You know the problem with awesome sites? There is too much information and not enough time. Since I began increasing active in the social media word and blogging, I’ve come across countless amazing webpages I couldn’t stop reading.
If you start reading one blog post, end up clicking a link or two, and hours later find yourself looking at a clock reading 4:00 AM, and you have to be up in 3 hours, this post is for you.
Since the whole idea of my site started as a review and reference page, it is really important for me to dig into what a site is about, the type of content that can be found, and if it is even interesting enough to keep reading.
Check The Popular Posts And About Page
The first thing I do when I arrive on a blog is check out the layout. I look for key components like the About Page and Popular Posts (aka Best Of). If the post titles are magnetic, I usually go straight for the popular posts. Either way, I check the About Page to find out what experience the author has and what they think their page is about.
Popular posts give you a great sample of what to expect from the site. They aren’t always the “best” content, but they are the most popular posts for a reason. If you don’t like the popular posts, you probably aren’t going to like the rest of the blog; don’t waste your time.
Don’t Chase Too Many Links
Links are where I tend to get in trouble. I follow a link to a different post or another blog, and five hours later, I haven’t finished reading the original post and have 22 tabs open.
When I come to an interesting link, I just open it in a new tab (control+click in Firefox) and keep reading the current post to the end. That way I finish reading and have the link saved.
The problem is sometime there will be multiple links worth checking out in a good post; how do you know which one to read next? I go to the next tab and look at two things. Is it the same site? Is it the same topic?
When I’m reviewing a site and the link is outbound, I simply bookmark the new site and close the tab. This keeps me on track for reviewing. After I’m done with my review, I’ll go back to the site.
If I’m researching a particular topic like SEO or writing killer headlines, as long as the link is on topic, I’ll read it and bookmark the site if it is my first visit. Off topic links, I bookmark and come back to later.
Only Read Chronological If You’ve Been There Before
One mistake I made when I first started reading blogs was always reading top to bottom. Fact of the matter is, the best and most relevant content isn’t always at the top.
If at all possible, go straight for the meaty posts and subscribe to the RSS for reading content in chronological order. Use archives or the search function to find relevent posts if you are researching one specific topic.
Are You Effectively Using Your Time Reading Blogs?
With all the amazing information out there, you can easily find yourself jumping blog to blog, changing topics frequently, and in the end, forgetting 95% of what you read. You just wasted a bunch of time.
Stay on topic or stay on the site depending on your needs. Make changes to your blog right after reading a post instead of hoping you remember later. Even if you make a written note, it’s easy to forget to make the changes.
By now you should have 4 or 5 tabs open and ready to rock. None of the links are on this topic, so you’re free to bookmark and read as you like.
Did I leave anything out? What tricks do you use to make the most of your blog reading time?
Bonus: Keeping Track Of Conversation
If you’re interested in the comment conversation on the site, you can subscribe to the comment feed. I don’t like doing that because my inbox ends up filled with ten million messages, or I forget to check my reader. Instead, I just leave the tab open and refresh it each time I finish reading a page. If that’s taking up too much time, I just come back after the next article is published and check both at once. I’m always shocked at how long conversation on popular topics continues.
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It also helps if you are more selective about what you choose to read, rather than trying to read everything in your niche.
.-= Tamahome Jenkins´s last blog ..The Always Controversial Nobel Peace Prize =-.
Exactly. It’s easy to get caught up trying to read everything there is out there. Instead pick a topic or pick a site and stay on it.
Since I like doing reviews, I typically stay on a site for a while; however, when I’m focused on improving my blog or my writing, I only read stuff about exactly what I’m working on be it graphics, SEO, or site layout.
I keep track the conversation by subscribe via email. It is worthy even my email have so many message by it.
.-= Dana@Online Knowledge´s last blog ..How To Get Pass IP Banned =-.
good post.I prefer to follow certain blogs( like problogger for blogging tips) and not to deviate from it easily.If i follow any advice given on post I make sure that the author is expert in the field.Like for example in marketing I read seth.But it is true on internet there is no limit of information.
That is why I always go to the About page. It tells me a little background about the author and if they are credible or not.
I also check their Alexa rank (if it’s over 100,000, I go to Alexa and look to see what their 7 day and 1 month rank are… sometimes new blogs are ranked poorly just because they are new).
When someone with a rank of 500,000 is telling me how to get traffic, I am not sure how much I can trust them. If they are using their site as a case study that’s a different story.
With new blogs, the About page is even that much more important. For example, I’ve been blogging for years and have performed SEO on many large enterprises.
However, freebloghelp.com is a relatively new project of mine. It’s important for me to build my credibility since my Alexa rank is not indicative of my knowledge.
Gabe,
That’s exactly right! You’re experience gives you credibility when your site stats don’t tell the whole story.
You are a perfect example of why a strong About page can sometimes be just as valuable as real time stats. Besides, we all know Alexa is only a partially accurate measure of size.
Hi Blake,
You have covered really important points in this article. Time management on different sites is really useful to gather more information and will definitely able to do that by following the points mentioned here. “Best of” is a good idea.
