This is a blogging problem that can affect any blogger in the world.
Most of us have been through it at one time or another – I think about it before I hit publish on every single post.
In fact, in the past it’s caused me to delete entire drafts because I became so uncertain.
So what’s going on? Let’s find out.
Before you hit publish…
Before you hit publish again on your blog you need to do one thing.
It seems simple but it’s something that actually can be quite subtle in how it manifests.
It will be different for you depending on your personality, niche, blog and even how old you are?
So what is this global blogging epidemic?
It’s noise.
Specifically, it’s the question of whether your blog is actually helping the person who reads it or whether you’re just making more noise that no one needs.
As I said, it can be really hard to determine.
The line between noise and helping someone
As always, I can only speak about my personal experience here.
But one of the interesting things about owning a site like Blog Tyrant is that I get hundreds of comments and emails each week about all the different ideas people are trying with their blogs.
Often I am quite shocked at the plans people have.
The classic example is the new blogger who wants to start a “make money online” blog without ever having made a dollar online.
That really confuses me.
The older I get the more sensitive I am to the reality that it’s real-life human beings on the other end of my blog and if they are getting tips or information from something I produced I better make damn sure that it’s helping them.
I try to take that responsibility seriously.
Of course, I’m not deluding myself here – it’s not like it’s surgery or translating for the UN. But I really do want to make sure that no one leaves my site with some false impression of what blogging is like, or with an idea that isn’t actually going to be of use to them.
How do you make sure your blog isn’t just noise?
The great thing about making your blog more useful is that it also helps to make it more popular. The more value you provide the more likely people are to subscribe, share and engage with your content.
How, then, do we make sure that our blog isn’t just another piece of noise taking up server space and never really adding anything to the usefulness of the web?
Here are some ideas:
- Think about who might read it
It took me a long time to learn this one (because I’m an idiot…) but it’s important to think about who might read your articles as opposed to who you want to read them. For example, if you’re writing a controversial piece about depression you’d better hope it’s suitable for the at-risk 16-year-old who might stumble upon it and take it to heart. - See if you can go longer
Some people will hate this idea but in my experience if you can turn a short 600-word post into an incredibly detailed 5,000-word beast of long form content then you are really showing some loving care for your readers. That type of thing takes research, dedication and a lot of guts to do regularly. - Go on a journey instead of a lecture
I used to be pretty arrogant with my blogging. It wasn’t until it was pointed out to me that I started to consider what my voice sounded like, and the impact it might have. It took a long time but now I try to cultivate a kind of side-by-side feel instead of one where I talk “at” people. I genuinely don’t think my marketing methods are better than anyone else’s and so I try to make sure that comes across with the words now as well. Here’s someone who does it perfectly. - Add more variations to your posts
Last week in my post about building a blog we looked at why it’s a good idea to add more mediums to your posts. This is another reason. By adding videos, audio, graphics, etc. you increase the chance that you’ll create something in a format that will touch someone when it otherwise might have been skipped. - Link to people who know more than you
There is a reason that professors make their students do bibliographies. It shows that you’ve been studying and it acknowledges that work of the people who came before you. But from a marketing point of view it also makes your blog more valuable because it shows that you’ve put in the work. Derek Halpern cites at least one study in almost every post he writes and it makes him seem like more of an expert, not less, because he can sift through the junk for insights.
A lot of these are very subjective calls that you’ll have to make, and that’s why this particular problem with blogging is so hard to solve with a quick catch phrase.
In the end I think the main test is whether or not your post is going to help the people who read it.
If it doesn’t do that then it might not be worth hitting publish.
Do you get nervous about hitting publish?
Have you ever had that feeling of nervousness before you hit publish because you’re worried about the impact it’ll have? I’d be really interested to know what you think about this issue and how you’ve overcome it for yourself. How do you make sure your blog is useful and helping?
Please leave one of your usual awesome comments.
I usually try to write about problems I have had, myself. The theory being: If I’ve had this problem, somebody else has, too. Then the second test of noise vs helpful is: Am I offering helpful information that isn’t readily available from a reputable source. The another checkpoint – and this is just intuition – is: Is my particular audience going to find this helpful? I do that last one because if I gauge myself against the rest of the Internet, I would never end up pushing the publish button.
