I find it hard nowadays to actually read through an entire blog post and find something that truly “wows” me. Apart from blogs like Copyblogger, Design Informer, Pearsonified and the Tuts Plus+ network, nothing really seems so useful anymore. And I know it’s not just limited to the blogging tips or making money online niche, but probably any niche out there.
Really, what I am looking for in a great blog post (and I’m sure you too) is authenticity. I don’t care so much what your 10 favorite plugins for WordPress are, or your list of 100 half-assed reasons why Twitter is awesome. Maybe these kinds of posts bring you traffic, but not the kind of traffic that will really benefit you.
Create content that is debatable; that people will actually read and stop to think about what you said. Combine it with a catchy headline and some great opening text and you can get the same results you would with one of those lame list posts.
This is Why There’s So Much Crap in my RSS Reader
It’s probably just not mine, but yours too. When I subscribe to a blog, I subscribe to it because I love the content they put out. It gets me excited and I learn something from it, so I want to go back for more. I bet that’s why you subscribe to blogs too.
But over time, even a few months later, it’s like the quality of that content just goes to hell. The content that a blogger used to put so much time into just isn’t getting all the attention it gets, and instead we see crap like interviews (which, let’s be honest, you heard one and you heard them all), product reviews set to make a blogger money and of course those long, not always so useful: list posts.
So you know, there’s no obligation to subscribe to an RSS feed so once I see things like this at too frequent of a rate I’ll unsubscribe. No biggie, it’s not like I’ll miss much.
What’s Effort to You?
So all in all, it comes down to effort and how much you care for your blog. You can lose interest in a blog for so many different reasons: lack of results, run out of ideas, a new project, etc. When that interest goes downhill, so does the quality of your posts.
A year and six months later, I am still spending 1 – 2 hours on every single article I write for this blog. I go all out to make sure the posts will not just benefit me and my intentions with this blog, but so they benefit you and you want to come back and see what I have to say at another time.
I took some pretty strong jabs at interviews and product reviews in this article, but it’s because I don’t really see the value in them.
Interviews
Despite the strong point Srinivas Rao made when he said interviews hold tremendous value, I just see them as all the same. Yes, they can get pretty personal but they’re not something you should do with just anyone, and you need to ask the right questions to make it interesting. A lot of interviews I see in this niche just don’t do that.
But because they are so easy to do, a lot of people go to them. All you need for an interview is a set of questions and about a half and hour to talk. Again, depending on the questions you ask you may come up with a great interview.
Product Reviews
I think this one speaks for itself, but these posts are just done for nothing more than to make money. If you rush too fast into trying to make money with these types of posts, you probably won’t make much money at all. It’s just like selling banner ads, it’s kind of a failed money making tactic unless you have an extremely high trafficked blog.
And if you’ve learned anything from Blogussion’s free From Planning to Earning course, things like this only bring harm to your blog.
Do You Miss the Value?
The point I’m trying to make is that quality isn’t always put first anymore. Basically, anything that takes up space seems to please many bloggers, but isn’t always the most acceptable to the reader.
Do you agree with me that more time and effort could be put into a lot of the blogs we see today? Maybe even look at your past posts, have you always gave it your all?
57 Discussions
I totally agree! But thanks to micro-blogging I think “real” writers can get the power back, linking to their or other’s and sharing in informative writing.
Do you think micro blogging is maybe what caused people to get lazy though?
I do! I think the less people begin to expect from us, the less we expect of ourselves. Microblogging is a definite reason for that. And the newish trend of the ‘tumblr’ style too.
Shawn Christenson´s last blog ..Why I Changed the Blog Name
I think it still depends with the targeted audience, microblogs are too succinct yet weak in terms of details, whereas blogs are fully-packed (mostly) with the information one is seeking for.
I still find 400-600 words worth reading these days, specifically to topics that I really wanted to know more of. The only drawback with this is that you’ll be obliged to provide more quality as you are building a reputation for yourself or say your brand.
I would have to agree with you Alex.
I visit a number of blogs, each have varying quality. Some have poor quality posts, while some have decent posts, while some have always excellent posts.
As a reader, I can immediately tell after reading which quality does the posts belong to. I see some bloggers just posting for the sake of posting.
But I guess this differentiates the poor quality bloggers with the high quality bloggers. I guess this would happen in any business. There would alway be varying quality differences. And I guess that would determine the success of a blog.
