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| What to do? |
The New Mommy Files is almost a year old, so I've been thinking more than usual about how to do this blogging thing better. While my primary goal is to keep track of Annabelle's mind-bogglingly rapid growth and development and my own journey as a mother, if this were my only goal, I'd just keep a private journal. I have found a huge amount of inspiration and support in the mom blogosphere, and I have that to thank for making me a better parent. If I can contribute in my own way, be it large or small, to all of that, I'm all for it. The wider my reach, the more I can contribute, so I continue to blog and hope I can continue to build my community, too.
Pet Peeves
In the spirit of improvement, I thought I'd share a few of my own blog pet peeves. I hesitate to do this, because I don't want to offend anyone, but then I like to know what turns others off from my blog so that I can consider changing it for the better. So, if your site has one of the elements I'm about to mention, know that I'm not picking on you, and I very likely love your site anyway. I know I probably touch on some of others' pet peeves with my blog, and I won't take offense if you tell me so. In fact, I'd appreciate it! Anyway, enough qualifiers. I'll get on with it.
- Busy backgrounds, especially without a solid color between the background and the text. Some bloggers manage to make it work, but oftentimes it hurts my eyes. Thanks to my google reader addiction, I can still read articles without having to strain no matter how busy the background, though!
- Speaking of google reader, this next one is not so much a pet peeve as a personal reading habit, but: if a blogger's feed doesn't show the whole post, I probably don't read it. I love having all of my subscriptions in one place so that I can scroll through while nursing, snacking, or patting the sleeping babe on my lap, without all that pesky clicking around. I'll come back and comment if I have something to say about a post, but that's the only reason I usually click through.
- Captchas are a particularly bothersome commenting hurdle when they show up after I write my comment and hit submit instead of right under the comment box. I often comment on blogs, hit submit, and quickly switch to another tab, only to realize hours later that the comment never posted because there was a step two: a stinkin' captcha. For what it's worth, I don't require them, and it's not like my blog is super duper famous or anything, but I have gotten no more than a handful of spam comments in almost a year of blogging in this space. I'm sure some blogs really do need them, but can you make them appear right below the comment box at the outset, please? Pretty please?
- Emails thanking me for my comment. I know I'm not the only person who gets a lot of email. Like, more email than I can keep up with. I love when bloggers engage with their readers, but a form email to thank me for my comment isn't very engaging. It makes me want to comment on your writing less, not more, because I know commenting will mean a spam email in my inbox later on. I love personal responses to comments, but form emails feel very impersonal.
- Button overload. I love the button concept, and the way they build community among bloggers, but when sites have them all up and down both sides, I just get distracted. Especially when they're animated. It seriously hurts my eyes.
- Poor grammar. I'm sure I have made at least a dozen errors in this post. It happens. When a blogger makes the same mistakes a habit, like consistently using apostophe's [sic] in words that are plural, not possessive, I get too frustrated to keep reading. I know, I know, for many blogging is not about correctness or even quality writing, but this is another one that can make my eyes hurt.
Again, I know many of you probably employ one or more of these elements and that's totally fine. I don't expect my opinions to be shared by everyone, and I never want to discourage. I do have a love of constructive criticism, however, and I would be really interested to hear some of your blog pet peeves. Feel free to share away, even if you're referencing something that's part of this blog!
Dilemmas
- Post frequency. Lately, I've been posting every day other than Saturdays, which I've taken as my "blogging sabbath." This definitely helps me keep my momentum, but it also means that I have a lot of light posts and the more carefully planned, researched pieces are only sprinkled in there. I'm torn on whether to cut back on the frequency of my posting or not. I'd love to hear your thoughts as a reader: do you enjoy the "light" posts, and is a post a day too much to keep up with?