That’s a really good point. I can’t imagine you ever producing something that was less than useful, though.
[head nod] Thanks for the kind words!
HI Ramsay,
I think you visited my site and after taking a look at it decided to write this post.
I am one of the bloggers who added a “make money online” category to my site, although it was not one of the things I wanted to write about. At that stage I did not make any money online yet (mind you I never changed that part of my post there) – but my reason for that was when I started searching on how to make money online, I came across so many scams that I thought it would be a great idea to warn other people about it before they waste their money on the same scams I did. It is quite interesting when one starts searching for that term for the first time that you don’t get the useful information yet – only the scams.
Another reason why I think you read my posts is because I also write about depression, but this is an issue I do understand, having gone through a major depression myself and learning to overcome it.
Although I am always nervous about hitting publish I do think twice about it, preview, read through, tweak and change, preview again…. and so it goes on until I tell myself if you don’t hit publish you are never going to publish anything.
I also have allot of drafts, that never got published.
Have an awesome day
Linda
Hi Linda.
Nope, didn’t write this after reading your blog but it’s good to know that the problems are universal to us all. I think it means that we care. It’s good to be thinking about these issues.
Yeah, for sure, I wrote a post recently with some profanities in it – it was actually based on a meme i happened across on Facebook, meant as a kind of joke, but actually contained a hard-core human truth. I actually posted it and it wound up appearing on a FB group I am a member of, filled with straight laced older people…it was not received well. After thinking it over I removed it and I’m going to re-work it minus the expletives – you might think I am being a bit ‘politically correct’ but a lot of folks do not take kindly to swearing online 🙂 Even if it is philosophically ‘interesting’.
Was it just the swears that offended people?
Hmm, yes it’s hard sometimes when you get real heated up about anything that really upsets you and you start to write about it. I can agree with that. However, being a writer makes us professionally responsible to use all of our vocabulary, not just the profane words. Anyone can spout out profanities. It is up to the rest of us to justify the regular use of our encompassing vocabulary that can be so interesting.
Recently I have been thinking about that because that is one thing that I believe is really wrong with communications with the police and younger boys. The boys just feel like they can talk to police who are being bullies in any manner they want. Therefore they use lots of profanities like calling the cops “Pigs”.
That just exacerbates the problems in the first place doesn’t it?
When I started my blog which is subtitled “Baby Boomer Travel for the Body and Mind” I envisioned it as mostly informational. Then I started feeling that I was getting to know my regular readers and when I had a traumatic personal experience I thought I might share, I first asked the group on Facebook whether they thought I should do that. They said “yes” and that has turned out to be my most popular post. I’m still trying to provide useful information, but my style is definitely much more personal and that seems to be one thing that readers are attracted by.
It’s the story – people love the story. I try to work one in to any post I can.
Ramsay first let me tell you that I love your blog…I read it all the time and retweet it..
I started a blog now a couple of weeks ago, and its live since couple of days. And yes I try to solve problmes for my future readers. It is the Food and Beverage industry where i spend my last 13 years in it and which is at the same time my job an my big passion. So yes there are a lot fo topics where i have the knowledge so its easy to write for me abiout it. I even have as well already some guest blog posts which I think its good.
But yes I still feel nerveous when i press publish, because I’m new to this and not sure how my writing is.
Thanks so much for the feedback. I’m glad the blog is helping.
Finally, someone talk about this. This is absolutely the common problem for Indonesian blogger. Thank you for giving the inspiration.
Thanks mate.
Lol.
Like when fitness blogs talk about fitness when the author has no idea what he’s talking about.
People crave authenticity,even if you aren’t an expert. They want to know you’re a real person with real struggles like them.
Oh yeah, having lots of long form content (2000 plus words with images and links to other sites) makes me more willing to trust you. When I scroll through all of you’re articles and see that you’ve put in the work, I’ll remember your blog.
That’s a good point about long form content. It makes you sub consciously put more trust in the person as an authority in the field, even if you don’t have the time to read the whole article in front of you.
Thanks Jonathan. I looked at your blog and it looks authentic and real.
