...to me. What makes a blog interesting to me, that should read.
I think I had a blogging midlife crisis a few weeks ago; blogging felt like a chore, I couldn't think of anything to write, I questioned why I was even blogging in the first place, etc.
My original intention was to document my motherhood experience. I wanted something to look back on, maybe have my blog printed out into a book so I could read through it and show all my granny friends one day in my nursing home.
Then I started feeling like I needed to be useful. So I started sharing recipes. Honestly, I find those boring now. I don't really like doing them. Plus, after having my second baby, I'm lucky if I ever make anything while the sun is still up and I have good light.
Recently, I've felt caught up in what everyone else is blogging about. They're posting stuff that's useful and handy. But then when I really thought about it, I realized those aren't even my favorite kind of blog posts.
Because here's the thing: there are blogs that are awesome because they share an amazing recipe or they remodeled their house or just something totally cool. Something I'd like to scroll through and see for inspiration. I may bookmark their blog with the intention of coming back or pin their recipe or whatever. But those blogs don't usually lure me in long term.
So I got back to thinking...which are my favorite blogs? I picked a few out in my head and then I wondered...which of their blog posts am I usually most interested in reading? What makes me fall in love with a blog?
Here's what I pondered up:
1. Knowing the blogger. The more I know a blogger, the more I'm naturally interested in reading what they write. Not because I want to be polite and read it just because I know them, but since I have background on who they are I guess I'm just more interested in what's going on in their lives.
I don't mean that I have to know them in person. I feel like I really get to know my online friends by how much they share on social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram. Right now I'm really loving Instagram, and the more I see from a blogger/friend, the more interested I become in their lives (is that weird?). You feel closer to them somehow, like you're following along in a story I guess.
2. Getting personal. What draws me in and definitely makes me click to read the entire post is if it's personal. If they are sharing their thoughts on something (that definitely gets my attention) or if they share an experience. And this is where it helps if I know the blogger somewhat, because then I'm more drawn in to hear what she thinks or what she's experienced.
Basically, I'm reading to relate. I like feeling as if I just opened an email from a close girlfriend who is spilling her heart out to me or just updating me on her life.
3. Clean blog design. Okay, this one doesn't necessarily make a blog interesting to read, but if their blog is so cluttered and distracting that I can't read it, I'll never know if it's interesting or not because I will click the heck out of there as fast as I can!
There are some blogs that I just cannot read because the background is too dark or the font is too small or there are a million flashing ads or the page takes too long to load. Sad but true.
Clean, bright, big, simple. When it comes to blog design, less is more.
So basically...what I'm saying is...I like to get real, baby! As if I'm reading the blogger's journal or something. A journal with legible handwriting on clean, white paper 🙂
So many times I think "Who wants to read about my life/experiences/thoughts? I need to write posts that are useful."
But when I really think about what draws me into my favorite blogs, it's the ones who share their lives. I really am interested in the every day going ons, reflections, and memorable experiences.
And that's actually what I would prefer to blog about. I get that it's nice to be useful every now and then (especially on subjects that we know a lot about that others may not) (are you guys sure you don't want me to post about home birth or breastfeeding again?? Cause I can...) and that people don't want to know every mundane detail of my life, but I think I'm going to be okay with just sharing more of my life and thoughts.
Mainly because that serves me better anyhow. I'm not in the business of blogging for profit (I mean, it would be awesome but I want to keep it enjoyable and purposeful for myself first and foremost), so I really don't want to read through my blog years from now and only read impersonal posts like recipes or whatnot. I want to read what I was thinking, feeling, and experiencing.
So, lets talk blogging! What kinds of blogs do you find most interesting? What do you enjoy blogging about the most? What's your purpose for blogging?
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