- Giveaways. I think we're way over marketed to as a society, so I started out wanting to keep my blog completely free of any sort of advertising - including giveaways. At the same time, the marketing we're inundated with is usually for crap, and it can be a challenge to find products we can trust: toys that are free of toxins, clothing designed for easy elimination communication and the like. I have found many great things through other blogs, and I love sharing some of my finds with all of you, so I wonder if a giveaway sprinkled in here and there might not be something worth doing. I have two giveaways lined up for this summer as part of a big carnival the ArtsyMama and I are hosting, but I wasn't planning to do others before or after. Now I'm considering doing a few as part of my blog's birthday. I'm torn. As a reader, would you enjoy a giveaway here and there at the New Mommy Files?
- Topics. This one isn't really a dilemma, but I'd love to know what topics you enjoy most here. If you're a regular reader, what do you wish I'd write about more? What do you wish I'd write about less? Do you have an all time favorite post? I would honestly love to hear, and would very much appreciate your feedback! I'm considering ditching the Sunday Surf, as I'm not sure any of you really have the time to click through and read anything on my links list. If you do read and enjoy those, please speak up!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the above, or any of your best blogging advice. What have you changed since you started blogging to make your site better?
what a cute pic! that captcha business is probably my number one peeve, especially the part where I can't tell there's a captcha until I've lost my comment. I'm a fan of link love. There is soo much material out there that I love it when folks take the time to share what they've already read and found worthwhile! As for typos/grammatical errors, mea culpa. Hope I don't do it often, but no doubt some slip past. Hope you'll keep posting about whatever catches your fancy, light posts or otherwise!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your peeves and have to add one - music! If I click through to a blog that plays music, I am off, if I want to listen to music, I want to listen to MY music.
ReplyDeleteAs for topics, you should blog about what YOU want to write about that is why people read your blog!
I share many of your feelings about this matter and, since they are shared feelings, I have no answers for you. (I'm really not helpful at all am I?) I like to have a post each day during the week and take the weekend off (sometimes) and other times I like to space them every other day. In an odd way, though, I often schedule posts for a particular day based on what day "speaks" to me.
ReplyDeleteI also struggle with the giveaways concept because I don't feel like I want to become a huge blog with hundreds of followers who could become irate at any moment and attack me personally for not giving them free stuff, but I also wonder if people will stick around if I don't give them anything? I guess the answer to that question is in the question itself, just as real friends will remain friends no matter what. If it feels right, do it and if not, don't.
I applaud everyone who does a Sunday Surf because I don't think I could ever sit down and come up with X number of links for other people to view. Tiring! Maybe do a "Monthly Surf" instead of a weekly one? People might have more time to read the things you find interesting then...
Also, I hope my background isn't too much for you :)
Oh, yes! I totally agree with you on music. It's really frustrating when it comes on out of nowhere and I have a just nursed to sleep babe in my lap.
ReplyDeleteI can usually read right through grammar and totally see how a mistake was made. I make plenty of my own! It's just consistently butchering the English language that makes it hard for me to keep reading. You definitely don't do that!
ReplyDeleteI like the Sunday Surf, as so many people (understandably) take the weekend off blogging, it is nice to have something to read on a Sunday evening!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jojoebi on the music too, and also with you on the captcha. I have also been contemplating about the list of banners on my site. I actually have gotten rid of several, but still there are so many!! At the same time though, I think they give a hint to what's important to me--like being mindful, authentic, or supporting handmade.
ReplyDeleteGiveaways--I love doing them, but in a meaningful purposeful way. I don't do them to find followers and I will never ask anyone to follow me to enter a giveaway. That is a huge pet peeve of mine and it feels like a bribe to me. I would rather people follow because they like what I post, not what I give away. The big thing about giveaways for me, is that it is a way to support what I find important--like encouraging peaceful parenting or personal growth by giving away books, CDs, or an e-course that encourage those things. The only one I've done just for fun is HP jelly beans, and I did that as a way of bringing the readers along with me on a fun trip we had. I do think if they are done too often or without relevance, they become monotonous or dreary.
