Which Are Better, Short or Long Blog Posts?

Image via WikipediaWhich do you think is the better approach - short blog posts or long ones? Some bloggers, like Rick Mahn, favor short blog posts. Others, like Robert Hruzek, go the long route. Others, like Cath Lawson, mix it up. Well, I’m probably the last person who could answer my own question, because I enjoy reading all three of these bloggers. Here are a few thoughts on the matter nonetheless.

Short posts are certainly more likely to be read. Whether a long post is read depends on many factors, chief among them being how busy the reader is at the time…

Whose Smile Warms Your Heart?

Dear Writer,

Be in the moment.
Be real.
Say what’s on your mind.
Passionately.
Honestly.
Bravely.

Ask a thoughtful question or two …
About things that matter to you.
Right now I picture my daughter
Walking down the aisle and wonder
Whose smile warms your heart?
Whose joy brings peace to your soul?

Listen.
With respect and energy and love.

Respond.
With respect and energy and love.

Blog Design Features You Can Love

Earlier this month I wrote a post on serious blog design flaws, and got several additions from commenters - thank you! It seems fair to follow up that post with something more positive, so here we go with must-have blog design elements. Hope you have more to add!

What makes a blog beautiful?

Of course, standout blog design involves doing the opposite of the things we talked about last time –

• No CAPCHA, easy comment submission
• Full RSS feeds
• No advertising within the blog post
• Easy to find internal search
• Sidebar(s) on right
• Human identity, welcoming
• Subscribe to comments option
• Readable fonts
• Compact sidebar
• Readable, searchable archives (from Lillie Ammann)
• Good photo of…

Serious Blog Design Flaws

Here are my pet blogging peeves. How does my list compare to yours?

CAPTCHA. It doesn’t take that much time, but knowing there are other anti-spam methods makes this extra step a deterrent to leaving a comment.

Partial RSS feeds. I scan 100-300 blog posts in my reader every day, so I’m looking for reasons not to read them fully. Right or wrong, a partial feed is a convenient way to rule out reading a post. Plus, I don’t like being forced to click through. If I want to comment on a post, I’ll happily click through to do so after I read it…

Timing Is Everything for Your Blogging Style

When I was in sales management, I made a conscious effort to keep sales trainees away from veterans, or at least limit the interactions. The problem I kept running into - and it’s a good problem to have - was that the veterans were always giving advice to these eager new people. And though the advice was excellent, the timing was off. For instance senior reps would preach relationships, relationships, relationships. Nothing wrong with that. But the senior reps knew the products backwards and forwards. The first thing I wanted new reps to focus on was learning the products. Without a…

Is Your Sidebar a Salad Bar?

Patience has never been one of my virtues, but today’s slow loading Web pages - especially blog home pages - would test the patience of Job.

As blogging has grown in popularity, so has it grown in complexity. Side bars have become salad bars. Badges, banners, buttons, and widgets, widgets everywhere. Recommendations, links, awards, events, comment displays, stat counters, ads, ads, and more ads. Page loading has slowed to a crawl.

Singing the Slow Page Loading Blues

Now, I’m not trying to monetize my blog particularly, so it’s easy for me to be a sidebar minimalist. However, I wonder how many readers abandon…

Taking the BlogRush Plunge

Friday I took the BlogRush plunge. Blogrush is the new blog syndication network that promises “a flood of targeted readers to your blog.” Very good! I hope to be drowning in readers very soon.

BlogRush is aptly named, because bloggers have been rushing to sign up. The earlier you get in, the more you can take advantage of the pyramiding effect of its referral system.

For the most part, the Blogrush links appearing on my widget are relevant and of good quality. The BlogRush concept is good, and I get the strong impression that BlogRush will do everything possible to prevent abuse…

Blogging Tips by Lorelle–Read It and Reap

Lorelle VanFossen has written a remarkable book, Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, that is well worth the price for beginning and experienced bloggers alike.

In fewer than 100 pages, Lorelle covers every critical area of blogging–strategy, structure and design, content, writing tips, community building, SEO, blog management, and legal issues. She covers not only the what and how, but the why. I like that. And, her explanations of fairly technical issues are laced with a gentle humor that makes Blogging Tips highly readable. Fun and informative is a winning combination.

If you are a beginning blogger, her advice is invaluable. It will…

Does a Business Blog Take Too Much Time?

One comment I hear on a regular basis from people considering a business blog is that it will take too much time. While I wouldn’t dispute the notion that a blog takes time, the question is, how much is too much?

Outside tech industries, blogs are unfamiliar marketing territory. When a business owner or CMO says a blog will take too much time, I think he/she is expressing one or two underlying concerns–

1. ROI for a blog is doubtful and/or unquantifiable; and/or,
2. Writing every day is mentally draining, unpleasant work.

When it comes to measuring ROI, blogs are not much different from…

Bloglines and RSS Feeds

In the business community, one common complaint is that there are simply too many Web sites and blogs to keep track of. True enough. Even though we have a wealth of valuable industry information at our fingertips, clicking on 20 to 30 sites and sifting through them for new content could take hours that business people simply do not have.

However, by using RSS feeds and a newsreader like Bloglines, those news-gathering hours can be reduced to minutes.

RSS feeds allow the reader to subscribe to blogs (and regular Web site pages that offer feeds) they want to follow. Whenever new material is…

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