I’ve started to consider a personal blog to be a blog written by one person, rather than a blog specifically about the everyday (and often mundane) aspects of an average person’s life.

I think we are all average in many ways, yet extraordinary in others. So if you’re someone who thinks personal blogs are written by people with nothing better to do, have you considered that readers may find their posts just as interesting as a paperback novel – maybe more so?

In some circles, I’ve noticed that personal bloggers are looked down on by the bloggers who want to make a bit of cash, or who write for a living. On the other hand, I’ve also met personal bloggers who feel they are viewed in a very poor light by all other bloggers. You may be surprised – I think all types of blogs and bloggers can co-exist. Just read who you want to read.

I certainly don’t view personal bloggers in a poor light, although I’m possibly in a unique position – I’ve often been mistakenly viewed as someone who makes money from my blogs, when I really don’t. Not only that, but while I may write about web development on my main blog, I view it as my personal blog – because it’s written by me and me alone.

What do you think? What is a personal blog to you? Do you have one? Do you read them? Let me know your views.

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To master the cliffhanger, you need to capture your audience very early on. Next, you need to engross and enthrall them with your web of wondrous writing, while you rapidly approach that ever-burning question: are you going to click my “Read More” link?

I really hope you did click, because if you didn’t, you’d be missing an incredibly smug “I told you so” moment. Although that probably negated the effect of the writing trap, so let’s move on.

Cliffhangers are extremely tricky to get right when you write your first few blog posts. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that you might not even know about the “Read More” option when you start blogging. Its use becomes apparent once you start to learn a little more, and only then can you truly maximise its value.

What are the benefits of using a cliffhanger?

One benefit comes from not needing to clutter your homepage with the entire post content. Some bloggers think it’s necessary to include the post on the homepage, but I think with a little practice, you can get people to click through without needing to do this. You’ll also lower your bounce rate and therefore improve your overall blog stats.

I’ve also noticed that people are more likely to write a comment if the comment form is right in front of them as they finish reading a post. If they have to click a “comment” link to see the same page with a comment form beneath, it doesn’t really push the reader to have their say. Basically, if you can get them to go beyond the cliffhanger, you’ve done most of the hard work already.

What if people aren’t clicking through?

Quite simply, you need to look very closely at the content you’re writing. Not everyone will enjoy it, for sure. But if very few people are reading your posts, let alone commenting, you might want to consider writing a more compelling post.

After all, blogging is all about writing, and if your writing is really dull – it’s not going to make people enjoy reading it. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. You really need to write a good post if you want people to read it!

The title-only cliffhanger: a tricky contender

One of my other blogs, Top Ten Blog Tips, is currently using a design that makes it very tough to get readers to click through. All I show on the front page and on each category page is the title of the post, along with a small thumbnail. There’s simply no opportunity for an introductory cliffhanger: the post title is the cliffhanger.

This forced me to write very strong post titles and also to use good thumbnails. It doesn’t always work, but it’s a good way to focus on great titles and captivating images. The images are also carried into the body of the posts.

Twitter is a special case

When you share a new post on Twitter, you’ll probably link to the post directly. As a result, the cliffhanger doesn’t matter – you’ll have the whole page to get your point across. But that doesn’t mean you can waffle in your opening paragraph.

A decent cliffhanger will really help when a new reader visits your blog for the first time, assuming they arrive at the home page (which is not always the case). They’ll be able to see a snapshot of your recent content without having to scroll around too much, and they’ll have the opportunity to view any of the posts that interest them far more easily than if you displayed the whole post on the front page.

It’s a lot better this way.

What do you think?

Do you use cliffhangers? Why/why not? Which sites make the best use of them?

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Except, it’s really not that simple. Or is it?

The zero comment problem

Few people want to post the first comment. Maybe they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing, or maybe they think there’s a reason why nobody else has commented on the post in question.

The dead blog problem

Every post has no comments. That’s a big problem: the blog looks dead. Who knows if the author of the blog, let alone anyone else, will ever see your comment – so why bother participating?

The posts-to-comments ratio

I think it’s worth looking at how many comments you get on a typical post. No, not the most or the least comments you’ve ever had – the average posts-to-comments ratio.

For instance, at benbarden.com I currently have a posts-to-comments ratio of 41:105, or just over 2.5 comments for every post. All things considered, that’s not bad.

