web counter

Reluctant Readers: Content Is King, But . . . I’m Too Tired to Read

Filed Under Content, Design, Successful Blog | 8 Comments

What This Is Not: This is NOT a design critique. It doesn’t take into account, the elegance, usability, great content, SEO, or revenue values of the fabulous blog discussed here: Read/WriteWeb, which is one of my favorite reads.

What This Is: It’s an exercise in point of view, how readers look at things. It also only addresses one value — how folks read. I choose a great blog to illustrate that even the greatest blog can challenge the patience of a tired, reluctant reader.

We’re All Reluctant Readers

reluctant readers

In literacy education, there’s a euphemism, RELUCTANT READERS. That term is meant to name adults and children who come to print after having failed at learning to read. They come with specific needs. It’s hard to catch and keep their attention. Most educators use the term to identify folks who read below the level of the average population.

I use the term more literally. I think, at times we’re all reluctant readers — no matter how strong our skills are. Any time we have to read when we’re out of steam, we become reluctant readers — even if it’s our favorite topic. Then there are the times when we just aren’t interested. we’re definitely reluctant readers at those times too.

If you question that you’re ever been a reluctant reader, try this — pick up a legal document you don’t care about, and dig in for entertainment. . . . Bet you’ll wish for some pictures and some subheads.

Serving and Being a Reluctant Reader

Last night I was a reluctant reader. I decided to go with it. I looked at pages as an a naive, intelligent customer. My quest was to see when the page made it hard for me to read the content. What I found was that the question of supporting reluctant readers is only one value.

Beautiful blogs have many values.

Here’s a page from Read/WriteWeb, a blog I read regularly. This particular page features a post on Web Previews. The screen shots that follow tell the story.

Read/WriteWeb: the page full width.

Read WriteWeb with Ads thumbnail 2

Read/WriteWeb: same page main text only.

Read WriteWeb without Ads

To get the fullest effect, visit the Read/WriteWeb page itself.

Feeds are a moot point in this discussion. Readers can’t see the ads, but they also can’t respond to them. Some questions to consider about folks who see the whole page:

  • Where does your eye want to spend it’s time?
  • Would you call this choosing for the reader?
  • Could design tweaks increase readership, without sacrificing revenues?
  • Is content king on this page? How would you order the elements by importance as you take the page in visually?

Read/WriteWeb is an excellent blog. with great content, great design, and a loyal readerhip. They’re in a business that is sponsored by advertising. That’s what lead me to realize that accessing the content has to be a partnership between the blog and the reader. Each has a part to make the experience work effectively.

What do you see that supports a reluctant reader? What might you do to draw that reader into the content?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Frosted Mini-Wheats Design that Hooks Readers
Great Find: Is Your Design C.R.A.P.?
The “Got Milk?” Man, Chartreuse, & Liz Singing in Harmony

Tags: , , ,

Share This

SOB Business Cafe 10-20-06

Filed Under Great Finds, Successful Blog | 18 Comments

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are



Brain Based Business wants everyone to know migraine isn’t about stress.

A Migraine Alters Your Brain



Nektros wants the emperor to wear decent clothes.

What You Write Is Important But



Tech Buzz reports on a clever scheme that mashes a click exchange with the 80/20 rule to game the traffic at Digg.

Spike the Vote - A bulletproof way to cheqt Digg



TechZonline didn’t miss a step in getting to know his way around.

I didn't stumble upon stumbleupon.com



Writing, Clear and Simple explains how some reporters only offer half of the information they should.

Creeping passive voice in public discourse



Shards of Consciousness answers a question as basic as day and night.

Why We Sleep



Small Dogs Paradise offers sound advice — perfect information for sharing with kids who will be out this Halloween.

How to Avoid Being Attacked by Dogs

Related ala carte selections include



Christine Kane offers 10 ways to stop choosing disaster.

10 Ways to Set a Powerful Intent



Success CREEations is letting the world know the past doesn’t have to predict the future.

