Single-Author Blogs vs. Multi-Author Blogs
For readers who have been subscribed to Blogtrepreneur for a while, and there are a lot of you, you know that some changes come along with moving from a blog with just one author to a blog with a few different writers. Adnan built a very strong community here by providing interesting, insightful, and relevant content over a period of time. Now, as you have read, Adnan doesn’t have the option to continue posting at that frequency and he’s brought on a few other writers, me included, to help Blogtrepreneur to achieve the goals that he has set.
Inevitably some things will change, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at the subject in a little more detail. I know most of you read a number of other blogs, some with one author and some with many. I’m interested to hear your perspective on the differences that you see in these blogs and if you prefer one to the other.
Single-Author Blogs:
Personal Connection - I believe a blog that is written by just one person is able to capitalize on the personal connection between the reader and the blogger. This, in my opinion, is a big factor. Most of us read blogs because we can relate to the person writing, so a loss of this connection can hurt.
Readers Know What to Expect - If you read a blog everyday or a few times a week, you have a good idea of the blogger’s style, what topics are usually going to be covered, the quality of the information and the writing, the general approach to blogging, and more. This is something that most of us as readers take for granted.
Posted May be Limited Because of Time - As we saw a few months ago here on Blogtrepreneur, a single-author blog is completely dependant upon the availability of that one person, and when his or her schedule doesn’t allow time for blogging, the readers don’t get as much information. Even those that have plenty of time for blogging are still unable to post as frequently as many multi-author blogs. Frequent posting can be good or bad, but it is just a reality of blogging that it will be more limited for most single-author blogs.
Unlikely to be Able to Produce a News Blog - There are a growing number of blogs that serve readers by publish news as it occurs. This really isn’t possible with just one writer. The single-author blog has to compete with a different strategy.
Limited to the View of One Author - Naturally, the writing will come from one opinion. You’ll get what that blogger knows, and nothing more. The experience of the blogger will also have a huge impact on the quality of the content. They can’t write about what they don’t know. Again, I don’t think this is necessarily good or bad. Some single-author blogs are great because that blogger has an incredible perspective and tons of insight.
Multi-Author Blogs:
Variety of Topics - As you’re going to see here at Blogtrepreneur, a diverse staff of writers means that readers will get quality information on a wider range of topics. Each writer is able to focus on his or her strengths.
Variety in Styles - Each writer will have a unique style and perspective to bring to the table. Two bloggers covering the same topic can do so in completely different ways. While we don’t want to repeat information, it is nice to know that different perspectives will be presented.
Quality May be Uneven - I subscribe to a few multi-author blogs where there is a drastic difference in quality from one writer to the next. With a single-author blog you have a better idea of what you’ll get, but the more writers you throw in the mix, the more variety you will get.
Posting Consistency Does Not Depend on One Person - With multiple writers, if one suddenly doesn’t have time to post the blog doesn’t go bare.
Readers May Not Get Connected to the Writers - This is a real challenge for some multi-author blogs. Building a relationship with readers is critical. Hopefully the writers at least respond to comments, but actually getting to know the readers is important too. I hope that while writing for Blogtrepreneur I can do a good job in this area.
Conclusions:
While there are certainly pros and cons of each approach, I think you’ll see improved overall quality and quantity here as a result of a diverse team of writers. Posting will certainly be more frequent than it had been for a while, and I’d much prefer this approach than seeing Adnan sell the blog right now because of his schedule. I think we’ll all benefit from the different perspectives and talents that each writer brings to the table.
Ok, now it’s your turn to share your thoughts. Do you have a preference when it comes to the number of writers on a blog? How does it affect you as a reader? Do you have suggestions for us as a team of writers?
Speaking as a reader, I generally prefer single author blogs mainly because I like to get to know the writing style of that author. But there are some excellent quality multiple-author blogs coming up now. What I am finding is that many bloggers who are already successful in their own right are teaming up with others and then forming a multi-author blog. The new social media blog Collective Thoughts comes to mind. I like this blog because I like all of the individual writers.
From the perspective of a blogger, I have seen ups and downs of running a single author blog. I like the feeling of control I have over ‘my’ blog but I was hit fairly hard by some personal cirmumstances a few months back and my blog suffered as a result of it.
I found varying success with my previous multi-author blog. I really enjoyed the fact that it was easy to maintain a stream of content that was well written. Having said that, I think that because the vision for the site was mine, my co-author didn’t have as much passion for it.
This ended up with us splitting up and the blog dying, as I didn’t feel it was right to continue with the blog after he had left.
Now I have recently started a new blog and I am the only author.
Wish me luck!
Interesting points. I have a personal blog that I like to keep to just posting myself, I guess I like the fact that its all my own work. Perhaps I do it more for myself then my readers.
Man this is so sick, I was just thinking about writing this exact kind of article a few minutes ago :P. Glad I didn’t. Anyway I believe that well written multi-authored blogs will always do better than single author ones, because of the sheer mass of posts. Of course there’s a lot of downsides to it as well, like too many writing styles, different mind sets etc, as you’ve already mentioned. Personally I prefer single authored blogs, I feel like I can connect better with the blogger and get a overall better reading experience. Well staffed multi-authored blogs are equally great too (see problogger).
