I love reading blogs, always have, and I've learned that there are a few people out there who enjoy reading my blog, which makes me really happy! I think of blogging like journaling, only I have to be a little more conscious of what I'm writing so that I'm one hundred percent reader-friendly. In my opinion, nothing kills a blogger's blog faster than bad content. By that, I mean that there are many different ways bloggers commit "blogger suicide," at least by my definition. They are as follows:
1. Randomness
This is where the importance of finding a niche come in. The Lifestyle Blogger category is a bit broad, so I stick to a certain niche I like to call "fit moms." I blog about fitness and weight loss, but I also throw in a lot about Vaught and our little family of three. If a blog is here one day, there the next, then flops back to here, and it's just all totally random, pointless stuff, I lose interest quickly.
2. Plagiarism
This is both an English teacher thing and a blogger thing. Nothing kills a blogger's vibe more than to stumble upon a post that's clearly been copied from another blog, usually a bigger, more popular site. I can smell plagiarism the second a website loads, and it's the biggest turn-off. As bloggers, we get ideas from each other a lot, but I can't stand to see a recipe or an idea copied almost directly from another blogger. Smart bloggers know to always give the original creator credit when it's due.
3. Poor Proofreading... Or Lack Thereof
Again, this is an English teacher thing, but all bloggers can probably relate: proof, proof, and proof some more. The occasional misspelled word or lack of punctuation is understandable, but sometimes I encounter posts that look as if they were written by a fourth grader. I don't mean to be ugly, but there's no excuse. Sometimes I'm in a hurry to finish a post, so I'll slip up a little in proofreading, but it's important to always edit your posts as best as you possibly can. When I read a new blog with tons of careless grammatical errors, I am immediately turned off.
Agreed!!! I know I find mistakes in my blog here and there, but I read some blogs and the grammar is so bad it is almost unreadable!
ReplyDeleteRight?! There's a blogger I enjoy reading who's reeeeally popular on the Internet. As much as I enjoy reading, I sometime cannot fathom all the typos and grammatical errors!
DeleteProofreading is huge for me! I have my husband read through all my posts (either before I post it or immediately after) to make sure there are no huge errors. I know none of us are perfect, but too many mistakes drive me nuts. Giving credit where it's due is so important too!
ReplyDeleteUgh I need to proof read more! It's the hardest thing for me!!
ReplyDeleteIt can be difficult sometimes... I always tell my students it helps to read things out loud. We're able to catch things better that way!
DeleteI agree with you totally, I hate it when I see blogs copying other blogs as that should not be what it's all about. If you write a blog it should be from your point of view and your ideas :)
ReplyDelete