Single Author or Multiple Authors on a Blog?
Written by Stefan Vervoort on October 21, 2008
This question had crossed my mind lately and I think some of the bloggers out there might thinks about this once in a while.
Are you on your own on your blog? Picture by wili_hybrid.
A typical blogger might have a busy day with a regular job because they can’t live from their blog yet. And this while their visitors are constantly looking for more interesting articles and content.
But what if you think you need to bring much more interesting content for your readers then you can provide? You could find yourself looking at the same problem I was looking at and you might consider the question asked before: Single or Multiple Authors?
If you are considering adding multiply authors to your blog, be sure to read on for the disadvantages and the advantages. The advantages first:
Multiply authors: Advantages
More time
- Usually the most important reason to add more authors to your blog: you will have more time for other things. Maybe this is family or other blogs, or maybe you just want to have less stress.
More Articles
- More authors will mean more time, you will be able to add more quality articles to your blog than you should when you were a single author. It’s also great as a backup: if you fail to write an article for 5 days due for example family problems, you will know your blog will be still running smooth.
Different Voices
- We can approach this point from two sides, this time from the ‘advantages’-side (the disadvantages will come later). Different voices can be a good thing for a blog: your readers can read a story they are interested in explained in a different writing style and tone. This might work refreshing for your blog!
Multiply Authors: Disadvantages
Money
- Money is a problem for many people. If you don’t earn (much) money through your blog you might not be able to pay your authors. Great authors that write quality articles aren’t too cheap and this same rule applies as in every business: you get what you pay for. You could also consider contacting some bloggers in your niche for a guest-post.
Personal Blog
- If you have a personal blog you shouldn’t invite other authors to write an article: your visitors are your visitors because they want to read something about YOU, not some other author.
Different Voices
- Here’s the disadvantage. Many niches are full of blogs with different authors. Some readers might subscribe to your blog because they like how you are formulating your sentences. They aren’t subscriber to your blog to read some others insight.
Vote For Your Preference
Do you have a preference for a blog? Do you subscribe easier when there’s only one author? Or don’t that interest you as long as you read quality content?
Give you me your thoughts as people might find that valuable information (I do). And maybe you could vote on the poll about this question!
This article is written by:
Name: Stefan Vervoort
URL: http://www.divitodesign.com
Description: I am a 18-year-old webdesigner and blogger from Waalwijk, the Netherlands. I also blog at WPTOY and work at DivitoMedia.
Loading ...
I appreciate the approach of a single blogger who has guest blogs at times. Rather than a full-blown multiple blogger approach, this gives control of the blog to one person, but also allows some diversity of content.
I totally agree with Brandon. As usual in nature sciences u need to have some sort of balance between two things.
I agree with you Brandon. Some diversity will usually do only good for a blog.
Thanks basanova for your comment, balancing the number of quality authors versus your own articles should be done in a proper way.
Well, I think it is generally a good thing. If you look at some of the successes from big blogs like Smashing Magazine and Freelance switch, having multiple authors has most definitely helped no end.
The trouble is, you need to ensure the quality of the writing is up to standard, and not only that, but the quality of the content.
Having said that there are some equally successful blogs out the like Jason Santa Maria and Cameron Moll’s blogs – all one author.
[...] Stefan from DivitoDesign.Com – Single Author or Multiple Blog Authors? [...]
I would say that it all depends on the niche. If yours is a tech blog with fewer but more detailed posts OR has most of its traffic from search, then the no. of articles per week can be quite low – hence it doesn’t require guest authors for that reason.
However, if your blog depends on word of mouth and social media, then the way forward would obviously be multi-author.
[...] Some blogger might consider adding multiple authors to their blog. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of this step. View source [...]
Another disadvantage would be who is the boss? What if your partner wants to post something you totally disagree with?
If your blog is for a business or some kind of community then I would agree with having multiple authors – chances are you’ll get different points of view and greater variety of content. Plus a single author won’t have to put their entire day into blogging.
If your blog is opinion-based then you should be the only one writing for it. Your readers subscribe because they enjoy your style of writing or personal opinions/witty-ness. They might not stay interested if you add other writers!
IMO if you have multiple authors it really turns into an online magazine, like the big ones we have now… TechCrunch, Wired, Huffington etc.
It gets really complicated when there are multiple authors, admin admin admin.
I say, write a load of posts on the weekend and then schedule them to be published. If you want this to work! (Talking to all who want to earn a living from blogging) then you better put your back into it!
Exactly, thanks for your opinion. Well, it doesn’t get really complicated with the admins, you can add “writers” via Wordpress to your blog; and they have to submit their article “for moderation”. The head admin can publish it when he feels it’s good.
Thanks!