As far as post frequency, I struggle with this one, too. I don't want to post just to post, but I don't want to have heavy content for every post either. So, I kind of just go as I feel it every morning. If there is nothing coming, I skip. I can feel it if I am forcing myself to write something, and I am getting better at just skipping it when that happens. There seems to be no rhythm to it yet, but I hope one appears!
I always enjoy what you post. I can relate to most everything :). You are one of the few that really provokes me to think deeply about things and I appreciate that so much :). Regarding Sunday Surf, I'll be honest and say that no I don't have time to click on everything listed, but when one comes up and I have the time, I do.
I don't think you have an overload of buttons, though! Your blog is very uncluttered, but then it depends on your taste, of course. And they do hint at what's important to you, which is great.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you do giveaways, and I don't feel marketed to since they aren't sponsors and there's nothing I have to do (look at someone's shop, like a page). It's very generous of you!
Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback. I truly consider those words to be among the kindest compliments I have received, especially coming from you.
Oh, and on Sunday surf, I wouldn't expect anyone to read each one! Just anything that strikes your fancy ;)
Great point, Amy! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou are help, Amanda! Thank you! Your background isn't too much, either. If the dots were behind the words, I would go cross eyed, but they're not, so it works ... Because I know you needed my official judgment of your site design, right?
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I love this blog. And I agree with everything you don't like about other blogs. I just wanted to say I really like the montessori posts, but I like everything else also. I think giveaways are very fun! least favorite would be sunday surf. I just skip those (on every blog I read).
ReplyDeleteAlso how do you follow this blog? Can you tell I don't blog and am new to reading?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the great feedback, Michelle! To follow, you can look over in the right hand column near the top. Under the words "Keep up with us!" You can click on any icon depending on how you want to follow. Options from left to right are: "like" the facebook page, follow me on twitter, get updates via email, subscribe in a reader, or follow through blogger/google friend connect. You can choose one, or any combination.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have any real pet peeves, although I agree with you that I like to have the whole post appear in Google Reader. I find the idea of the discipline of posting daily appealing, but I do find it hard to keep up with blogs updated daily.
ReplyDeleteTruncated posts in Google are a pain for me. I tend to skip those posts and move down my reader. I might catch up later but then that is later and not when they were first posted. I do click through sometimes, but only for my most favorite blogs in the world.
ReplyDeleteI gave up posting regularly... or really I never started it! I have posted more frequently earlier on but as time passed and because of necessity, I now blog only when moved to do so. If a bunch of posts come at once, I will schedule them so they are spaced out but I don't plan to have certain types of content on certain days or to publish on a schedule (anymore).
Re: daily posts. I am subscribed to so many blogs that I can fall behind on some of the more prolific posters and then end up hitting read all without reading them. Gasp!! In my first three and a half years of blogging I never did that -- I seriously read or scanned every post in my reader. But I've gotten more hardcore with my time, and realized that I am less likely to read someone who is posting everyday.
The writer's voice and consistency of topics or tone is more important to me than frequency. Knowing what I am going to get from a writer (at least in a general sense) is more appealing to me than hearing from them every day.
A fun topic -- thanks for writing it!
Hm. Interesting. My first time using Disqus in a while and it doesn't ask for a URL? Odd!
ReplyDeleteOh, I see, it's an optional link. Cool.
Really great points about post frequency. There's not much use in posting just for posting's sake. I will say that I definitely find value in everything you post and while I do sometimes skim posts in my reader, I always end up reading yours to the end, so what you're doing is working!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think it was Amber Strocel who made the point that on her blog that "showing up" to blog regularly is important to her, even though not every post is particularly noteworthy, in part because it's part of her process as a writer. I hope I'm not totally butchering the point she was making, but I really appreciated and related to what she was saying.
Anyway, I really enjoy hearing why bloggers write what they do, and why they write it when they do, so thanks for sharing with me!
I'll also add, since the link didn't seem to work for you, that www.sweetsky.net looks fantastic! I love your new home.
I find that some especially good content comes from bloggers, like you, who seem to just post when inspiration strikes!
ReplyDelete