“To sin” is an archery term, which literally means “to miss the mark.” If you’re blogging to establish a two-way dialogue with the world, “branding” is the optimal reader experience. The following is a list of ten things that can harm the usability of your blog.
10. Send mixed messages
The focus of your blog should be decided before your first post and then committed. Random blog posts on a variety of topics may work for a personal blog read by friends and family, but it’s not a good approach for a serious, professional blog. The lifeblood of any blog is its loyal subscriber base. And readers are more willing to subscribe to blogs that consistently talk about their area of interest.
If your blog’s “personality” includes any odd personal posts, create a separate category for “funny,” “random,” or other “personal” stuff, and think about the appropriateness of each post for your target audience before publishing. Or start a separate blog on that subject and crisscross your blogs.
9. Make it difficult to subscribe
Because subscribers are such an important part of blogging success, you need to make it easy for users to sign up. Since not all users understand and use RSS feed aggregators like Feedburner and Bloglines (also called newsreaders), offer email and RSS options. Make them highly visible, preferably by placing them at the top of your navigation menu and above the fold.
Don’t be afraid to “ask to subscribe” at the bottom of each post as well. Chicklets are mini-icons that make it easy to add to feed aggregators and social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and Netvouz with a single click. You can find more information on how to add chicks to your blog with the Chicklet Creator.
If you are using free blogging software and hosting, it may not be possible to add these additional features. So plan ahead when choosing your platform.
8. Inconsistent posting
Now that you have a loyal fan base who are notified of every new post, don’t let them down with delays between posts. Choose a posting time that is realistic for your schedule and stick to it. If you can’t think of anything to post about, blog about someone else’s post related to your topic and include a link to that post.
Will this hurt your own blog to send subscribers to another blog? No, because you’re still offering them something useful instead of posting something. You can also leave a comment or trackback on the other blog that links to your post, which can send you traffic. Bloggers often monitor their trackbacks or backlinks through Technorati, PubSub, or other services. They might end up blogging about you in return.
7. No contact information
Some blogs can achieve the mystique of an anonymous post. But if your website is for business, it’s hard to have a two-way dialogue when you make it impossible to contact you. Transparency is essential to build trust on the web. And you don’t want users to mistake your reputable blog for a “splog” or a spam blog that pulls content from other sites.
If you don’t want to advertise your email address to spammers, you can still enable comments on your posts. Yes, you will continue to receive spam, that is the reality of the Web. WordPress blogs come with Akismet anti-spam, which does a good job of catching most spam. You usually have the option to moderate comments before they appear on your blog.
6. Do not moderate comments
Allowing anyone and everyone to post whatever they want in the comment section is asking for spam. This is not only annoying for your readers, but it really reduces the professionalism of your blog.
5. Excessive advertising
It’s okay to monetize your blog or use affiliate links, as long as they are not intrusive to users and obscure useful content. When ads appear all over the page and even in the middle of posts, the user experience suffers. Avoid Contextual Ads: Programs that highlight words in your posts to look like hyperlinks, but display a pop-up ad when you hover over them with your mouse. Just like making clickable items appear that are not a usability issue, so is tricking users into clicking ads or viewing ads when they appear to be hyperlinks.
And if your blog is very new, it’s a good idea to wait until you’ve built a history of useful posts before running any ads.
4. Do not link to posts
When referring to something that can be found on the web, such as a news story, another company, person, or another blog post (whether on your own blog or someone else’s), allow your reader to refer to the background information . Linking to previous posts also increases page strength for those posts and can help you with search engine rankings. But don’t be afraid to link to your site, this generosity can help you get noticed by other bloggers. And it’s also good to give credit where credit is due.
3. Dark background, light text
What has been a general rule of thumb for usability for years certainly applies to blogging. Anything that makes your blog more difficult to read should be avoided. Remember, it’s harder to read online than it is offline. The worst culprits for eyestrain are white text on a black background, low-contrast combinations like black and red, and patterned backgrounds. And it’s a good idea to avoid blocks of red text, even on a white background.
2. No search box
Returning visitors may remember a post that is not intuitive to find through its navigation menu or tag system. Regular readers may also want to find their own comments, so make this possible by placing a search box somewhere in your design.
1. Hide navigation
Most blog software comes with a variety of beautiful templates to customize your site. But not all of these templates are optimal for usability. Templates that require users to scroll to the bottom of the blog to find navigation are not the best option. Stick to conventional left column or right column navigation.
One of the greatest gifts of social networking for the World Wide Web is the ability to “tag” posts by topic/content and automatically create navigation categories. Users can easily search by topic and zero in on all your posts related to a specific topic or microtopic. This also helps users find you on blog portals like Technorati.
You also have the option to display calendars, archives, and tag clouds which may or may not be useful and can clutter your page. Keep in mind that with usability and design, less is often more.
Conclution
Taking some time to evaluate your blog wearing your reader’s hat can greatly improve the user experience. Considering what makes a blog user-friendly before you start blogging helps you plan for optimal usability from the start.
