Building a Credible Blog
These days it seems everyone has an opinion. And with the advent of the blog (taken from the words “web” and “log”) it is now easier than ever to share those opinions. As part of your website, you might want to include a blog to keep visitors up-to-date on the news and events surrounding your site, or your personal writings. A blog will help attract repeat viewers to your site through its continuous updates. Continuous updates will ensure that your site isn’t something people will look at once then ignore. The big question though, is the issue of establishing a blog that maintains credibility and sustains a viewer’s interest. Here are some tips to help build and maintain a credible blog.
1. Subject and content: The subject and content of your blog should be consistent with your site. For example, my site is a personal site based on my political observations. I am tryng to attract viewers who are interested in the relationship between politics and the media especially. Therefore, it would not help me to create credibility to mix into my political writings musings about my life unrelated to the subject of the site. While you, the author of the blog, may find your life and the adorable exploits of your new kitten interesting, your viewers came to your site to see your insights on the topic at hand. Remember, your site will never achieve a high indegree unless you can attract people to it, or catch the eye of another influential blogger.
2. Multimedia: In this day and age viewers or visitors to your site expect an immersive experience. Back in the early days of the web, all that technology allowed was a page of simple text set against a basic background. Then, as the internet evolved, new tools and technologies allowed for the addition of new ways to view a site and different ways to add to it. If you are a music blog, try adding a box that cycles through your catalog. Keep in mind, however, that no one likes the Myspace-style auto-start music. If you are a photography blog, a separate section where one may just view photos would be helpful. Also, the advent of Youtube has proven indispensible to the modern web builder. Text may be interesting to the visitors to your blog, but a multimedia, combination experience is sure to enrich your message and help you build credibility.
3. Format: A credible blog shouldn’t look like you are mourning the death of Geocities. Geocities may have once been very popular, but using many flashy graphics and strange, gaudy colors is going to reduce the credibility of your blog. Keep your color scheme simple and use clean lines. Some of the most popular blogs are also the most cleanly laid-out. Use a template if you cannot create a clean layout and remember to incorporate elements from point 2 in your layout.
And most importantly, if you want your blog to have any credibility at all, if you want people to take your writing seriously, proofread. No one will read a blog riddled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.