I'm not new to blogging and no expert either but I have paid attention to blogs that I find interesting. This will be what I have learnt from those blogs, on what catches a reader's eye and what draws them back for more...

Topic or not to topic

I've seemed to hit the blogger jackpot with my recent entries regarding my switch to Ubuntu Linux from Windows. There is a lot of hype surround emerging Linux distributions and people seemed to be genuinely interested in the *possibility* of moving to a free operating system. This proves the point... The topic of your blog has to entice readers into wanting more information. If that topic is ongoing, as in my case, you're guaranteed a few extra clicks, but only if you have entertained or enthralled your visitor.

You can judge a blog by its title

Besides the topic, I think titles are the single most important tool a blogger has at their disposal. It is generally what the reader clicks on first, it hints toward what the article could be about and, if you have a well thought out snappy one-liner of a topic, you're set. You've got the fish interested. Now you can use the other blogger tools to make sure they read your article and hopefully, if you done a good enough job, they'll come back for more.

Pictures, a thousand words in a few clicks

Human eyes adore stimulation and what's better than some interesting graphics to offset your pearls of wisdom? Using graphics you not only add ladles of visual appeal but you break up the text into easy to swallow chunks. Think about it, how often have you gone into a blog entry and been faced with a huge block of text that's about a interesting as a blank page. What's the first thing you do? Click on the Back button? Find a new link? All of the above?

Headings your way

I've used many headings in this article (usually I don't) and they too add interest to the piece. Its like a one line summary of what's about to happen which sparks a level of curiosity in your reader. I really don't suggest the overuse of headings either (as I think I might have done in this article) as your blocks of text will look insignificant and it will impart a lack of substance to your article.

Tags alot

Pay attention here. This is important stuff if you want to add loads of visual appeal to your blog. For those that have been following my entries you've probably notice my occasional use of a quote...

This is important stuff if you want to add loads of visual appeal to your blog. For those that have been following my entries you've probably notice my occasional use of a quote...

And for those that haven't (been following my entries or noticing), that was a quote. Its is probably one of the simplest tags to implement in your blog. You'll have to leave the security of the WYSIWYG editor and click on the Source (the button this time, not the blogger!) located in the top left of the editor's toolbar. Wherever you want to insert the quote you type

< blockquote >This is where you put your quote text< / blockquote >
_{Please note I've added extra spaces some this doesn't get turned into another blockquote.}

You have to do this in source mode there is no other way around it. Once you've used it a few times you'll get the gist.

{mospagebreak title=Tags cont.}
There are other interesting tags that you can use in your blog:

< pre >This is a pre tag< /pre >

< p class="stickynote" >This is a stickynote< /p >

...