Nabeel
Yeah, the amount of quality per blog really shows through the content. I mean, have the nicest design around and promise “only the best,” but when it comes to writing content and you mess that up then your readers will see what kind of blogger you really are.
Alex,you are right.Sometimes,we bloggers also do some list posts even when there is content and list posts already from other blogs.I think that its time for bloggers to do something innovative and effective that really strikes reader mind.
Asad @ Blogger Templates´s last blog ..How to Add Facebook Share Button or Widget to Blogger Posts
List posts can work out, but the problem is so many people just don’t put the time and effort into making them useful. That’s my biggest problem with them honestly. It’s a great style of posting, and can actually teach a lot. But people just don’t make them the best they can be…
Alex thanks nice post. I say nice because it’s really a unique post. Anyway lets start this with a story once one boy asked his teacher, “sir, you are a writer and rabindranath thakur(famous banglai writer)
also writer. So i can understand your story but why can’t understand his story well? Then the teacher said to his student, “dear he write for us and i write for you”. Hope alex you have got my story. You may not don’t care list, interview because now you have become teacher like that story. Ask yourself didn’t you like list, interview and reviews types of post when you was student in blogging world. You know most of the internet user are not teacher they are student. And most of the Blogger out their write post for newbie. So list, review isn’t so much problem because most of the people find it helpful. Now blog like copyBlogger not for totally newbie they are for Problogger. Thanks
Glad you like it!
Cool little story, thanks for sharing it. You’re right, maybe some people make these kinds of posts because they don’t understand what real quality should be, but like you said: they’re still students rather than teachers. Hopefully they figure out something better soon.
I agree completely, Alex. Especially within a niche. It’s like everybody keeps telling the same three stories over and over again with no innovation.
I think another problem stems from the fact that bloggers get too big for their empires and move on. Not going to name names, but I bet you signed up for some of their autoresponder courses written when they were on the rise and completely committed to their bog. Now you’ve reached the end of that cycle and the occasional new blog post is either a review or interview to sell an affiliate product. Meanwhile that blogger has pretty much moved on to new ventures or something. You know there is no way they got that big with such mediocre content, but apparently the list is big enough to sustain them.
Kudos to you for trying to find ways to keep it fresh and original. The good thing about big guys getting mediocre is that it leaves room for young talent to supplant them.
Tammi
Tammi Kibler´s last blog ..How to Spam Comments- Alienate Bloggers- and Ruin Your Site’s Good Name
That’s the problem, I can think of a few blogs off the top of my head as well that have started posting less because they either moved on or just suddenly figured they could start posting crap. It’s a shame, but it’s up to us to always deliver the best!
Appreciate the comment, hope to see you around Tammi.
I don’t agree
I am sure there are people out there who need such of informations that might bored you but not the others, such as me, as a newbie, i need to learn alot and every informations are useful. Not everyone has knowlegde lever as yours.
I love to read pearsonified.com, Chris is awesome, but i don’t know how to subscribe, i could not find where i have to enter email address lol..
I like blogussion too nowadays, because the posts have been honest haha!
Kimi´s last blog ..Change Twenty Ten’s background- WordPress
Hah, I’m glad you disagree. Was waiting for someone to.
I definitely think that up to a certain point, interviewing someone on how they make money blogging will help you if you’re a “noob.” But at some point, it all just becomes the same. I guess that’s what I was trying to say, but you do bring up a good point.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hey Alex,
Another Great Post. I’ve to agree with you. I visit many blogs, many bloggers put same content with different design, one person even copied my whole posts
Lolx.
When i first started blogging, i did so many interviews and 1-2 reviews, but now i’ve stopped doing all this. I rarely do interviews and reviews, instead i work on providing great content.
Anyways, Thanks for sharing another awesome Post Alex.
Btw. I see many blogs with same blogussion design?
~Dev
Dev | Technshare´s last blog ..Technshare Reloaded
I’m glad you write about insightful stuff man, hope it pays off for you.
Yeah, there have been a few rips of this design. If you ever find them, feel free to submit them in. I love seeing how people trash my work.
Ok. Have you checked your popular post. All are list types post. So it’s proved.. . . . Anyway alex if one people just start blogging and if his targeted visitor is newbie then this types of post is useful. . . Isn’t it? But when you will cover those i mean if you pass one or two years then you should move on. . Right?