Here at Weekly Blogging, at the current time of writing (which is before this post will get published), I have a posts-to-comments ratio of 12:23, or just under 2 comments per post. As this is such a new blog, I’m fine with that.

What do you think?

What’s your posts-to-comments ratio? Do you think this value is a good indication of how active a blog’s community is?

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Why blogs start with a pre-made theme

Starting with a pre-made theme is the quick and easy option. Just find a theme (or even use the one that’s there by default) and start adding content. Sometimes you may have the content ready before you have a clue about the design, and you just want to get it out there quickly. So using a pre-made theme when you are starting out can be tempting.

However, while this allows you to get your content online quickly, a blog that looks like all the others won’t stand out. People may visit your blog and actually think they’re looking at a blog they have already read. They might draw conclusions about your site from this, not really giving it a chance.

So although they are fast to get up and certainly cheap, a pre-made template is not always the best option.

Why a unique design should be your goal

What’s the point in a blog that just looks like all the others? Your blog should stand out. Here are some ways that having a unique design benefits your blog:

Establishing your identity – having your own identity helps to get your blog noticed, because you’re going to stand out more. This can help you to have more confidence in your blog, which will be reflected in your writing.

Brand recognition – getting people to recognise your blog is one of the keys to succeeding and getting people coming back. When you have a blog with great content, you want people to recognise your own brand and associate that with the quality of your content. Design and content go hand in hand.

Brand-aware advertisements – although a pre-made theme doesn’t stop you from using ads that blend into your theme, taking the time to get a unique design should push you to make EVERY aspect of your site fit the same theme. Some pre-made themes are simply not distinctive enough – or not GOOD enough – for you to blend ads into the design. Blended ads won’t stick out like a sore thumb on your site, and are more likely to be viewed as supplementary content – thereby increasing the likelihood that people will click on them.

It shows you’re serious – if you want your readers to take you seriously, you have to show them that you care about your blog. Anyone can grab a free template off the web, and add a post or two. But it takes time and effort to create, amend or pay for a design that is unique.

It gives you time to stop and think – the problem with everything being so quick and easy to do is that you act before you think about what’s best for you. Don’t create a blog because everyone else has one. Ask if blogging is right for you. Decide what you want to write about. And use a unique design!

More about brand identity

Think of companies around the world and think of how they advertise. Can you picture their logo and any colours or images that they use in their advertisements? Can you remember their tagline?

You need to link everything in your design together to create a brand identity. The logo, colours, layout and graphics on your site all contribute towards your brand identity. Additionally, the name and URL of your site should be tied in somewhow.

If you can link all of this together into an instantly recognisable and memorable identity, you’re well on your way.

How to get a unique design

You’d be surprised how little you actually have to do to customise a theme to your needs. If you can find a fairly simple theme that has the layout you want, all you really need to do is go to iStockPhoto and find an image that you could use for a banner. Make sure you buy a version that’s bigger than you need. Then put some text on it and you’re already better off than if you’d kept the default theme as it was.

You could try using a free template and modify it. Search for themes for the blogging system you’re using, find one you like, and see what could be changed to make it your own.

There’s no substitute for a well-made custom theme though. If you’re not able to do this yourself, you could hire someone. You can search for designers on elance. There’s a big business for website design. Have a look around on elance, and see what you can find.

How often should you change your design?

Designing your blog isn’t just about the initial design – you also have to think about changing the design at some point in the future.

Redesign too often and it may seem like change for the sake of change; redesign infrequently and your design can become rather stale. I think it’s good to redesign no more than once every six to twelve months. Any less than once a year and your blog may start to feel a bit stagnant.

You don’t have to make huge changes, just a few tweaks to keep things current. You could change your colour scheme, your banner, or the layout of your site. Look at what works and what doesn’t work with your current design before you embark on a major overhaul. It’s a waste of time if you end up with a design that’s not as good as the previous one in terms of how easy it is to navigate, and how cluttered it is (or isn’t, hopefully).

Of course, this will vary from site to site and I’d be interested to hear how often you think you should redesign.

