What’s a Good Blog Post?

When writing online, one of the best questions I have come across is what is a good blog post?  I have a view on that, and it’s because of spending time working on this one.  Living a Life of Writing has  been up and publishing for nearly three years now, and I’ve found a number of good blog posts, and a number of not so good posts within this blog.  It’s about

This is a writing blog and the key to writing and writing well is to be able to decide which blog post is “good enough.”  Good is a hard definition to grasp for most people.  Good can be a long blog post that people comment on and you have interesting conversations because of it.  Good can be traffic, where you have a thousand “hits” or more. Good can mean that you have spent time on it.

However, the one aspect that most writers forget is the reader.  Before you ask for my head I simply want to make the point that what I see as a good post, might not be for another.  It has to be natural and not explode on to the scene as if I am trying to “wow” you.  It has to be useful, and follow the heart of why you are writing a blog in the first place.

I have put my thinking cap on and decide what is a good blog post, or at least one which is worthy enough to be put into a book format.  This is the basis point for my own definition of “good.” If I willing to publish it into a book, then it needs to be the best I can give.  Publishing a book is a lot like writing a blog post.  The more you know about what you have to offer to the people who read your writing the better it will be.

1) Something people have read on a more or less regular basis.  I use both the blog stats I am given, but also I get ideas from Google Analytics which almost always gives me more detailed information.

2) Something that I have had fun writing and learning about, and it showed in a my blog.  Writing, in general, is a serious business and it takes a lot of effort to both maintain and make money on your work.

3) Ones which have surprised me, meaning that I didn’t think they were that great, but with some editing they’ve gotten comments or constant readers.  It means I go into my stats and make sure that the time the readers are on it, works with what I view as being good.

And best of all…

I can write more on that topic beyond a blog post. It is not about publishing for millions, but rather publishing what is best for a reader.  Readers is what makes or breaks a blog.  It’s true that blogs died, and rise again, but it’s also true that it is because of the readers and not from the writer that this happens.