Using Polls on Blogs

Right from the early days of blogging I have used polls on my blogs. I use them as a way of getting input from my readers.  The benefit to this is sometimes I may spend a considerable amount of time tweaking one element of my blog but the reality is after getting reader feedback that element is not where I should be spending the time.  I also use polls to give me a bit of direction.  For example readers might be interested in one topic that I haven't covered the way I should.  So polls help to get me focused sometimes.  I honestly don't use polls as much as I should but in reality they really are only suited to certain types of blogs. 

Polls can be a very valuable input as to what readers want to see on your blog.  Yes, readers do matter so I like getting their input and quite often a poll will bring a better picture than comments alone.  The reason ends up being simplicity.  All the reader has to do is click on the appropriate answer then click vote.  That takes them all of about 2 seconds compared to leaving a comment that can take 5 minutes or more.  So polls are a very convenient way for readers to have their input without taking up a lot of their time.  They are a way of engaging the reader to see what the reader is looking for.  I find that using polls can add a bit of a spark to my blogs where I use them because the bottom line is the poll results give a bit of focus and blogfodder.  More importantly by incorporating some of what the reader is looking for in my blogs, I feel it makes for better, more effective blogs.

Garden Gnome
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