Blogs are not one size fits all, and while there are blogs that are very personal in nature, there are others (like this one) that are more informative in nature. Many law blogs wear the informational hat, for example.
Which doesn’t mean that they can’t bring a personal touch to their informational blog, although most of these bloggers don’t want to start writing posts about their football team’s latest victory or where they are taking the kids on vacation this summer.
Here are some tips on how to infuse an informational blog with some of your individual personality (which readers do like to see):
1. Books.
Post regularly on books you have read and recommend to others. Easy to do, the fastest way to do this is just insert the image of the book with a link to Amazon or BN or Powells or whatever and title the post “I Recommend This Book” or “Recommended: [insert title']”.
2. Photos.
Post photos regularly, with a short caption beneath them. Choose pix that you have taken, or grab something from the public domain. Images are great for informational blogs, both visually and from an SEO perspective (Google likes this). Try tying the image to your blog’s theme or to related news.
A public domain photo of Abe Lincoln on President’s Day, for example. Another: your photo of the old historic building downtown right before it was torn down. With that one, your title could simply be: Acme Building, 1932-2012. Something like that.
3. Quotes
Post quotes that you like on a routine basis. There are sites that organize quotes, in case you cannot remember the exact wording. These can be words of wisdom or they be related to your blog’s theme or set of topics.
The text of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech could be placed on your blog for MLK Day, for example.
How often?
Not more than once a week, I would suggest. However, having one of these quick posts on a weekly basis brings a two post a week blog to the three post a week blog, and that can be a big difference to readers and to the search engines.