With over 1.8 billion sites active in 2018, how are you planning to improve your blog, to stand out from the crowd?
While not all sites are blogs, with the popularization of blogging platforms such as WordPress or Tumblr, there are a few dozen (if not hundred) blogs created every day. So, in a world where content is pouring in from everywhere, how do you improve your blog to make sure you still have a voice?
Most specialists will mention web design and SEO techniques as part of the solution, but while true, almost everyone is doing this. This is why we decided to look at this from a different perspective and offer several useful tips that will have a faster impact.
Please keep in mind that the tips below are designed to work with WordPress, but you can easily adapt them to other platforms too.
#1: Put Some Thought in Your About Page
Many bloggers today limit their “About” section to the top section of their sidebar. While this practice brings the text in the viewer’s attention a lot faster, it would be best to use this area for a summary and guide the readers towards a more detailed page.
Whether you’re running a personal or a company blog, these pages should have personality and this is the perfect place to let the reader know you. Furthermore, WordPress has a lot of plugins you can use for this, and a more detailed About US page can be good for SEO purposes.
If you don’t feel comfortable sharing too many details with the whole world, make sure to let them know who you are, what you do for a living, and what you’re looking to achieve through the blog.
#2: Implement Good Web Design Rules
This means the blog should have a clean interface, with smooth transitions and colors that invite people to read. Also, speaking of reading, the font used should be easy on the eyes, with big-rounded letters that contrast with the background. If you want to learn more about fonts and how to improve the reading experience, check out this guide.
This will also help improve your blog SEO, which leads to better ranking in SERPs.
#3: Images are Important
Even if you don’t feel your blog needs images, you may be missing out on some of the opportunities that stumble across your writing. Even more, there are so many amazing platforms that offer free gorgeous photos that it’s a shame not to use them!
Still, you should keep in mind that the images should be optimized for web design (as small in size as possible while still preserving the quality) and for SEO (use the Alt tag and add captions). Also, WordPress offers a wide range of plugins and themes that help enhance the imagery without making the site heavier or slower.
#4: Fewer Plugins & Widgets
We kept mentioning WordPress plugins, and they’re great, but you should use them wisely (same applies to widgets). Too many and your site may start to feel sluggish. Not to mention that some interact with each other and this can lead to ugly-looking conflicts.
#5: Use Categories & Tags
One important rule of good web design is structure. A site/page that has an easy to understand structure will be a piece of cake to browse and this will result in people spending more time on your blog.
To improve your blog and keep it organized and clean, use categories and tags. It also has a SEO benefit as readers will be able to find the type of content they want faster.