Yes, a lot of them are my most popular posts but they are by no means my best posts. I feel there are other articles that are more deserving of those spots, and I think some of them are pretty useful and some of them are just kind of…mehh.
Sure, these lists do help “newbie” bloggers, but up to a certain point it just gets repetitive if you put out lists like that all of the time that are poorly made.
Great post Alex. Though I’m afraid we’re guilty of lots of lists posts – they tend to be great link bait if they’re genuinely useful. The problem is blogging in a fresh and interesting way when you’re for a business rather than personally – when you can’t just have a rant
If you’d like to ever guest blog post for us we’d be happy to have you – always interested in Social Media, Blogging + SEO.
Natasha
PRINCE2 Training´s last blog ..How to use Foursquare for Business
Most list posts are just link bait though, I just don’t know if they can always be both link bait and actually useful all of the time.
Thanks for stopping by, I’ll check out the blog.
i went through problogger’s 31 days to become a better blogger and he said in his 2nd days chapter- WRITE A LIST POST….
to be honest, i did not understand that the activity a very successful blogger puts on his top priority, you are just discarding it…
let me clear i am not opposing you or declaring a war but still i needs a debate
Tushar´s last blog ..5 Killer Tips to Write a Killer Content
Haha, no problem.
I didn’t participate in 31DBBB much so I’m not sure exactly what kind of advice he was giving out, but I’m sure the intention of it was to just blindly draw lots of traffic to your site. That’s what list posts do, but I don’t know if the traffic you actually get from a headline like “100 ways to …” will be as good as the traffic you get from publishing a more thought-provoking article.
By “good traffic,” I mean those who visit your blog and possibly convert into subscribers.
Here is how I see this. We do everything that you mentioned above because it has been proven to drive traffic and in return make money. (this is why people like Darren Rowse and even many other bloggers, including Alex have done so) But, lists and interviews can be great resources for people only if done right with a good amount of value.
There is a time where really you can go away from these types of content and just go after pure value. And really that time should be every time. The time you start to weaken that value whether it be a list post or interview (because these can hold lots of value when done right) is the time you will find yourself not succeeding or just weaken.
So, we need to always deliver valuable content. But, we seem to fall in a trap when we write list posts or interviews where that value tremendously decreases. We can prevent this though.
Derek Jensen´s last blog ..I’m Changing Advertising on July 1st
You can definitely bring in a lot of traffic quicker with list posts, but the quality of those visitors just don’t seem as good as an opinionated article like this. Whatever traffic you bring in has to do something. They can either stop by, read and leave, or stop by, read and comment. Basically, take any kind of action.
If you look at the quality of comments in this article against pretty much any list post, the quality in this article (because it’s opinionated) is a lot better. So, yes, lists bring in a lot more traffic usually. But, it’s not always as good.
Just keep up with the quality and your blog will grow the right way. Thanks for commenting.
Am I allowed to agree and not agree?! I’m so confused…
j/k
I think you make a valid point but I don’t think it has to do with the style of the content (ie…reviews, interviews, etc.) but the laziness and complacency of the blogger.
A lot of bloggers start with a ton of fire and enthusiasm and put out some fantastic content (that takes time), but something happens along the way. Typically, they don’t see that amazing result following the above standard effort, so instead of continuing to push…they start to let the content slide by not spending the time that is needed.
Also, while product reviews are a fantastic income stream in my blogging, I did not start them to purely make money. I saw a need in my niche to have actual, honest reviews instead of glorified advertisements…so I went after it. The money was a side affect of the effort. Things rarely materialize if you are purely in it for the money.
Just my .02 that is probably worth .01.
Robb Sutton´s last blog ..Copywriting Tips- Technical Writing With a Twist
Hah, it’s a weird topic to write about. Like, I agree that list posts and interviews can be good if done right, but disagree more that they’re actually the kind of posts you want to build your blog off of.
I can’t agree more with your point about bloggers starting to put out less quality. It’s like, they work so hard to make the community rock and then when it reaches a certain point, just stop. Maybe the blog starts doing so well that they think they don’t need to put as much effort into it, or (and probably more typical) their blog just doesn’t work out and they quit.
With product reviews, you really need to be careful about how you do them. Like I have read some of yours and I know you actually put a lot of effort into them. You don’t BS us, you just cover the key points about whatever it is you’re reviewing. And I guess people like them so much, they buy the product!
