Is less really more when it comes to blogging? There seems to be a pattern with many independent design blogs that have a substantial numerical following, be it on Twitter or Feedburner subscriber stats: the more popular they are, the less they blog. Is there a principle at work here?
A lot of popular blogs went through an early phase were posts were frequent, varied in content, and long by comparison to recent material. Older posts tend toward lists and tutorials, while newer posts tend towards fragmented, highly-segmented interest posts. For example, in the archives of some popular blogs, you might find a time-consuming study of the branding in a certain industry with lots of text, images, and references. Newer posts might have content focused on, say, one designer or one logo they came across with a few words, one central images, and then a link directly the resource.
Let me say that I don’t think this is laziness or bait-and-switch or anything negative at all. I’m wondering about it strictly in terms of my own strategy, and prefer using a wheel instead of reinventing it.
Hypothesis about the success of graphic design blogs
Here are some possible principles that we could deduce from the blogging activity of some of the more popular independent graphic design bloggers. Each suggested principle, however, is fraught with difficulties because of underlying assumptions about cause and effect:
- Readers prefer shorter articles in these days of big posts everywhere, due to “big article burnout”.
- Bloggers know that big articles don’t yield any better results than small articles, and have limited time, and therefore simply are being smart rather than altruistic about what “quality content” is.
- Bloggers know that short or long, because of their momentum from past hard work, they don’t need to work as hard (which is the principle I’m secretly hoping is true), and thus write shorter articles because they yield exactly the same results.
- Bloggers know that reader preferences have shifted towards small, more personal and arbitrary opinion type posts, because of burn out with big, personality-less list posts propagated all over the design blog community
- Bloggers learned that list posts work, if done correctly
- Readers always click on headlines with certain tried and true formulas, and always will
- Bloggers simply learned to write better! Less is more, and a lot less is a lot more!
Any and all of these possible principles could be true. You could juxtapose any of them as mutually exclusive, or you could see them all as simultaneously true.
My hypothesis is that many popular design bloggers originally wrote longer and more varied material, but learned how to write better and shorter, more focused articles over time. While they learned, they gained a following for being consistent and informative, and have the benefit of their initial momentum still working for them. Now that they 1) write better and 2) have a cemented readership with readers and 3) have great inbound links, they can “rest” in a sense. The “rest” means that they don’t have to worry about building a foundation week in and out in their niche. The foundation is built, and now they can take time to build at their discretion.
Can this translate into a strategy going foward?
Test the strategy for success
So here is a working strategy:
- Write a lot (still)
- Write shorter and better now rather than later
- Discover the niche I’m best at writing for
- Wash, rinse, repeat as necessary
- By the end of 24 months of blogging like this, the foundation will be built
I think the key from this strategy is: write shorter and better now.
So, I’m experimenting this year with writing more frequently and including more opinions with shorter, less researched and time-intensive oriented materials, with the aim to getting readers who are interested in short & sweet, entertaining, and informative graphic design articles, with a dash of opinion.
Very interesting hypothesis. I personally like reading short and to the point posts because I simply don’t have time to read every long and drawn-out article.
As a blogger, it would be interesting to see how short posts would fly without already having a significant subscriber list (in the thousands). You know what, this something I might try out. Cheers Doug.
I’ve noticed the same patterns with established blogs as you mention Douglas. I think there can be a combination of reasons for this, as you listed, but I do think the point you made about their momentum from past hard work means they don’t have to work as hard now, is probably a major factor – and what a great position to be in. Will be interested to hear how your own experiment works out.
Glad to see the way u conveyed the message in some lines. It’s nice to convey the whole message in short article. Sweet and Less time consuming. I think this article would smooth the progress of my blog more…!
@ Duane: I’m proceeding with the experiment! Check back once in a while and I’ll let you know how it works. Short with SEO focus…that’s the plan anyway!
@ Paul: I think momentum has a lot to do with it. I know “blow off” posts don’t really work for non-established blogs because if they did, there’d be a glut of short posts like that. Alas, it seems lists do the job if they are done right over the long term. I think the key is getting into a niche and milking every aspect of it. I need another 6 months to test that out though!
