Have you ever been lost in a new place and wondered what was going on? Ever tried to research something and found your way to a page that called itself a blog and wondered what a blog was? Well I did. According to Rowse (2005) a writer of the PROBLOGGER blog, blogs are a site written by one author in a chronological order about any topic, any virtual topic. This is a free way for anyone to talk to the world about what interests him or her. Then any reader can comment back to the writer and a two-way interaction can occur about the topic.
Blogs come standard with an archive, which comes naturally with the chronological order and allows readers the ability to catch up with any related posts that they are interested.
The comments connected with blogs, makes the blog a conversation according to Rowse. A reader can input their opinions or questions about the posts and a good blogger will reply to these comments.
As I started to learn about blogging, I have begun my research into what makes a good blog. I surfed my way to a site called The Backlight (2010). People judge by the cover, is the first lesson The
Backlight teaches. It’s true, I don’t know how many times I will decide to eat at restaurant just by what it looks like on the outside, and I’m willing to bet others feel the same way. If the site looks to busy, hard to read or even the colors turn you away, then readers will just find another site to look at.
Backlight teaches. It’s true, I don’t know how many times I will decide to eat at restaurant just by what it looks like on the outside, and I’m willing to bet others feel the same way. If the site looks to busy, hard to read or even the colors turn you away, then readers will just find another site to look at.
What fonts you use and what colors you choose can make or break the image of a blog. The Backlight suggests that a “normal” font is fine for the main body of text. It is important that a blog has good readability according to the KRONIK MEDIA website. They point out that fonts need to be big enough, have color that contrasts against the background, and have what is called leading or line spacing between the sentences and paragraphs.
KRONIK MEDIA then tries to teach that only after the right font, the actual content quality is important. If a blogger can’t grab the attention of readers and keep them focus on what information they are providing then their blog could die. A great way to make the information appealing and to keep a readers attention is a selection and use of images. Keeping the images standard and connected to the information. Also they recommend graphics and charts showing data helps inform readers.
Finding good practices from other fellow new bloggers in my class is a good way to learn from examples. I reviewed the following blogs;
www.hilarytalks.blogspot.com
Hilary, this is a great blog. I like the simplicity of the black on white background. The color of the headline font is light but still contrast great with the background. The photos you picked out are sharp, clear, and go well with the entry. Where did you get those? Are they from a stock photo site or are they yours? Keep up the great work. Have you thought about writing about your photography?
This is a very colorful blog Susan. I like the choice of the manila and gold tones. The black lettering still shows nicely off your choice. The one picture you used is a very nice sharp image. My main issue with the picture is I’m not sure how it goes along with your entry. The other background of the books was very distracting; there is a lot of color coming off the different shaped books. I think maybe if you had sprinkled some more media through the blogs may have broken up the long column of words.
http://hottalkfromthedesert.blogspot.com
Wow, you have lots of color on your blog. Denise I like the peach background, its subtle, warm, and simple. I think my main issue is your choice of colors. The first font color, the purple, is a little light and it blends into the white a little. The blue and other purple hue are almost a little to contrast from the background and become a little painful to read. Another thing is the words after words. Maybe you could break it all up with some different types of media sprinkled around like, photos, graphics, or videos.
After all of this research and market research of other blogs, I have started to take efforts to change my blog http://craigsgeeklife.blogspot.com/. One thing I did was researching and locating an extension for Google Chrome that will help with my editing my site. This extension, ScribeFire, lets me create a post, font selection, posting of images and videos, and adding related website links. It’s easy to use and works right in browser. I still prefer to keep my page simple which I feel makes it easier on the eyes to read.
My next big project is refining what I post about. I figure if I keep righting about a wide range of things it will be hard to lock down a dedicated base of readers. One suggestion I might look into will be creating multiple blogs geared towards my wide variety of interests. Some of my interest can cross over and can easily be posted on these multiple blogs.
References
15 Elements of a Great Blog Design, retrieved on 3 September 2012, from http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk/blog/15-elements-of-great-blog-design/2133/
26 Blog Design Tips for Non-Techies and Non-Designers, retrieved on 3 September 2012, from http://thebacklight.com/blog-design-tips-for-non-designers/
118 Degrees: Hot Tips on Communication, retrieved on 3 September, from http://hottalkfromthedesert.blogspot.com
Hilary Talks, retrieved on 3 September 2012 from www.hilarytalks.blogspot.com
Rowse, D. (2005), What is a Blog?, retrieved on 3 September 2012 from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/02/05/what-is-a-blog/
Young, S. (2012) Words & Phrases, retrieved on 3 September 2012, from http://www.susangyoung.blogspot.com/
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