06 Dec 09 4 Easy Rules of Blogging

In this post, I will tell you about your readers, and what make them stay on your website, read, comment, and connect. I call it “easy rules”, and I have used this nomenclature to call these rules easy because if you go by the ground rule laid down here, you will make life of your visitors much easier.

Easy Rule 1: Make your blog easy for the readers to scan

Design is the first thing, a visitor to your website notices. The more intuitive, and clutter free your design will be the more visitors will come and stay on your page. The blog design should look inviting. Do not go for those clumsy too-many-columns magazine designs, and do not use too many flashy objects on your page.

Easy Rule 2: Make it easier for the readers to read (scan)

Do not make your articles too complex. Use easy-to-read language, short paragraphs, and break your blog-posts into several sub-heading. This will add white space to your text, making it more readable. When on the Internet, people tend to scan the page to see if it is worth their time, before they begin reading.

Easy Rule 3: Make it easier for the readers to comment

Do not make commenting a nightmare by adding too complex a captcha, “sign-up before you comment” system, or any other means of dissuading readers to write. I will go so far as to tell you that do away with the captcha thing. If you are worried about spam comments, then that is the issue you have to handle on the backend. Your genuine visitors should not be asked to handle spam problem for you.

Easy Rule 4: Make it easier for the reader to connect

Josh came to your blog, he read it, liked it, and got excited. He now wants to subscribe to your blog, but what the heck, where is the subscription link? Moreover, why the hell it is so complex? Well, I hope you got the message. Make subscribing easier for the readers. Put the “subscribe now” button above the fold, and make it 2-step process.

What else, do you think will make the life of your blog visitors easy? Use the comment box and let me know your view. By the way, the comment system in here is easy to use.