Blogs are not like books

Blogs are not like books.

That might be stating the obvious but it is worth thinking about if you are a serious blogger. Even if you just blog for the fun of it, most bloggers want traffic to their blogs. Most want their readers to return and to become loyal readers. Most would like many visitors to comment on their blogs.

When you read a book you often start with page one and read right through to the end. This applies mainly to fiction, of course, but I usually do the same with non-fiction too. The obvious exception to this is reference books which are not designed to be read cover to cover.

Liz Strauss on Successful Blog asks the question “Do you think of your blog as if it’s a book?” She points out that not all readers come to your blog on the front page first. It fact the majority probably come via search engines and links from other blogs to other pages on your blog, sometimes deep within your archives.

For example, on my birding blog, the most popular post was written six months ago in April of this year about nesting behaviour of Blackbirds. The nesting season is now in full swing here in Australia and it has recently created a new flurry of interest with many comments.

Some suggestions:

• How up to date is the information in your old posts?
• How often do you update your old articles?
• How often do you return to the archives and rewrite or edit your writing?
• How often do you link to old posts, thus driving visitors deep into your archives?

Link:

• Blogs aren’t books – Not everyone starts reading on page 1 – this article written by Liz is worth reading.