What Makes a Damn Good Blog (Part 2)?
We talked yesterday about what makes a good blog. Well, you’ve got content and then the design. A good blog is a combination of good, well-written material and good presentation. However, this is not enough. You can probably have great content and material on just about any website or even printed material. To make a blog a good blog you need something else.
No 3. Good discussion
A blog is supposed to be part of a bigger conversation—and this is what some would call the “blogosphere.” Sure, you can write about the good stuff and do this on your own. But without an open feedback mechanism such as blog comment threads, and without joining in on the discussion in the blogosphere, your blog is not complete.
That’s why blogs have blogrolls and blog posts link to other blogs. That’s why blogging softwares have trackback and pingback mechanisms. Bloggers talk. And other bloggers talk back!
A good blog joins the conversation. A good blog adds value to the conversation.
What? That’s It?
I’ll limit my list of what makes a good blog to three. That’s because I think these are the three pillars of good blogging: good content, good design, and a good discussion. Take away any one of these, and everything falls apart. It’s just like a tripod. If you think there should be more, then you’re welcome to add feedback—that’s what the comment area below is for, open for anyone to respond to what we say. And that’s what makes this blog a damn good one!