Caroline,
I think a lot of readers would share your preference for single author blogs. I think I do as well, from a readers perspective. I think I tend to skip over posts more commonly on a lot of multi author blogs because of that lack of connection. Definitely pros and cons of both.
Tibi,
I’m sure you could write a post that added more insight and some different opinions. Sorry for stealing your idea, I hate it when that happens.
@Steven hahaha don’t worry, I’m sure you didn’t ‘mean’ it. I’ll just use my telekinesis powers and steal your next one, so we can be even :D.
Tibi,
I don’t like that idea.
Thanks for the great post Steven, and you’ve definitely raised a few solid points which I had been thinking about when making the transition over to a multi-author blog.
The main thing for me, was that I saw a lot of top blogs with continual streams of writing grow and continue to move upwards. With Blogtrepreneur, I had a bout where I hardly posted in 3 months. This really delayed my growth.
For me, I think that readers would definitely prefer to read something, even if it’s not by me, because a lack of activity in my personal opinion, leads me to unsubscribe from a blog.
However, there are quality issues. You’re right in that each different author has a different style of writing. What I’ve tried to do here though, is to finetune this writing style.
You yourself are great at making list type posts that everyone can relate to, and you are also a very well articulated writer.
Connor Wilson is also a top notch writer who can hold discussions well, and who’s style is informal yet gripping.
Bill who will join when the new design is released from TheBlogEntrepreneur has similar goals to me in trying to make money from the internet and blogging in particular. His posts are always well thought out and again, his articulation is great.
Whilst some on the outside may have viewed this decision as a poor one, I’ve actually done a lot of research and thinking into what would make a brilliant multi-author blog, and I feel I have the writers that can pull it off.
You’ll definitely be hearing more about them though when the new theme arrives.
Again, great post, and @ Tibi: please feel free to write your own post with your opinion, it’s always interesting to hear how other bloggers find the relationship between single author and multi-author blogs.
I have to agree with Caroline. As a reader, I prefer single-author blogs. As a blogger, I’d say that multi-author blogs are better because they are updated more frequently.
Adnan,
I think it was the best decision in your situation (although my opinion is obviously biased). I also think you made a wise decision to not go overboard and have 10 or 15 different writers posting each week. I think some blogs that have done that have lowered their standards of quality (unless they can afford to pay for that many high quality writers).
Thanks for the compare/contrast. I am heading up the blogs at my company and we currently have a single author blog for our environmental site but are going to be adding “guest bloggers” on special occassions, like Earth Day. I think it spices things up a little.
On our 2nd blog more b2b industry blog we are going to have a team of about 5 writers that each cover different areas of our industry. We are in the conferencing industry so (for example) one will cover audio conferencing, the next web conferencing, video conferencing and so on.
I’d be interested to get some feedback from you guys on how you think that would work. Thanks!
Abby,
I’ve seen mixed results in these types of situations. In most cases if the content is good the blog seems to do well, and if the content is just average the blog will struggle. If you have good writers I would think it should work out. Some multi-author blogs seem to think they can standout just on quantity alone. You see the same low-quality articles again and again. Those are the types of multi-author blogs, from my experience, that don’t do very well.
In general I prefer single author blogs, but I have to say that there are some exceptions - Blogtrepreneur included. Adnan made some excellent decisions in choosing authors for his blog, and I don’t see the writing quality declining anytime soon.
Great article, Steven!
Great answer Steven and thanks for the warm words Tay. I think one of the decisions involved in creating a multi-author blog, was to decide how many posts I wanted.
Sites like BloggingTips have done really well in terms of RSS subscribers, but I just feel that there isn’t much of a conversation there in posts, and conversation and links are what I wanted to most encourage with the new design and the new direction of Blogtrepreneur.
Hence the reason for choosing the authors that I chose, the design that I chose, and the marketing efforts that will be expanded in the re-release.
I prefer the single author blog, but there is a great value in occasionally bringing in a fresh voice. I also think that it is very useful to have a person outside my field read and edit some posts and articles before I post them. There is a value at taking the business lingo out of articles and putting in a different flavor.
Very interesting post.
Bookmarked.
nhick
http://www.itrush.com
I am for the single author, but I haven’t tried a multi author blog yet, so maybe I don’t know what I am losing
It would be 1 writer you can develope a connection. But I believe multi writer blogs just work better. More view points, more topics, more posts.
http://www.stocks-simplified.com
Both types of blogs have their place. The only thing that I expect from any blog is to byline their authors. I have found too many blogs where the information is posted in anonymity. If you want respect, then stand by your words.
Steven,
I agree with you - multi-blog is more promising, as 2 heads are better than one…
Although my Noobpreneur.com is a single auhor blog, I just started a multi author blog with newsy posts - KnolToday.com.
Cheers!
Multi-blogging is a hard challenge for the bloggers, they have to find someone they can work with and trust implicity.
i really love the idea about multi-author blog.. but at first i need to make my blog stand up so i can easily find someone to help me.. who want to be a author for some low traffic blog right?