I think a first blog on a new website is very important. The author has carefully designed and coded their layout, checked and double checked all the spellings, made sure that everything is just how they wanted it – and now they have to write the blog. The first thing that the visitors will read.
It’s got to be witty, captivating and interesting. It has to grab new readers and convince them to subscribe to your RSS feed1 , while it also has to cater for the old visitors. After a time away, it’s got to show the old subscribers that you’re back, better than ever, and that your blog is somewhere they want to visit again, and it’s also got to show the sceptics and the people who weren’t that keen on your old blog, that you’ve improved, and you are worth the time now.
At the same time, you shouldn’t go overboard2 . Your first blog shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary. You shouldn’t pick a scandalous topic for a lot of discussion, if you don’t intend on doing that often on your blog. Your first blog needs to sum up what you intend your blog to be like every day; it should be representative. And make sure you don’t fall into the bad habit of telling everyone what is new about your site, and how much you’ve improved, and why3 . That’s just plain dull. Only regular visitors are interested in that, and you won’t have had some for a while.
Your first blog will be the first thing some people ever read about you. They should finish reading it feeling that they know what you are like a little bit. You should entertain them, but at the same time, you don’t have to sell yourself, nor tell them every single disgusting detail. It should make them want to click on the “About Me” and “About the Site” links after they have finished reading.
So, now I’ve got to write the perfect blog.
Oh well.