Everton Blair of Connected Internet asked an important question of his readers:
What features would you like me to add or remove from this blog?
When was the last time you asked for such input from your readers?
In an article about listening to your readers, I mentioned the huge risk BCC News’ Newssnight took asking readers for input on their web design.
Hundreds of people responded. Some of them were very tough…and informative. What surprised me the most from among the volume of comments was the very high level of technical web design savvy…Overall, there was little discussion about the site’s content or how pretty the design looked, or how much they liked the colors. It was totally about “get me what I want with the least amount of effort on my part, do it right, and get it to me now”.
It’s risky to ask our readers for input. We might get some. Still, it’s important to step back and get a new perspective of our blogs by those who use our blogs.
When we first designed and developed our blogs, we were eager for all the fun goodies and gadgets we could add to it. It was just too much fun to see things dance, whirl, and click, and a lot of fun to experiment with the code, making our blogs do what we wanted. Even though what we wanted and common sense didn’t often match. It was just too much fun!
We thought of ourselves having the fun rather than our readers enjoying what we’ve done.
Then we transition to the next stage of your blogging life to realize that our reader’s point of view is more important than our desire to play with gimmicks. You realize you’ve been cluttering up their view with your toys and something has to go.
How important is it to add icons next to a commenter’s name that tells they that you know they arrived on your site using Firefox web browser, they live in England, and are using Windows. Excuse me, but they know all that. Why clutter up your blog with information the reader already knows? Besides, it’s kind of scary. You want participation on your blog, not people starting to wonder what else you might know about them that they might not want you to know.
How important is it that you have a 40 meter long blogroll? How many people even click on blogroll links any more? Are these folks really your recommendations or everyone and anyone who ever linked to your blog?
How important is it that the front page of your blog must be overloaded with ads when the real ad traffic is on individual posts where people arrive when they search for your information and content?
How important is it that they find what else you’ve written about this and other subjects? How important is it that they stay on your blog or be sent off somewhere else?
Think about how your readers view your blog and tell us what you think needs to be removed, or added, on your blog.
What Blog Design Elements Must Stay on Your Blog?
I think the most important question should be:
What are the most important elements on your blog?
Once you know what must be there in order to help the reader read, help the reader click, and keep them reading your blog, then the rest is fluff and clutter, right?
So, help me answer the question. What are the most important elements on your blog? What do you think needs to be removed or added to your blog to make it a “better” experience for your readers?
Lorelle VanFossen blogs about blogging and WordPress on Lorelle on WordPress, and is a long time support volunteer for WordPress. Lorelle travels too much and reports about life on the road in Taking Your Camera on the Road and covers family history and genealogy on Lorelle’s Family History, teaches and presents workshops and programs, and writes for many blogs, ezines, and magazines.
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