Pages

Search This Blog

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Crucial Blog Design Must-Haves



There are certain features a blog needs in order to help maintain its traffic and success. It's important to help viewers stay connected with your blog and having these features will help achieve that.



ABOUT YOU 
People want to know who's behind the writing and making of a blog. Share something about you and what your blog is about in the sidebar of your blog. Include a picture so they get an idea of who you are. Don't be afraid to show yourself to the world and let them know it's your blog.

SOCIAL MEDIA BUTTONS
If a viewer starts to have an interest in a blog post and the content you're sharing, they'll probably want to find and follow your social media and other ways of keeping posted when you publish new content. They also may take an interest in your day to day life outside of your blog. For them to do this, they will be on the hunt for those social media buttons. Instead of making it a challenge for them and decreasing the chances of them giving up, make it easy for views to locate these buttons and have them on your blog multiple times. Usually a blog would have them on the header, in the side bar and/or in the footer, now you have no excuse. Add those social media buttons to your blog and start engaging with your viewers outside of your blog.

APPEALING BLOG POST TITLES
This is probably the most important aspect towards driving traffic to a post. Make the heading stand out by including key words to what the post is about, make it obvious to what sort of post it is (a list, guide, tutorial, review, etc.), and add in descriptive words to catch someone's eye, for example: instead of using 'Blog Design Must-Haves', change it to 'Crucial Blog Design Must-Haves'.
Tip: Avoid clickbait! Although it may work the first few times, people will notice your tactics and it may start affecting your blog views.

CATEGORISED POSTS
Everyone loves a blog where it's easy to find posts through well-labelled categories instead of endlessly scrolling through pages of posts until they find one which interests them. Stop making it difficult for the readers and add categories to your blog. It also makes it easier for yourself to find a post which you may be looking to promote or update, and also brings a little more organisation and structure to your blog.

CLEAR AND READABLE FONT
Keep it simple and neat by using standard fonts, like Times New Roman, which is the font I use throughout my blog. Using a wacky-looking font can make your blog look busy, messy and complicated. This will instantly put readers off as they won't be able to focus on reading a post, even if the content is really well written and interesting. Use easy to read fonts and keep it at a suitable size.

POPULAR POST SECTION 
This isn't only for your viewers to know which posts have been favourited amongst other viewers, but also for you to see which posts and what kind of posts are doing well for you. It's easier checking this way rather than going behind the scenes and looking through your post statistics to find the ones which have been the most successful.

FEATURED POSTS
As well as a Popular Post section, you should include a featured area where you can promote your latest or an old post. This is important to have as it is promoting the post itself and gaining views without you having to promote it manually.

IMAGE QUALITY AND SIZE
You don't need a fancy camera and equipment to achieve this. Most bloggers I know use their phones for photos and they're beautiful. Blog photography is crucial as it represents part of your blog look. Show off your blog photos and increase the size; don't hide them within the words of your post, we want to view them clearly.


Hope this helps some of you. 
What blog design must-haves do you consider as crucial?


 Are you following me on Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin' Pinterest ?
Copyright @ A FabABulous Life. Blog Design by KotrynaBassDesign