Please, folks. We may be visual people, but can we get the grammar right so’s we get some respect? It’s FEWER not LESS posts. thanks
Hi Diana: I have never heard that distinction, though I was an English major for a time! It certainly sounds better. If you could provide a touch of context to that grammar rule, I’d love to hear it. I always rate my own editing skills lower than just about all the other skills I try to have on a daily basis.
We have the old marketing line “tastes great, less filling”. I would deduce that “less” applies to an adjective and “fewer” applies to the quantity of a noun?
“How to ruin your blogger credentials with bad grammar” could be my next post. 🙂
You made the point that they post shorter articles less frequently than they used too. Yet, you are going to post short articles more frequently. Why did you go this way? Interested to know the reasoning behind this.
@ Lucas:
More established blogs can post less because they have critical mass already. They still have to work, but an object in motion tends to stay in motion. The hard part is getting it going. That’s where “frequent” comes in.
Jacob Cass said the first 6 months are the hardest. In my case, with a different climate than 3 years ago, along with a different goal, it might be 12 months or more.
But if you put time, quality, and numbers together, eventually I expect something I abstractly call success to “arrive”. Not sure what that is exactly, but maybe it’s generating $100k from the blog. At some point, that will happen if I stick to it.
So, to answer directly, I need to shoot buckshot a little bit to see what I’m even able to hit. I can move to more precise methods as the niche I’m carving out becomes more clear. That takes time, and the more posts, the more I chip away at the masterpiece trapped in the block of marble. Well maybe not masterpiece but you get my point :).
When success is knocking at my door everyday, nonstop, I will have to write less. For some bloggers, that is their daily routine!
Onward we go!
Is it “fewer” for countable nouns, “less” for uncountable? Never mind.
Good article, Doug, and it’s certainly something I’ve noticed – write excellent well researched, useful articles to increase your readership then kick back with less time-consuming opinion pieces. By this time you’ve got a readership to carry on a discussion/arguments in the comments. I haven’t got there yet but maybe one day!
I disagree with the article.
If you feel like writing long articles, do it. It is a form of personal expression.
Madonna and Lady Gaga don’t care about positive or negative comments in regards to what they’re wearing. They just do it and certainly don’t need anyone’s approval on what’s right or what wrong.
Speak your mind.
Don’t follow.
Be remarkable.
Be yourself.
@ Jae:
Madonna only has to come out once in a while and make a scene now that she spent 20 years making a scene. So she gets to retire in style and become a UN Ambassador, PETA Advocate, and Fashion Designer.
Gaga has to make all the moves right now – crazy outfits and lots of work. When Gaga is old, she’ll get Madonna’s position at the UN.
But for now…
Speak your mind, don’t follow, be remarkable, be yourself, all that good stuff.
🙂
“…maybe one day!”
There is a certain self-perpetuating phenomenon that kicks in at some point. I wonder if it’s really content, or just SEO and backlinks? I’m not questioning anyone’s quality, and a bad blog won’t get read, but I wonder if the sticking power is really in the end an SEO statistical reality that once you are “made” you “stay” despite a certain level of effort. Not to sound jaded, but you have to wonder these things.
“To him that has shall be given…”
Once you’ve reached a certain tipping point the ball gets rolling and you get a certain amount of momentum.
But I think the guys that have that do so because of years of hard and smart work – and maybe a little luck. I think that’s life – not everyone can be successful and the ones that are have something a little extra than everyone else. Maybe one day I’ll figure out what I can do to get there!
I have to admit that long blog articles turn me off and I lose interest unless the subject matter is really, really interesting. I total believe in keeping things short, simple and to the point.
I think the trend is towards shorter, well-written pieces. People buy books because the long format is simply easier to read there because 1) it’s easier on the and eyes and 2) the web is by default a quick-read medium. When I come across articles I like, I will skim them and not read in depth if they are too long.