Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Why I Love Your Book Blog



Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is my top ten favorite book blogs. My current favorite blogs are always over there --->, in the Blog Stalker. Please click on them! (Well, click on them after you read this post.) Since my favorites are already in the sidebar, I thought I’d talk about what makes me love a book blog.*

*Please remember that these are my opinions. I’m not trying to criticize anybody’s blog. Feel free to ignore me.



Ten Things That Will Make Me Love Your Book Blog










We have similar reading tastes





This is the biggest thing that will make me love a blog. If we’ve both read the same books, we’ll have something to fangirl about. Luckily, my reading tastes are pretty eclectic. We’ll usually have a few books in common. 
















Your blog is high-contrast and low-clutter




I have eye problems. If your font is rainbow colored, I probably won’t be able to read it. I need dark font on light backgrounds. Light pink on white and light gray on white seem to be popular right now. Sorry, I can’t read them unless I use the zoom button or smash my face against the screen.

I do my blogging on an elderly laptop. I appreciate it when websites load quickly. Ask yourself if you really need fifteen gifs in your review. Or if you really need that mailing list pop-up. (Hint: nobody likes pop-ups.) 












You reply to comments and/or comment back





I know that this is difficult. I live with a permanent case of comment guilt. There are so many comments and so little time! But, if I leave a bunch of comments on your blog and never get any response, I’ll probably stop commenting. I might still read your posts, but I won’t bother with comments. I joined the book blogging community because I want to be part of a community. I don’t want to talk to a wall. (I can do that perfectly well without the computer.) 















You’re not a robot




My favorite bloggers write lots of original content and show their personalities. Any robot can copy/paste a cover and synopsis from Goodreads. Those posts are okay sometimes, but I want to know that there’s a human running your blog. I love discussions, reviews, brief life updates, photos, artwork, whatever shows off your personality and opinions.












Your comment section requires minimal clicking




I want to scroll to the bottom of a post and leave a comment. I don’t want to click a link, check a thousand boxes, squint at a captcha, or prove I’m not a robot. I’m lazy and have a lot of blogs to read.

Remember when I said that I have eye problems? A lot of comment systems have small fonts or hard-to-see colors. That’s why I type all of my comments in Microsoft Word and copy/paste them into the comment box. Sometimes when I do this, the blog has a pop-up that says it doesn’t allow copy/pasted content. I understand that you’re trying to protect your work and reduce spam, but if I can’t copy/paste my comment, you’re not getting a comment from me. 












Your social media buttons are easy to find and functional




If I like your blog, I want to follow you everywhere. (Not in a creepy way. I promise.) Don’t make this challenging! Put your social media links where they’re easy to see. Also, test your buttons to make sure they link to the correct place. I recently clicked on a blogger’s Pinterest button, and it went to a profile that clearly does not belong to the blogger. (Unless the blogger is secretly a boy-obsessed twelve-year-old from South Korea. In that case, I apologize. You seemed much older and much less obsessed with shirtless teens on your book blog.)












I understand what you’re talking about







I recently clicked on a blog post, and it was just a bunch of book covers. No words at all. Not even a title for the post. Okaaay. What is this post about? Why am I looking at a bunch of random book covers? You don’t have to write a long introduction to every post, but I appreciate knowing what I’m looking at. 
















You don’t post a million times a day




If I like your blog, I’ll follow it on Bloglovin’. That’s the site I use to manage my blog-reading life. If you flood my feed with posts, I’ll quickly unfollow you. I used to follow a blogger who loved taking photos and posting them on her blog. She put one photo in each post, and she posted a lot of photos. Then my whole Bloglovin’ feed was just her photos. I had to scroll forever to get past them all. If you want to post photos, put a bunch of them in one post. Then I won’t get a notification for each photo. Because that's annoying.












You start conversations






The best blog posts introduce a compelling question and spark a conversation in the comment section. That’s why blogs have comment sections. So people can share their (angry, uninformed) opinions. Give me something to have an opinion about! I want to participate in the conversation. (Or in the rage-fueled mudslinging, whatever.)
















You keep your posts under 1000 words




I bet you’re skimming this post right now. That’s because it’s getting very close to 1000 words. You’re getting bored. I don’t blame you. People on the Internet have short attention spans and don’t concentrate deeply on what they’re reading. I like blog posts that get to the point quickly. Short posts with graphics and white space are better than giant walls of text. (And . . . I've just hit 1000 words. This post is done.)














