Do you also forget about small details? It is human nature that we often forget small details in midst of bigger ones. But these small things really matter an often, these matter a lot. In this post, I have discussed about 10 simple things that your blog should have:
- Contact Form: Contact form is a must have for any blog. Without it, you will surely miss out some good feedback from your readers. Most of the platforms either have plugins or in built contact functionality. You can also use external service like Kontactr if your platform does not support it
- About Page: You should have a word or two about you on a separate page. This gives the readers the opportunity to know you much better. And for God’s sake, don’t make your “About” page full with affiliate links! Remember, it’s about you, not money
- Landing Page(s): For new visitors, you should have a landing page that lists your elevator pitch and some of the best posts of your blog. You can also throw in a RSS/newsletter subscription reminder
- Archives: Archives let readers find your old posts. Preferably, archives should have options to let readers navigate category wise or date wise. You can also use Smart Archives Reloaded plugin for WordPress to generate a list of all posts.
- Proper Navigation: Proper navigation structure is a must have for any blog. And navigation does not mean just the top menu. Footer links like Next/Previous post are also helpful. Similarly, you can also include a list of posts/pages in sidebar
- Search: I simply find it irritating that many blogs often forget adding a search widget. If you are on a platform that supports javascript, try Google’s AdSense for search. It returns better results that the default searches and also lets you monetize your blog
- A Writer(Name): Another thing that leaves me annoyed is the writer being mentioned as “admin” or a similar name. It takes less than a minute to change your name/nickname to something better and it adds a lot of personal touch
- Comment Subscriptions: OK, so you have a comment form but do not have a “Subscribe to comments” option. Then you are making a big mistake. This simple option can increase the conversations a lot
- Readable Fonts: Not everyone will get a magnifying glass just to read your blog. Content is the core of a blog and if it’s unreadable, you are bound to be doomed. Any font size less than 12 px can really kill your blog
- Proper(Easy To Remember) Link Structure: Bad link structures are not good for both readers as well as SEO. A link like http://myblog.com/?p=10 is hard to remember. Now, compare this with http://myblog.com/my-post-title It’s easy to remember and also keyword rich.
These were 10 essential things your blog should have. Did I forget something? Remember to add your suggestions in comments.
This post was written by Ishan Sharma who blogs at Blogging With Success blog. If you liked this post, consider checking out his recent post, 50 Awesome Twitter Tools.
Editor’s Note: As we are already covering Beginner’s Blogging Guide, you may have started with your blogs and so, these are useful things to consider.
Must Read: 10 things to do after installing WordPress
10 things to do after opening creating blog on blogger.com
9 things that shows you are still a rookie in Blogosphere
Cool article; you’ve made some very good points here!
I need to set up a proper archives page… when I first started, I didn’t do it as there weren’t that many posts, but now there’s more I really ought to find the time to do it.
Similarly, I need to get the comment subscription plugin. People keep asking for it, so I’ll do that today!
Once again, cool article. Nice job.
Great points you have mentioned.
I have struggled with structure in building my blogs in the past. Thanks for sharing!
You may also like to mention having a Site Map which helps the reader navigate around?
I am just setting up a blog and I didn´t think of Footer links like Next/Previous to help proper navigaton. So far I just cared about the top menu so thanks for the tip! I will implement it asap!
Another thing that I see a lot is failure to have the keywords that you want your homepage to rank for in Google somewhere on your homepage. True, if you have enough inbound links with this anchor text and your keywords in the title tags, you should be fine, but in SEO, every little bit helps.
I’ve started to add a small footer or even a little blurb before the WordPress posts loop with a keyword or two that I’m trying to rank for and seen small bumps in SERP.
Great list though, especially the Search box. That’s a pet peeve of mine as well.
Also, I’m doing a test concerning the ranking effect of nofollow links with proper anchor texts. I’ve seen some evidence that would lead me to believe even nofollows pass PR. So yes, I am trying use your blog to bump my rankings but I’ll report back with the results if you don’t spam my comment!
Your post is really interesting and useful to design and maintain a blog with the necessary features.
Very helpful. A needed resource.
Thanks for sharing the 10 essential points to keep in mind when working on blogs. They all are most important and essential part which every blog should must have.
I am just a starter in this area, thanx for the tips man!
thank you, this is a very useful article for those who want to get serious in this area
Thanks for the cool tips!
http://www.howtomakerealmoneyonline.org
I will have to look into a search box. It’s easy for me to find my way around my site. I had never given it any thought- but I will now- Thanks!
quick question, what is with the strikeouts through people’s names? Is that a plugin? And what is the point? I think that I may be missing something here. Thanks for all of the other tips, certainly I few that I have overlooked on my own website at http://www.GregFly.com.
I will have to look into a search box. It’s easy for me to find my way around my site. I had never given it any thought- but I will now- Thanks!
thank you, this is a very useful article for those who want to get serious in this area
Very helpful. A needed resource.
Hey, thanks for this. I’ve been thinking of starting up a blog for a while now, but was always hesitant about getting it “exactly right.” I’m not so hesitant anymore. Cheers.