I was trying to think of post ideas today, and in doing so got thinking about what makes a good blog. I started to ponder this and thought of a few things including the design, the domain and the community. One thing I rather foolishly overlooked was the content, and by thinking of that at the end, I got what I believe to be a rather good idea for a post.
So, what’s the idea?
Well, this post is all about the importance of good content. I feel it is often overlooked, but when it comes down to it, the stuff you write is the most important thing you can do when blogging, after all, a blog is just a website with posts on it!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the design, domain and other things aren’t important, they all contribute to the overall impression of the blog and should therefore be completed to the highest possible standard, but none of them compare to the importance of the quality of posts.
Let me explain with a scenario:
You’re on your friends Wordpress blog, reading the comments quite happily. You see a comment that grabs your attention, so you hover over the commentator’s name to find he has a very impressive domain name. You visit his site and he has an awesome design too, but when you go to read the post, its total rubbish!
This is definitely the biggest turn off to a potential reader, and should be taken very seriously. Making your writing good enough for the visitor to not only read it, but to ENJOY it is critical to any blogs success.
So, how can you improve your writing? Well, I’ve listed three simple steps below:
Remember what and who you are writing for, as if you don’t you’ll find the article starts to seem ‘weak’ and probably won’t make much sense. To make sure your article stays on topic, try and write it all in one go rather than writing half and coming back to it another day!
Get someone to check your work, as often you’ll find that you don’t spot a thing that another person might. I understand it’s hard to get someone to look over every single article you do before you post, but try your hardest to get as many of them proofread as possible! Also, as a quick side note, remember to check the work yourself two or three times before you hit the ‘publish’ button!
Read a lot, as it’s proven that this helps to improve your own writing ability. Also, if you’re reading other blogs in your niche, you could learn something too, so it really is an exercise worth doing!
What about you?
How do you make sure that the articles you post are quality? Is there anything you’d like to add to the post? Do you disagree with any of the points I’ve made? To let me know what you think, please leave a comment below – as always I’ll read them all and would love to hear from you!
I have had the same experience many times. I am a massive blog comment hopper but am totally surprised with some of the rubbish content that people write.
Yep! Sounds harsh, but it’s true! I feel people should take greater care of their content and moderate what they put on their blog better – I know I will be from now on!
Yea. Me Too! It is so easy to just write because you haven’t in a while, but if it isn’t quality information then maybe it is better if we do not.
Reading a lot helps you to improve not only your vocabulary but also helps you to understand different styles of writing, which in turn helps you to develop your own unique style of writing.
Definately. I should have added writing style in to the list: anyone can write like a robot, but to write with personality and your own character really seperates the men from the boys, or so to speak!
For me good article is the one that is not rushed. People usually rush their articles so they can have fresh content in each day. I used to do that also. However, I changed my posting schedule to every other day. Now, I spend one day for article writting and other day for commenting and promotion. When I spend the day for just writing articles, I usually come up with 2 or more new content. That gives me few days worth of blog post and a lot of time to promote my blog. Basicaly the key is “NOT RUSHING”
Very good point indeed! I’ve personally never blogged for two successive days! Of course I do daily promotion, but I try and put that extra bit of time and care in to my articles, and if I did that every day I wouldn’t just not be able to keep up, but I’d also be extraordinarily tired!
Having someone else take a look at your writing is important for quality control. My best friend is a grammar nazi (worse than I am!) so he pretty much catches every tiny comma or awkward word that I can come up with. It’s amazing…I should pay that guy…
I think it’s important to preview your articles and view them as the reader would. Read them over several times and understand what the weak points are, and then fix them. Think like a critic!
Good point about thinking like a critic, but sometimes it can be quite hard to look at your own work like that so I think it’s always best to try and get someone else to do it if you can! :p
Quality articles, the downfall of so many blogs!
I think the biggest piece of advice is to accept that you might not be the worlds greatest writer, don’t be afraid to get someone to read it before you publish it.
I agree with John as well, reading is a fantastic way of improving your writing skills!
Yeah, John made a very good point!
Reading also helps you to develop your own personal writing style, which is so important for bloggers!
Like other articles your this article is also as important and useful as other are. Thanks for this nice and informative post.
Most of the time, I spend more time proofing the article I just wrote then I spent writing it! LOL
I’m not surprised to be honest; proof reading is almost as important as the actual writing part as it turns a lump of words in to a readable article a lot of the time
Dude, cool post. Thought I have nothing to say much as I am new to blogging, I appreciate your thought of writing this post.
Far too often you see people willing to write supposedly ‘good quality articles’ for a little as $2.50, and it simply isn’t true. The only way you can guarantee getting a good article is to either hire a very expensive and knowledgable company or write it yourself.
Yet again another great article
Yeah, the $2.50 articles you see will probably be from a non-native English speaker who just rearranges facts they find on Wikipedia.
I think the best thing is to write it yourself. That way, you not only control the quality, but also you get the chance to inject your own personality in to the post, and in my opinion that’s one of the most important parts of blogging!
I agree, “quality content is king”
Well I think I’m guilty for not posting good quality posts consistently. I still have that feeling my blog is just a personal blog although obviously it should not be.. Hopefully I can eventually improve it and become a better blogger.
Hey Melvin, i think your personal blog post has good quality too!
You don’t just chatter about your life, but sometimes also give some good point there. I love reading your article!
I must agree with ‘mytheory’ on this one! Whilst your blog is technically a ‘personal blog’, you do post some great stuff on there that’s useful to all! Your blog reminds me of Asnio in terms of the type of posts!
When i had my first blogspot blog, I used to copy content from ezine and used to put it on my blog but every comment said : I have copied content. So from then onwards I started reading about how important a content is and then later I realised I was doing such a big mistake. From then, I started writing my own content and Ableblogger is the result.
I’m glad you realised the error of your ways, Amar, as stealing content is one of the worst things any blogger can do. Not only is it unethical, but it’s actually illegal!
I’ll have to agree. With quality articles, the traffic and everything else will come by itself. With a little directory submission, implant a little SEO work in your articles, a little bit of this and that, everything will be great!
Though I have to add something, not only that your articles have to be, or trying to be, a ‘quality article’. I also believe in quantity as well.
If you can perform both, then that would be a win-win
Well i think content is a soul of any blog of site. It should be fare and clean.
I think the soul is a good comparison… or maybe the heart!
I guess quality is most vital factor to attract any visitor and make them your loyal reader. Nice article.
I visited your blog first time, I liked it and will surely visit often.
[...] question to ask yourself. Quality content is what makes blogs successful, as I’ve written in my recent post, can you provide it for your [...]
I agree 100 % with you – quality is very important. There is a lot of rubbish content on different sites.