Putting the World on Notice

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Share This

Blog Design Checklist

Filed Under Audience, Blog Review, Checklists, Design, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

A successful blogger is always asking the question, How does this serve my readers?

To many of us design is the fun and “creative” part of building our blog, talking and tweaking design can take up more time than writing content–if we let it. A checklist can help keep my creativity at uptimum levels and keep my focus on how my choices will ensure my readers enjoy their stay well enough to return again and again.

Blog Design Checklist.

      1. Title and Subtitle: Are they here? Are they clear? Could any reader understand what they mean? Turn off the blinkers, the sliders and slinkers. They distract me when I’m trying to read your post.

      2. Bio: Can I find it? Does it tell enough about you that I feel a connection with the person behind the screen? Did you give me a way to contact you, if I have a genuine reason to? Is there a photo, or at least a visual, there to represent you?

      3. Fonts/Text: Are they readable? Are there too many? too few? Are they in readable colors? Is there moving, blinking, twinkling text to distract me and annoy me? When it comes to color, size, and number less is always more.

      4. Comments/Permalinks/Trackbacks/Email: I expect to find these after the post? Please don’t get creative and make me look all over to find them.

      5. Navigation: Can I find my way around in a glance? Can I find your Classic Posts? Do your links really work? Is it easy to get back to the home page? I don’t like feeling lost.

      6. Sound/Gadgets/Plug-ins: Do they really need to be there? Are you sure they won’t irritate me? When in doubt, take them out.

      7. Technical Issues: Does the blog load fast in my browser? Does it load accurately? You may hate IE but most folks still use it. If you pretend they don’t exist. You can be sure for you they won’t.

      8. Images: Are they clean, clear and crisp? Are the files compressed so they load quickly? Fuzzy pictures hurt my eyes.

      9. Organization: Does the page feel in proportion? Do things seem where they belong? Is there enough white space and a lack of clutter? I like a little room to breathe.

      10. Marketing: Is the presentation of subscriptions, ads, and other marketing integrated into the design? Do ads become too interruptive? Are there pop-ups or pop-unders? Ads that make themselves too annoying will drive me from your blog forever. No pop-ups or pop-unders–they break your trust with me.

Use this checklist to remind yourself not to let too much design creativity take the “fun” out of reading your blog. Then get started. Have fun tweaking.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

And don’t forget the other checklists in the set:
Blog Review Checklist
Editing for Quality and a Content Editor’s Checklist
Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs
A Blogger’s Personal Narrative Checklist
Checklist for Starting a Directory Listing

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Share This

SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

Filed Under Blog Review, Content, SEO, Successful Blog, Writing | 24 Comments

Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Five Traits of Relevant Content

Relevant is the keyword. Content without “relevant” is less than content. Who would want to post something irrelevant? Here are five traits of relevant content.

Relevant content is text.
Search Engines love quality relevant content. They love quality content because readers do. Content here means text, not graphics or photos. That’s where search engines and readers see pages differently. Readers “read” photos and graphics; search engine spiders crawl right past them. So under that photo or graphic include a caption explaining what’s in it.

Relevant content is fresh and free-flowing.
Search engine spiders are demanding creatures. They want original, relevant content to list for their readers–and lots of it. Provide original content with accuracy and frequency about topics readers search for, and your posts will be born relevant.

Relevant content is formatted.
When your document follows a structured format, a search engine can follow how topics relate. Relationships between topics establish that keywords aren’t just mentioned–they are connected and relevant.

  • title
  • h1–subhead that relates
  • paragraph(s)
  • h2–subhead that relates
  • paragraph(s)

Relevant content is linked–Links in, links out, and links to yourself are relevant.
Spiders crawl the web by following links. Links draw spiders to related pages from blog to blog and within your blog. Connections in content are inherently relevant.

Relevant content is error free and accessible.
Open HTML tags, gross errors in spelling, and unnecessary plugins trip spiders. Enough said.

Relevant content is what readers are searching for, what spiders are crawling for, what bloggers are blogging for–right?

I’d rather not blog than be irrelevant.

I think there’s a t-shirt in that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Share This