But, I just see so many people messing up with them and writing them so spammy I just had to say something about them here haha.
Appreciate the comment Robb.
PS: I loved the tagline you gave me in your 30 most influential bloggers list that I made it the new tagline here (just in case you haven’t noticed lol).
I noticed and that kicks ass!
By the way…this post is getting linked up in mine tomorrow. You got me thinking enough to write up a complete article on the subject!
Robb Sutton´s last blog ..Copywriting Tips- Technical Writing With a Twist
Talk about getting real. Seems like 90% of “Blogs” out there about blogging and making money while blogging about…blogging. It’s some kind of weird feedback loop fueled by people seeking easy money that has to collapse at some point. I just hope it doesn’t take the “niche” blogs down with it.
Personally, I have moved away from using the words Blog and Blogger. Even though I am a blogger, I am still Editor and Publisher of an on-line magazine. Those are the words I prefer to use.
So I agree that the “…blogging tips or making money online niche” and others are full of repetitive content and structure because everyone is trying to do it the “right” way just like the probloggers tell them. It’s not an atmosphere conducive to the “do your own thing” mentality. It’s easy to have your voice crushed by the Admin side of things.
Wow, just had the worst Firefox crash. Just wanted to add that I agree with Robb Sutton too.
There are a lot of blogging tips blogs out there, no doubt. Yes, obviously I am in the niche but I really think that this blog is bigger than most others in the niche. So, I wouldn’t feel guilty about saying I’m in the niche.
I’m not going lie Jason, words like “editor” and “publisher” definitely sound a lot better and more reputable than “blogger.” So that’s an interesting decision I think.
Appreciate you stopping by, and I hope Blogussion wasn’t the cause of your Firefox crashing haha.
“Blog About Blogging, but don’t Blog Like You’re Blogging About Blogging”.
A line from the movie ‘The Rocketeer’ is ‘Act Like an actor but don’t act like you’re acting”. Seems to apply well here. If you plan to do any of these things, do it unlike you are actually planning to do these things. It has to be natural.
Shawn Christenson´s last blog ..Why I Changed the Blog Name
That’s a great quote, thanks for sharing that haha!
There’s definitely plenty to be said still in the niche, I mean it’s all about how you look at it.
Thanks for stopping by.
It all comes down to laziness. When they start throwing up lame lists with no benefit, they let everyone down including themselves. When I see bloggers doing weekly recaps, crappy lists and having tons of guest posts, I smell trouble brewing! The beginning of the end.
The trick is to keep it exciting, and to keep pushing yourself to excel. When you keep it fresh and new, you keep the ball rolling.
Yes, I used to do recaps here and they’re just so…pointless. I mean, if you want to see the content then just go see it lol.
A lot of people think it’s clever to make giant list posts and think it will help to recap all of the time…but really, they’re just not as valuable as a good ol’ fashioned ARTICLE!
Amen! Amen! Amen! I am a “seasoned novice,” having launched about six months ago. In the beginning, I got a decent amount of valuable info from a few blogs. But my incoming feed is, indeed, filled with filler – and it gets old. I enjoy your fresh approach and will continue to stay tuned. Thank you…
Bill´s last blog ..SAIL Your Way To Freedom – Part 1
Tsk, tsk. Why are you reading boring blogs? I don’t have time for such nonsense. I vet all blogs before I subscribe, reading several entries to ensure they offer quality over the long haul.
Unfortunately, nobody can deliver a perfect, high-quality blog every time. It’s against human nature. What’s important is the continued effort to produce high quality while recognizing that occasionally we will fall short.
What I can’t tolerate is sloppy writing: poor grammar, misspellings, the inability to discriminate between homonyms (your, you’re), poor sentence constructions. It’s an insult to our craft. I don’t care how brilliant your ideas are, if you can’t express them coherently, see ya.
I keep in mind the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech; however, it doesn’t guarantee anyone will listen.
Yeah, I know totally my fault for keeping up with them for so long!
It definitely doesn’t have to be “perfect” every time, but it shouldn’t be garbage either. I haven’t seen many blogs where grammar is the issue so much, but just the ideas aren’t anything that are so interesting anymore. But it’s not to say that there aren’t bloggers out there who write with poor grammar, I definitely see some when I receive guest post submissions here.
Appreciate the comment, Alan.
i agree! It’s just that much harder nowadays to actually post something unique, because there is so much blogs and blog posts out there. Would be fun (but totally useless) fact to know how many words are published online everyday.