I would read it.
Raza, good point. There’s a lot of blogs out there on weight loss and fitness that are just talk.
A regular 2,000 word post is much work and suggests expertise, but sometimes they’re too much to slog through.
Hi Ramsay,
So would a person starting a “MMO” blog, who hasn’t made a dollar yet, but wants to document his/her journey to make money online nevertheless, is still a bad idea as well? Wouldn’t that be a way to stand out and also be relatable to those just starting out also, since they’re all in the same level?
Also, why is it that blogs are more popular than static websites? Is it because of the search engines and they are easier to create?
Keep inspiring,
Warren
I believe what Ramsay is talking about here is people in the MMO niche who have not made money online but pretend to just because it’s a popular niche to go into.
I’ve made money online. But not enough to give lectures on how to make 6 figures in 6 months. Sharing the journey like you want to is actually a great thing in my opinion because :
1) You are not claiming to be an expert at this (online readers are savvy these days and are fatigued by cliched terms like “Expert”)
2)You are sharing your OWN journey. Not theory. Not made-up stuff. Real life experiences and I bet people who have never made a cent online will find your insights useful. It definitely makes you relatable like you mentioned.
One of the best ways to begin in a niche where you are not exactly at the top of the food chain is to curate content through interviews and guest round ups with people who have already done it.
And yes, I believe search engines love blogs because of the fact that they are typically updated frequently (more relevant, fresh information) than static sites.
Hey Warren,
I would read a blog by someone who is trying to make money online. It’s authentic.
People crave authenticity.
Talk about what you’ve tried. What didn’t work. Your frustrations.
People will relate.
Forget about the search engines for now. Yes, target certain keywords on certain posts, but write for people.
Look at MarkManson.com, he’s a personal development blogger unlike any I’ve EVER read.
He doesn’t talk about fluffly, make you feel good crap. Read this article called the subtle art of not giving a f*ck: http://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck
He’s got 2 million email subscribers. Do you really think he cares about the search engines?
I agree with these guys – take Man Vs Debt as an example of someone who kind of just shows you what he’s doing with his life.
Nice post, once again!
As a new blogger (I celebrated my blog’s 1st year two months ago), my teachers are other bloggers, like you! I owe you a lot!
It’s true that most of the bloggers don’t say anything new, they just copy-paste each other.
I am an architect, very interested in psychology. I started my blog”Designing for Happiness”-when design meets psychology, because I wanted to share what I know and learn everyday, about the impact of design in human psychology. I also wanted to educate people by presenting them international studies in my language (Greek) in a simple way, so that everybody can have access to this knowledge. I am proud to say, that I own the first Greek blog with that subject and, maybe one of a few globally.
I know I’ve solved the problem mentioned above, not only because of readers’ nice words and Google’s first places, but because sometimes when I read my older posts, I still find them interesting!
After on year of blogging, the only reason I feel nervous before I hit “publish” is typos! The good thing about blogging, is we can always review, update and add stuff in older posts. And that we can keep on learning and sharing knowledge so easily!
p.s. I hope I didn’t sound arrogant, I’m just happy and proud of my creation!
That sounds like a really cool little niche you’ve got going there. Congrats on the hard work!
Hi, Ramsay,
I always make sure I’m helping my readers – you taught me that one! And now I teach it to my clients.
I cannot tell me how many clients come to me saying “I want to write about my life and what I did this week” and I have to tell them “People want you to be all about them, not you”. Some get it, some don’t!
Thanks,
Sue
Very good catchphrase, Sue!
Ram
I like that part about ‘going on a journey’.
Asante from Tanzania.
Leila Sheikh
Thanks Leila.
The best way to know if a blog post is just more noise is in the very last paragraph I write.
At the end, I give the reader a clear call to action. If I can’t give them a next step to take then the post was written for my benefit and not theirs.
As far as if your web site is just noise, rank it against others in your niche and you’ll know.
Chris, that is such a crucial step…a call to action.
Do you think offering resources such as pdfs or checklists would be good calls to action?
For example, I wrote an ebook about prioritizing your life so I thought it might be beneficial to have a pdf of the top 20 questions about prioritizing your life at the end of my blog posts.