Further reading

• 10 important design tips for your blog
• 10 tips to improve navigation on your blog

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How often do you post? Frequent blog updates will flood your Twitter profile. Also, how often do you write on Twitter? If your profile only has links to your blog posts, it can be off-putting to people who maybe wanted to connect with you, rather than see your latest content. They can go to your blog for that, or subscribe to your feed.

How quickly do you want your posts to go public? Check, double-check and triple-check before you put your post online. But mistakes do happen, and it’s a lot more difficult to correct them if your link has gone out to your Twitter followers just a short time after you posted it.

Have you ever been interupted? What if you schedule a post and you’re tweeting when it gets published? You might be flooded by your own tweets! Too much tweeting at once can be annoying for your followers.

What do you think? Do you use automatic tweets to share your latest blog posts? Why/why not?

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Here’s how to launch your next blog post with Twitter, and without spamming people.

1. Create some buzz.

Twitter is a great place to have conversations with people. It’s not as effective if you try to use Twitter to push your blog without engaging in discussions. Are you the guy in the pub who goes on about himself and never stops to hear what others have to say? Well, don’t be that guy.

To create some buzz, you first need to start talking about a topic that’s relevant or interesting to you – a subject you have something to write about. Start with a question and see what answers you get.

2. Read and reply.

As soon as you ask a question on Twitter, you may be surprised at how quickly people start to respond. I don’t usually get more than half a dozen people replying, but I get some great comments. Quality is more important than quantity.

You don’t have to reply to every single comment, but it’s good to reply to at least some of them, as it keeps the discussion going. And then you can move on…

3. Write your post.

While in some cases it’s great to write blog posts in advance, I’ve found that some of my best posts are written on the fly, just after I’ve been chatting with people on Twitter.

Of course, you could write the post in advance, and talk about it a bit before putting it out there. However, I think it’s good to have a post that’s fresh and relevant to the discussions you were just having.

4. Share your post.

In this case, there’s no need to say something generic, such as “Hey guys! Check out my post! (link)” Instead, you can point people to it if they were replying to you. It’s ideal if you can try and write the post as the replies are still coming – strike while the iron’s hot and all that.

Does it work?

I’ve found that it works very well if you can get the post online before the people who replied go offline. That doesn’t mean you have to rush your post and risk making loads of mistakes, though – people will see it when they next go online. But if you can get the post up quickly, it may have more of an impact.

Have you tried this? Let me know how you get on.

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Commenting on blogs is a great way to get your name out there – providing, of course, that you have something to say.

This post isn’t about what to write in a comment, though – it’s about which link to include.

Building links to one site

If the only blog I owned was Top Ten Blog Tips, I would post comments with a link to that blog. Deciding what to put as my name is a bit more tricky, though – do I want to build backlinks with “Ben Barden” as the text?

In the early days of Top Ten Blog Tips, my comments would usually be posted from “Ben Barden – Blog Tips”. This seemed like the best of both worlds, as it didn’t remove the personal aspect (my name) but it didn’t rely on my name as the only keyword.

Building links to many sites

This is where things get tricky for me. I have a lot of blogs – how should I choose which blog to link to? How do I keep track of which links I posted more often than others? Should I try and spread the links evenly? Do I need to vary the keywords? Can I do all of this without threatening the quality of my comments and without spamming?

The solution

Why worry about which site to link to when you can just link to one page? I used to have a splash page for this purpose, but I now prefer to use a landing page as part of another blog. This is my online portfolio. It does mean I’ll usually link to that page, so I’m giving out all the link love to a single URL – but it’s easy to find my other sites from there, so I think it’s worth it.

What do you think?

How many sites do you own? Which URL do you include when posting a comment?

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You need to write things that people can relate to.

Some of the best stuff on the Internet is pretty simple really. Many of us already know what the writer is saying to us. In some cases we may even be able to second-guess their words before they say them.

While this isn’t a blog entry, a very good example is the YouTube video, Facebook – too much information?

I watched this and found it both accurate and entertaining. If you’ve never used Facebook before, the video isn’t for you. But there are plenty of other things on the Internet that you will be able to relate to.

If you break them down, most blog entries have been said before.

So what is it that makes us so intrigued by yet another list of top tips?