What will make you love a blog? 









104 comments:

  1. Yuppers totally agree with these. Especially the social media one. I've been finding so many new blogs to follow today and some made it hard to follow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! It’s frustrating when you find someone awesome and can’t figure out an easy way to see when they post.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. Great post!
    I am all about aesthetic; if a page is really dark, I don't want to stick around. I like clean white backgrounds with white writing . . . preferably some flowers . . . and lots of blank space between chunks of text!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love white space. If I see a wall of text, I don’t even try to read it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. I agree with the reply to comments thing. If I'm leaving comments that always go unanswered and the person never comes to my blog, I will stop bothering. Time online is limited and I want to focus on bloggers who interact! I hate having to do a puzzle or math equation before I can leave a comment! I moderate each comment to weed out spam instead of that. I like blogs that have a range of things like reviews, discussions, life and book updates, memes, tags, fun stuff that I can easily comment on. I don't enjoy ploughing through a ton of gifs or blog tour stuff either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know that answering comments is overwhelming sometimes (I currently have 50+ to answer), but if a blogger NEVER acknowledges comments, I’m not going to waste my free time talking to them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. Great list here! These are all things I love too. Especially replying to comments. Here's something you should know... I rarely come back here to find out if you replied to me. :( Because your system (Blogger comments) doesn't just notify me automatically about replies. And using the "Notify me" doesn't always work or I get everyone else's comments too, and I don't want that. So sometimes comment systems are the problems too! (Blogger really needs to work on this, but I suspect Google doesn't care.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blogger’s comment system has been broken for so long that I doubt Google cares. I don’t know what comment system to switch to. I can’t spend money on blogging, and Disqus often doesn’t load for me. :(

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. *laughs in blogging* Where is the lie though?! ;) <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi AJ - so agree with you ... I hate having to click from one blogger's site to his/her next site to finish reading a post - why I can't fathom. I hate having a non-descript comment about nothing in the post - just showing that person 'woz there' ... and I love interacting and reciprocating ... while also being responsible with those aspects ... well done ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is annoying when I get comments that just say, “Great post. Here’s a link to my site.” I’m in this community because I want to interact. Leaving links everywhere isn’t interacting.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
    2. “Great post. Here’s a link...” Hah! that annoys me too, somehow I can sense when a person only comments to get me to visit their site. When I visit others I usually add links to tags/similar content like my TTT posts but first I try my best to leave an honest relevant comment about the post.

      Delete
  7. Love this twist on this week's TTT post!! Yes, to all of what you've written!!

    Here's a link to my TTT post this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/08/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-book.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hilarious AND absolutely relatable! Agree about all of these! And yeah, as much as I also suffer from constant comment guilt, I do think it's one of the most important parts about being a blogger - no interaction, no fun. And ah, I am guilty too of skimming long posts. Blog posts with all long text without images or white space will have me spacing out before I know it unfortunately. Definitely didn't skim your post though, loved every single word!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I’m definitely guilty of skimming. I try to break my posts up so that they don’t look overwhelming and tempt people to skim.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  9. Funny AND right on target! Your blog is one of the ones I really enjoy precisely because you pay attention to all these things... and I enjoy "conversing" with you, whether here or over at my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Brilliantly put as always! I agree with everything you said. I've been thinking that I need to show my personality through my blog more, I do too many memes and I'd love to write some more discussion posts and other interesting things. I keep saying I will, but never seem to find time for it. That's so weird that you stumbled on a post that was just book covers and no text. Maybe they published it early accidentally? Strange! I came across one that didn't use coherent sentences but just random strings of words and phrases with minimal punctuation. I had to give up in the end because I couldn't make head nor tail of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wondered if the covers-only post was published accidentally. I had no idea what was going on with that post. I’ve also come across a few posts that seem to have been written by Google Translate. I gave up on trying to read them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. This is such a great take on today's post! I'm totally with you on the commenting point. I recently realized I'd been commenting regularly on a blog who I hadn't heard back from in months! I really don't want to talk to a wall. :/ I also clicked on a blog that was just book covers yesterday! I have absolutely no clue what it was even about. XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess covers-only posts are a thing? It’s hard to leave a comment when I don’t know why I’m looking at covers.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  12. I agree with so many of these things! I hate pop ups!! If I want to subscribe, I will.

