1. About Me page.
I love a gorgeously put together About page on a blog. If I come across a new blog, one of the first things I’m likely to look at beyond the initial blog post is the About page. This is a shameful “do as I say and not as I do” kinda thing, seeing as mine hasn’t been touched in about a year. I say shameful because as a blog designer I know I could do better. (Doesn’t it kinda make you cringe talking about yourself? I know it does for me).
Some about pages that I just love happen to be on Living in Another Language, Postcards from Rachel, Diaries of an Essex Girl, Back East Blonde, and Simply Clarke. They have nice pictures, they’re not too long to read, and most of them have links leading me to other posts that paint a better picture of who they are. And clicks are always a good thing! Which leads to my next point.
2. Popular Posts
I love seeing a category of popular posts, whether its on the sidebar or in the navigation bar. Chances are, if these posts have been a hit with your readers, they’ll be a hit with me, too!
Place them in one of those high-traffic areas and you’re sure to get a few more clicks out of them (and reduce your bounce rate).
3. Pin it Widgets
What should I pin from your blog? Help me! The Blog Maven has an excellent tutorial on how to create these widgets for your blog!
P.S. Since I created Pinterest widgets in my sidebar, I’ve noticed a HUGE increase on those posts being pinned, and it’s one of the reasons behind my surge in pageviews. Seriously, help one-time visitors pin a few more posts while they’re visiting. Chances are they’ll like another post featured in these widgets, right?
P.P.S. If you’re ever interested in changing what’s in the sidebar based on the category of the current post, moving to WordPress will allow you to do that. Wanna move to WordPress? Let’s chat!
4. Engaged conversations in the comments section
Believe it or not, I do read comments on other blogs. I read the whole post and most of the comments before I comment (to make sure I’m not repeating what someone else already said). Maybe it’s why I don’t comment as much as I’d like on other blogs, but you can be sure that when I do leave a comment, it has been done with a little bit of planning.
Also, if you have an engaged comments section, it means you’re doing it right. Don’t be discouraged if not every post has a highly engaged comments section on your blog. The easiest way to get your comments section engaged is to take a stance on a highly controversial topic and blog about it.
5. Pictures of Dogs
Okay, I just meant pictures in general (but bonus points if they’re of dogs or babies!). I will read a blog post even if it has nothing else but dog pictures on it. Promise. Nadine has an excellent post on how to find pictures for your blog that are free to use (i.e. you won’t get sued for using them).
Let’s face it, not all of us have a wonderful person nearby willing to take pictures of us (cough, Nadine, cough). You will rarely find a picture of me on the blog for several reasons: 1) my husband hates picture-taking 2) I rarely am out of yoga pants (and duh) and 3) it feels a little vain for me.
Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE seeing pictures of bloggers on their blogs. But, I’m such a naturally awkward person that it’s only magnified in front of the camera. Enough said.
