The psychology of blog publishing
Starting your own blog can have many consequences on your train of thought. For instance, there isn’t a day that goes by where I haven’t wondered if something will make a good blog post. There’s a whole psychology around publishing a blog, and here I highlight just a few of the thoughts that I’m prompted into thinking.
Have I published too soon?
I almost always wonder, right after hitting ‘publish’ on a draft article, whether or not I should’ve kept it for longer, possibly sleeping on it and modifying the focus tomorrow. It’s all too easy to spend too long writing blog articles. I’m learning just to go by instinct and see where it takes me.
That being said, at any one time I have around 15 draft entries in my WordPress admin panel.
Responding to comments
There’s an obligation I feel towards responding to comments. You’ve taken the time out of your day to add a little content to my blog, so I feel it’s the least I can do. From time to time I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to respond individually. That’s when I’ll add a comment beneath your combined thoughts with a group thank you. Hopefully you understand.
If I receive a lot of comments for a particular article, then I think I’ve done something right, but I realise that some of my posts are best for simple contemplation (such as most of those in the art category). At least that’s what I tell myself to justify the lesser reader interaction.
MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog widgets
These two little widgets that sit in my blog footer give me a visual insight into who you are (providing of course that you have one of the free accounts and have uploaded an avatar.
The BlogCatalog widget in particular has me hovering my mouse cursor over the most recent avatar, wondering how long it was since you visited. If it’s more than 30 minutes I assume that you’re not here to leave a comment, and I wonder what I could’ve done differently to prompt a response.
To advertise or not to advertise?
Most of you will know that I’m not writing to make direct advertising earnings, but I do publish a few relevant text link ads in my third column. When I see from my blog stats that there have been some clickthroughs I wonder if the person who clicked was unhappy about being directed to a third party site.
If you are monetizing your blog, it’s important to include an advertiser signpost. Daniel gives some great tips on how to create your own advertise page.
Is it a good idea to show a feedcount icon?
It’s a nice way to instantly show that some people actually do read what you write. However, the number of subscribers can fluctuate quite wildly depending on your traffic levels. I feel like I’ve done something wrong when my count decreases, even though it’s natural.
My daily RSS subscribers totalled around 300 before I added the FeedBurner icon, and I made a conscious decision not to publish the numbers before I reached that mark. I’ve previously posted an excellent video clip titled, What is RSS? for those unfamiliar.
Scot Smith recently published a quick tip to increase your RSS subscriber count.
Don’t overcheck your stats
We might say we’re not concerned about how much web traffic we get, but deep down I think we’d all like to have a thriving source of visitors to our blogs. There’s a temptation to check our web stats more often than we need to, kind of like how some people overcheck their online bank balances.
I restrict myself to checking my stats once in the morning and maybe once in the evening. Otherwise I’d be throwing away time I can use on more constructive efforts. No matter how many times I look at my stats, I’m not going to dramatically change the overall pattern in one day.
How often should I publish an article?
You want to keep your latest article above the fold (so the reader doesn’t need to scroll down) for as long as possible, but you also want to update your site so it appears fresh. There’s a fine balance here. Too many articles will lead to people unsubscribing from your blog, whereas too few articles will lead to less interaction. My opinion is that a couple of well-crafted articles per week is much better than three mediocre posts per day.
I aim to publish one new article each day from Monday to Friday, and perhaps one during the weekend depending on my social calendar. Keeping some form of consistency lets readers know what to expect. If I’m taking a break from my computer I think it’s important to mention it in an article.
Blogs need nuturing
Blogs are organic i.e. constantly changing. Since launching this blog it has undergone theme / layout changes, goal changes, times of quiet, times of success. During the quiet times I wonder if it’s worth the effort, because it is effort. Should I be doing something else with my time? This is where it’s important to list your goals and to be sure that your blog is bringing you closer to them.
I use this blog to build my personal brand, and to promote myself as a graphic designer. So far so good (fingers crossed).
Vivien at Inspiration Bit wrote an article about Musings on Blogging, where she posed interesting questions and drew some interesting answers from her readers.
Publishing a blog can become an addiction
Don’t believe me? Just ask Dawud Miracle, Daniel Scocco, or Maria Langer. According to this blog addiction survey I’m 71% addicted. How addicted are you?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing
Had I known at the beginning what I know now, I’d have hit the ground running as opposed to treading water for a couple of months.
For the blog authors out there, how does publishing affect your way of daily thinking?
