I wasn’t sure what direction to take my online writing recently. Was I writing stuff worth reading? Are the topics too mixed? What should I write next?
I decided to go through every blog I have bookmarked and list out the traits of the ones I feel drawn to, the ones that I eagerly await their next post, as well as the traits of the ones I find interesting enough to bookmark, but not to visit regularly. I want my own blog to be in the former category, so I was curious how its traits compared to these two lists.
Blogs that I genuinely enjoy reading have the following in common:
- the websites are uniquely designed by the writer themselves (no template or default themes)
- analyses go to a depth that many don’t dare to reach
- they counter popular perspectives
- they offer a perspective that may cause a reader to change their own
- they share life lessons
- they exhibit an intense attention to detail in everything they do
- authentic and unapologetic
- the people behind them feel human and it’s obvious who is writing
- they are not overly focused on a single topic, but the background they’re coming from is clear
The ones I do not feel drawn to:
- use a default or overused theme on whatever blogging medium they’re on
- focus on too specific of a topic and never venture outside that topic
- are trying too hard (to be funny, to be something)
- make frequent, small posts that take less than a few minutes to read
- post way too often
- have a poorly designed or confusing way to navigate the website (often because they’re trying to make it look cool)
- too professional
- looks like a web app
- talk too much about abstract topics or ideals that don’t manifest in reality
- set in Times New Roman
- too commercial
- too much like a résumé
After creating this comparison, I feel clarity on what keeps me coming back to certain blogs, and I have a better idea whether my own blog is what I want it to be.