How To Attract Citizen Bloggers

Trying to set up a readers’ blogging community but struggling to attract interest?

Help is at hand with a five-step guide to encouraging ‘citizen bloggers’ from Online Journalism Review (OJR).

The guide is aimed at local news editors and offers some great practical tips on creating an active blogging community.

Here’s a selection of OJR’s recommendations:

1 - Keep It Simple

It has to be easy for users to register for a blogging account and to submit posts.

Bloggers should be given easy to remember URLs for their blog page as they’re easier for telling friends and help pick up search engine traffic.

Offer automated promotional tools such as RSS feeds and pings to the main blog search sites.

2 - Easy To Find

It needs to be easy for visitors to find readers’ blogs from the newspaper’s homepage- aim for two links or fewer.

Linking the pick of the blogs from the homepage will enhance Google PageRank positions and enable quicker indexing in search engines.

3 - Recognise Top Bloggers

Create a system where readers or editorial staff can highlight the most impressive blogs and have these listed and linked to on the blogging front page or homepage.

4 - Blog By Topic

Rather than inviting readers to blog on anything, it can be more effective to split blogs into themes and encourage users to write about particular topics they are interested in.

5 - Lead By Example

Journalists must provide a model blog using the same software tools as those offered to readers.

This will provide inspiration, an example of effective blog writing and enables users to see a connection between themselves and the newsroom.

Editors also need to assume the leadership role when it comes to providing bloggers with “clear and consistent” guidelines about conduct, language and so on.

And don’t make them all negative - guidelines can also include writing tips.

View the full list at OJR.