Anyways, those hesitation of mine doesn't stop the itch inside me to write a post about blogging. These things below I think are must-haves for bloggers who want to be friendlier to their readers. It's just my opinion, anyway, it doesn't make me as a blogging guru just because I wrote this. Oh, since this is going to be quite a long post, I decided to break it into two parts. Now let's jump in
Remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart)
I admit that I am a sucker for white space. I love clean background without too much going on on my sidebar. Cute images are cool, I like them too, but if you put too many of them in your layout, you risk your blog's loading time. People are impatient, they won't wait for all your images to load. They would just click the "back" button and visit a faster loading blog. If you have been blogging for a while, you know hurt it is when your hard earned visitors just jump out of your blog within the first minute. Not cool, I know.
Instead, make your blog layout as simple as possible. Do not put too many unimportant image/widgets. Before adding a widgets, for example, ask yourself whether your readers would benefit from them. If so, put it on, otherwise, take it off. Also, if you want to put pictures into your blog post, make sure to resize it first. Your readers don't need the 3000 pixels wide picture. Not everyone has a fast internet connection and some people even read blogs on their smartphone, so, make it easy for them. When your blog runs faster and smoother, everybody wins!
Unclog Your Sidebar
There's nothing more unappealing than a clogged sidebar. It's when your sidebar is infested with too much advertisement, funky slideshow, and the likes. The slideshow, for instance, may look cool, but it also interfere with your blog's speed. So clean it up, throw away the useless ones, and stick with the most helpful. "Popular Posts" for example is a must have, as well as your social media links and subscription/follow buttons. They help your readers to connect with you as well as introducing the new readers to your other (read:popular) posts. As for other stuffs that do nothing other than being fancy, get rid of them, if you must, for the sake of the loading time.
There's nothing more unappealing than a clogged sidebar. It's when your sidebar is infested with too much advertisement, funky slideshow, and the likes. The slideshow, for instance, may look cool, but it also interfere with your blog's speed. So clean it up, throw away the useless ones, and stick with the most helpful. "Popular Posts" for example is a must have, as well as your social media links and subscription/follow buttons. They help your readers to connect with you as well as introducing the new readers to your other (read:popular) posts. As for other stuffs that do nothing other than being fancy, get rid of them, if you must, for the sake of the loading time.
"But I have sponsors, and they buy their places in my sidebar!" you said
It's very understandable that all bloggers should do whatever it takes to keep their motivation alive. Having sponsors is a great thing. Maybe limit the sidebar space to a few advertisers and for the rest, do it as sponsored posts. Besides, too many advertisement in your sidebar can be overwhelming to your readers, they'd just ignore them. It's not fair for your nor your sponsors.
Turn off the darn CAPTCHA
I cannot stress this enough. There's nothing I hate more in this world than writing a novel length comment and at the end, I have to pass the unreadable captcha to post it! Seriously, if some of you are wondering why you don't get as many comments, you might want to check your comment setting and turn it off. I have a pair of myopic eyes, and those unreadable characters doesn't help making my blogging life easier. If you are considering about making your blog more reader friendly, please, turn that darned thing off.
"But, Citra, I hate weeding those spam comments, I have to use captcha"
Captcha is not the only way to keep spam comments at bay. Don't get me wrong, though, it does a great job in it, but it also prevent true and legit comments to come in, which is a side effect you have to think about. I use IntenseDebate as a comment system in my blog and ever since I install it, I never looked back. I don't have to worry about spam comments anymore and the good thing is, it has a CommentLuv plugin, so people who comment can leave a link back to their blog automatically. It's a fun way to spread the love, don't you think?
My suggestion is, consider turning off the captcha and install a third party comment system. Oh, also disable anonymous comment option, because most spammers use it, so make it harder for them.
Alright, folks, I think that's all for part 1. It's my two cents, hopefully you will find it helpful. Now, over to you, what's your biggest pet peeves when you're reading a blog?
Related post: Make Your Blog Reader Friendly (Part II)
Captcha is not the only way to keep spam comments at bay. Don't get me wrong, though, it does a great job in it, but it also prevent true and legit comments to come in, which is a side effect you have to think about. I use IntenseDebate as a comment system in my blog and ever since I install it, I never looked back. I don't have to worry about spam comments anymore and the good thing is, it has a CommentLuv plugin, so people who comment can leave a link back to their blog automatically. It's a fun way to spread the love, don't you think?
My suggestion is, consider turning off the captcha and install a third party comment system. Oh, also disable anonymous comment option, because most spammers use it, so make it harder for them.
Alright, folks, I think that's all for part 1. It's my two cents, hopefully you will find it helpful. Now, over to you, what's your biggest pet peeves when you're reading a blog?
Related post: Make Your Blog Reader Friendly (Part II)
