Successful Blogs

I’m catching up with Jakob Nielsen’s :: ALERTBOX :: which, if you don’t subscribe, you need to.

Nielsen has been at this usability game for years now, and much of what he says makes sense. However, I find his scope sometimes a little narrow, and his opinions a little blinkered.

For instance, this latest alertbox Nielsen states that online content is no good for learning and for in-depth reading. He states:

People arrive at a website with a goal in mind, and they are ruthless in pursuing their own interest and in rejecting whatever the site is trying to push. Banner blindness is only the most extreme manifestation of this selfishness.

That idea has some merit, but totally ignores the committed reader. Of course, some online content readers will arrive from a search engine hyperlink, looking for specific information. But quality content providers will engender a committed readership, who will arrive through an email / newsletter link, or via a ‘Favourite’ or ‘Bookmark’ link to the site’s home page.

This doesn’t mean that you, as content creator, can be lazy, obscure, rambling and inarticulate. But you can also indulge yourself a little, safe in the knowledge that your regular readers will have pulled up a chair, poured a glass of wine, and will look forward to reading your content, as opposed to skimming.