Not only do I enjoy writing for the blog, but I also enjoy reading blogs. I will admit that most blogs that I read, I am invested in (meaning that I actually feel like I know the blogger). I am invested not only because I read their blogs on a weekly basis but because they make it easy for their readers to become invested.
To do this, keep it easy to for readers to find things on your blog. Here are some examples.
1. Have an About Me page. If people stop to read your blog, they are probably going to want to read more about you. It's fun when you discover people who have similar interests as you.
2. Have a search box. It is SO frustrating when you read about something (an event, a product, etc) on someone's blog and you'd like to find that post again but there is no search box.
3. Post an archive of your blog posts somewhere. Ours is on the right hand side. If you missed last Friday's post (or even yesterdays post) you can quickly click on the link. If you know you want to reference a post from last month, you can click on that particular month and scroll through and search for the blog post you are looking for.
4. PLEASE keep the date on your blog posts. If I am new to your blog, I want to know how old your newest blog post is before I get invested. Is this a current post from this week? This month? Or is it from two years ago. Some I don't know because the date is not posted.
5. If you are a running blogger, it would be awesome if you had a link with all your race recaps listed. Yes, I know we could search for them (in your archives or through your search box), but having a page where they are all listed makes it nice for others to browse through and find races they are interested in.
Are you making things easy for your readers?
34 comments:
Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.
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Great tips! When blogs don't have dates, I usually look at the comments which often are dated.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is a good way to find out the date.
DeleteI often look for race recaps pages on running blogs, so I 100% agree about having a page specifically dedicated to them.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a fun way to learn about new races.
DeleteGreat tips. I love when I can quickly get to race recaps.
ReplyDeleteYes, anything to save time.
DeleteI agree with you on keeping the dates on the posts! I've seen a few bloggers reposting old posts lately, and when I go to comment, I find my old comment on there. Kind of frustrating. Also, some bloggers make it hard to find their comment sections--maybe it's a little word bubble somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI hate when I can't figure out how to comment. So annoying.
Deleteyes I also like to see the dates on posts. I would add-try to make it easy for readers to share and comment on your posts. Sometimes you have to jump through hoops to get a comment posted. I am also invested in and love to read more from my fave bloggers :)
ReplyDeleteIf I have to jump through so many hoops to comment, sadly I may have to give up on that blogger.
DeleteGreat tips. I've heard experts recommend removing blog post dates and I agree I don't like that. I wanna know what's most recent.
ReplyDeleteI guess I can see both sides of that. But when you are blogging more for camaraderie I think it's important to put the date on.
DeleteWhy would they recommend removing blog post dates? That seems weird to me.
DeleteMy guess is so that the post stays relevant. I would see this more for a commercial blogger rather than one who blogs about daily life.
DeleteOh, I guess that makes sense...obviously I'm not a commercial blogger. ;)
DeleteOoh, I love the idea of a recap page. I think I'll make one that's my journey to 50 states as a start...
ReplyDeleteGreat tips.
I think making a page for your 50 states is a great idea.
DeleteWell, I think I've got 4 of the 5 of these ;-) I don't think I have the "search" thing. Oh...I agree with having an easy-to-find archive...it's annoying to follow a link to a post, and then not be able to find anything else without having to go to their "home" and looking there. And, yes, keep the dates on there (or reference them in an intro). Like Wendy said, I think it's kind of sneaky re-posting a previous post without disclosing that info.
ReplyDeleteIf you are on the Blogger platform, which I think you are, adding a search box is easy. It is one of the widget options.
DeleteThese are great tips! I never thought about having a separate page for race recaps but that is an excellent idea. I'll work on that this summer!
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to reading your race recap page!
DeleteGood tips! Do you know if I can add a search bar using blogspot?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can add a search box. It is considered one of the widgets. So just go to insert a widget and choose search box.
DeleteAgreed on all of these! I hate it when the comment portion is super hard to find, and I like having the date around as well!
ReplyDeleteI love This!! I was wondering if anybody had a list like this!!
ReplyDeleteI need to updated my races post with links to my race recaps, thank you for that tip! I just got lazy!
Yay, I have all of these things on my blog! So obviously I agree with everything you wrote, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI will say, I was on a more well-known running blogger's page yesterday and I was shocked to see the amount of ads on it - they even covered up the bottom of her pictures! I guess I'm glad I don't have to make a living from my blog, because I would hate that.
Yes yes and yes to #4!! I don't like having to scroll down to the comments section to see how old a post is!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I'm delinquent on the race recaps links but I'm not really a running blogger ;) Search bar is a MUST!
ReplyDeleteI know some bloggers make money off of ads, but it's frustrating when those ads slow down my browser. Sometimes it freezes up my browser.
ReplyDeleteI love all of these tips! Also, update things like About Me pages occasionally. I feel like we get caught up in creating new blog posts and content that sometimes these get outdated. I'm not saying you need to update them all the time, but even just checking the page once a year and making some slight changes is a good idea. I see About Me pages with information from 2012-2013 on it. The easier it is for me to search on a blog, the better.
ReplyDeleteGreat points! I hate it when a blogger does not have an about me section with a picture- I like to know who I am reading about! Thanks for the link up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! Now I must figure out how to add a "search box" :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of your tips... but I guess I have to set up a page with race recaps... haha :)
ReplyDeleteGreat tips - luckily I think I have all these things.
ReplyDelete