    Top Ten Tuesday

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! I’ve never been happy to see a pop-up. If there are functional social media buttons in the sidebar, I’ll use them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  13. I skim sooo much, I think that's why I try to keep my posts short. Because I start to skim too!

    I remember a few years ago when gifs were all the rage. Made for some pretty slow-loading pages!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m very happy that people are calming down with their gifs. My elderly computer gets stressed out by too many of those.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  14. Yes, I totally agree with a lot of these. I like being able to easily find a way to follow a blog, especially through Bloglovin. I appreciate uncluttered websites with a good flow that don't take a million years to load.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! I follow everybody with Bloglovin’. I’d rather click a button than search for the blog.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  15. Another fabulous post AJ. I have to agree with everything you posted. I have problems with rainbow colors,clutter and an over abundance of bold text. Enjoy your day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rainbow colors and clutter do make for a difficult reading experience.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  16. I've heard from This Side of Story Land that this is a funny and honest blog. And it did not disappoint!!! What a nice and hilarious twist on this week's TTT prompt. I might be guilty with light fonts on light background? My text are normally black but the links are automatically colored mint green on my blog, lol, I will try to fix that.

    Jennilyn @ Rurouni Jenni Reads

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting! If the mint green stands out from the background, it’s probably okay.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  17. Great list, and so true. And thanks for making me laugh. :) The last one especially- "rage- fueled mudslinging" lol. And the Lion King thing. Love it! And oh my gosh mailing list pop- ups... noooooooo. I hate those. :) How do sites know (or think they know) when I'm about to leave??? And try to stop me with WAIT- SUBSCRIBE. Um, no at this point lol. I guess it's a pet peeve. Anyway... yeah great post, agree with all of these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! One of the most infuriating things on the internet is when you try to leave and a pop-up stops you. Just let me leave! I’ll subscribe if I want to.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  18. AJ why are you so freaking delightfully funny? I cracked up- and was not ONCE bored with your nearly 1000 words ;) Goodness, these are so true- though I feel personally attacked about my GIF-filled The 100 posts 😂 (In seriousness though, I agree- except when it comes to the aforementioned GIF-filled The 100 posts because I guess I am just a hypocrite hah.) THe POP UPS WHYYY. Why why why? Does it ever actually WORK? This is what I need to know. I cannot imagine that in the history of the internet has ever been like "wow, you seem annoying and intrusive, imma go ahead and enter my email".

    Also, high key planning on stalking the comments to see if the South Korean teen lover pops in to clarify.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve probably been a gif hypocrite, too. Actually, I’ve been a hypocrite about pretty much this whole list. I’m also stalking the comments to see if the boy crazy South Korean turns up. I’m hoping that everyone checks their Pinterest button to see if it’s them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  19. Lately, the blog part of my blog has been almost all books... I have been sailing and kayaking, but just haven’t written about it. I know I am probably at the edge when it comes to length of reviews. BTW, I’m impressed with your reading selection. While we don’t read a lot of the same books, we both seem to draw from a variety of genres. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I love reading about your adventures and seeing your photos.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  20. I guess mine are some of yours: some shared interests, readability, comment-friendly, individuality.

    I've followed bloggers who didn't even know I had a blog, so commenting back isn't necessary. Sometimes it's nice to not have to worry about people commenting just because they feel obligated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I sometimes feel obligated to leave comments, especially if someone comments on my blog often. I don’t want to seem rude or like I’m ignoring somebody. I’ve been getting a lot of comments recently, so keeping up with commenting back has been challenging.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  21. I appreciate the "comment back" policy SO much. It IS hard sometimes, and I'll admit, I fail. But as you say, this bookish place is a community and when we have conversations, that's when its at its best. :)

    Thanks so much for the unique post today and for the Finding Wonderland visit! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m trying really hard to be good at commenting back. Some of my recent posts have gotten more attention than usual. Keeping up is a struggle.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  22. I think I'm probably guilty of long TTT posts. Oops. I did realize that I have no follow me buttons, except to Bloglovin'. I guess I'll have to fix that at some point. Don't know how to make most of my TTT posts shorter though... at least there's 10 things that are all in bite-sized chunks!

