We all have our favorite blogs that we adore. We subscribe, we follow via Bloglovin’, we bookmark. However you save them, we’ve all got them. On top of the ones we love, we are always on the hunt for more wonderful blogs to follow (at least I am). That got me thinkin’ – what do we look for in a blog? What do we either consciously or subconsciously look for when we are browsing blogs? What makes us go “Wow! Love this! Following!”
We all have different tastes and different things that are important to us. Below are the FIVE things I look for in a blog – or don’t want in a blog – in order from least important to most important.
*These are my opinions, please don’t hate me for them.
5. The importance, or unimportance, of design
The design is important to me – to an extent. It doesn’t have to be the prettiest thing my eyes ever did see, it doesn’t have to look like you hired the most expensive graphic designer out there. When it comes to design, I ask one thing: Is it legible? Does it have an itty bitty font that I can’t read? Does it look like a highlighter attacked it? If it does, I’ll most likely leave. My poor eyes can’t handle that. So, the blog doesn’t have to be professionally designed, just readable.
4. limited commercials, please
Ok, let me explain. I understand we all want to make money and ads are a good way of doing that, but I don’t like them all over the place. I don’t want to feel like I’m being sold something 24/7 or like the blogger only wants me there so they can make money.
An example of this is something that just happened recently. I visited a blog for the first time – pretty design, interesting content. I clicked on a discussion post and throughout the post, certain words were underlined to identify them as links. I scrolled over one, the pop-up said it was for something completely unrelated to books (it was for, like, kitchen replacement or something). I couldn’t get the stupid pop-up to go away, when I clicked the “x”, it brought me to a new page that said WARNING! VIRUS! YOUR COMPUTER IS GOING TO DIE! THE WORLD IS ENDING!!!! Ok, it wasn’t that serious, but it was one of those fake warning pages to get you to download stuff and made me freak out when it wouldn’t let me leave. Just what? No. I left the blog and haven’t been back since.
Please, never do that.
3. Keep it neat, my OCD can’t handle the busy-ness
I can’t handle when there is just stuff all over the place. Scrolling ads. Blogroll. Recent comments. Currently reading. Upcoming reviews. Buttons. Affiliate links. Recent posts. Goodreads updates. Instagram feed. Twitter feed. Two sidebars. It’s too much for me. It kind of ties into the design question, “Is it legible?” Blogs with too much going on are like walking into Wal-Mart on Black Friday for me. I panic, turn around, and leave.
2. Keepin’ it OG
This is about content. I love original content. Discussions are my thang. I love reading them, commenting on them, sharing them on my Sunday Post. Tutorials? Love those, too. Now, a blog doesn’t have to be all original content, I love book reviews and some memes as well. I just don’t enjoy going to a blog and seeing only memes or only blog tours/cover reveals. Where’s the fun in that?
1. Comment back, yo
“Why is commenting number 1?” you might be asking. Well, let me tell ya. Commenting is a huge deal to me. I make it a point to reply to every single comment on my blog. It may take me a couple of days (since I’m not on my computer every day), but I always reply. If I go to a blog and see they don’t reply to comments, I’m outta there like Lightning McQueen. No turning back. Why? Because if I take the time to read the content and leave a comment, I expect the same courtesy. It shows that the blogger doesn’t care about their readers, just their stats. Not cool.
A prime example is this: I recently went to a blog and read a post from 2 weeks ago. I read the whole damn thing, was about to leave a comment then noticed that the 18 comments already there had no replies. None?! Two weeks?! You can’t tell me that person has had time to post new content over the past two weeks but has had no time to respond to even one comment! It got my blood boiling. It’s rude to the readers and it’s a waste of our time.
Related: Let’s Chat About…. Comments: Replying, Liking & Memes
What are some things you look for in a blog?
Do you agree or disagree with me on my 5 “requirements”?
33 Comments
Excellent post! I’m with you on all of them, except I do have two sidebars (but they aren’t cluttered so I think I’m ok lol). For design-font size is a big one for me, as well as the background coloring. Blogs that have black/dark themes wreak havoc on my eyes and I run away. And original content is huge! Obviously we’re all going to have ‘fall backs’ that we rely on, like a favorite meme, but it seems like more and more blogs are only memes/book tours and there’s no originality, to make them stand out from the million other book blogs out there. I’d much rather follow a blogger that doesn’t post a lot but does more original content, than a blogger who posts every day but with very shallow content.
