A great example from Juliana Haygert.
I was chatting to someone about how far back they read through blog posts. The general consensus seemed to be, that unless visiting that discovering a new blog turned into “love at first sight,” you don’t tend to dig back too far, or visit archives. There isn’t the time! She was suggesting that I put information on my e-books on my blog. That worried me. Not because it wasn’t a great idea, but because that information was already there!
Look up under my blog header. See the links to the pages? They contain my full bio, e-books, feedback about my work and other information I want you to read. It seems she never noticed and from my blog stats, I know people rarely look. I quickly made sure I had my books featured more prominently.
Where do you look when you read a blog page? It seems we don’t just look back, we may also not look up, down or to the left or right.
Perhaps I missed my calling in archaeology or crime scene investigation, but I habitually poke around. I am always looking for ideas on great blog design, but I find more than that. The sidebars are great treasure troves!
I know some bloggers cram their side bars with junk and advertising, but within that minefield, there are resources I would never have found on the web any other way. I don’t have the time to do long searches for services… some which I haven’t even considered I needed before. I find them in the side bars! If the blog owner has hotlinked the image back to the source, it’s heaven! If not, at least I know what to search for. I’ve been known to bookmark blogs just to come back and raid that sidebar. Who knew you could get traffic that way?
So what have I found through sidebars? Here is a small selection. Just click on the name or link to go there.
http://www.blogwithintegrity.com/
http://www.ladieswhocritique.com
http://blogaliciousblogs.blogspot.com.au/
Goodreads Reading Challenge Progress Bars
Twitpic has a widget you can place on your blog
We Blog: Blogging Community on Facebook that shares posts freely http://www.facebook.com/groups/240976049268613/
http://compassionbloggers.com/get-involved
Anti-book Piracy free badges for web sites http://www.lalasdesigns.com/search/label/Badges and more!
An excellent example of how to do an easy-to-read side bar comes from Juliana Haygert. An image of her sidebar is at the top of this post. Juliana lists her books; makes it easy to follow her around the Internet; has a great image link to her publisher; interesting information about her; her Twitter feed is at the base and from her I discovered three new bars of gold I never knew existed. Please go and have a look at her site. You cannot do much better than that. She has covered the most important areas. Think about your blog. Do you really need that calendar which don’t mean much to the reader? What are your priorities in getting information across? What represents you best?
So when you’re visiting a blog, take a look to the left, the top under the header and the right! If you are a blogger, make that sidebar count! I’ll visit to raid it.
Juliana has kindly given me permission to use an image of her sidebar in this post.
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Thanks Cate. I am glad I wandered on by and learned about the importance of cleaning up my side bar… and thanks for the links
“My sidebar contains quotations Cate.”
Thanks Linda.
I will be in touch.
interesting questions. I realize I don’t look up and around on a blog often as I read so many blogs, there isn’t time. Unless it’s a brand new blogger whom I’m really struck by and want to know more.
I think the time factor is a huge component. Because I teach, I automatically look for new resources. We’re not all wired that way.
I think most people tend to miss the top and side bars for the same reason the mind ignores a channel logo some stations display in the corner of your television – it is persistent and not “part of the show” – in this case, the blog post. A few years ago I watched at least five people walk past a $20 bill laying on the ground, before I picked it up. Same thing, we only see what we are looking for and tune out the rest.
I actually do have “quotations in my sidebar, Cate” one and hotlinks to multiple resources that I use regularly. One gets click throughs on occasion (ROW80) – could say the same for my Blog Roll. Email: genelempp@gmail.com
Great post and advice
That’s an interesting observation Gene. I need to do some research on how we read, by the looks. Will be in touch.
Thanks for sharing this great example of how to declutter a blog.
My pleasure Andra.
I’m actually one of those people who DO click the links at the top. If the blog topic interests me, then I usually look for an “about me” page and a “books” page. But I know everyone isn’t like me. LOL
Good on you Lauralynn! I know time is an issue for people. I just want to get my blog streamlined so as much as I need to get across is communicated. It’s no simple task. Cheers.
Hi Cate – I actually had to come to your site to comment and see all this stuff. I don’t see all the sidebar/navigation bar/archive content because I rarely if ever to go sites to read blogs. I just read posts from my email or RSS feed. If I want to comment (like now), I go to the site but even then I tend to just scroll down to the comment bar. So, to answer your question, I guess I don’t see anything other than the post.
I did read your whole post however, and here is your quote: “my sidebar contains quotations Cate.” My email is amyisaman@gmail.com. Thanks!
Hi Amy, I will email you. I used to use as RSS feeder and do email subscribe to my favourite blogs. I never stopped to think about how those options would limit what I read. Thank you very much for pointing that out to me. It’s helpful.
Cheers.
Ohhh, yeah! I’ve heard a couple of other reasons for using the cut-off thingie so less than the entire post goes out in email. This one sounds like the tipping point. Thank you Amy from me tool
“My sidebar contains quotations Cate.” Specifically, my sidebar contains a link to your excellent blog. I appreciate your remarks in this post. Knowing that people don’t look back, and having determined that interest in improving description skills runs high, I’m putting the finishing touches on an eBook anthology of 40 blog posts on writing Dynamic Description, reaching back through the seven-year history of The Heart and Craft of Life Writing. Your tips in this post will help me help readers find the volume that makes their search easy.
Hi Sharon, I will email you the book.
Thank you for linking to me. That is an honour I appreciate. I am most interested in your Dynamic Description book. The craft of life writing has greatly changed over the years as writing styles have evolved. I’d like to hear your perspective.
Yes, life writing is definitely evolving. I’ll keep you posted on the anthology. It’s appropriate for any genre, not just lifestory and memoir. I thought I’d have it out in a few days, but today I learned I may not have the most salable title, and signed up for a seminar on Amazon marketing.
I love love love Unleashing Your Creative Spirit!!! Thank you. Will review.