Thanks,
Jennifer
Jennifer, CTA’s can be links to related articles, links to off-site posts, links to a product, a prompt for a comment such as “how have you tackled such a problem,” and even pdf downloads in trade for their email address. At the end of each post, they should take another step and it’s up to you to lead them to it. Otherwise, they are likely to leave the site.
Thanks!
Good banter, guys!
I was just about to publish a short, quick post, just to get another article up on the blog. Now you got me thinking about how I can make it a more worthwhile read for the people who are kind enough to spend some time on y site.
Any post that makes you think is a good one.
Thanks.
Let me know how it goes.
Thanks Ramsay, I always glean a lot from your posts! Noise vs Are you helping, is definitely a very needed subject. Keeping a unique voice is not always an easy task either. You continue to inspire!
Best,
Valerie
Thank you Valerie.
Hi Ramsay,
Thanks for a great post. I am constantly asking myself is this article helpful to my readers before hitting the publish button. I agree wholeheartedly with this article. If it isn’t beneficial to the reader, then it needs to be re-written until it is.
I totally agree. Well said. Blogs should help.
Ramsay, thanks for this post. Oh yea, I get nervous and have a hard time hitting that publish button. Too many thoughts swirling around in my brain. Is it good enough, too long or short? What about grammar… will my writing get found out by the “grammar police”.
If you have those thoughts in the first place I think it means you’re probably ready to publish.
*add more media to your posts
Unless you are writing a blog about psychic fortune tellers, in which case yes, you would want to add more mediums.
Sorry, this is just getting on my nerves, and it’s not just you. I read a lot of art-related stuff, especially on Facebook, and MAN are there a lot of psychics involved in the arts these days.
I’m a bit confused. Are you saying I shouldn’t have used the word “mediums”?
[ Smiles ] I am in agreement with your concept.
Our article should be of great value to our readers.
Splendid post!
[smiles back]
Thanks again, Ramsay. Really good post!
I’ve often wondered if maybe I’m just a poetic, sentimental, girl full of lots to do about nothing…LOL.
So, I am determined to get out of my comfort zone and offer some resources and things I wouldn’t normally offer.
What do you think about pdfs, checklists, downloads and such, pertaining to a specific niche?
Thanks,
Jennifer
That stuff is awesome. Now imagine combining it all into one epic post. For example, you have a basic checklist for beginners and then include a downloadable PDF for experts at the end. That kind of thing works well for me.
Nice reminder Ramsay!
It took me a while before I decided to launch my 2nd blog. I would say I started my first one because of my hobby.
But I hesitate to start my 2nd one because why I build another blog about blogging again? I just add another noise.
I failed to launch it many times by the way. But I still feel I have something to share.
How to build a useful blog about blogging?
I am taking another approach. I look for questions that people are asking about blogging and check if the topic is not yet well answered somewhere yet. Then I will write a blog post about it.
What is your suggestion to push me closer to the need of the bloggers?
Thanks
Hi Santel.
I would suggest maybe writing about the things you are struggling with. Show people how you solve problems in your niche.
Hey Ramsay I’m an idiot too. It has only just occurred to me recently. I know I have some great information to impart to my readers regarding my field of expertise but I think I have been going about it all wrong.
Should I be finding what people are actually searching for in my niche and then write about that?
I do think it is a good idea to journal ones journey in the online world too, for the very reason that if your readers are thinking of doing the same thing they can learn from your mistakes.
Actually I love your posts they are the most useful I have ever come across, so thanks.
Hi Deborah.
I think knowing what your audience wants is good, but telling them what they need is better.
Figuring out how to do that is another thing entirely…
Hi Ramsay, this post is inspiring me and others too. My initial phase of blogging was not like you mentioned but with the time I manage to learn new blogging skills from bloggers like you.
But still I think, there are lots of blogging skills, I need to understand first and then implement on my blog.
Once again, thank you so much for ever inspiring me through your posts to achieve a place in blogging.
Mohinder Paul Verma
BloggingFunda – A Community of Bloggers
Thanks Mohinder. I’m glad you are enjoying it.
Wow, just amazing!