I have a whole series on “Digital Tsunami” on There Is No Box, 3 on how to use RSS alone. Maybe I should repost them…
.-= Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..9 Ways to Make Your Guest Post Editor Love You =-.
It might be time to recycle those posts. Using RSS effectively can be difficult for people who read 10+ blogs and have very minimal experience with RSS Readers.
Interesting articles with good advices in my opinion
It’s only a waste of time IF you forget that 95%! As you’ve mentioned, I’ll often bookmark articles so I can come back and review them to remind myself of what I was reading. In addition, sometimes I’ll jot down little notes for future ideas. Keeping a “clippings” folder will help you retain that information to be more efficient. ;)
Awesome post!
.-= Corey Freeman´s last blog ..Are You a Writing Marine? =-.
I’m a little ADD, so most of the time, if I don’t do something right away, I’ll forget to do it.
That’s why I like to just use bookmarks and close pages that I’m not going to read. I figure there is no point in reading something if I’m just reading it to read it. I’d rather come back and make sure I get everything.
“Clippings” really help. It is amazing how 2 or 3 words can spark you memory regarding an article.
right,don’t chase too many links, that will takes much time.
Good post. I use google reader to keep track of my new blog posts. And I also subscribe to the comments to keep an eye on the conversation. I did however find out that it will fill your inbox very quickly. So I started filtering all the blog comment emails into their own folder. Then I go through it at a later time when I’m ready and they aren’t filling my inbox.
I just thought I’d let you know, this is an awesome site here btw(my first comment here). And I like how it’s a review blog. My blog is similar in that I’m trying to make it a marketing resource.
Anyways, thanks for the suggestions here. I’m going to implement some of them soon. That seems to be a problem of late for me, taking too much time reading blogs lol.
.-= Chris´s last blog ..Why Testimonials and Social Proof Work =-.
I end up commenting on so many sites that if I subscribed I’d have 300+ e-mails per day. I find it so much easier to just check back time to time.
Filtering the e-mails to folders is definitely a good option though. I might try that again.
Thanks for the complement about the site. I like the idea idea of a marketing resource as well. I’ll head over and check it out later today.
It is too easy to spend too much time reading and not enough time writing.
yup, that’s my problem too. I need to learn how to write more than I’m reading lol. Glad I’m not the only one. Thanks for checking that out, I appreciate it :)
I use bookmarking a lot to remember good reads that might come handy later. I use delicious. If I happen to be in Twitter I mark this as a favorite. When in Google Reader, I’d mark it as favorite and just to make sure I’d email it to a few select friends with a copy to myself. I wish there’s a method to this madness though. LOL
When I read my email subscriptions and there’s an idea for a post in what I’m reading I’d mark it as a Task/To-Do list in Google – or put it in Calendar so I can flesh out the bare bones of a blog post idea.
Of course, I have physical notes too because you can’t trust everything will be okay in a developing country. Power outages. Poor internet connection. Pays to be safe.
I have a bookmark folder labeled content ideas just for things I think I’ll want to write about later.
Physical notes work well too. I have a 3 year old running around taking all the papers and notepads off my desk, so I can’t always my physical notes are safe either.
I have just recently started getting into social bookmarking sites. They actually seem extremely handy if you stick to using them.
“I have a 3 year old running around taking all the papers and notepads off my desk…”
That’s a funny scene you conjure. LOL… Seriously, I like your bookmark folder labeled content ideas. I’d adopt that in my system. :)
It’s only funny when it’s not your desk getting torn up. Imagine the Tasmanian Devil walking by your desk 20 times a day, and you’ll start to understand my pain ;-)
I frequently backup my bookmarks on a flash drive because I have so much valuable information bookmarked. It’s a good practice to be in.
Well. I always give much importance for the design. A professional blog should definitely have a good design.
Then comes the content.
If the design doesn’t make it easy to find content, the content will never be read. Good call.
[...] How to effectively use your Time reading blog [...]
Now it is 2:24, and I’m reading your blog. Is something wrong with me? :-)
Hooked on the internet… just like the rest of us!
you have covered really important points in the post.thanks
Those are great tips. As I get more and more involved in blogging I find myself reading 50-75 blogs a day. They may be a little or a lot I’m not sure, but I subscribe to nearly all RSS feeds, so three days a week are dedicated to solely reading blogs and the other three days are dedicated solely to writing with one day off. Phew blogging is a lot of work.
P.S. If you visit my blog and I hope you do, please have mercy on my About Page, I am just starting out and need to really put more content into it. :)
It is so easy to get caught up reading way too many blogs. I’ve recently come to realize I need to start reading less of other people’s work and doing more of my own or my blog will never grow.
I started figuring out what I was doing to remain productive, and put it in this post. Hopefully it helps you as much as it helped me.
very good, I too end up lost in the links, great advice.
I’m very guilty of the linking thing as well… as we speak I have approximately 15 open. I think maybe I should take your advice!
And I see you posted the comment at 4 am.. I promise I’m not spying on you though ;-)
With so much amazing content available online, it’s hard not to end up with 15-20 tabs open. It takes a lot of discipline to get stuff done online. I hope my tips help!
Actually I’m in the UK lol, it was mid-morning here ^_^ Your tips certainly did help though, a definite thankyou for posting them ;-)