The Elite Eight Judging Criteria

We have reached the Elite Eight of Writing Blog Madness. You can smell the excitement in the air, or at least the stale popcorn being hawked by the vendors roaming the aisles. The second round was brutal. The fans were tested as much as the teams. As we begin this next round, we once again have a twist. We are now are moving on to head-to-head battles. Only one team can score in each category. The scoring team nets two points if slightly superior and three points if clearly dominant. If neither blog is superior in a category, a jump ball is called. No points are awarded and we move on to the next category.

Best Headlines

Some blogs know how to write a headline that makes you want to read more, and some blogs write headlines as if they were turning in a thesis paper on metallurgy. I will be looking at the last 10 posts and judging which blog has the headlines that are the most informative, interesting, and accurate.

Best User Experience

I will be looking at the overall attractiveness of the site, the ease of reading, and the user features to determine who provides the best user experience.

Best Community Experience

I’ll be looking at the last 10 posts to determine who has the best comments. I’ll be looking for a community that is active, intelligent and interesting. I’ll also be looking at how well the blog author or authors interact with the community.

Best Branding

This is a combination of three previous categories: personality, purpose and value. Does the blog have a unique and clear image? Do you know what to expect when you get there and do you get what you want?

Best Archives

The archives category is back and ready to rock. I’ll judge each blog’s archives or “best of” pages on my ability to find them, my ability to navigate them and the general quality of what I find there.

Best Post

This is simple and subjective. I will look at the last 10 postings and pick my favorite article from each blog. I will compare them based on substance and style and decide which blog has the best article. There should be no more worrying about whether I’ll review an announcement or link love. I’ll be looking for good writing and great information.

Tie Breaker

If, for any reason we need a tie breaker, the blog with the most comments over the last 10 posts will be declared the winner.

Related links

• March Writing Blog Madness (0.500)
• March Writing Blog Madness Explained (0.500)
• March Writing Blog Madness Seedings (0.500)
• Game 1: #1 Seed Copyblogger Versus #8 Seed The Struggling Writer (0.500)
• Game 2: #4 Seed Confident Writing Versus #5 Seed Renegade Writer Blog (0.500)