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35 appreciated comments on “The psychology of blog publishing”
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David – I am 85% addicted to blogging – although some might say that number is actually higher. Today is technically a holiday and I want nothing more than to have a large block of time to post, read and comment on blogs today. We did all our celebrating over the weekend.
Glad I saw this before starting the day away from the computer.
Great post David.
Thanks Scot, more than happy to link through to your site.
Char, I’m sure your other blogs gave you a boost of percentage in that addiction survey. I don’t know how you do it!
Excellent post, got me out of Bloglines to come leave a comment. The first paragraph is so true, I was watching an infomercial yesterday and thought about how I could blog about it (and did!).
I’m 80% addicted to blogging, and I wasn’t expecting some of those questions to be so good.
First, thanks for the link back to my post on blog “addiction.”
How does blogging affect my daily thinking? Well, everything that happens to me, everything I think, everything I do — it all becomes fodder for a possible blog post.
My blog is not very focused — I write about a wide range of topics that interest me and are part of my life. As a result, I’m able to get readers with a wide variety of interests — but not a large number of any one group. Oh, well. I’m not in it for the big numbers.
I started blogging back in 2003 when it was just starting to pick up steam. My blog was — and, to a certain extent, still is — a true Web Log: a web-based journal. Even if the world lost interest in blogging tomorrow, I’d still be keeping a blog. I like to read over the list of recently read posts (as kept by a plugin and listed on my blog’s sidebar) and go back to one or more of the old ones for a quick read. Many of them are snapshots of my life. If I keep this up for the next 20 years, I won’t need to write a memoir — it’ll already be written!
Thanks again for the link back. Enjoyed your post.
I have that same trepidation before pulling the trigger on a new post. Not always – and it is getting easier to be more spontaneous and just let ‘em fly – but sure, sometimes I tweak and tune and fidget with a future blog post over the course of a couple of days before it seems right.
Now, here’s the rub… According to our Google Analytics stats, some of the most popular pages on our site have been posts that were quick ‘n dirty, fast ‘n flirty. More often than I’d like, the blog entries that I’ve slaved over and am most proud of seem to go largely unnoticed. Dunno if there’s a deeper meaning to be found there or if that’s just a cosmic coincidence…
Very nice post, I’m sure a lot of bloggers and would be bloggers (myself included) can relate to most of the comments you made, the ever piling draft entries and the thought that you published too soon :( . It’s nice to have a brief glimpse into the mind of a successful blogger ;)
Very interesting picture by the way, the birds flying in both directions and it turns out I’m 77% addicted to blogging…. whowouldhavethunkit :)
Thanks for the link love, David. A while ago I wrote a post on 8 Things I wish I knew about Blogging, and the addiction was one of them.
How does it affect my daily thinking? It affects a great deal – just like when I read a magazine or watch a movie, I always wonder what typeface was used in the ad/article/titles, now most of what I read and think about come with another dimension – can I/should I blog about it :-)
Well, what can you do with a blog junkie like me – nothing, just throw in together with other blog addicts to talk about their common addiction :-)
I too have that issue, having loads of draft left in my WordPress admin section, that’s why now I use a Blog Binder(which were described on problogger). I think putting blog ideas or drafting them on paper gives me more flexibility in writing my thoughts rapidly and easily.
When I’m infront of the WordPress writing a draft, I soon get distracted or feel to need to open a new tab to read something else leaving that draft uncompleted.
Sometimes it feels like blogging dominates my life… but jeepers, having 15 posts just waiting to be published is something I dream of. I struggle to find the time to write each article and as soon as it’s completed I publish straight away. It’s a constant struggle to have a fresh post – maybe you could lend me a draft article or two?
Good article though. I do struggle with the time/effort commitments but have never questioned whether it is all worth it. I’ve not made any tangible reward from blogging (money or work), but I do find the experience very rewarding on a deeper level.
Maria,
You’re very welcome for the link. Thanks for visiting. Publishing since 2003? Seems like you’ve got that addiction going on. It’d make fantastic journal if you were to continue for another 20 years! Something to be remembered with. I’ve had similar thoughts about how long my site will be around for.
Rob,
I couldn’t agree more about those spare of the moment articles drawing the most traffic. My all time popular post (traffic wise) has been an embedded video clip, with very little written copy.
Tolumi,
Cheers for the compliment mate. I’m glad you found my words of interest. I think that we, as blog authors, share a lot more than many people discuss for the majority of our time online.
Hans,
I read about the blog binder in my feed reader. It’s a good idea, although I’ve not yet put it into practice. Just one more ‘to-do’ for the list.