    This is a really good list though. My blog originally had a smaller font, and looking at it, I realized that it might be difficult for some people to read, so I figured out how to make it bigger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish Blogger had more size options for fonts. Lots of times, things are either too small or obnoxiously large. My TTT posts are often over 1000 words, too. I’m a hypocrite. :)

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  23. I agree with what you said, and I'm very very much guilty of skimming once a post gets too long. Plus, I do appreciate people who take the time to comment back on blogs, always. Shared interests isn't always necessary...I've found some great books by accident thanks to bloggers who read genres I don't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shared reading tastes are a plus, but I know some romance readers who write excellent discussions. I rarely read their reviews, but I always read their other posts.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  24. This is probably my favourite take on this week's prompt, because it is hilarious but so true. I agree with all your points and an additional factor that would make me love a blog is the inclusion of book covers. When someone writes a lengthy review or gives book recommendations without including the book covers I more often then not click off the post. I'm a very visual person and will often get bored if it's a long list of book recommendations but I can't see what any of them look like!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! Graphics are necessary. Especially because I have a terrible memory. Sometimes it’s easier for me to remember the cover than the title/author.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  25. Fantastic post! I agree with all of your points! I struggle reading rainbow coloured posts as well and always prefer black font on a white background. I also try to keep my posts as short as possible. I do wish I could make my blog a little more creative, layout and content but as I am no longer a student, it's even a miracle I find the time to write a post, so I'll have to wait to do that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Creativity is a struggle for me, too. I have no art or design skills, and I’ve been blogging for so long that I have run out of ideas.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  26. I agree with all of these! Especially having similar book taste, aesthetically pleasing and easy to read blogs, and comment engagement. I go through phases where I'm excellent at it, and then not-so-excellent and do a catch up haha. Love your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Dealing with the comments is the hardest part of blogging for me. I always feel like I’m failing.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  27. Everything you listed is so true! I have a hard time not getting distracted when I'm reading blogs, so they have to keep my attention.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES! I’ll start out reading a blog post and somehow end up on Twitter . . .

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  28. Great post and ideas! I share many of your bullet points, especially tiny or faded print. I wear reading glasses and still can't always make out some posts easily. Your blog is one I read every week, I know--a lurker many times-- but I'm making an effort to leave comments on my fave blogs at this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting! I lurked on blogs for years before I got brave enough to leave comments.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  29. Lol, I agree with everything you said here especially with regards to mailing list pop-ups (any pop ups) and talking to walls... We're all busy, sometimes we can't return comments or catch every post but constant ignoring / link dropping is not cool.
    I also prefer dark text on lighter backgrounds. I live in a state of near-constant eyestrain and can't handle much else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same about the eyestrain. I stare at computers all day, every day. I appreciate it when bloggers make it easier on me.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  30. I have trouble reading light text on dark backgrounds. It can leave stripes across my eyes for several minutes after I click away.
    And you just got me dashing to check my social media buttons - my Pinterest one is going to my books!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The exact same thing happens to me! White text on black backgrounds turns everything into stripes.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  31. I love your take on the topic this week. I have to admit I do prefer the high contrast text, so much easier to focus on especially compared to rainbow font. I also love getting to chat with my fellow bloggers - so much fun to get to know everyone. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No one in my real life reads, so talking to bloggers is the only outlet for my fangirling.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  32. Yet another example of why you are so fabulous. I cackled as I read some of this, but I also nodded my head, and then I hoped you weren't talking about me. Sloths can be overwhelming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, no, I’m not talking about you. I haven’t had any issues with your blog. I love the sloths.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  33. This has reminded me to check if all of my links are... working. Possibly the Pinterest one is not but I'm at least confident that I am not linking to a Pinterest belonging to a 12-year old so... there's that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I’m glad your Pinterest doesn’t belong to a boy-crazy preteen. Until I figured out what was going on with that profile, I was a bit disturbed.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  34. #1 - it's true for me too, if I see a book blog that review books that I happen to like, I would read that blog again.

    #2- colorful fonts and gifs usually drives me away from any blog, I honestly don't read that many blogs with dark background and white or color text. it's usually gray or black text on white background which I prefer the most.