It’s only as hard as you make it.
You can never say too many things about a topic, I mean even in the MMO niche I’m sure there are a lot of things that have been left unsaid (believe it or not). You just have to have a creative enough mind to come up with these ideas I guess!
True! And of course we continually have more and more to write about, lot’s of new stuff pops up everyday.
Nice post Alex.
I think some bloggers are trying to make a quick buck therefore will throw out any crap on their blog.
OR maybe we are getting so experienced as bloggers that what we think is useless posts may be useful to other beginner bloggers.
Glen´s last blog ..How do you avoid distractions
It can be for a lot of reasons really, but it’s a shame to see great blogs spiral downwards.
I now have 4 writers on Hot Blog Tips, and am concentrating on my personal site where I plan to release a product in the next 3-6mos.
Personally, I use a blog as merely a business tool, and no, I am not giving away my best stuff for free. So, while I agree to an extent about providing value, I don’t think a blogger should give away the farm to keep readers.
You mentioned lists being lame in your opening paragraph, but I don’t see where you elaborated on it in the post.
Keith´s last blog ..Instant Gratification Blogger
I talked plenty about list posts actually, I just didn’t emphasize it with its own heading like I did with product reviews and interviews. Sorry you missed it bud.
Really great post Alex,
This was exactly what made me change my posting schedule, I believe the internet lifestyle is not about you being compelled to write but about you writing only when you have great value to provide.
There are really great list posts and one of it is my recent post on 21 ways to get traffic to your blog (it went viral on linkedin,stumbleupon and several others).
I believe it doesn’t matter what the nature of your post is but what it helps accomplish, i believe all posts should give value and posts should not just be written for writing sake.
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..I Know what I am Doing- Do You
If you don’t want to write, you’ll probably post crap. So in that case, is it better to write or not?
There are plenty of great list posts definitely, I just hate seeing those ones with 100 bullet points and only a few words to describe your “point.”
I’m curious – you would be OK with it, if this article went wildly viral and you were never interviewed, nor your products reviewed, again?
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..You’ll Want to Read-Comment-Share the Following Posts ASAP – Please-
Hey if they were valuable, go for it.
Very very nice article to be honest! It is really hard and to be honest, i am also from those who kick away their blogs or try to make extra money by reviewing products that are never used by me.
I even got to use Adsense to make money. I posted quality posts for a week or maybe two but with less patience i slowly converted my blog into scratch which now has no value and its now getting dust and nothing else!
I think an hour or two on a single blog post daily is enough to get your blog running and getting traffic. There are many other ways that can help you make money but this needs time, dedication and patience. I hope i can get these one day!
Added your blog in my delicious account and would love to revisit it again so that i can even get some knowledge..
Well at least you’re being honest! Hopefully you know to do better from now on.
Can’t wait to see some more comments from you, thanks for stopping by!
that what makes blogging hard.. how to maintain such a quality is really takes some energy. but if you like it, its really fun..
rainer´s last blog ..Windows 7 God Mode
It is hard, but like you said: it’s also fun. Hopefully people can figure out how to balance the two!
I hate product reviews on blogs. You do not know aht to believe?
It all depends on how much you trust that blogger I suppose. Some are honest, which makes for a great review. But others will never even list anything negative about what they’re reviewing in hopes it will make the product seem better for some to buy.
Just be honest to your readers, but you have to be smart to tell something to your readers, choose your words carefully but still honest and your readers will applause you.
Reza Winandar´s last blog ..5 Types of Comments That Attract Attention
Wow! I loved this article. I know that there are some really great reviews posts and interviews out there but I resonate with the fact that most of them are really bad quality rehashed “stuff”. I am a bit of a perfectionist myself and I don’t like publishing something that truly doesn’t benefit everyone reading it. That’s why I take so long to write. (Much longer than two hours, by the way.)
I think that writing about things that have given me a breakthrough of some sort are the best kinds of posts.
All the best,
Eren
Eren Mckay´s last blog ..Frog baby shower party supplies and decorations
Boring… Fake… Lame… You’ve summed it up pretty well, need I add more?
I’m with you… Let’s get real! Just write what’s in your heart or what interests you most and worry about the rest later. Or better yet, don’t worry about it at all.
Julius´s last blog ..The Noynoy Aquino Government – Unity Towards Prosperity
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