And I agree with you- responding to comments is sooooo important! Even a really short response shows our readers that we appreciate and care for them and their comments 🙂
2 sidebars are fine! I’m talking about the ones where it looks like the whole page is moving xD If that makes sense. Also, I agree with the dark coloring, especially if it’s a dark background with neon font. I can’t even browse it, my eyes hurt. I’m not trying to insult people who do have that, just personally it gives me a headache. As for original content, it does seem like more and more blogs I visit are book tours and memes only! I started doing memes because it was a way to connect with people, but I slowly went away from them as I started getting a hang of this whole blog thing.
Comments are seriously so crucial to me. Isn’t that the reason we blog? To connect? So it’s not even an exaggeration when I say if I see a blogger who never responds, I’m outta there. xD
I agree on most of these. I need the blog to be easy on the eyes. Like you said not that it has to be super professional grade but just not crazy colors, designs or illegible font. I like original content too. Not that my blog has a ton in the way of discussions and stuff but I try. Also, I don’t necessarily care if a blog comments back if I haven’t asked a question or whatever. I do like when a blog stops back by mine. Even if it isn’t after every time I comment. I am guilty of a busy side bar! I kind of like it though 🙂 Great discussion!!
Yeah, a blog doesn’t need to be perfect or have 100% discussions or anything. I’m not that picky, it’s just something I definitely will notice when reading new blogs. Also, same goes for commenting. There doesn’t need to be a reply to every comment – that is what I do, but that’s just me – but when I go to a post with 18 comments and none of them has a reply, it’s kind of discouraging. I’ve also commented on a different bloggers post before that had no replies, and they never replied or visited my blog. So, that leaves me thinking they don’t care. That’s just how I view it, though. Everyone is different. Lastly, you don’t have a crazy sidebar! I should probably include a photo of what I mean because yours is still organized and plays into your colors/theme. So it works!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I agree on most of these … I always respond to comments too, it’s actually one of the first tips I read when I was just starting out. 🙂
Same! Everyone is different, but that is something that is so important to me 🙂
I agree with these. Overly cluttered blogs make my head hurt..Iʻm always like WHERE DO I LOOK FIRST?! lol. I am guilty sometimes of not responding to blog comments, but Iʻve been trying to be better about that. I always stop by to other peopeʻs blogs if they leave a comment on mine and will return the favor by commenting on theirs. Remembering to respond to comments can be difficult with a very active toddler, haha. Great post!
Stopping by other blogs is also a great way of “replying”! I’m talking about those people that do neither! Also, sometimes it is hard to reply to EVERY comment and I understand that. Just when none of them have a reply? I don’t know, it just is weird to me. I get an email every time someone comments, I get a notification in the corner of my dashboard as well, so I couldn’t just leave it and not respond or even visit the person’s blog. My favorite part of blogging is the discussion with those who took the time to read my posts. It’s not fun to just post a bunch of stuff and never engage in the topic again.
“Walmart on Black friday” LOL. My sidebar is a tad cluttered I’m always thinking maybe I should delete that, but don’t. 🙂 And I know what you mean- if a blog feels like a traveling circus with stuff everywhere it can be a turn off. And yes about those crazy links. I see those on blogs and often on articles online, where they take you to some crazy place- HATE those! With a passion.
Comments and original content as well. I do try to reply back, sometimes I miss some but generally… yeah. If they don’t reply back it’s hard to connect. I am trying to do more discussion posts as they’re so fun, I just need to make time to write them.
Ah, your sidebar is not bad. Grace also said the same thing about her sidebar but neither of yours is what I’m trying to portray. I’m talking about the crazy colors, sidebars that don’t fit into the theme, lots and lots of things scrolling so that the page takes 10 years to load. That kind of busy-ness!
I’ve never seen those links on blogs! On websites yes, but never on a book blog! That was my first time so I was just like WTF IS HAPPENING?! I personally would never put an ad on my site, but that’s just me. Unless I was SUPPPPERRR passionate about something, but even then it wouldn’t really be an ad, but me raving about a product I like. So to see someone with that kind of crazy ad is just weird.
As for commenting, I know personally when the blog uses commentluv or the regular wordpress comment system I don’t subscribe to comment notifications because it emails me about EVERY new comment instead of just the replies to mine. So I have to remember every blog I commented on that has that, and go back and check if they’ve replied. That could be a reason people tend not to reply back. If you ever go self-hosted, I highly recommend Disqus (what I use, obvs). It only emails REPLIES.
