For all you worship bloggers out there

[Milestoneworship]

I've recently seen an upswing in the traffic at my blog (thanks, in part, to TWC members-thanks guys!), and at pivotal moments like this, I think that it is always good to examine how I do what I do. So I thought that I'd throw a couple of questions out there for you fellow bloggers.

How often should a good worship blog be updated? I update daily during the week, and on the weekends I typically just let things ride, because I'm prepping for Sunday's worship time.

What worship blogs do you frequent, and what draws you to them? I usually hit up FredMcKinnon, and Worshipmatters, and I'm a RSS subscriber to many others. I find that these blogs help me experience a community that I don't experience elsewhere. Sometimes working in the ministry can get a bit lonely, so it's nice to know that others share my struggles and enjoy music as much as I do.

Blogging about worship is really becoming popular, and I know a lot of influential bloggers visit this forum, so I'm excited about your feedback.

[milepost13]

How often should a good worship blog be updated?

It all depends. I update mine an average of 1.5 times/day, but that's due to some different circumstances. I only read blogs if 1) they're incredibly "good" (meaning I really enjoy reading them) or 2) they blog often, like, at least 3 times/week.

What worship blogs do you frequent, and what draws you to them?

Check out My Blog (http://practicalworship.blogspot.com/) to find out... ;)

Nate

[csobalvarro]

How often? I think the blogosphere would be far better off if many bloggers slowed down a bit :) More is not always better. A personal choice obviously, as blogs are by nature very personal. In my own case I prefer to blog only when I really have something significant to say. I can't imagine anyone really wants to read something I wrote just because I felt I needed to fill frequency. I really try to write things I feel are worth reading. I hope others agree when they read it! Check it out an see for yourself. (http://www.realfaithmusic.com/blog)

[BillyChia]

Jeremy,
hmmm, I thought there'd be more replies on this...

In terms of traffic - On my blog it seems that the more frequently I post the more traffic I get. (5x or more per week)

In terms of subscribers - I've seen my subscribe rate go up with less frequent posting. (1x - 2x per week)

As far as Worship Blogging - Yeah it's popular, but I think there's room for everyone. Especially considering we all have unique experiences. I find myself more drawn to experience-based blogs where the bloggers are telling the story of what they have gone through, what they have tried, or what they personally believe and why. That's always fresh and unique.

I also like blog that have value-based posts. They're not just blogging to get something off their chest, but they put some effort into putting something on the internet that's of value to me. This could be breaking news, a unique commentary of current events (or other blog posts) or simply that they tell good stories and their posts are entertaining.

[alhilgendorf]

I agree to blogging only when I have something significant to say. Of course some people can say something significant much more often than I can. I don't have a lot of time to read lengthy blogs either unless they address a topic I'm interested in. My blog entries on my web page are probably more like articles. I try to keep the ones on my Myspace more entertaining. All in all, if the blog doesn't have value to the reader, it won't get read.

[dtpuga]

Just curious why people are so worried about their traffic. If we blog to help folks out and say things worth hearing then its good for everyone. If we try to blog to keep stats up, then well, we get crap on the blogs more times than not. I think a lot of people could save some virtual trees by not being afraid to leave a blog for post-less for even days at a time.

I have a blog too. I check my traffic too. I get excited when my traffic goes up. (Usually b/c Fred or Mandy link to me.) But I decided before I launched that I wasn't going to ever be motivated to drive traffic.

If you have something to say, blog it. Many folks will enjoy reading it. If you don't have something to say, please don't say it anyway. We can usually tell. I think consistent blog views and subscriptions come from people who know that its not going to be a waste of time to check the site. When something exciting is mentioned, everyone talks about it and you get links anyway.

*Steps off soap box.*

-Travis

[Joseph]

Sometimes working in the ministry can get a bit lonely, so it's nice to know that others share my struggles and enjoy music as much as I do.


I`m with you there Brother.

[csobalvarro]

I watch stas for a few reasons.

1) Blogging takes time. I didn't do it for a long time because of that. Nonetheless I decided to give it a try. Stats are a way of confirming that there's someone out there reading the stuff. If no one's reading, why blog it?

2) Stats are also a good way to see what topics resonate. Comments are an even better measure of this, but my experience so far is that only a tiny percentage of those who read will comment. So stats are still important.

3) It's just kinda fun :)

[twc_admin]

Hey gang,

Great topic - not only have I not been blogging lately (at least, not consistently), I've not been posting and visiting TWC lately. This is because the last month has been incredibly busy ... I have an online business (see my biz site at HPPEnterprises.Com and my biz blog at http://www.hppenterprises.com/blog) ... selling stuff online, and it's been ... well, online shopping season.

So, in addition to my full time job at the church, and of course my role as husband and dad, I've spent literally ALL of my extra time packing orders, printing labels, adding products, removing products, checking in shipments, and emailing tracking numbers.

Finally - it's slowing down, so ....

1. I tend to agree with Travis ... don't blog every day "just because" ... but a consistent posting pattern is a good thing, usually. Like Billy said, you do tend to keep more traffic and results when you post consistently. Same thing with podcasts - when I was producing them consistently, people subscribed more ... when I was slack (like now), they fall off.

2. I have been declaring a lot of RSS Bankruptcy lately, (marking all read), but I like to checkout Alex's betterthanblank, carlos' ragamuffinsoul, rich kirkpatrick, shannon lewis (4whatitsworth), Joel's cecworship, billy chia, and jordan @ worshiptrench, milestone worship, nate's blog, chrisfromcanada, Another great blog that I love (content-wise) is leadworshipper.blogspot.com (Raising Up Worship Leaders) ... his stats show only 18 RSS subscribers, but his content is always great ...

Thanks to all those who check out mine, I will certainly try to be more consistent w/ good content in the future, and resume some WC's!

Fred