Some thoughts about WoW blog improvement

There has been a lot of talk about self improvement in the Blogosphere this spring. Quite a few of the blogs on my roll have been participating in an improve-your-blog-in-31-days event. Or at least they did to begin with, most of them seem to have dropped off by now.

The task that for some reason filled them with enthusiasm was the first assignment: to create an elevator pitch – some catchy way of expressing what their blog was meant to be about. Suddenly bloggers who usually write about whatever crosses their minds, thus offering an interesting mixture and flow of ideas started to violate themselves, desperately fumbling for a unique selling point. I guess they hoped it would make them attract more readers.

Now, there’s nothing bad about formulating marketing ideas and I’m into the area myself in RL, but to be honest, the idea to apply this on amateur blogs left me dead cold. I couldn’t help asking: for what reason? What are you aiming at? Are you hoping to one day go professional and make a living out of your blogging? I bet most of you don’t. And if not, why not enjoy the freedom of the casual blogging?

Of course, by all means, it’s your blog and if making a pitch somehow helps you to find your own blogging voice or gives you inspiration, go ahead and do it! As a long time reader of your blogs I must point out though that I haven’t noticed any difference before and after you formulated your offer to the market.

And even if there was a difference I’m not sure it would be to the better. I actually love blogs that offer variation, blogs that are like wild growing gardens, where you’re sometimes caught by surprise. Don’t you too find gardens with perfectly raked paths and bushes cut by the means of a pair of nail scissors pretty boring?

Two great tutorial posts
But OK, even a wild style garden needs some care and maybe some of you DO feel that you need some fuel. Especially new, inexperienced bloggers may feel a bit lost, wondering where to focus. If you’re one of them I suggest that you turn your back to the 31-day-thing, which I think is too general and commercial in its style to be really interesting to a WoW blogger. Instead I suggest that you look at two great tutorial posts written by two of the biggest icons ever in the WoW blogosphere.

The first one is So you want to be a WoW blogger? written by Pike. She gives an unforgettable example of what she means by good blogging, referring to the movie Mrs Doubtfire. And her short version advice is probably the best formulated piece of advice about blogging I’ve ever read:

Write what you love.
Love what you write.
Comment often.

I /sign on that!

The other post I’m thinking about is of course the one written by Daniel Howell, ex BRK. His post The Do’s and Don’ts of Being a WoW blogger is like a testament to the Blogosphere and a wonderful companion to Pike. Read them both and you’re pretty much covered.

Some suggestions from Larisa
Do you really need to improve your blog? I asked it initially and I ask it again. As Daniel puts it so well in his post: blogging shouldn’t become a work. Most of all it should be fun.

Because of this I hesitated a bit if I should offer any blog improving suggestions myself. Finally I decided to do it, out of selfish reasons. I’ve seen quite a few of my favourite blogs disappear lately and others have decreased their activity drastically. If I want the new upcoming bloggers to take their place I’d better give them a few hints. Maybe I can influence them a little to go in a direction I like?

1. Keep writing
First of all, I want you to keep writing! You don’t have to publish posts every day, but if there are weeks and months between the posts you’ll lose me. When I start to follow a blog I’m entering a relationship. There have been examples of bloggers who become stars overnight, but to most of us, establishing ourselves in the Blogosphere, finding our own voice and our regular readers is a process that will take months. It makes me sad when I see new bloggers, like Quiet Kjun at I quest alone, who writes a handful of posts, goes silent for two months, and then wonders where all the readers are and if he should give up blogging. Have some faith, Kjun! As long as you enjoy your writing you shouldn’t bother that much about the audience. They will come!

2. Focus on content
Secondly: I want you to focus on your writing! Yeah I repeat what I just said. Content is far more important than the looks of your site. Look at Gevlon. Look at Tobold's. They have thousands of subscribers, they’re cited everywhere, they have more comments than they can take care of and they don’t give a damned about fancy screenshot, movies and such things, which by the way are a waste of time and effort on many readers who will read your blog through a feed reader anyway. They focus on regular posting, providing me entertainment or food for thought. That’s why I love them. If you want some further ideas about how to write, I suggest that you check out my old ethos-pathos-logos-post. It’s still valid.

3. Interact with the Blogosphere.
Comment on other blogs, link to others, and throw yourself into the ongoing discussions that you find interesting. Don’t market yourself openly in the “please come and visit my blog”-style, it’s just as annoying as any gold beggar in Stormwind. But be present. Let your voice be heard so we get to know you. I gave some advice to Gevlon when he started out and it seems as if he succeeded pretty well, even though I won’t take the whole credit for it. :)

4. Keep your blogroll alive.
This is a detail and maybe a smallish piece of advice, but it really annoys me to see apparently outdated blogrolls on blogs. It gives me the impression that the blogger doesn’t read other blogs, doesn’t care and is generally a bit sloppy. Believe it or not, but your blogroll tells me a bit about yourself, where in the blogosphere you have your home. And it’s like a living creature. You don’t have to look it over daily, but give it a glance at least every month. Do those blogs you’re linking to still exist or did they die six months ago? Personally I’ll take away blogs that haven’t been updated for more than two months from my roll. It’s with regret, but nobody gets happy by being reminded of their absence. So when Zupa disappeared he also eventually vanished from my blogroll. Now he’s back again, and I'm very happy about it. But if he’ll take a two month break – he’s out.

And of course you shouldn’t just take away outdated blogs. Keep looking out for new, promising bloggers who yet have to find their audience and make sure to add them. Share your knowledge about hidden gems. You can link to the “big names” (I do it too), but don’t let it stay there.

5. Don’t let Gold ads invade your blog.
Finally: a humble request: try to keep the gold ads away from your blog. I know some readers don’t mind, but it really puts me off. I can’t stop thinking about everything bad that is connected to them, for instance hacked accounts. Don’t support those people. I generally dislike ads on blogs, but I can accept and understand that self-hosted bloggers need some coverage for their expenses. But if you need to have ads, make sure that they’re marketing things that don’t go against your inner moral compass. I don’t buy arguments as “they come automatically”. Follow the example of Matticus and work with selected partners.

6. Have fun!
This blogpost has now reached a length where it’s probably breaking any kind of thumb rule for blog post writing. And I don’t care. I had fun writing it. That’s really the most important thing of all. Enjoy what you do and the readers will love you. Just as Pike said.

But don’t forget: You don’t necessarily have to improve your blog. It may be absolutely fine as it is. Consider this option and let go of any stress you may feel. And for God’s sake, stay away from that 31-day program!