Is Your Blog Idiot Proof?

In this article, I ask a very important question to bloggers everywhere. Is your blog idiot proof? If not, I discuss how you can make it idiot proof.

 

When I first built my blog out, I went through a specific process to figure out how I would design and develop my site. After the first few versions were done, I realized that I could barely navigate through my own blog.

 

 

I knew it was time to take a couple steps back. I decided to completely redo my blog from that day forward. I have learned a valuable lesson about building websites over the last few years.

 

 

If a 5 year old can’t figure it out, it’s too complicated. Luckily for me, I have a younger brother who I can use as a testing dummy to figure out various aspects of my website.

 

 

From numerous iterations and specific tests, I am officially able to say that my blog is idiot proof. In this article, I plan on helping you answer the question ‘Is your blog idiot proof’?

 

 

The Blog Itself

 

When I first designed my site, I had too many items I wanted to list on my navigation bar. For some reason, I decided to omit the blog completely from my navigation bar, which made it hard to find.

 

 

Instead, I had it shown on my homepage towards the bottom where I featured a couple of articles and had a click through. I had a couple people test it and the results were NOT promising at all.

 

 

It took 3 people an average of 1 minute and 25 seconds to find my blog. They were my friends so they were willing to look for a long time. A random visitor usually commits 5 seconds before deciding to stay or leave.

 

 

If you have a blog, make sure it is VERY easy to find. Even though my home page isn’t the blog itself, it’s very easy to FIND. I have it displayed at 3 different places.

 

 

I have a blog text shown in my navigation and footer menu as well as leaving the placement towards the bottom of my homepage where I showcase some of my most popular articles. If people cannot find your blog in 5 seconds or less by visiting a web link, you need to make some dramatic changes to your website.

 

 

Organization

 

When you go to the blog page itself, are your articles well-organized? People come to a blog for a very specific reason. They are either looking for an article specifically, enjoy your writing in general or are browsing to see if your style of writing will peak their interest.

 

 

For each of those three reasons, you need to give them a simple solution. My blog specifically caters to all three of those visitors.

 

 

For the person looking for a specific article, they can use the search bar to find it quickly. For the loyal readers of mine, I have my articles organized by the date they were published through the stream running down the middle. Lastly, for the completely new visitor just browsing, I break down my articles in various ways. They can check out the most recent articles, view my personal favorites or look at the most popular articles through the side bar.

 

 

The key to every blog is understanding what your vision is and what people expect from you. When you write a blog article, you’re taking some content and contextualizing it for your audience. When it comes to your blog itself, you must do the exact same thing for your various visitors.

 

 

The Article Itself

 

This is extremely easy to do, but I have seen it messed up far too often. When you click through to an article, it needs to be easy for people to understand. If it’s not, people aren’t going to read it.

 

 

Running through the basics, my articles are displayed in a way that even a kindergartener can figure out what it is about. Every article features a huge title at the top, relevant picture below it and lastly the content underneath all of that.

 

 

Instead of writing 500 words without any spaces or line breaks, I choose to write chunks of 50-100 words per paragraph. Not only that, but I utilize bold fonts to highlight the main topic of each section.

 

 

Believe it or not, most people often just read the title of your article followed by the bolded items. Not only that, but you want to display the content to your audience in a manner where they do not feel overwhelmed. They’re not trying to pick up a chapter book, they’re simply looking for some information within a couple of minutes.

 

 

The Shareability

 

How easy is your blog to share? Again, you must ask yourself whether or not a 5 year old can figure out how to share the articles on your website. The fastest way to spread content is through social media.

 

 

For my blog, I try to make it easy for my readers to share my posts. I have a sharing bar on the left side that follows the reader as they read. It doesn’t block the content, however it presents itself in a way that they can share my content easily.

 

 

If someone is sharing your content, they’re really helping you. Don’t make it difficult on them! Make it easy for people to share your content.

 

 

Discussion

 

Blog articles are a great tool for generating conversation. However, people are less likely to  engage in discussion if it’s a pain in the ass for them to do so.

 

 

You need to ask yourself who your target market is. What kind of platforms do they feel most comfortable with engaging in discussion? My audience is entrepreneurs and I realized a lot of them use a platform called Disqus.

 

 

On the other hand, if I had a blog targeting teenagers, I would NEVER use Disqus. Why? It’s for the simple fact that most teenagers have never heard of Disqus. Instead, I would use the Facebook discussion plug-in.

 

 

Creating conversation is a very important tool for your blog. However, making it easy for your audience is just as important. Survey your readers to figure out what the best platforms for starting discussions are.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I discuss different techniques bloggers should utilize to make their sites idiot proof.

 

 

photo credit: Éole via photopin cc