The 15 Day Book Bloggers Challenge hosted by April @ Good Books and Good Wine. Day 8 in the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge is about blog appeal. Here's a quick list of what appeals to me when checking out other blogs...
- 1) Easy to read - I don't hate the black backgrounds with white writing like many people out there, but add to that a hard-to-read font and it really can hurt your eyes. A page that's easy on the eyes is good for all--granted my page isn't everything I want it to be either.
- 2) Tips and Tricks post(s) - I don't personally feel qualified to give out in-depth tips and tricks, but I sure do love when other bloggers do. Share the information love.
- 3) I like participating in memes and I enjoy cover reveals, but if that's all I see a blog doing I typically skip it. So I guess the point here is original content, even if it's just reviews.
- 4) Cool graphics. I've got to say that I'm totally not good at this. Any original graphic on my blog has been created by my husband, and while I totally love him and appreciate him for doing this for me, it takes time and it'd be so much easier if I could do them myself. So I totally respect anyone who can put together some awesome graphics.
- 5) A rating system. I know there's a lot of debate about this. And I truly understand how hard it can be to assign a 1 to 5 rating for each book, but I don't typically read reviews of books that I want to read before reading said book--I don't want your opinion to influence my own. So if I can scroll to your rating that gives me a quick and easy idea of whether you enjoyed it or not.
- 6) NO CAPTCHA!!!!! I cannot stress this enough. I hate CAPTCHA. Especially if I'm trying to participate in a meme and am visiting and commenting on other people's blogs several in a row. It's so frustrating to come across word verification tests on blog after blog. Do yourself and your commenters a favor and remove captcha from your blog. If you need help, message me I'll be happy to assist.
- 7) Sites with their mobile versions turned on. I work, people. And while I do have internet access at work, that stuff is monitored. I'm not about to go blog browsing on the company's computer. I will, however, browse occasionally and briefly using my cellphone.
- 8) Positivity. So I know that's not exactly a word, and while I do appreciate negative reviews, I write negative reviews when necessary, and they definitely serve a purpose...just as much as rating every book 5 stars is not constructive neither is rating every book 1 and 2 stars. If I feel negativity exuding from your blog, I'm not bound to stick around. It's hard to quantify this, but I know it when I see it. If you blog to complain, then well...I've got my own problems.
- 9) Easy to find and multiple ways to follow. Each reader has their own preferences for how they want to keep up with you. My top favorite blogs I follow by email, but I can't follow EVERY blog by email because there are just too many. But I usually follow using a variety of methods so I can keep up without being overwhelmed. If I can't find how to follow you...well I'm not going to try that hard, and I don't like to be pigeon-holed into one or two options either.
- 10) Short to medium length post. I know I'm probably contradictory to this because my SNL tells me that my reviews can be rather lengthy. So I get how it can be hard to cull the information, but if a post or a review is too long, chances are, I'm not going to read the whole thing.
- 11) Commenting systems like CommentLuv or Disqus. This isn't a requirement, but I really do like how these systems alert me when someone has replied to a comment I left on their blog, and it's the reason why I added Disqus to my blog--I wanted my commenters to know when I've replied to them. Let's have a conversation.
- 12) Proper grammar. I know I struggle with this, and everyone has typos every now and then. But if your site runs rampant with grammatical mistakes, chances aren't good that your site will become a favorite of mine.
- 13) Opinions remain opinions. Obviously, we all have opinions, and that's exactly what we share on our blogs. Our opinions about all things bookish. But I'm immediately turned off when bloggers present their opinions as FACT or the ONLY opinion. When there is no room for someone else's opinion, I'm probably not going to comment for fear of having my opinion bashed.
- 14) A little bit personal. I like to feel like I'm getting to know the blogger behind a site. I love little life tidbits thrown into the blogs I follow. It's not my favorite when there's more personal posts and content than there is about books. Which leads me to my final point...
- 15) Focus. I prefer blogs that have a specific purpose. I follow multiple types of blogs. I follow home organization and cleaning blogs. I follow beauty/fashion blogs. I mostly follow book blogs. But I don't really like blogs that try to cover it all.
These are by no means "rules." These 15 things are truly only my preferences...things that appeal to me when I'm visiting other blogs. You should always feel free to have your blog be whatever you want it to be. It is afterall, your blog. Truth be told, I had a really hard time coming up with 15 bullet points.
What appeals to you when you visit another site? Let me know!