    #3 - I like replying to comments but I do so within my blog because I want to keep the conversation open to readers and not just me. although my replies comes like a week or two later so sometimes it seems like I'm ignoring comments but I'm not. I do go back and read replies on some of the blogs I visit a lot.

    #4- I look for something unique in blogs especially book review blogs, I do notice there are quite a selection of unique style of reviews and I appreciate them for writing reviews in a way that is interesting and informative. I sound like a commercial.

    #5 - I also write my comments in a separate app so I can do spellchecks and also, if the internet somehow goes nuts, I would still have my comment. and that copy and paste action is just so handy.

    #6- I have no social media but yeah, sometimes links needs to be clear.

    #7 - I have seen book blogs with just the book covers - you are suppose to click on the image to get to the post but I think it's a bit too image-oriented. I do need at least a book title to know what the post is about. I honestly ignore these type of blogs.

    #8 - yeah, posting once a day is enough

    #9 - yeah, if only people actually stay on topic, I do sometimes get comments unrelated to the post and it just seems weird.

    #10- I actually keep my post way under 1000 words & it's true, people have short attention span, I know I do and I sometimes skimmed if there are no paragraph breaks.

    all your points are dead-on. but you know, I actually like lists to have a number to them so I can refer to them in the comments but that's about all I could add to the list.

    have a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ll try to remember to put numbers on the next one. People aren’t usually this detailed with their comments. Thank you!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  35. These are all great reasons why you love a blog! Omg that example you gave about a bloggers posting multiple times sounds annoying. I'm lucky if I post 2-3 times a week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I post 3-4 times a week. That’s enough for me. I can’t imagine posting a dozen times a day. Especially if I have to promote all those posts.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  36. Bahaha, I love this twist you did on this week's TTT topic!
    Omg, I totally agree with you on the comment section thing and the posting a million times a day! I know some people do it, but I just don't get posting multiple times a day? Like, don't you want each of your posts to spend some time at the top your feed, getting the proper attention they deserved, instead of immediately getting pushed down?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! I put a ton of work into my posts and want them to stay at the top for at least a day or two. I need time to show off what I’ve made!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  37. Lol I love that you kept your post 1000 words :) I chuckled at that. Actually it was very informal and I appreciate that. I have two blogs: one for blogger and one on Wordpress. Either one but I mostly blog on Wordpress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used to have several Wordpress blogs, but I eventually abandoned them all. I’m constantly irritated at Blogger, but for some reason, this blog keeps surviving.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  38. I really enjoyed this post and totally agree with your points. As a new book blogger, I'm working on figuring out my style, and this helps me think about what I like in other blogs. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  39. I agree with all of these, although I know my own posts can sometimes be pretty wordy, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  40. These are great AJ. My book reviews used to go well over 1000, and though I don't word count, I have definitely trimmed them down, and am always conscious of keeping them brief.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Great list! I really get annoyed with there are a ton of gifs or pictures in a post, since I just want to get to the meat of it and move on.;)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Loved reading this post! I agree with so many of your points!

    ReplyDelete
  43. I enjoyed reading this post, and agree to all of your points!! And good take, too, on the TTT topic this week.

    ReplyDelete
  44. The fonts for sure. I have to always have my laptop on zoom but some even more and nope can't do that too often.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Yes yes yes yes yes to everything on this post, I agree with everything here. I pay especially attention to the whole commenting thing. I know it is hard to keep up and comment or comment back all the time or in a timely manner, but... I love it when I get acknowledged and get an answer, even if it's days or weeks later, that doesn't matter. Like you said, I'm also here to be part of a community and not to talk to a wall either haha :) Lovely list! <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
  46. Wow, fantastic post chicky. You hit the nail on the head with these. "I’m lazy and have a lot of blogs to read"<- I should put this in my blog description lol.

    There has been the occasional blog where I'd visit and comment a few times, but never got any reply or return visit so I'd just stop visiting them. It is like talking to a wall at that point.

    And starting up conversations is the best part of blog posts. It's nice to get a discussion going.
    Enjoy your weekend and happy blogging :)

    ReplyDelete
  47. This is a list of rules that all bloggers should follow. In a perfect world, I'd find about twenty bloggers who read a wee bit better than I do and follow them. There would also be twenty or so who would benefit from following me. Ideal.