I absolutely love this post! I agree that blog design and organization is a must. For one thing, the blog design catches my attention and it is its job to keep it. Everything should be orderly and easy to navigate. I haven’t encountered any blogs with TONS of advertising but I can see how that can get annoying. However, the most important thing to me is their content. Some people have some amazing discussions while others specialize in reviews. They are different blogs I go to for different things and I hope others feel the same way about my blog! (By the way, your blog exceeds everything on this list and more <3)
I love the way you put it… “it is its job to keep it”! That’s a perfect way to explain it! If I want people to come to my blog, I have to appeal to the audience WHILE staying true to myself. It is about the balance. Sure, I may enjoy hot pink with a black background, but will people come to read that? I know I wouldn’t!
As for advertising, that example was the first book blog that I encountered with THAT many ads. It was crazy! A few here and there in the sidebar or at the end of a post is fine, but throughout the post?! That’s too much.
Also, content is important! I do the same thing, go to different blogs for different things. I also think some of my readers do the same with mine since I talk about movies, tv, books and blogging help. I’ve noticed some regularly comment on one of those topics & not the other. Which is totally fine! Everyone has different tastes 🙂
Most importantly, thank you for the compliment! That means the world to me <333
This is a fantastic post and you’ve yet again managed to completely ‘get’ me (which is getting kind of creepy). These are all things I look for and are a big part of why I haven’t started a blog of my own. I also really value how much of the blogger’s voice/personality shines through as that really makes the blog feel unique and memorable. I love how you aim to reply to all the comments. It’s really ambitious but, I agree, it really does ‘reward’ people for interacting and engaging with the content. Can’t wait for more brilliant posts!
I love it! lol Great minds think alike 🙂 Don’t be afraid to start your own blog, you should definitely do it! It’s a lot of fun 🙂 Also, personality is important too! For some reason, I feel like my posts sometimes sound very drab. I think it’s because I’m a very straight-to-the-point type of person, so that kind of shows when I’m reviewing or explaining something. I’m definitely working on bringing out a little bit of my personality into my posts since it is something that is SO important! Who wants to read a boring essay?! You gotta add some flavor!
I don’t find it hard to reply to all comments. It’s actually my favorite part of blogging. I’ll postpone writing content just to reply (ex: right now! I’m already late posting a review today, it was supposed to go up at 6:30 AM and it’s not 8:30 AM, instead of finishing it, I’m commenting back!). But I do understand it’s difficult for others, like moms and people with multiple jobs or just anything else going on in their life. But I don’t think it’s acceptable to have 18 comments on a post just sitting there, unreplied, for 2 weeks! That’s insane.
Thanks for stopping by & all the compliments <3
I think I look for pretty much the same thing in blogs! I like the blogger to look like they’re into their blog, so I’ll be into it. If it looks like they don’t spend much time on it – then I won’t be inclined to spend much time on it either.
Tanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
Exactly! I couldn’t have said it better myself. Why half-ass something that you want OTHER people to look at? That makes no sense.
Thanks for stopping by!
Mmm yep, these are all the things I look for in a blog! I recently wrote a post about this, but I didn’t remember to include some of the stuff you’ve put here, like the commercials thing! I don’t mind if it’s a bookish affiliation thing, or if you have a small ad at the top for your Etsy shop or something, but if it’s something random and so out of the blue – I’m outta there!
AND YOU’VE ACTUALLY PUT WHAT I FEEL ABOUT COMMENTING BACK SO WELL IN WORDS! I know that sometimes I don’t comment back for like a week, but I ALWAYS will get around to it!
I mean, it’s alright if the blogger highlights that they’re on holidays for a certain amount of time at the start of every post after they stop commenting back, it makes sense, but if a blogger has a continuous history of ignoring people…I get outta there stat! I used to follow blogs like that…and they were just so UNSATISFYING! I’ve recently unfollowed them, and although I felt so bad about it, in the long run, I’m actually so happy I did – they were just a waste of my time, because I was wasting my time looking at their content, when I could be engaging so much more with other, more interactive bloggers!
Sorry for the long comment! Just, this was an awesome post, and I could relate so much! 😀
I’ll have to check out your post 🙂
I don’t mind a few ads. It takes money to run a blog, so I understand. But when 10 words throughout a post are linked to some weird ad that takes me to an error page, just wth. It was a cute book blog, too 🙁 Also, commenting is so important! Sometimes it takes me a while to respond since I don’t come on my computer every day, but I always respond! Even if it’s just a “thank you”, I want to acknowledge that I’ve read the person’s comment. I’ve stopped following at least 2 blogs because of that issue. It’s, like you said, unsatisfying when I leave a comment expecting a great conversation but there is nothing but silence. It’s rude.
