Manchester Bloggers

This week at work I was asked to look at how bloggers promote their sites online, I already had some ideas of how to gain traffic with directories, such as Technorati, and via link recommendations on other blogger’s blogrolls but it was interesting to investigate further while also discovering some interesting blogs. I’d heard through the social media grapevine that the Manchester Blog Awards had taken place recently so this provided an excellent resource. I found some really interesting Manchester bloggers, including Onwards Manchester, which was shortlisted for best new blog. The blog is written by Kristian and Samantha who both work in editorial and use the platform to write about topics they are unable to cover within their everyday work. The content is focused mainly on culture, including posts about exhibitions, music and Manchester events. I found their posts interesting as I'd attended many of the events and exhibitions they had written about so it gave me a different perspective. The blog is also a great resource for finding out about current Manchester events and overall is steeped in content which stimulates my passion for Manchester. 

I also discovered the blog Unemployed Hack, which is less about Manchester and more about the writer and his personal life dealing with unemployment. His writing is often funny, touching and very honest. He describes his blog as 'memories of a downwardly-mobile journalist.' His most recent blog post lists the top 10 perks of unemployment as he tries to put a positive slant on his situation in an honest and humorous style. His circumstances are very reflective of the situation of many people and I can image it brings these readers a lot of comfort. I myself was unemployed for several months last year and this is probably a big factor in my fondness for his writing, as I too understand the emotions that coinside with unemployed life.

Previously I only had two or three Manchester based blogs within my extensive list of website bookmarks and through further investigate I found other Manchester bloggers from the recommended links within these blogs. I enjoyed looking through the award's shortlist and discovering a thriving Manchester blogging scene, which further enhanced my view that Manchester has so much to offer, not just because of the events/exhibitions/activities but because of all the incredibly interesting people.