Day 8 - Things that appeal to me on blogs
So I know some of this stuff is going to sound hypocritical, because I don't actually have some of these things that I've listed here (such as a search bar or video blogs). But I do hope/plan to... someday.
- A creative title and custom artwork - I love fun blog names and custom layouts and artwork. It catches my attention immediately.
- Lists, challenges, and surveys - Lists are my favorite! They're just so much fun to read. Challenges and surveys are great too, both to read and participate in.
- Reviews with ratings - I prefer it when people include a rating with their reviews. Sometimes a person's review can border between "Liked it" and "Loved it," so the rating just makes it clearer.
- Pictures and GIFs - I just started using GIFs because they're so much fun. You can learn a lot about someone based on which GIFs they choose, such as what TV shows or actors they prefer. Also, I like blog posts with pictures, even if it's just a picture of the cover.
- Videos/Vlogs - I only discovered vlogging recently, thanks to Hank and John Green (the Vlogbrothers). Now I'm always on the lookout for posts that include videos.
- Humor and sarcasm - I love sarcasm and witty humor. I'm drawn to books and people that get sarcasm, so it's only natural that I like to read it in blogs too.
- Quotes - Quotes are just awesome because they're another way of getting some insight into the blogger. The quotes you love and post say something about you.
- Non book-review posts - It's so much fun getting to know the person behind the blog, and personal posts or even bookish posts that aren't reviews are some of my favorites to read.
- Themes - I think it's great when a blogger comes up with a theme and carries it through the whole blog.
- Features, but not too many - It's fun to see features such as Top Ten Tuesday or Stacking the Shelves on people's blogs, but on the other hand, if a blog is nothing but memes & features, it gets kind of old.
- Fun fonts and colors - I'm all about color. I didn't used to be, but over the past year, I've really fallen in love with things that are bright and colorful. And I also love fonts that are out of the ordinary. I want them to be readable too, of course, but a fun font will always catch my interest.
- Review indexes and/or search bar - I used to have a search bar, but it didn't always work, so now I have a review index. It's really helpful for people to have some way to find your past posts.
- Spoiler-Free reviews - This is such a pet peeve of mine. I know I'm not perfect, but I do try to be really careful when writing my posts or at least including a warning, because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone. So please don't ruin the book for me!
- Full posts without "Read More Here" links - I know a lot of people are the opposite. They'd rather have the posts shortened so they can scroll through more, but I'm not really a fan. Maybe I'm just too lazy, but I prefer to see the whole post at once.
- Links to goodreads.com - If I think a book sounds interesting, I want to be able to look up more info on goodreads.com, or add it to my To-Read list. I know I'm constantly forgetting to do this myself, but this is just another thing that's on my blogging to-do list.
#5 <--- never seen those but I think I'm totally gonna look out for those! I think that's gonna be fun hehe
ReplyDeleteOh oh and #15! Totally agree with you! I hate going back to goodreads just to find a book to put on my TBR list and it takes so long!
Awesome list!
http://spicedlatte.blogspot.com/2013/07/15-days-challenge-day-8-what-appeals.html
Thanks! I especially find the links to goodreads helpful on Tuesdays, when I'm looking through everyone's Top Ten lists.
Delete#5 I'm not a fan of vlogs mainly because I don't always have my headset on. If you do have a vlog, its nice to have at least a brief summary of what's in the vlog so I know if it's worth coming back to later.
ReplyDelete#10 Features can make you popular, but they can also kill your current readers, so I agree that moderation is key.
I definitely agree about the vlog summary. Most of the bloggers I know who've done vlogs are pretty good at including a summary. I can't always watch because I do most of my blogging at work, so the summary helps me decide if I should save it or risk watching it anyway (with the volume low of course).
DeleteAshling I really like your list, I really love lists too LOL
ReplyDeleteDay 8 Book Blogger Challenge
Lists are the best! I think that's one of the reasons why Top Ten Tuesday is my favorite meme.
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