After a long time, I found some awesome and profitable blogging tips like this. All the five points that you mentioned in the section of “How do you make sure your blog isn’t just noise?” is quite helpful and everyone will agree with your thought.
You said correct, adding videos, audio, graphics, etc attracts readers attention and they look forward to getting more tutorials from our blog. Thanks for this helpful post. Keep helping !!
Glad it helped. Thanks for sharing a comment.
Ramsey, Have really learnt a lot from you, this past few months, from the tone of your voice to your blog structure.
That means a lot. Glad it’s helping.
Thanks for such a detailed post. The points about noise creations are true. But, what about bloggers who have zero experience? Isn’t experimenting stack well with blogging?
Also, experimenting and garbage information is completely different. But, at first, everyone creates a garbage or noise, before moving to something awesome. The key here is practice and creating noise early one so that those mistakes can build the success of the future.
Regards,
Nitish
Experimenting is great. Just don’t pretend that you are an expert. That’s my main concern when people do that.
Hi Ramsay,
I’ll send this to my new blogger friends since you got me through the jump from free to self-hosted.
My content is geared for gender neutral. I want moms to send links to their kids without worrying about them finding something they wouldn’t recommend.
I write about baby boomer life, which isn’t any different than any other, but it seems like it should be.
After I wrote a review of a Mayan calendar movie a friend’s kid made, I got search traffic on Mayan calendar. Like I’m an expert? No.
You start blogging for one reason and then the blog tells you who you are by search terms. Such a fight. Great post, R.
Hi David.
Yeah, it’s funny how that can work sometimes. Google picks up whatever it wants.
Are you enjoying the new hosting environment?
Hi Blog Tyrant,
Interesting to see this article. I blog for myself and for others. When I write for myself, I generally don’t have the publish tension that you speak of. However, when writing for the other blogs, I do have apprehension for the very reasons that you say. The one blog I don’t even get to see the stats so I cannot even self regulate. I spend way more time constructing and article for him than I do myself. He told me though one day that. it’s not that hard. You should be able to do x number a day..Technically speaking yes, but when you write for more than one person , you are writing more than 3 a day. Had to let him know that too. NOt only that, the speed that he was recommending would not givve me a good feeling on information also like you said. To me if I am looking for information, 1. I don’t want to see 72 variations of the same spun article( I rewrite by hand and not by spinner too) and none have information of really value. When producing an article and especially with my own name attached having quality material is priority to me. I, for my blogs don’t care if I have 3 articles a week or a day, it is based on my own personal flow. I like to read up on everything I write about especially if I am not familiar with a topic. To the non-writer, That is a part of the writing process if quality is a matter. These gurus are passing out seo information with such guidelines hat new entrepreneurs try to follow the formula to the tee. Subsequently burning themselves( or their writers),and pockets out trying to achieve the ideal marketing stream overnight. I have been working on this this for over ten years. Still trying to find My fit without losing all of my money while trying to make money. Thank you for giving a voice to this. I thought I was just being super OCD. They ask for 500 words, I can’t write basic info in 1500 words with being just like everyone else. Then the purpose is moot. Thanks again for a great article. 🙂 Indebwetrust,
Yeah it’s hard working for someone else because you have to hit their goals even if they’re not the best goals to have. Sounds like you’re learning a lot, though.
I think about this all the time… Am I ruining the internet? Am I making cyber clutter? I hate cyber clutter.
Yes, you are.
It is something we spent a lot of time on at college but not a lot of bloggers seem to emphasize it all that much.
You make a good point, but as a new blogger sometimes its hard to determine if what you write is noise or signal for most part of your audience. It will come with experience, i guess
I think so.
When you build an audience that you care about, you tend to be careful about each next post you write for them. Since there’s a reason they are your loyal audience, you can’t afford to take them for granted. As a blogger, this is something that always holds me back from hitting the publish button.
Great point about the audience. I think you’re right.
Hi Ramsay , I have downloaded your free ebook on how to do effective blogging and I have to say that what you have provided in your free content is actually paid content . I have started my blog 4 months ago but never got more than 12 visitors per day and by reading your ebook I realized my mistake that I was just writing random articles and not advertising it .
