort of thing as you. I normally read writing and book blogs, which is funny if you think about it, because I don't post that kind of stuff all the time. When I started though, life style bloggers were the only ones I saw, but now I'm starting to fall in love with the book bloggers. My whole life seems to be turning back to my books!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but my experiences are quite similar to yours. I started reading in the lifestyle blogger area, and now writing and blogging makes up most of what I'm reading. Book bloggers always have such interesting things to say about books, writing, and the elements that make up books, don't they?
DeleteThe content is probably the most important, but the design is the one that makes me consider giving it a try. I'm a little judgemental like that and I can't help it. If a blog design is messy, I don't think I want to read the posts; the design would just irritate me.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. A bad blog design can be so distracting that I personally can't concentrate on the writing. Especially if the post is really narrow or has really big font.
DeleteOoh, great post to kick off #FanMonth! The way the entire blog unfolds on the screen is definitely important, font size and so on, because if I can't read your content, I'm not going to follow. I follow a good smattering of blogs -- personal and writing and blogging and reading and design -- so the most important thing is whether the content is useful to me, I suppose, whether it's in the form of actual usable tips or entertainment or other stuff. And I definitely am more likely to follow bloggers who reply to comments, comment back, or at least post with their audience in mind.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you around for #FanMonth!
The content and being able to read it is so important, isn't it? I'm finding on my travels that font size is a big part of my enjoyment. If it's too big or too small, I instantly lose interest. Sometimes it's not about the content being directly useful, is it? Sometimes it's ok to just have your thoughts provoked, or just be entertained.
DeleteI AGREE. I so want to do a post like this at some point...although I'm 100% shallow. I honestly follow a blog 98% because it looks beautiful. XD haha! But I tend to think that if a blogger has a really simplistic layout and really nice photos, it does actually reflect their writing quality, which is awesome. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely do a post like this. I would love to see what you have to say on the subject. It's just like books, isn't it? A nice cover is a good sell. And who doesn't like to look at pretty stuff?
DeleteContent and design are what make me follow:-)
ReplyDeleteThey're probably the two most important elements of a blog, wouldn't you agree?
DeleteI agree with everything you said! Mainly, I am interested in the blogger's character. I enjoy learning about peoples lives, and kind of seeing life through their eyes, so I like to read good writing from an agreeable person! Grammar is another VERY important part of blogs! People should always read over three posts 3 times before posting, preferably even a little more!
ReplyDeleteMae :)
superswankified.blogspot.com
A friendly tone in the posts goes a long way to making the blog attractive, for sure. Oh yes, grammar is so important. I study writing, editing and publishing in uni, so my editor is hyper sensitive at the moment as well. I can ignore some mistakes but you're definitely right. Posts need plenty of care and proofreading before pressing 'publish'.
DeleteI agree with everything you said! Mainly, I am interested in the blogger's character. I enjoy learning about peoples lives, and kind of seeing life through their eyes, so I like to read good writing from an agreeable person! Grammar is another VERY important part of blogs! People should always read over three posts 3 times before posting, preferably even a little more!
ReplyDeleteMae :)
superswankified.blogspot.com
Great post! I think I'm a bit guilty here though. I don't comment back on my blogposts D: but I do make a point to comment back on THEIR blog if they had a query or if I just decided to check out their blog and saw something I liked.
ReplyDeleteMost of my blogging is through mobile these days so I don't get time to browse many blogs. However I love connecting through Twitter ^^
Do you think I should comment back on my own blogposts? Genuine advice needed ;-;
Commenting back on people's blogs is one of the friendliest things a blogger can do. I also try to comment back on people's blogs when I remember. I think that as long as a blogger makes an effort to connect with their readers, either by answering comments on their own blog, or visiting the commenter's blog. You're making an effort to connect with your readers by checking and commenting on their blogs, so I think you'll be fine. If it came to a choice, I'd rather have the occasional visit back than a comment reply. It's not always possible to find the time to answer all the comments anyway, is it?
DeleteIt's very time consuming! Some people write comments that should be properly answered and other people write one line comments and I'm torn between replying back to both of them on my blog. And then spamming my own email with my comments sort of seems weird xD
DeleteThanks for the input! I'll definitely put in way more effort to read the blogs of my commentors from here on out!
I agree! I don't care if you post twice a week or twice a month; if I find your content interesting and well-written, I will probably follow your blog. One thing I'd also add is relevant titles. If all I see in my feed is a random quote and/or gif, I'm not going to click on it, because I have no idea what the post is about. Oh, and ways to follow the blog. If you're on Wordpress and don't have a Bloglovin' button, I can't follow you, because I use Blogger. I don't like following via email, because, frankly, I'm more likely to delete emails than ignore something in my blog feed.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite blogs are listed under "friends and favorites" on my blog http://poetreeandbooks.blogspot.com (although it could probably use some updating), if you're still looking for new blogs to visit!
I totally agree. Relevant titles are super important. I find it frustrating when I have to judge what the post is about off a GIF. Considering I try to avoid watching GIFs much anyway, that makes it difficult sometimes. I'm with you on the following by email thing. One other thing I've found with that is that I rarely go to the actual blog to comment because I read the post in my inbox, which doesn't make for great interaction. Thanks so much for pointing me to your favourite blogs. I've been having a great time exploring those blogs.
DeleteI have to agree—it's been drilled into me for a long time that good grammar is imperative and so the cleanliness of a blog is one of the first things I look for. Too much clutter and I usually don't even stop to read; I just leave. But, content is important too, and I think these are all great criteria to keep in mind as you carry on through your fan week. I hope you find a few more awesome blogs to share! :D
ReplyDeleteFirst impressions are so important in blogging. It's interesting to note that the cleanliness of a blog often indicates how well written it is as well. And thus that affects my expectations I have to admit. Though I have been pleasantly surprised. I have been thoroughly enjoying exploring blogs and sharing posts on Facebook. Loving seeing all the other participants around too. Fan Month is getting big!
DeleteInteresting content, pretty designs, and friendly bloggers are definitely my top three. Good grammar is also important, but I can overlook that sometimes because we all make mistakes, after all! If you're looking for new blogs to visit, you could join Bloglovin'--it's a great way to discover new blogs.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely ok to make the occasional grammar mistake in a blog post I think. It reminds me personally that there's a real person behind the screen and the perfection of the blog. There are so many amazing blogs out there that it can be daunting to read them sometimes, they're so good. Not that I would miss out on their epicness. I have considered joining Bloglovin before, but I may actually investigate it. It sounds like a great system.
DeleteI agree, those are all really good reasons. I'm a borderline grammar nazi, and often struggle to keep reading something after I've caught a grammar error.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to ignore some grammar errors sometimes, isn't it? I've noticed them more as I learn more about editing and the nuts and bolts of writing. However, a few grammar errors thankfully don't ruin a whole post, or I'm sure plenty of mine would be awful!
DeletePoint one and three are big ones for me. I sometimes like to follow blogs on a whim as well, which is why I end up following so many!! As always, wonderful post. Keep it up! =D
ReplyDelete