This is a guest post by Vanessa Burke from PollDaddy.com.
The number one reason most blogs fail is simply because they aren’t interesting. The blogger has nothing interesting to say, and well, it’s pretty obvious that no one wants to waste their time reading something they couldn’t care less about.
You don’t need to incorporate online survey tools into your repertoire to figure out that people don’t want to read a blog post that they can read on every other large blog.
They want a fresh angle, a new perspective, or just a different bit of information – but above all, they want it to be interesting.
So how do you keep your blog relevant without ripping off others and still drawing a crowd? Easy:
Be Yourself
Don’t ever pick up the opinions or even phrases of a blogger or personality you adore. You are your own person, and your blog should express that, even if you share similar thoughts and opinions as several others. You need to have a different perspective, because everybody’s life experience is different. Don’t be afraid to let your blog show that.
Also, there will always be a noticeable difference between some who is writing genuinely about their passion and a person who is trying to write about a fictional life that they think is more interesting than his or her own.
The most interesting life stories are not always the most glamorous. In fact, many readers would prefer someone who they can relate with and do not live a life shrouded in mystery, either, and will enjoy a unique perspective on everyday life. Write about what you know.
Be Persuasive
When you state your own opinions, you’ve got to back them up. By backing up your opinions with different facts or experiences, you are persuading your audience to accept or adopt your opinion. People like to have their beliefs systems challenged, and a persuasive post is a great way to get people thinking and posting on your blog.
That doesn’t mean you should be ridiculously controversial just to draw a crowd; it simply means that you shouldn’t be afraid to state what you believe and why you believe it.
Without your opinion or interpretation of facts and experiences, you are offering nothing that a reader could not find in many other places on the internet. It takes your passion and persuasive argument to make the post your own and to draw readers to your site and convince them to continue to return, which is the most important aspect.
When a headline is on the news, how would you like to have your readers’ first thought to be to wonder what YOUR opinion would be?
Be Informative
When you stay informative and consistently so, you become something of an authority over a subject. When you become an authority, readers are more likely to return to your blog again and again to hear what you have to say about whatever your specific subject is. Remaining informative and backing up your posts with hard facts is a great way to keep the attention of readers.
Being yourself, being persuasive, and being informative all lead into being interesting. People read blogs to have their opinions challenged or to find a like-minded comrade. They want to feel as though they are a part of a community.
If you aren’t yourself, persuasive, or informative; your blog isn’t going to be interesting at all – even if you are detailing the events of the most recent world crisis. So challenge yourself to be a little more interesting and experimental with your blog posts. You’ll be surprised with how quickly your blog traffic increases.
Top 10 Search Terms:
• how to make a blog interesting • how to have an interesting blog • how to keep your blog interesting
This is all very true I’ve seen alot of dead blogs where the information is just boring and plain. Being persuasive is key to catching readers eyes
Information always brings change.I think being an informative is great quality that a professional blogger must possess. Being a persuasive and informative you can motivate the readers.
The concept behind blogs is to share your skills and your experience. So it’s always very important to share your own experience except sharing what some other bloggers have experienced. “Be yourself” that’s what readers like and that’s why they prefer to read your blog instead others.
The best way to make your blog interesting is to be passionate about what you are writing and not just write for the sake of writing something. Another way is to let other bloggers write on your blog as guests because this will give another perspective to your blog and make it more interesting…
Also use videos and images to make your posts interesting…
Incorporating a few questions in your article can help you engage your readers. Ending up with a question can be used to encourage discussion and getting in touch with your readers. This would help you understand what your readers like and dislike about your posts.
Some really good points in this blog. I particularly liked the point about backing up opinions with hard facts. Too many blogs give off plenty of heat but no light. Citing your sources when you’re online is easy, so there’s no excuse for not showing where you’re getting your information from.
Thanks. It is the truth that way most blog are not receiving daily traffic to their site or called constant traffic is because most blog are not worth wasting time to read because the information is not interesting or the manner of writing make it so boiling for the readers to even wait again to take second look at the site and when once the visitor left the site it’s many not return to such a site and you have a life time traffic for life.
There is need to accept guest posts into your blog to help keep your blog a live an active. Guest blogger is the new easiest way to get your Death blog alive
That is so true. To be authentic draws people to you—you have a unique story to tell on how your creativity was inspired or what inspired you to write your content. People are so overwhelm with information nowadays that it helps when the content is interesting. Tell your story, and you will be surprised how many people are drawn to you.
Vanessa,
You make some great points here. many people have blogs or don’t repetitious because they try to push an agenda on their blog.People read blogs for personality. The first and foremost thing anyone needs to do to be successful is the pump a little personality into their blogs. Be yourself and be real is the first step towards being successful.
Some good points. I have a list of about 40 blogs that I like to browse through but I think if I applied the rules that you stated here, I think it would cut down the list by 50% because they aren’t consistently informative. Thanks for the article!