Vivien,
Yes, I remember reading that other article of yours, with interest. It’s always good to look a little deeper into the minds of our peers.
I get that similar thought process goind on with typefaces, although more often than not I end up frustrated at my lack of knowledge. ;)
To be honest, Aaron, half of my current draft articles are my very first posts, taken offline until I can make them more interesting.
When I started this blog I spent quite a bit of time lost in the wilderness, not really knowing what I was doing or where to go.
As for lending you a draft, how about getting a few of us together for some form of team post series / competition / feature etc? Vivienne at Versa Creations was in touch with me a while back about something similar but I’ve been too busy to work any more on her great idea.
One thought that strikes me here is that there are a lot of words to choose from, in any life.
According to the BBC earlier tonight, Alistair Campbell’s diaries (he was a Tony Blair’s Communications Director and Press Secretary) contain 2 million words.
Even for a former newspaper editor, that would have been a hell of a lot of blogging.
I’m interested to read those thoughts – critical insights into what went on at a critical and historic time. But would I really have been so interested in reading them, at the time ? I’m not so sure.
For example – there are all those newspaper and BBC blogs you see around the place. Some people love them, I know, but so often they seem like disposable and unfocused journalism. They simply don’t appeal.
And so here’s the rub. Maybe good blog writing comes not just from capturing the blogging moment, after all, but rather about putting your piece into some kind of context which will make it useful for others to read and to digest, both now and for some time to come.
I seem to be 37% addicted to blogging. Theres still time for me to get out before its too late! ;)
I’ve aimed to post daily on my blog, but recently I’ve been overly busy both professionally and socially, meaning I’ve had little time to do so.
I too have multiple topics currently in Draft limbo :) and I do read over what I’ve written several times before clicking that Publish button. I’m overly fond of saving and previewing…
Great post as I’ve come to expect from you David. I think you have just the right mix of graphics, great posts, and mucho interaction for everyone. Thanks for all the work you put into making this a great place to spend a few minutes of my day every day!
David, I read your blog every day (and if I skip a day that you post for some reason, I always go back and read everything!), so you are right, some of your posts are things to ponder or websites to visit and even though we readers may not comment, we’re still reading! And don’t take too much responsibility about people not commenting, most of the time it’s them, not you :D
I remember reading a while ago on Copyblogger that posting your RSS feed count (when it’s higher) is a good thing because it makes visitors think “others are reading, so should I.” It can act like peer pressure, and people don’t want to be the only one left out!
Re: stat checking. I don’t have a blog up and running yet, so perhaps I do not have the same perspective, but I think that you should track stats with the purpose of improving the user’s experience. Like you alluded to, you aren’t going to change your blogging behavior because you had one more reader from the US, so why check your stats like crazy? Write another post instead! (or polish up one of those drafts ;) )
As a designer about to embark on this blogging adventure, what do you mean “hit the ground running” vs. “treading water”? I didn’t catch anywhere that you defined what you would do differently. I would love to learn from your experiences!
David, I love blogs that make me think and I know I can count on yours every time…and here you’ve done it again.
Blogging definitely changed how I think about writing and communicating with prospective and past clients, as well as influencing my train of thought in general. I’ll be standing in the grocery line, listening to a couple arguing, and think about what learning can be extracted that might be of interest to my readers. Or teaching a class and having an energizing conversation with my mediation grad students, then wondering how to draw on that conversation for a post. Like you, I’m musing all the time about how something might be put to good use online.
I didn’t think about that before blogging, when I had first a print newsletter then an e-zine. I guess it’s the frequency of blogging that makes the difference, keeping the act of writing more of a constant in my day-to-day life.
I’ve been posting 2-3 times per week and have just made the conscious and much-deliberated decision to cut it down to 1, maybe occasionally 2. Partly it’s just a heavy season for client load and partly it’s wanting to stay focused on quality writing and relevant content. We’ll see how it goes, I guess!
Interesting as always, David. I read all your posts on the feed, by the way.
My blog philosophy is to keep ‘em short and sweet – I think that’s just my style though, and the fact that I’m only doing it for humorous/fun purposes. And if no-one else finds it funny, well, I did!
I do sit on ideas for a fair while though, if only to trickle them out so there’s a post at least every day or two. I do have a rule of not posting unless it’s really worth it though, so I can go for days without a post.
One day I’ll get round to a new template design too!
