Introduction | Why Blogs Fail

A bit harsh on the topic eh? Still it's on the later part of the post.

But for now...

Welcome all and for those who just arrived, we’ll have a round of flaming cocktails!

And for those who can’t indulge alcohols, here’s some freshly squeezed orange juice.

Cookies are in the jar. Or just on the table.

Everything’s on the house and enjoy your stay. In the meantime, pick up some worthy blogs to read (eg. this one) and don’t forget to share the cookies!

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Kicking things off, here’s something that can be put to good use by the people here and the ones just passing by.

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Basically everyone dreams of having a blog at the top of the search engine. But getting there in the first place without Googling your own blog name may be something a bit difficult to do with. That is why some people give up blogging altogether as they can’t find readers. Or it ends up as a dark and gloomy place to vent out back at your previous employer.

To achieve Internet success is rather, tedious or quite impossible, taking in regard the amount of people that too are trying to get what we want. So yes it is hard indeed.

That is why after reading through one and scattered thoroughly with my own opinions I have come up with this. Simple reasons why blogs fail and how to not fail them.

Link people (and comment too)
The essence of every blog is basically the readers. No matter how good or famous you are, without them your blog is just a sitting pile of virtual spam.

How to get readers in the first place? Advertise. Sell yourself. Work out the first move. Don’t expect people to randomly stumble upon your blog. Tell your friends. Put it up on your Facebook and whatnot. A signature in your emails.

Other than that you can cling onto more recognized blogs and sort of, spam or drop a comment with your link. And by comment I don’t mean things like:

“Hey, nice blog!”

“Cool. Love it!”

Or simply thick skinned with a one-liner:

“Link me!”

Those will not work no matter how cute they look. Give related comments towards the post. Something natural and doesn’t look like it came from a spam bot.

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Don’t expect one-way traffic either. One someone drops a comment on your blog, comment back. Links are forged initially through mutual understanding. It is not going to magically attach together.

Most importantly when dropping a line try to refrain from initiating unwanted hostile relationships. You may not agree with his/her opinion but respect it. You can say it out in your comment, but know where to draw the line and stay within it.

Layouts/Presentation
Yes, they are important. Layouts may not have to be fanciful like those top notch artist. A minimalist approach would do. Try avoiding those fanciful glitters that will draw readers away from your writings and away from you blog. Colours and font sizes are essential as well.

I do not want to squint my eyes due to the small fonts or keep on rubbing them from the contrasting colours. And I am very sure the readers too.

Another important note is to try and set a good screen resolution and advise users upfront to set it to the recommended screen size.

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Your posts will be the centre or the focus point of your blog. It is VERY important. Remember a few helpful hints:

• Try not to post a wall of text. Divide your post into a few paragraphs so that readers can see a break between them. A wall of text is very daunting to go through, so expect the same thing when others see it.
• Refrain from posting (excessively) with IM slangs and SMS lingoes.

[wut, l8tr, d, u, coz]

It may give the wrong impression noting that you may (but surely not) a little slow during English and spelling class.

Honestly, there’s a full QWERTY keyboard in front of you, not a number pad.

Grammar is not necessarily important as long readers can understand what you are trying to point out.

Content
An engaging content is what most readers look for. Controversial topics can be hot-cakes but avoid them if you are just going to make sweeping statements.

A foot long essay with 10 paragraphs about your pet rabbit that is surely not in the direct interest of your readers will not go down well. Try keeping your posts centred and focused. Random pointless ramblings may be fun, but if I were to read one from a total stranger, I couldn’t be bothered about it.

Applications
It may not give a direct impact but it can surely spruce things up a bit. Music players, chatboxes, photo slides etc. cuts the dullness from the blog. But importantly, try not to make it the main point of your blog if they are just for décor. Make it less intruding, especially music players. Not everyone may share the same music taste as you. Keep it in place where it can be easily seen and the Stop or Pause buttons within reach. Reading a good post with disturbing background music is undoubtedly, a turn off.

There we have it. Some tips that I would have loved to share with the fellow readers. If you have anything that you would like to add on, just drop a comment ;)