Blending in and Blogging Out
What makes a blog appealing? What makes it effective? How can its content be presented attractively and efficiently? And while we're at it - what is does the word blog even mean?
All these and more I will strive to answer with this post - to both educate you, the reader, and to build myself an appealing, effective, attractive, and efficient blog. In this pursuit, I have scoured the very depths of the Internet to find both an example of a good blog and one of a bad blog. I'd like it noted, however, that no offense is meant to any parties involved. (so please do not hunt me down for criticizing your blogs, thank you)
BAD BLOG:
The Book & Paper Gathering is a blog dedicated to sharing information about book and paper conservation, which is clear only after deciphering their "About" section. From the title, readers (such as myself) might falsely assume that it was a book club. Granted, book and paper conservation is a slightly niche subject, but the title and home page give very little guidance to the reader to explain the site's purpose or how to use it. Having a clear purpose and organization to the site is a key element of good blog design.
Furthermore, most of the pages follow the same design as the one pictured above - simply full of squares linking to the articles. Though this is not a terrible design decision, it feels crowded and slightly overwhelming. A variety of both text and images would be much preferable.
A point in this blog's favour, however, is its organization. There are a of couple pages grouping together articles on similar subjects (such as The Infill, My Favourite Tool, and Conservation Techniques).
This blog feels like (slightly) organized chaos and confusion and it doesn't make for a very pretty site (if you'll mind the pun).
GOOD BLOG:
Who's a good blog? Yes, you are! I am aware that many of those looking at The Thinking Dog could scoff at it, thinking "I've seen much more attractive blogs in my travels out there on the web. And also, it's possible that I hate dogs,"
To the first part I would agree, though to the second, I would profess utter shock and indignation. Yes, this blog will not be winning America's Next Top Blog-el any time soon, but it blends function and beauty into a website that's easy to use without being flashy.
Its purpose is clear from the title - educating humans about canine topics, and the site is organized with an easy-to-use menu along the top. The titles and body text can easily be distinguished from one another and the page has a unified look about it (consistent fonts, colour schemes, formatting). There is also a good mix of text, images, and links to outside content. Past posts are neatly listed in a column along the right side.
All in all, it is functional, clear, and easy on the eyes.
These are only two of endless blogs on the Web and this is only my opinion. I avoided extremes when searching for supposed "good" and "bad" blogs to illustrate the point that a blog doesn't have to be unusable to need improvement, or doesn't need to be completely perfect to be perfectly complete. Many thanks (and apologies) to the good folks at both The Book & Paper Gathering and The Thinking Dog. (again - please don't hunt me down - thank you)
- A.M. Ham
