Should Bloggers Blog about the Same Topic as Everyone Else?
There was some hype over certain topics such as “The No-Follow Move” and “[Insert Company Name] has Acquired [Insert Company Name]” (There was the Youtube acquirement, the PhotoBucket acquirement, etc.) Those posts are seen around so much that people start to get bored and a 30% chance of reading the whole post appears out of nowhere.
While most bloggers browse around the blog-o-sphere and knows what’s happening to the web, some bloggers/readers only know one or two blogs that are tech related, and rely on those few blogs to give them a report on the web.
Let’s take a look at the choices and the effects it has:
If you blog about the hype, “the hype” is a hype, so lots of other bloggers are blogging about it, and readers may get bored of reading the same things over and over again (unless you are known for presenting same information in a creative way).
If you do not blog about “the hype”, readers may be mislead into thinking nothing is major happening in your field. (i.e. tech), and when readers see the news on the front pages of Yahoo! and Google News, they will think, “Why didn’t [your name]’s blog have that?”
And now let’s look at what you should do:
- Consider your audience. If your blog is aimed at the tech crowd, and you want your blog to be thought of as the tech news reference, then do blog about the major tech news.
- Read comments or feedback. If you see your readers saying, “I don’t get what you’re talking about!” when you refer to previous news (i.e. “Remember the acquirement?”), commentors say, “What are you talking about?”, you would know that a part of your readers do not have “basic knowledge” or “other sources”, and you can consider also blogging about the major buzzes.
- Try it. You never know until you try. Read your comments for feedback on a topic, and decide based on that, whether you should do the same thing next time.
- Monitor your traffic. Take a look at your stats and remember your traffic roughly. If your traffic gets worse after you blog about a buzz, then that might be the cause of your traffic loss; and you might not want to blog about a buzz in a while.
- Find a new buzz. Another thing that could cause negative feedback is that the news has nothing to do with your topic (i.e. No-follow movement has nothing to do with Skin Care blogs.). In that case, you should find something else that is related to your blog.
- Ask readers directly if they liked the post. Is there anything more simple than asking directly?
Keep in mind that there are a lot of readers that do not give feedback; the percentage of readers that give feedback varies from every blog. The readers that do give feedback may like or not like it; but they may not have the same thoughts on the topic as the regular commentors.
Dr. George Moynihan is a professional Chicago plastic surgeon. He is a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
June 28th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
This is right: the blogger rule is not to “know thyself” it is to “know thy audience”
June 28th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Two Write Hands- Nicely put! Thanks for your feedback.
June 28th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Yeah, I think you have to know the buzz, but you don’t have to just regurgitate it. People want to hear what YOU have to say about it, so serve it up originally and with a lot of personality!
June 28th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I class myself as a personal blogger, and always have. That way I have established an audience who, whilst smaller than traditional audiences, are more interested in the things I am.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I think the reason a lot of bloggers write about the hype is because it’s something to write about. They know it’s newsworthy, and they know they need to post something to their blog, so it’s a win-win — sort of. As you explained above, it just may not be.
Letting somebody else do the hype is challenging at times. Just like deciding to pass over an opportunity on PPP when it’s really not in alignment with your blog’s topic(s). Being patient and true to your goal is what matters. :)
June 29th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Mark- Exactly my point. You hit a jackpot there. Points for you on that. :)
June 29th, 2007 at 3:12 am
I sincerely hope that people are not relying on blogs for news. Information, certainly. It’s a fine line, isn’t it? But since content rules, it makes sense to avoid writing about the obvious, unless you can offer a fresh, interesting, or otherwise blogworthy perspective.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:38 am
It is not wrong to blog about such news that are popular on the web such as acquisitions, but it is essential that the blogger provides his/her own opinion on that. After all, that is why people visit your blog. If they only wanted the news, they could very well visit other tech news sites.
June 29th, 2007 at 5:41 am
Most people have to remember that it’s not about them, it’s about their readers. Whatever we write, we have to write it using our own style/voice. I think the most important thing is for the readers to feel that we’re talking to them personally, instead of being lectured.
June 29th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Initially I used to write about the latest news, but now i stopped and concentrating on something unique for my readers. Nice post.
June 29th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Well I think that blogging does not only involve bloggers themselves conveying ideas and thoughts to their readers, but they also have to get to know the readers themselves! This is the most important criterion in blogging - get to know your audience well! I think the motive behind blogging about the “hype stuff” is that people want their blogs to get registered in search engines since many people tend to turn top search engines to check out new things and etc. However, I believe that each blog has its own niche - and each bloggers have their own style of blogging. It is not advisable for bloggers to keep blogging about latest trends and etc, since blogs are not really supposed to be news sites like CNN :razz: haha!
June 29th, 2007 at 11:59 am
I like personal blogs more than tech blogs, and I have a personal blog :P However, this is a nice article :)
June 29th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Emsz- That can apply to personal blogs too. I used tech blogs as an example. :D
Nirmal- Thanks.
teddY- You have a good point there. I think that’s true too. What makes blogs different from news sites is they offer their own opinion along with the news. :)
Brown Baron&Vijay- You two hit a jackpot. :D
June 29th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I think bloggers should write about whatever they want to write about.
Their chosen topic may not be the most fascinating - or have the most hype - but it could be interesting to some. And it’s something ‘new’ to read, rather than the same stuff on every blog.
July 1st, 2007 at 6:09 am
I always try to write about a variety of subjects and topics, to keep the readers of my site don’t get the same information rehashed.
July 5th, 2007 at 4:46 am
don’t go by the topic write the things for which you are passionate enough to pull the eye of visitor automatically .
understanding of the topic matters the most .
July 8th, 2007 at 5:16 am
No. I write about a niche that is hardly saturated, yet.
I talk about my twins and what it is like being a Mommy of twin girls.
I know there are lots of moms of twins in my county and all over California, but I have not found many blogs about twins and moms or dads of twins.