Bloggers who offer quality or clarity are most appealing to blog readers, according to the findings from a new blog readership study.
Of the readers polled, 51.5% said the quality of blog writing helps them determine which blogs are credible and high quality. But these same respondents were equally divided on the key determinants for choosing which blogs they read regularly – 43.9% opting for quality of writing, and 43.6% for topical focus.
Nearly forty per cent believe that an author’s reputation drives perceived credibility. Frequency of posting and site design also drive what is perceived as a high quality blog.
The study, conducted by online market research service Vizu Answers and Advertising Age, also found that 32.5% of blog readers read for education and information, and 12.3% for work. A huge 65.7% read for entertainment, and 42.5% for personal interest and hobbies. The majority of people who read blogs for professional purposes use them as tools to track information, while 27.3% use blogs to track trends.
Meanwhile, keeping all these info-hungry blog readers happy is busy work – bloggers rack up 1.6 million posts per day. Technorati says it’s tracking more than 70 million blogs, with more than 175,000 new blogs arriving on the scene every day.
Demand is clearly fuelling this frenzy. Just over 30 per cent of blog readers read more than three blogs regularly, and of the blogs they read most often, 68.3% said they read them daily.
So how do you get on a reader’s daily radar?
When asked how they find the blogs they read, 67.3% follow links from other blogs. And, not surprisingly, recommendations on blogs (22.9%) are ranked higher than finding links on search engines (19.6%).
So the message for bloggers is clear: offer quality writing, or make your point clearly. Do both and your readers will be in blog heaven!
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Source: www.MediaPost.com
The scrappy entrepreneurs in us say thanks for the press. The data geek/policy wonks in us say thanks for soaking up the numbers and putting them to good use. Well done.
The scrappy entrepreneurs and data geek/policy wonks (love it!) are all very welcome. I like your concept – great idea.
Cheers/Danielle
Danielle,
In your reading, did the survey ask how many readers actively participated in blogging by posting or commenting? And want motivated them to do so?
Ed
Ah yes, getting other bloggers to list us in the blogroll. That’s not always as easy as it sounds, I’ve learned, although I ask much more now than I used to.
I write a very niche blog about the aviation industry.
Although we talk about business marketing quite a bit, as well as comment on industry news, I have found it much more difficult to get any of the business blogs to link to Jetwhine.com
Any ideas?
Well Rob, that comment you left just bought you single link but I find the most effective way to get people to link to you in their blogrolls, is to be friendly and comment on lots of their posts.
Also, Michael Pollock, the designer of this blog wrote a great post on how to get popular bloggers to link to you, check it out here:
http://www.solostream.com/2006/08/14/top-10-ways-to-get-a-technorati-top-100-blogger-to-link-to-your-blog-or-website/
I haven’t really followed it too much as I’m not hung up about getting links to my blog but that’s not to say I don’t think you should give it a go. By all means try it out and see how it works.
Happy Easter by the way Rob.
From both of your comments Danielle and Robert, it sounds like I’ve been talking to some of the right people … besides you folks of course.
Michael Pollock successfully designed Jetwhine in spite of all my help and I’ve been a subscriber to Yaro’s blog for a few months.
What it seems like you’re trying to tell me is to make my blog work the old fashion way … by getting out in the world and meeting other people.
I’ve actually begun setting aside some time a few days each week to wander around and comment on other blogs. I agree it is probably the best way to go for the gold.
But that Jetroar name … where were you six months ago when we were trying to figure out what to call this thing?
And BTW, I did try reading Michael Pollock’s 10 ways to get noticed, but they all require that I connect with famous people, which is of course, what I thought I was doing here!
Seriously, Micahel did a really nice job on this site.
I’m always surprised at the number of people who seem to miss the importance of some sort of visual appeal to their blog.
