WHAT MAKES A BLOG GOOD

. WHAT MAKES A BLOG GOOD .

As a blogger and a perfectionist, i’m constantly striving to make my blog the best it could possibly be, but the beautiful thing about blogging is that it’s so subjective and so unique, that there’s no one answer or solution to ‘the perfect blog’. And so there shouldn’t be.

But as i’m always trying to make mediamarmalade into something you guys will love and want to visit and enjoy reading, i’m always asking myself what would make a good post, what experience would make my blog a success to you guys, what design would make my blog even better. What makes a blog good?

Naturally there is no answer, of course not, but today I thought i’d share my thoughts on what makes a good blog, and the things i’m trying to create on mediamarmalade so you think it’s great, and the things i think other bloggers do incredibly well with. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic too, it’s so broad that it would be great to hear other opinions.

. 5 THINGS THAT I THINK MAKE A BLOG ‘GREAT’ .

#1 BEAUITFUL PHOTOGRAPHY

Firstly I think photography has to be one of the most important things in swaying my opinion to a blog being okay of just incredible. Not just the quality of the imagery, but the imagination and uniqueness of the photographs, the style of imagery, the colours, the setting, the composition. There are so many things that go into taking a good photograph, but i think most important is personality. A photo should capture a moment, excite or engage your audience, tell a 1000 words and just generally bring to life the editorial. Some of my favourite blogs to read are those who have beautiful photography.

Some things I want to try and include more on my own blog photography wise are, multiple locations, more ‘out and about’ style posts and imagery as these really bring to life a feature more, unique and original compositions and angles & of course lots of movement and energy. My photography is something I love the most, and so it’s the one area of my blog i’m always trying to improve on.

If you’re interested in learning more about photography, i’ve written lots of photography tips posts, including how to master your DSLR, my top 5 photography tips, how to take great blog pictures & recently how to take great pictures in the summer.

#2 PERSONALITY & A UNIQUE IDENTITY

A great blog is one where you get to know the blogger, a blog with personality, a unique style, an identity, some integrity. My favourite bloggers and blogs are those that just ooze personality. I know immediately who they are, because they let themselves shine through in everything they do. From the editorial style and tone, the imagery and even blog design too.

I think in this day of blogging, where there are just so many blogs out there, people try and copy, mimic and replicate other success stories, but for me that’s a sure fire way not to succeed. The reason blogging is so incredible and so successful is because of the genuine, unique and personable nature of the content. A blog is brilliant because of YOU.

#3 CHIC & EASY DESIGN

I’m a sucker for design. I can’t help it but a clean, neat and unique design is something that I really like in a blog. There’s absolutely no right or wrong in how a blog should be designed, it should simply reflect you, your blog content and your style and personality. Lately I feel as though you get a lot of ‘copied’ or replicated design formulas, but i think it’s really important to strive for something unique, something you yourself have designed and love and something specific that easily identifies your blog. There’s no point copying what others are doing, it defeats the point of blogging in the first place.

I focus a lot on my design and am continuously adding and updating things on my blog to make the design look more chic and more in style with where i want this to go. It’s a big step away from where it was 4 years ago, but i love the style, the navigation the focus on imagery and the general clean vibe my blog has. I spent a lot of time designing every detail and meticulously briefing a coder to help me bring it all to life – the more you can do yourself the more ‘you’ it will be (i actually designed and built my old site all myself, but this update is a little more snazzy and so i needed a helping hand).

#4 ORIGINAL CONTENT

Alongside bringing out your personality in your features, actually working on developing new, exciting and original content is another thing that makes a blog great in my opinion. I always try and keep things fresh on my blog, even more so now than in previous years, trying to bring new content that I like writing about and hope my readers enjoy reading (like my tips post and lifestyle features). I’m always brainstorming new ideas and new content pieces to keep my blog interesting, and helpful to my readers, but also things i am passionate about and want to share on here with you.

My favourite bloggers all have their own unique style, and in turn have original content which is true to their blog, their own identity and their blog ambition.

#5 SOCIAL & BEYOND

One of the things I love about blogging today, versus 4 years ago, is the increase in social media. Yeah it takes some time and effort to manage more than just the one blog these days, but getting to know bloggers on a more day to day level through Facebook twitter, pinterest and instagram (and even the likes of snapchat which i haven’t converted to yet) is such a great way of getting to know someone beyond the idealic and picturesque content shared on a blog.

I for one really love following my favourite bloggers across all their social platforms, not only is it tons of great content daily, it also keeps me inspired and gives them even more personality! I think spending a little time setting up your ‘brand’ across all your channels is a really great way of adding to the fantastic work we already do on our actual blogs.

There’s definitely no such thing as the perfect blog, a blog should be unique, personal and original, but for me those 5 things really make me engage and fall in love with a  blog and blogger.

i’d love to hear your thoughts on what makes a good blog and what you personally love to see from a blog? What keeps you coming back to your favourite bloggers?