    ReplyDelete
  48. What makes me leave a blog? All of the negative things you said. Ha ha. In fact I am going to link this post on my next wrap-up!

    There is a book blogger whom I connected with on Twitter before she had a blog and I loved her and was excited when she said she was going to start a blog, but her font was light green on a medium green background. I couldn't read it. People were commenting so obviously I was the odd person out. I felt bad. 😞

    ReplyDelete
  49. You have 91 comments on this post, AJ! You're becoming a breakout internet star!! Okay, well, I'm adding one more. This post is exactly why I love you. So much goodness here!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
  50. What make me love a blog is the personality of the blogger and fresh content. Not only promo but reviews, meme, discussions etc. I also like to "feel" who is beyond the blog. So be authentic. Rant if you need, laugh and please comment back too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  51. Yep, I really don't like popups as well. I don't think I follow any blogs that have popups. I really don't understand why people have them, they are such turnoffs.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Yes to all of this! So much yes! Pop-ups just need to stop. I get them on blogs wanting me to subscribe to a mailing list that I already subscribe to. I also tend to have trouble with blogs that have fireworks or snowflakes all over the page. My eyes are not great and having to dodge a moving snowflake on the screen isn't fun and I stop thinking it is fun pretty fast.

    ReplyDelete
  53. I agree! What I hate is those blogs with a lot of falling objects/effects and has a lot of images! eeeeep I used to follow a few blogs like that and they had awesome content, but I unfollowed due to their blog format and design :(

    I also try to comment back as much as possible. While I don't have a lot of time, I try to visit blogs two-three times a week

    ReplyDelete
  54. I agree with your points for similar reasons (the eyes aren't what they used to be). My own web site doesn't use captcha and is black text on a white background. The social media buttons are on the top of each page. I post once a day, unless I'm doing a weekly meme or one of my road narrative essays. Then I post twice a day. My reviews tend to run at about 250 to 500 words.

    ReplyDelete
  55. I agree with pretty much all of this though I could do better on the ending a blog post with a question front. And I have comment guilt too. But I think a lot of bloggers understand when their comments don't get instant replies too. We all have lives. As long as it isn't talking to a wall like you said.

    ReplyDelete
  56. This is 100% awesome! I really enjoyed it and a few things made me really laugh out loud. Anne - Books of My Heart

    ReplyDelete
  57. yaaaaayyyyy I meet most oh your criteria! Especially not posting. LOL You must be loooooving my blog lately! LOL LOL LOL oh man! I'm so behind with my blogging is not funny! So glad I got to stop by. I really don;t care much about the color of your font , or the books you read, or how many times you post. I really like your blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  58. Hahaha! This post is AMAZING. I love your criteria and a TON of these apply to me. I hate colors which make me eyes squint. In fact, I often have wondered about whether or not I should completely redo my theme to make the colors easier to read. That sounds like work, however. XD

    My posts are typically REALLY close to 1000 words. I try desperately to keep it under, but I struggle. Any tips? Because I'd love to figure out a way to shorten my posts for readability!

    ReplyDelete
  59. I love this! I actually changed the colors to my blog because I felt like they were too light, I still do but I can't afford to revamp right now.

    I try really hard to keep posts under 1000 words but I sometimes go over.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hahaha you probably hate my pop up and also hate my font (I've tried to make it black but it's light grey and Wordpress hates me so yeah... it's kind of staying until I can figure it out.) I comment back so slowly but I love comments and discussions with my blogger friends so yay for at least being able to do that! I think having some books in common works and I'm like you - I read pretty much every genre so we will probably click somewhere along the line.

    ReplyDelete
  61. This is the first time visiting your blog, and I absolutely adore this post! I'm a hardcore reader, but that's not what I focus on via my blog, but you give some really great reasons that make sense on how to get a reader to stick around. Kudos and Hugs on this Happy Tuesday! RO

    ReplyDelete
  62. I love this post! I'm with you on the reading taste - my number one criteria for loving a blog!

    ReplyDelete
  63. I agree 10000000% (<I have no idea how to say that number) I post book reviews but I throw in some other things about disabilities. I have one post about a conversation with my partner that scared me (in a funny way!) My blog is literally book reviews and some.mindless ramblings.

    ReplyDelete