In real estate, first impressions are everything. Even though the color of the front door would be easy and affordable to repaint, it’s one of the first things a potential buyer notices. If your door is red and the buyer doesn’t like it, most likely she isn’t going to bother looking at the interior. Maybe she doesn’t even know why she doesn’t like the house. She’s on to the next one before yours had a chance.
Blog readers are just as finicky as house buyers—not that there’s anything wrong with that. There are simply so many choices in blogs and other online publications that it’s a reader’s market. A blog that doesn’t pass the front door test doesn’t attract readers willing to go farther inside the blog to look around. Think about these four ways to make a first impression with your blog so it becomes a hot property.
Create curb appeal
Junk in the home’s yard, or old and battered features are a quick turn-off.
On a reader’s first drive-by of a blog, they will keep moving if your blog is cluttered with an over-abundance of information or too much distracting formatting. Use a clean and open format that is easy to read and in which important information is easily identifiable. Choose your content selectively. Don’t recycle other people’s used articles. Use fresh and relevant content that is easy to see and access.
Be a good neighbor
Put some rocking chairs on the porch. Invite readers to share, comment, and interact. Ask them questions. Link to and connect with other blogs.
Realtors always advise baking fresh cookies so buyers feel like they’re at home in your house. Do the same for your blog. Make it a welcoming resource and a positive exchange of information that gives readers a sense that they belong. A blog that is all talk without any listening or interaction is like a big tall fence that reads Stay Out.
Look at comps on other houses in the neighborhood
Search the terms that you believe your best visitors will be searching so you can see what other blogs and sites your targeted audience reads. What do the blogs with topics similar to yours look like? What do they seem to be doing well? What could you do better? What differentiates your blog from the others? What niche within your topic could you be filling for readers that no one else seems to have developed yet?
Once you’ve figured out what your blog’s strengths are compared to the competition, play up those assets. Give your posts titles that speak to these strengths and originality. Put your best material where everyone can see it and include a “most popular” posts list to show off your best features.
Show some character
Nobody wants a cookie-cutter house that looks like all the other houses on the street. Stand out with details that give your blog character and originality. Give your charming cottage or svelte condo of a blog a name that attracts your targeted visitor. Give your headings and posts engaging and creative titles. Write entertaining content that makes you stand out and that exemplifies your unique take on your topic of expertise.
While you don’t want to get too fussy with formatting and features, do try to be original with color and design. Walk that fine line of visitors feeling as if they are experiencing something new and different while simultaneously feeling a sense of comforting familiarity. Charm them with what makes your blog like all the best blogs, and delight them with what sets your blog apart.
Behind the shutters
Once you feel ready for an open house, be prepared on the back end. While the first impression is essential, you wouldn’t want your blog to be like the house in the Tom Hanks movie The Money Pit. It looks like everything the buyers ever dreamed of in a house, but after only a little living, the underlying structure begins to fall apart board by board, and bathtub-through-ceiling by bathtub-through-ceiling. Be sure your foundation is sound with all the bugs worked out.
Test your comment process and archiving. Be sure you have enough content to sustain your blog. If you get one week in and you’re already out of material, it’s all going to come crumbling down. Prepare your blog with extra posts for times when you get in a jam. Prepare to spend time on your blog and not leave it on its own without diligent maintenance, upkeep, and tweaks as necessary.
When trouble does arise, work to fix the problem quickly. Then write a post about the misstep or problem and what your learned from it. Readers can relate to that, and in a reader’s market, they’re the ones you’ve got to impress.
What tips can you add for creating a great first impression with your blog? Share them in the comments.
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