1. Style. As a writer you need to find your niche both in terms of subject matter and style. The way you write is a big part of whether people keep coming back. Early on in your blog’s life, don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of post to see what goes down well and what goes down like a lead balloon.
2. Insight. A different perspective on a subject that’s been done to death can give it a new lease of life. Including a little of yourself in your posts, instead of writing generic content with no personality, will make the difference between your blog and the next.
3. Enthusiasm. There’s nothing worse than reading an article that is just plain boring. Did you ever have a teacher who droned on and on and nobody really understood a word? I had one or two of those. You don’t have to go overboard with a “happy clappy” tone, but at least make it sound as though you want to be writing!

I’m sure there are many, many more things to add to this list. What’s important is that you have to make people want to read what you write – and perhaps one of the best ways is to re-read what you write. Do you enjoy reading your own writing?

Write what you know.

No matter how much buzz a particular topic might be creating on the Internet, there’s very little point posting about a topic you know nothing about – particularly if it’s irrelevant to your target audience.

You shouldn’t announce every bit of news that interests you. Ask yourself if it’s appropriate to post it on your blog.

Bring everything full circle.

I think it’s reasonable to expect all blogs to go off-topic from time to time. If you do cover diverse topics, make sure you discuss how it relates to your niche. This is a great way to attract new readers without alienating your existing readers.

If someone covers a story first, you can still publish a better post.

Sometimes it may feel like there’s a race to be the first to announce something. I don’t think this matters unless you’re so late to the party that the subject is no longer relevant.

Don’t worry if someone else writes about what you wanted to say before you do. The best thing to do is postpone your post (interesting phrase, that…) so it doesn’t look like you’re copying other sites, then make sure you write the best post you possibly can.

It doesn’t matter that someone else said it first. Say it better.

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I feel like I should, but I already spend a lot of time keeping on top of the new posts that come up. Some sites have so much in their archives that I could be there all night!

Do you go back and read some of the older content on a blog? Or do you just read the current posts along with any new ones as they come up? If you do go back, how far back do you go?

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What happens if you don’t plan?

Chances are, you’ll reach a point where you get stuck. Maybe you’ll run out of things to write about. Maybe you’ll lose interest. Maybe you’ll find you’re not happy with how your blog is going. What do you do then?

Instead of answering that question, it would be better to look at how you can ensure your blog can survive in the long run. Here are some tips to get you on your way. Even if you have a blog already, these tips can be used to review whether your existing blog might benefit from a change.

Start a blog for the right reasons.

Blogging is all about writing – if you don’t like writing, you may find you get sick of it. You need to choose a subject you know well and you enjoy. And it needs to be a subject you can write a lot on.

There’s not much point starting a blog with only one post in mind and then finding you don’t have anything else to say.

Don’t start a blog to make money. Pretty much the only blogs that make a decent amount of money started without the money focus. The blog became popular and then the owner decided to make some cash from it. You can’t make a lot of money from a brand new blog, no matter how many ads you put up.

Finding your niche.

Who are you writing for? Who is your target audience? You need to decide how to approach the subject(s) you write about – what kind of writer are you?

It helps to keep it simple – focusing on ONE subject with a very clear angle is the best way, at least in my opinion. Trying to write about too many different topics increases your chance of failure. Get focused.

Taking your readers on a journey.

A blog should be a journey that you are leading. It needs a clear direction, clear objectives, a clear goal. People can join you and add their comments. People can leave and come back later.

But it’s not necessarily a linear journey. It doesn’t have to be followed in sequence, and you may revisit earlier destinations in the future. People may join in partway through or only look at certain things. It’s up to them to make of it what they want to.

Now think about what happens if your journey doesn’t have a clear direction. People might be curious about where you’re going, but when they get on, they find that you’re taking a totally different route to the one you were on last week. You write about so many different subjects that they don’t know whether they’re here or there. Most people will leave, disillusioned.

It’s OK for people to stop reading if you have a clear direction, because they know that if they return in the future, you’ll still be on that journey. It may have moved on to a slightly different focus, but it should be fundamentally the same. However, if you don’t have a clear direction and people do return, they’re probably going to give up on you. A blog needs direction!

That doesn’t mean you can’t have a personal blog where you write about a lot of different things, and it doesn’t mean you can’t ever change your direction if it’s the right thing to do. Just make it clear what your blog is about and why people should read it. You’ll do better in the long run.

What do you think?

Do you have a clear direction for your blog? Do you think it’s important to have one?

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