Hi Sarfranz. What do you mean by my free content being paid content? I don’t understand.
I mean that the ebook you gave for free is very much valuable and nobody gives a great ebook like this for free
[…] own Facebook account then you have more than enough experience to start a blog (assuming you have something good to talk […]
[…] own Facebook account then you have more than enough experience to start a blog (assuming you have something good to talk […]
[…] own Facebook account then you have more than enough experience to start a blog (assuming you have something good to talk […]
Hello Ramsay,
This is a very nice guide.
I started my blog very recently and do not know what my readers think about how I write.
Anyways thanks for sharing the post.
A useful one 🙂
Thanks, it offers a good perspective to blogging. I started with a cross topic review website that eventually was isolated to real estate. This article will give me a tip or two.
[…] of the reasons I encourage bloggers to write posts that are as helpful as possible is because then you don’t really feel bad about pushing them. You know it’s useful and you […]
I read you 9000+ word epic and had to pick my jaw up from the desk. 2k words are a lot easier to manage, but it’s hard to keep that going, day in – day out.
I decided that I’ll hit publish on something as little as 1000 words because I just want to keep my writing streak alive.
BTW: Has long does it take you to knock out a 5k killer post?
I especially relate to the point about not lecturing your audience. These days I go through and delete the word “should” 99% of the time. Condescending posts don’t cut it these days.
I’m also not fond of being shouted at or described as a moron, dope or idiot, even if the author is a superstar, superguru wizard.
Hi Cathy. Which blogger shouts at their audience? 🙁
Hey Ramsay,
Really great post there. You’re absolutely right.
Bloggers have to stop writing noise, cut through it and actually start writing something to help someone. At least that’s my goal. And you made a good point about Derek that I never thought about. Yes he does cite a lot of research in posts, but I never looked at it from the standpoint that it just elevated his expertise.
You’re very right about that. Good share.
– Andrew
One of my primary questions I ask myself as I’m assembling a piece is whether or not is becoming more of a complete communication or less of a complete communication?
When I say “Complete”, I am saying so from the perspective I’ve taken on with trying to reach all four learning styles in the piece:
***Why Learners who can’t hear your argument if they can’t see why it is important to even be paying attention to this…
***What Learners who are looking for the concepts and definitions – the What it is that you’re talking about and the theory and history behind it…
***How-To Learners who can’t justify spending time with a piece of content if they can’t skim the piece and find the action steps or a recipe for how to accomplish the outcome that is being talked about…
***What Now Learners who learn best by hands on application and are looking for not just a recipe, but for the one action item they can run with that allows them to put this to knowledge to work now so that they can start learning from their results.
Your suggestion of . . . “See if you can go longer” has never been an issue for me.
Not too long ago my business partner tasked me with limiting our series of “Top 3 Lessons I Learned From X Course/Seminar” to only 1,000 words.
This stressed me out.
I’m looking at anywhere from 75-300 pages of notes and you’re only giving me 1,000 words to cover the why, the what, the how-to, and the what now for each lesson.
No fun. And of course, because of my obsession with being thorough , some of these pieces ended up only covering one lesson instead of multiple lessons because I felt like I’d be cheating the lesson if I only gave it 300-500 words.
So for me, going longer has never been a concern but instead I always have to wonder if I have too much and have to question whether I should be going shorter in pursuit of tightening the piece up.
To blab or not to blab, that is my dilemma and what really helps me feel like I’ve assembled a full communication is by using the Four Learning Styles as a checklist of sorts.
If I’ve covered all four, then I just have to ask, “What parts of this are people gonna skip because you’re rambling on there?” and then I get to step into the role of being hit man hired to hunt down and then murder the fluff.
I have zero illusion that my way is the only way or that it is “right” but I’m going to at least keep working on it refining it for the next few years so I can the log the 10,000 hours (7-10 years) required for Mastery on the subject.
Then, perhaps I’ll experiment with and pursue Mastery over the Seth Godin two paragraph style. 🙂
[…] of the reasons I encourage bloggers to write posts that are as helpful as possible is because then you don’t really feel bad about pushing them. You know it’s useful and […]
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