Hi Ed,
That’s a great question, but unfortunately, no, I didn’t come acros any data about the number of readers who actively participate by commenting, and what factors motivate them to do so. That would be very interesting to know! Perhaps this could be the basis for a new study? ~Danielle
Hi Rob,
Well, that’s an interesting niche blog you’ve got there. My father was a pilot, so I know how passionate you guys are about all things aviation! 🙂
Linking and so forth is really not my forte, so thanx heaps for coming in with some suggestions Robert!!
The only thing I can suggest Rob is to read Yaro Starak’s blog http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com (an excellent source of info), and sign up for his Blog Traffic Tips newsletter, if you haven’t already done so. Yaro’s an internet guru, and also owns this site.
In the meantime, I know someone in the aviation industry who might be interested in your blog, so I’ll pass your details along.
Best wishes,
Danielle
P.S. Maybe you could call it Jetroar!!
You may want to check your post(s) in Mozilla…there are a number of strange characters showing up. Likely you write in Word and cut and paste into the post. If you want to write elsewhere first, Notepad is the way to avoid this.
Blog readers want writers who pay attention to the details.
I take it this last post must be spam? Makes no sense to me.
No. It’s not spam. There are weird characters showing up in the article in my browser. I just thought she would want to know.
My apologies Hot Coffee Girl – I’m a tea guy myself. Typical response heh! It looks fine to me so it must be fine for everyone.
Seriously though I’m not seeing anything unusual in IE. Or are you talking about the original post from Danielle? I do see some junk in that. I’ve run across that when people cut and paste from a Mac.
Are you a blogger too?
Yeah, I think this happened when we moved the site to another server. I just hope it doesn’t revert if we ever have to restore a backup.
Danielle-
Coffee bad?! Yikes. I am really in trouble. 😉
Thanks for your reply…I only know about the error because I’ve been there myself…and am a little nitpicky myself. Not that you hadn’t noticed.
Keep up the great writing. I am sharing your post with some of my co-workers as an example of good tips on social media, btw. (Yes, I work for an ad agency. Don’t hold it against me. Ha ha.)
Thanks Hot Coffee Girl. Apologies for the delay, I’ve been away at a seminar. No, I don’t cut and paste from Word, I use Notepad. The reason you’re seeing some funny symbols is that sometimes when they do maintenance on the site, for some reason it corrupts or “disrupts” some of the posts, specifically characters such as dashes and apostrophes, and replaces them with weird symbols. (If you have a flick around the site you’ll see this in a few articles.) Actually, being a nitpicking pedantic little perfectionist I’m normally pretty good at paying attention to detail 🙂 – but I have no control over the system throwing a wobbly. I do however appreciate how annoying it can be to read, so I went back into WordPress and cleaned it up. All better now.
Btw, assuming you are a coffee drinker, it really is true that it’s not good for you. In fact, some would go so far as to say it’s a poison. And being a nitpicking pedantic little health nut, I just thought I’d mention that!
Hiya Rob – tea is definitely a healthier option – especially herbal teas …I bet you’re just crazy about those 🙂
Cheers/Danielle
No dramas Rob, we’ll live 🙂
Thanks very much for the compliment Ms Java 🙂 …I’m really glad you found it useful. And yeah all this technology is wonderful, but you never know when the next trick is coming!
Yes, sadly the verdict is in and coffee is guilty as charged. A tragedy indeed. Maybe have the occasional tea instead 🙂 I heard of Oolong tea the other day – not sure if it tastes any good but it sounds like fun!
This article actually gives a good insight specially for people new to the blogging culture. I was looking at some magic bullet solutions when i started writing my blog and realized that the focus has to continue on the content and specially when I am writing on a topic thats spoken by generally most of the people in the business world .. e-business. Hence I really feel that best way would be to get into some quality blogs and read about things and keep writing on my blog some quality content 🙂
Cheers
Blog Readers are loyal and want to be entertained….. Most readers read the same blogs regularly…. Although the readership of blogs has increased exponentially in just a few short years, most readers indicated that they used blogs as a tracking tool as opposed to a research tool…. The biggest blogs on the web aren’t places readers go to find ways to spend money….