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Let’s face it: starting a blog is one thing. But sacrificing the time, money and effort to maintain, grow and improve your blog is another thing entirely.
After all, there’s so much work involved, from choosing an aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-navigate design to creating high-quality, consistent content.
That said, there should be one thing on your mind when you’re trying to make your blog better – and that’s your readers. They’re the ones that are going to keep tuning into what you have to say, interacting with your brand and taking action, whether it’s clicking on an affiliate link or buying one of your products.
If your blog has a poor user experience, your audience is likely to click off it faster than you can say Jack Robinson (never to be seen again). Sob. It also reduces the credibility of your brand.
That’s why it’s important to build a blog that factors in user experience. If you’re struggling with this, not to worry – here’s how to improve your blog so it will delight existing readers and attract new readers alike.
1. Pick a Self-Hosted Platform
Improve your blog 101: go self-hosted.
Sure, you can start out on a free platform because it’s super quick and convenient. (The most popular ones being Blogger and WordPress.com.) However, if you’re serious about blogging and potentially turning it into a business someday, pick a self-hosted platform to blog on.
Why? Well, self-hosting means that you completely own and control your blog.
The benefits include:
- You don’t ever have to worry about your platform suddenly shutting down and potentially losing all your content.
- You can customise just about ANYTHING you want.
- If something went wrong, you have constant, on-hand help from your platform’s readily available team of experts.
Personally, I started with WordPress.com and then moved to WordPress.org via SiteGround (*). This is mostly because their plans are cheap and their customer service team rocks.
But it’s completely up to you which platform you choose.
Pro tip: build your blog with SiteGround from the star and you can also obtain a professional domain name from them for free! Handy, right?
2. Invest in the Right Theme
Newsflash: the way that your blog looks to the average visitor is really important.
How come, you ask? Well, if it’s a hobby blog, it forms part of your personal brand identity. And if it’s a business blog? Think of it like your shop window.
Therefore, your blog theme needs to be clean, attractive and IMMEDIATELY reflect who you are and what you do through the visuals. If you don’t have a logo yet, make sure you come up with a design that matches the overall feel of the website.
(And keep in mind that sometimes less is more!)
Your blog design should also be easy to navigate around by featuring posts, categories and pages that are organised in a clear and concise way.
In essence, you want to make it as simple as possible for visitors to engage with your blog, because then they’re more likely to want to return.
Struggling to find a pretty yet practical theme? Check out my Dream Scribe blog, which uses BluChic (*). FYI, I can heartily recommend any of their themes in terms of design and functionality!
3. Include a Contact Form
In addition to creating a self-hosted blog with a simple yet attractive design, you should include a contact form on one of your pages. After all, there’s no point having readers if they can’t get in touch with you! Right?
That’s where JotForm comes in.
Using Jotform
Improve your blog by using JotForm to create and design a contact form literally within a matter of minutes.
In fact, they have tons of wonderful online templates you can use quickly and easily. I made my contact form using JotForm in a few simple steps, which you can find below.
1. Firstly, sign up to JotForm.com and verify your email address.
2. Choose your form layout. (I used the classic form where all the questions are on one page. However, there’s also the cards option where questions are asked one at a time and the user can swipe up on a mobile to get to the next question.)
Then, choose a form according to your needs (I chose “Use Template”) and filter your search by “Contact Forms.”
3. Scroll through the options until you find the perfect contact form for you. Click into it and press the “Use Templates” button.
4. Afterward, click on the “My Forms” section of the JotForm website and you’ll see the name of your contact form sat in there. Click on it and select “More” and then “Publish.”
5. Select the “Embed” tab and copy and paste the HTML code. Go to your blog’s back end and insert the code into the HTML section of your “Contact” page.
You’re then left with a professional, cool-looking contact form, and an easy way for your readers to reach out to you. #Winning.
4. Add a “Categories” Drop-Down in the Main Menu
All of the best blogs have different categories. The idea is to break your main blogging niche down into smaller chunks for your reader that help them pinpoint exactly what they’re looking for.
And do you know what’s even better than just having categories? Including a “Categories” drop-down button in your main menu.
As well as keeping your blog organised, it means that your readers can access your categories quickly and efficiently.
The alternative? They have to scroll through your entire stream of posts to get to what they’re looking for.
As a result, they might lose patience and decide to click off your blog. And this is precisely what we don’t want!
5. Use Social Media Sharing Buttons
Lastly, it enhances user experience if you include other ways for your audience to get in touch with you other than your contact form.
After all, your visitor might not want to message you directly. However, they may want to share a blog post they enjoyed on social media.
Whether you’re active on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook (or perhaps a mixture of all four), include the relevant buttons in your homepage’s top navigational menu to encourage social engagement.
You could also include social sharing buttons in your sidebar and/or under each post to make it even easier for your visitor to find them. Then you’ll make them happy, which will consequently make you happy too!
Taking the Time to Improve Your Blog
Providing a good user experience is one of your core responsibilities as a blog owner. After all, when done correctly, it makes your visitor want to stick around, thus increasing your clicks, reducing your bounce rate and improving your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Therefore, take the time to improve your blog in any way you can. And don’t feel discouraged if you make mistakes. In the end, these mistakes will only make you a better blogger.
How do you think you can improve your blog? Comment below!
Katie Davies is the Yorkshire-based freelance writer who founded Trendy Tourist. Since 2017, she has written for over 100 companies on a range of subjects, from fashion to marketing. When she’s not producing content, you can find her shopping, exploring a new place or sitting somewhere having a cup of builder’s tea.
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