I never mind long comments, by the way! I love them! So never say sorry for one 😀
Yeah – I actually recently stumbled across someone’s blog and I could not click upon a link without being redirected to a completely unrelated page! I quickly got out of thrre, to say the least!
YES I KNOW HAHA – look at me, responding 7 days late! :S
Okay haha – will keep in mind!! 😀
That’s crazy to me! Why would someone do that to their readers?!
Hey, a response is a response. Some people have busier lives than others. I’m a housewife, so I have quite a bit of time to come on and I STILL find myself replying a little late sometimes. xD
Oh gosh I KNOW. >.>
Yeah haha – I just feel like the conversation is sometimes a bit too stilted then, because I’ve actually had conversations that have gone on for 2-3 weeks because of how busy we’ve both been?
Yeah, that makes sense. That’s actually why I like Disqus because you can see on the right hand side the whole conversation. So, if there’s a time when I’m like “what, what did I even say?” I can just look and pick up the conversation right where it left off!
Yes! Typically if the blog is hard to navigate or requires eye bleach, I’m outta there never to return! Commenting is pretty important to me to. I try to get back to all of them. I’ll always reply on my blog and also TRY to get to all the commenters blogs to read their stuff, but it’s gets overwhelming sometimes!
I understand it is hard to get to everyone, especially if you’re a blog that receives A LOT of comments. But a few replies here and there won’t hurt anything, at least that person looks engaged with their audience. I’m kind of dumb when it comes to figuring out someone’s blog when they comment and DON’T leave a link back. Do you know if it’s in their Disqus profile or something? Because I feel bad, people rarely leave a link to their blog when they comment on mine and I would love to see theirs!
Yeah, to the left under the profile picture should be a link to their blog, if they’ve added it! I always forget to paste my signature that has a link to my blog. I think all my comments eventually lead to it, but I like to leave the signature if I can to make it easier!
Oh my goodness, I’m so dumb xD Thank you! Now I can visit your blog 😀
So not 🙂 I literally just learned this earlier in the week. There’s just too many different ways to comment.. someone needs to make a one size fits all app for that!
And yay! Ok 🙂
I look for most of these things in a blog. I can be pretty forgiving about blog design because If I like the blog I’ll put it in my rss feed, so I won’t see the design. One thing that I don’t like is when I see most of your post are spotlights, like you I want original content.
I’m not picky on blog design at all, just as long as I can read it. I don’t use an RSS feed, I physically visit each blog I like, so if it’s hard to read, I probably won’t visit it.
Also, yes, book tours, cover reveals, spotlights etc. All those kind of turn me off from a blog. Unless its a book I REALLY care about, but most of the time they’re for indie books. I like original content !
Hahaha I love your highlighter comment. I agree about the design. It doesn’t have to be dazzingly beautiful, but I just can’t deal with blogs that have color and words all over the place and 17 different fonts and numerous sidebars cluttering everything. I just leave immediately. I also don’t like blogs that are all blog tours, cover reveals, etc. I feel like there’s nothing for me to comment on or actually connect to the blogger with. Aaaand I agree about the comments for sure. If the blogger never replies to comments *on their own blog*… that just feels rude to me. Like you said, I’m taking the time to read and leave a nice comment. I want to know it’s appreciated. But most of the time, the thing that keeps me going back to certain blogs are the bloggers themselves 🙂
Totally agree with all of this! If we like blogs because of the blogger themselves, they need to comment back! How are we supposed to get to know them if they don’t.
Ps; it took me 2 days to respond to this, I’m sorry! I got sick 🙁
I have to say, i agree with all of these!
Especially the commercials thing. I appreciate you recommending me a good product or earning some income, but fake websites and overloads is just unacceptable. And commenting back is so important. I make sure I reply to all of my comments when I can and find it kinda rude if you don’t. I mean people are taking time to comment and read, give somthing back?
Original Content is something I’m working on myself. I post blogging tips, reviews etc.. But i’m also setting up a cool kinda interview feature to really spice up my blog.
And design. I work really hard on this. I try to keep it uncluttered and pretty, which I hope it is. It’ll never be as good as yours though!!! YOUr BLOG IS SO PRETTY. I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW!!!
Yeah, I’m okay with a few ads (usually one or two), but when they are EVERYWHERE….no. It takes away from the content. Also, commenting back IS huge. I stop following blogs if they NEVER comment back. It’s one thing to get busy and just take a while, it’s another to just not even bother.
Original content is a process. It took me a while to do MOSTLY original content. I used to do A LOT more tags and weekly memes. So, keep it up! You’ll get there.
AW 1. Thank you 2. Shut up, your blog is pretty too! It’s not cluttered at all 😀