Blog Thinking

Of late, I have been thinking a lot about this whole business of blogging. In my previous post, Writers' Blogs and the Mighty PR, I set down my thoughts on a way for writers to get more exposure to their blogs (if you haven't done so already and you're a writer or a reader, please have a look at that article - it suggests a strategy that depends entirely on us working together and you are important to that). But my thoughts on this new medium extend beyond what it means for writers. Thanks largely to John Evans at Syntagma, all things blog-related are now grist to my mill.

The more I learn about blogging, the more I realize that I know nothing in comparison to some. As an example, John has pointed out that Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has begun a series entitled Strategic Blogging. This is bound to be a series that no serious blogger should miss - Darren has this to say about his earnings as a blogger: "It is actually difficult to put a figure on it because each month is different and overall my earnings are still on the rise from month to month. However based on how things are currently going I expect that this year my blogging (across all blogs and income streams) will generate a six figure income ($US)."

Strangely enough, the amount that Darren earns from blogging is not what interests me. I have never intended that I should earn from the blog, except in an indirect manner. But his thoughts on good blogging are relevant to all of us because he has shown that blogs can be successful in whatever they are intended to achieve. And, if we are not prepared to listen to those who have been successful, we merely make the learning process more difficult for ourselves.

I have seen quite a few blogs where pointers are given on creating good blogs. All include some important points but I want to concentrate on just two in this article.

Speed

Speed of loading is one of the crucial matters that should concern all bloggers. I don't care how good the content is or how pretty the design, if it takes more than thirty seconds to load, it stands very little chance of being read. And do not assume that, because it loads quickly on your state-of-the-art, brand new, kicking computer, it will do the same on everyone else's. There are thousands of older computers out there and they struggle to cope with things like fancy Java animations, movies, soundtracks, massive image files, etc. Let's not even think about the poor blighters still struggling along on dial-up.

I know that I mentioned this point in my article A Blogger's Lament, but it bears repeating. Think "speed" if you're at all serious about your blogging. And speed means simplicity (which is also good design sense). Forget all the pretty add-ons and fancy graphics; concentrate on having a clear and simple design and your blog might even be read.

Traffic Exchanges

Traffic exchanges are wonderful things for getting your blog presented to a large and varied audience very quickly. I admit that I use them for all they're worth and at least a couple of hours a day is spent in clicking through the exchanges to earn enough credits to keep my own blog circulating.

But let us not imagine that the exchanges do much more than keep the stats looking good; they increase the number of hits dramatically but only a tiny percentage of those hits will result in an increase in regular readers. For writers especially, regular readers are the lifeblood of a blog; without them, the blog will sicken and die. So we need to use the exchanges but be looking at other ways of increasing our profiles too (hence my previous post).

Lately, I have been seeing a few complaints that the best of the exchanges, BlogExplosion, has slowed down and is giving only a small proportion of the traffic it once delivered. BlogExplosion has explained that this is because they are currently introducing new systems that will result in even greater traffic in the future. Since one of their improvements is something that I was hoping for (surfing by category), I have to believe them and await the promised increase in due course.

In the meantime, it is worth considering the other exchanges to tide us over. If it matters to anyone, this is my assessment of them:

BlogClicker

Currently providing good traffic although it is hard work, unrelieved by any free credits or games.

BlogaZoo

Probably the hardest to pin down; I never know how many credits it is likely to consume in a day. Some days it rivals Clicker, on others it drops almost out of sight. I keep going back because of the good days. Occasionally it gives rewards in the form of free credits.

BlogSoldiers

Nice interface, good design, but small - which means one sees the same blogs over and over again. But it is very generous with credits and games - leading to more enjoyable surfing than anywhere else. Traffic from it is generally low but it is forgiven because it's fun.

BlogXchange

My flavor of the month, Xchange, more than any other, has been the one to save my bacon while Explosion has its slowdown. Traffic is very good, although it must contain many repeats since the exchange is quite small. Surfing is also eased by the possibility of winning free credits.

BlogExplosion remains as the champion, however. It is so big that it is the only one that can consider introducing surfing by category. And the games, such as the Blog Rocket, provide a means of attracting traffic beyond the usual surfing. We can only wait and hope that the new systems will live up to their promise.