If you’re a blogger and/or a blog reader you have a pretty good idea of what you desire in blog.  Whether you’re looking for an expert, a comedian, someone to relate to, etc…  But if you’re like most of us you have limited time to make this assessment on a new blog.  You may already be subscribed to dozens of other blogs, have a few bookmarked and use social media to find other interesting reads.

Many of us are fairly in tune to some of the signs of a solid blog.  We look for certain signs right of the bat to help us gauge how much time and energy we should even put into it.  You may be in the small group that always just reads post after post, ignoring all other signs and then, after a while, decides whether they like it or not.  But I know for myself, if a blog doesn’t pass a few quick tests, I won’t even give it the time of day.  I’m not saying this is right or wrong, it’s just how my mind works when I come upon a blog for the first time.

What’s the question?

The question is:  When you go to a blog for the first time, how to you determine if it’s worth reading and/or subscribing to? (When I say ‘worth reading’ I am assuming you will read a little of it.  I am referring to whether it’s worth reading through multiple posts.)  What I’d like you to do is list, in chronological order, your thought process as you critique a new (to you) blog.

Why do we care?

The reason I am raising this question is not so we can rant about what we like and dislike about other blogs, but so we can see what other bloggers are looking for.  And not just the general idea, but specifically, from first sight to the time you move on, each critique.  I think this is very important information for all of us because if we have great content, but can’t get new visitors to read it, we are wasting our time.

Quick side note

None of this should scare anyone.  Nobodies site is going to please everyone or meet all visitors’ criteria.  I don’t want to create more pressure for new bloggers or make anyone feel bad about their site.  I just want us to be aware of the importance of first impressions.

My list

Here’s how I see a blog for the first time:

1:  The look.

The first thing I notice is the look of the blog.  Does it look professional, hobbyish, unique, cookie cutterish, etc…  I don’t put a ton of weight here (I’ve seen some great looking blogs that were really bad and some ‘bad’ looking blogs that were great and became regular reads.)

2:  The age and posting frequency of the blog.

I’ll get to stats soon enough, but without knowing the age of the blog, numbers are worthless.  I like to see if I am looking at a new blog or one that has had a chance to pick up some speed.  This helps me adjust my expectations appropriately.  (I just go straight to the ‘Archives’ page for this info.)

3:  The alexa rating and RSS numbers.

After I know the age I check out the stats.  Does it have a low alexa rating (low is good)?  If they’re shown, are the subscriber numbers high?  The older the blog the more these numbers matter to me.  If it’s a month or two old, I take them with a grain of salt.  (The subscriber numbers can be ‘enhanced’, but this is usually obvious when it says they have 20,000 readers and they have no comments on their last 10 blogs.)

4:  The amount of comments per post.

If a blog has a high number of comments on most every post I have to assume that at least SOME people are interested in the content.  With blogging I put a lot of weight in community and without reader interaction it is hard to get excited about a blog.  But, and this is a big but, if the blog is fairly new I’m not too critical here.  I know it can take quite some time to get regular commenters.

Another thing I look at if there is a high number here is the diversity of readers commenting.  If there are 30 comments on a post, but it’s fed by 3 guys having a back and forth conversation, I take note of this.  If I see the same thing on every post than I stop seeing it as a highly commented blog and more of a place for a few people to chat.  (I know this may sound anal, but it’s just how my mind works as I am getting a feel for a new blog.)

5:  I go to the ‘About’ page.

I like to see who the person is and what they’re about.  I prefer to see a picture of the person.  If they don’t show their face I am a little more reluctant.  What do they have to hide?  This might sound weird, but it’s just me.

6:  I check out their last couple of post titles.

I like to see what they’re talking about and how they choose to present their posts.  Are their post titles interesting, catchy, attention grabbing, bland, too purely descriptive with nothing to draw you in, etc…

7:  Finally, I skim through a few paragraphs.

I like to get an idea of the bloggers writing style and quality.  Is it clean and easy to understand?  Or is it too wordy and boring?  Not to say that you can get all this in a few paragraphs, but you can get an idea.

And then I may glance through a few more posts to get a more accurate idea of the quality and usefulness of the content.  And I may not even get to 3 or 4 if the first few impressions are bad enough.  So why do I do the actual reading last?  It takes the most effort and focus.  I don’t really want to become that engaged unless it passes my other criteria first.  Like I said, I have limited resources, just like any other reader.

Now this might all sound too picky, but the average blog reader is picky. If this new blog is going to be added to the numerous other blogs that are fighting for attention in my feed reader, you bet I’m going to be picky.

So what about you?

Are you picky when it comes to reading a blog for the first time or do you just RSS any and every blog you come accross?  Do you care about the blogger behind the blog or are you just concerned with the content?  Let us all know what you look at so we can have a better idea of how our blogs are being ‘judged’.

One final thought.

If you have a blog that’s been around for a while, doesn’t get too many comments, has a ‘bad’ alexa rating, has few subscribers, etc… you should not feel bad about what I’m talking about here.  The point of this exercise is to help EVERYBODY make their blogs more successful.  If you haven’t had any success yet, well, there’s no time like the present.  Share this with us and let us find ways to change that for you and start advancing your blog the way you had hoped.

Me In The Flesh

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