1) Loading Time
Its true, you can lose your visitor in under 3 seconds if your blog content isn’t loading. If you are on wordpress, use the plugin called W3 Total Cache. Also minimize the overall loading time by cutting down on how many pictures are displaying and scripts have to load. Additionally, the more ads you have, the more likely you could get caught up on other servers. If you find one ad company is doing it consistently to your page, might be worth looking for a new one.
Another thing to consider are the amount of plugins you have installed. The more you have, the more likely your site is to slow down. If you deactivate something, remove it entirely so it doesn’t eat up your resources.
2) Color
We know you like hot pink, or the background with the crazy cool lines, but take a look through someone elses eyes. Reading online isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, so make it easy for your visitors by keeping your text completely visible with a white or off white background. Contrasting colors are great, they define your sidebar, header, and featured areas, but remember that the brighter and louder the designs are in someones peripheral vision, the more likely your visitors send your bounce rate souring.
3) Your Header
Say it with me…your blog is so 2008. Back in 2008 every blogger (including us) had a cute little graphic from latest coupon code. Its over.
Consider updating your blog with a logo or a sleek header. Also your header is in the most important spot on your blog, do not make it 4 inches tall. A header should be 100-150 pixels tall, not 300-500. A great example of a clean personal header is Rachael’s from Following in my Shoes.
The smaller your header, the more opportunity you have to monetize that valuable above the fold space.
4) Stats
I have zero idea why bloggers put their page rank, Alexa, Compete, and the new culprit on the block, Klout, on their sidebars or footers. Your visitors A) don’t care and B) don’t care. They probably have zero clue what they even mean. These are stats for PR relations and ad companies, not your every day visitor. Its just clutter. REMOVE THEM.
Also, it puts you in a category where visiting PR can immediately knock you out of the running by stats alone and sometimes they are not even correct. Keep your stats where they should be…on a media kit.
Sidenote: If you have a feedburner stats on your blog and they are under 500+ subscribers, remove. It makes you look unpopular and people are less likely to subscribe.
5) Sidebar Banners
Check your blog. Do you have 400 banners? If so, clean it up. Please clean it up. There really is no point in carrying every blog you know on the side. Display the few you visit on a daily basis. As in like …..two. This way, your visitors get directed exactly where you want them to go without confusion. It also keeps your sidebars from coming off spammy and cluttered. Instead, consider making a page that includes your top 10-20 favorite blogs, their links, and a little summary of them. If you want, create a little graphic that says and have it link to that page. Voila! Clean and includes SEO.
One more thing, if you carry “Vote for me” banners from ‘top sites’ and affiliate banners, consider if they are creating enough income or traffic. If you get 1 sale every 90 days and make $2, its probably time to remove that company. If you get 10 visitors from a exchange traffic site but you advertise them 24 hours a day, that spot is better reserved for paying advertising or white space. Value your virtual real estate more than that.
6) Full vs Summary Posts
This is going to be a personal preference. If you have an income from CPM, you may want summary posts to up your page views, if you like good SEO, you may want full posts, but whatever you do, make your NEWEST POST the easiest one to find. If you have a featured area and you have a post there from January 5th and thats the first thing people see, especially if it shows a date, they may not think you have updated your blog in awhile. Make sure you can direct people exactly what you want them to see and where to go.
This is especially important when considering a theme. I personally love magazine style themes, but sometimes they produce so much material on a site that its a jumble. Its better to have too little than too much.
7) Picture of You
You have no idea how many blogs I visit where I cant find a thing about the person writing the blog. The reason blogs are so successful is due to the person writing them. If we cant see you, we dont know you and if we dont know you, we dont care. Put a face to the writing and put a story to the person. Your “About Me” page should be very easily found on your blog and include a picture of you.
8) Affiliations
You may be a part of every review network on the planet, but honestly, your readers dont need to know about it. Add your affiliations to your “PR” page and be done with it. I dont put stickers for the PTA, Be Kind to Animals, and the Photography Association on my front door..kwim?