So, I was going through the blogs that I follow and realized that I follow a lot that I don't really visit. I don't visit them because not only do they have no reviews, but they have contests to gain followers. That got me thinking, What makes a good blog?Well, one thing that makes me want to look at a blog is the content. Do they have a subtle mix of reviews, interviews, memes, and giveaways? Do they communicate with their readers? I love reading reviews because they help me decide on what books to buy. A good review to me is one that expresses your feelings on the book without revealing spoilers (unless you tell the readers before hand that your review has them). I like reading reviews that tell about the characters, the writing, and the plot. Without those things, a book isn't really that good. Adding interviews helps me get to know the author and the characters a bit more. And memes and giveaways? I don't know anyone who doesn't like free stuff and I love the feeling I get when I win something.
Another thing in a good book blog is organization. Is there a place where everyone can view your reviews, interviews, etc? I've been blogging for four months now and before the second month, I didn't put my reviews anywhere. It took some time trying to find them and I think I can say this for most bloggers that not having an organized blog is the worst.
A big thing that pulls me into reading a blog is the layout and color. A blog with light colors and not a lot of pizazz is going to attract my eyes more than a neon flashing, bright stuff that hurts my eyes blog. I look at a blog for about 3+ minutes so if your blog has the latter layout, I don't think I'm going to stay long for fear I might get a headache.
And that, my friends is the end of my rambling. Here are some of the awesome blogs that I check out a lot:
Squeaky Books
The Story Siren
Frazzled Book Nommer
Oktopus Ink
G-Reads
Down The Rabbit Hole
-Danna
Dana, You know, (and believe it or not) I hadn't thought about this. But you're absolutely spot on. Thank you. I'd better go and sort my blog out now because it's in a right mess....
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas
This is such an honest and true post, Danna! I've been blogging a year, and I have way less followers than many who have blogged for less than four months, but the followers I do have are brilliant and interactive. I've learned to make my blog a reflection of me, and that makes it all the more fun.
ReplyDeletePS...I'm a new follower - how the heck have I never followed you before?!?! I love your site :)
@Sue Roebuck O thanks and good luck!
ReplyDelete@Melissa Thanks for commenting/following. I love your site too! I love followers who interact with me. Some blogs that I've been to say they "need to gain some more followers" and I say to myself, "What's wrong with the one's you have?" It's great when you get new followers, but when you bribe them to follow your blog to get free books? That just crosses the line.
-Danna
Aww, Danna! Thanks for mentioning me! Now I feel all mushy and happy! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I completely agree with a lot of what you've mentioned. There are a lot of blogs popping up that host giveaway after giveaway, and while that's great, you can tell those people only want numbers and followers. I like interaction with the blogs I check out - if I make a comment, I'd like to know that the blog host wants to have a discussion with me and will reply back. Too many memes are icky, also.
And oh gosh, too much crap in the sidebars is always a MINUS. If a page takes longer than 5 seconds (10 if I'm feeling generous) to load, I'll just exit and go on to the next. In a way, though, my mentality on that makes me wonder if people think of MY blog that way. I'm so self conscious about my sidebars, mostly because I haven't cleaned them up since October! :P
I just realized I reworded your entire post as my comment, when I could have just said, "I AGREE"! Haha. Sorry 'bout that. But... I DO agree! :P
AWWWWW, Danna, thanks for mentioning Oktopus Ink! You seriously just made my morning. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting such an honest post. This is actually a subject I've been thinking about lately as I plan for the new year and think about the future of my blog. Even though I enjoy the weekly memes, I think that many bloggers are taking more time to do them then they are to write reviews. I'm not saying this is bad, but I'd rather spend my time reading more reviews than memes--or at least, an equal balance of reviews and memes, since they're a great way to get to know the blogger. :) But sometimes it's hard to keep up when a blogger is doing a meme EVERY DAY. Then it's a little much.
And the clutter! Oh man, don't even get me started on the clutter. I find it really hard to connect with bloggers who have text all over their blog. If I have trouble finding WHERE a POST beings, then you know there's an issue. I know book bloggers are word-nerds and not graphic artists (well, most of us anyway), but blogs should have some focus and organization to them.
Bah! This is a subject I could ramble on about for hours. Anyway, the tl;dr version of my comment is: THANK YOU, and I agree with what you said. ;D
@Kristina Barnes haha I'm glad you agree. I try not to put too much in my sidebars and for the giveaways I think I'm just gonna add a page for that. Happy Holidays and congrats on the nomination!
ReplyDelete@Emi you're welcome:) I really enjoy reading your blog and congrats on the nomination! I hate it when bloggers do memes everyday. I think I do about 2-3 a week and then the rest of the days are reviews or author interviews.
I agree with the clutter part. I'm not a graphic artist myself, but at least I have a place for all my reviews, interviews, etc. Thanks for commenting and Happy Holidays!
-Danna