Making Your Blog Useful

Useful blogs can be difficult to define, but we can all spot one. Spend any meaningful time in the company of a blog-reading tool, and we become masters at it. We decide the fate of a feed in an instant sometimes, like cruel judges on some reality-TV talent contest. But the question is: What defines those blogs that make it? Why are some blogs useful and others a waste of time?

Ask yourself what your favorite blogs have in common. Think of your absolute, number-one, favorite blog in the world. For Darren it is Lifehacker. For me, it is Scott Adams’ Dilbert blog (www.dilbert.com/blog).

Why do you like the blog that you’ve identified? What keeps you going back so often?

Scott Adams is an incredibly witty guy, but he also makes me think. I go to his blog to escape, to think about something other than work. With Lifehacker there are a few things Darren enjoys, but the main factor is that it’s a blog that regularly provides life-enhancing tips.