If you’re subscribed to several blogging about blogging feeds like I am, you’ll have noticed that link baiting is a hot topic these days. It seems everywhere I go, I’m reading about how to get people to link to my blog, with the implication being that the more incoming links you have, the better your chances of success as a blogger.

Which, of course, is true. Incoming links do play a role in the success of a blog. But incoming links are just one part of the picture.

Lorelle on Wordpress has a post up entitled Truth and Consequences of Blogs that Stand Out, in which she takes a look at outstanding blogs from a different perspective: what your visitor wants to see.

Design. Content. And convenience.

Thinking about what makes an outstanding blog from a visitor’s perspective makes a lot of sense to me, because what a visitor wants to see is, ultimately, what counts - if you want that visitor to become a returning visitor.

Here’s a refreshing quote from her post:

I’ve heard over and over that a blog that stands out from the crowd is one that is popular and gets a lot of traffic. I only have two words to say about this: B.S.

… It has to appeal to my interests at the moment, or to my work at the time. I don’t have time to be hanging out with the popular kids. I barely have enough time to keep up with my own work.

I don’t care if a blog has 5 visitors a day or 5,000. If it has the information I want, and it features enough related material to make me want to come back to find out what they are now saying on the same subject, then I will return. I will become a fan. Even if my visit bumps their average daily traffic to 6.

I think that, as a blogger, you’ve got to work on getting those incoming links. But ultimately, the deciding factor is your content. If you’re giving your visitors what they’re looking for, not only will they come back, they’ll also tell other people in your niche about you. A blog is all about word-of-mouth, and you can only be outstanding if you have the content.

Lorelle ends with this quick checklist on what makes an outstanding blog:

1. Is it readable?
2. Is it easy to read?
3. Is it easy to navigate, leading the reader to other content from every page?
4. Does it offer content categories, helping direct readers to related subjects on your site or blog?
5. Does the design match the content?
6. Is the content consistent with a specific topic, theme, or subject?
7. Does the content showcase you as an expert, hobbyist, or vague curiosity seeker?
8. Is the content well written, spell and grammar checked, and encourage readers to read?
9. Does your blog’s design and content give people a reason to return?
10. How convenient is your site or blog to use?
11. Does it offer feeds?
12. Does it offer comments?
13. Does it offer trackbacks?

This checklist is an excellent guideline when launching a blog. After you’ve nailed these points down, you can work on getting links. Links will help people find your site. Design, content and convenience will keep them coming back.

Lorelle’s entire post on the subject is a good read, so make sure you check it out in its entirety here.

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