Much has been said about blogs, blogging and bloggers on this blog (after all, it’s the Jack of All Blogs). And rightfully so, for there are millions of blogs and bloggers out there, but I can say that more than 90% aren’t worth much. Don’t get me wrong. I see lots of blogs out there that are so juvenile. And I mean this not with reference to the content on the blogs. Sure, you can write about kidstuff, but if you write about it well, then congratulations! Your blog is worthy of praise. There are a lot of people out there, however, who try to talk about serious matters, but are not very articulate. And there are those whose blogs are not very user-friendly. Some people have good points, but I can’t make heads nor tails out of what they’re writing.

So what makes a damn good blog?

No. 1: Content

You hear it all the time. “Content is King.” A cliché? Yes. But this is because it’s true. We live in the information age, and simply put, information rules! Without sensible, useful information on your blog, people will simply not give a cotton-picking minute of their precious time to read what you are writing. But if you know what you’re saying, and you can articulate yourself well, then you’ve got yourself a winner.

People will flock to your blog to read up on what you have to say if you do make sense, and if you do write about stuff that actually matters. Okay, maybe they won’t exactly come in by the millions, but if you have good ideas put into well-written blog postings, then you’ll be bookmark and RSS reader-worthy.

No. 2: Design

You might have the best ideas in the world, but if you’ve printed them out on a long, single-space paragraph using point 6 copy and a script typeface, then my first reaction would be to throw your masterpiece into the wastebasket. If you were an employer, this is what you’d do if you receive an ugly resumé right (I should know—I’ve thrown some resumés out the window myself just because they were ugly)?

It’s all about presentation and usability. You may have the best ideas in the world, but part of articulating these is by being presentable. Help people absorb and digest your ideas better by making your site readable and usable. Design your site’s theme such that people will focus on reading the important stuff (your content) and not on the snazzy style elements.

Also, part of being helpful is writing your content in a presentable, easy-to-read manner. If it’s too short, then you leave people shortchanged. If it’s too long, then it becomes too boring.

Hang on. There will be a couple more points, but since I’ve mentioned being too long as detrimental to good blogging, I reckon I best reserve these for tomorrow.

[tags]blogging, content, design, tips[/tags]

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