David,
The rss feed count is based on the number of people that is hooked up to your feed at anyone time. This basically means their computer has to be on and the feed reader connected. So if you readership drops dont feel bad, it just means their computer is off.
Feeds can deviate alot depending on the size of your reader base. So again don’t feel bad if the count drops, just look at your monthly average.
Roads, I saw Alistair Campbell’s documentary advertised. Made a mental note to watch.
Damien, you do have a chance to escape!
Phil, it’s a pleasure to have you as a reader.
Lauren, likewise, I love your insightful comments. As for ‘treading water’ in my early blog days, I’ll write a post about what I’ve learnt in my short time. Hopefully it’ll give a few pointers, but you’re already ahead in the game because I didn’t begin commenting on other blogs for ages after starting.
Tammy, I’ve also thought about cutting my posting schedule. I’m sure the posts would be of more interest if I limited them to 2-3 per week rather than almost every day.
Mark, glad to count you as a subscriber. Thanks mate.
DT, cheers for the lowdown on RSS. I wasn’t aware of your point about computers being off.
Regarding responding to blog comments, you might have heard of the new iReply movement started by a couple of bloggers:
http://www.brownbaron.com/blog/2007/07/01/the-ireply-movement-is-born/
You seem to be doing a great job of responding anyway. Some bloggers are hopeless at it (even if you ask a question)
As an Internet Psychologist who is also a prolific blogger I ought to comment….!
Firstly, a great post with some useful thoughts. Secondly, a warning. The blogging addiction survey is pure fun. I certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone takes it as a measure of real addiction, which would require an altogether different measure. However, it is useful as a guide to how much you like blogging.
Hi Andy, I’ve read about ‘ireply’, although make an effort to respond to all comments so haven’t written about it.
Graham, thanks for commenting. I know the survey is just for fun. Anything that takes so little time can’t be accurate, but it was fun to break-up my working day.
Thanks David for the article. My worry was as to the frequency to post material. Some days I can write about the world and some days I can’t think of a thing to write about.
I wish i had read your advice before I went willy-nilly through the blogging world. Alas, I just started screwing up and around from the word go.
But like your most recent post reflected you’ve learned alot in the last few years going solo.
Have a Good Weekend!!
Neville, you’re very welcome. It’s only natural to get writer’s block now and again. I sometimes find that I’m able to write better if I give each post two or three days. Not so forced.
Jason, hindsight’s wonderful, eh? Thanks, and I hope you had a great weekend, too.
Well written.I especially liked the poing you made that if bloggin is bringing you closer to your personal goal, then it is worth spending time on.Well said!
Hi David,
I’ve read several blogs and I’ve been clicking away at the links you provide. I’m an engineer trying to nurture his creative side with my blog about my passion, cars. I’m studying everything to fine tune my blog style and theme too. That’s the analyst in me, I guess. Blogs like yours are a great source, even if I’m behind the times a bit! (judging from the last comment date..)
Thanks for the info!
Hello Craig,
I’m very glad you’ve found something of interest here. Thanks for letting me know, and don’t worry about commenting late. Always a pleasure to hear from readers.
Another good article. I have been here on this blog since afternoon reading one after the other. Really good blog and definitely going to be back again. Thanks for sharing so much information that is really helpful.
Very interesting posting – I’ve read about most of your points, but not in such compressed form; in my opinion, every important topic is covered. Especially an over-obsession with Stats keeps a lot of newbies from the actual writing *g*
Thanks for the article.
The point that struck home the hardest was “How often should I publish an article?” and this sentence in particular ” aim to publish one new article each day from Monday to Friday, and perhaps one during the weekend depending on my social calendar. ”
I had been getting out a post a day (including Saturdays and Sundays) but I was beginning to see how easy it was to fall behind. I try to write the posts and either schedule them or let them sit for a day or 2 just to be sure I don’t want to change or add something. This way, I’ll be able to extend that “sleep on it” timeframe even more.
You’re very welcome, Camille. Given how old this post is, my publishing frequency has changed since then. I know create a new post either once or twice a week on average. There’s really no need to force yourself towards keeping a schedule, and I think it’s much better to publish one excellent post every month, than one mediocre post every day.
Thanks for this post, and the whole blog in general. I frequently used this and other blogs as a source for information, but I’m not terribly prone to leaving comments.
Just thought I’d say thanks for all the good info you provide and that I appreciate it, even if I don’t comment. Though perhaps I’ll begin and contribute to the interaction a little.
Look, I’ve just commented…
That’s good of you to say, Matt. I appreciate it.