Top 10 design mistakes for blogs
Related entries in Marketing, Business Blogging, Blogging Basics, Social networking, Professional BloggingJakob Nielsen has listed the top 10 design mistakes for blogs:
1. No Author Biographies - it’s all about trust & credentials
2. No Author Photo - good for press, credibility, recall factor
3. Nondescript Posting Titles - you likely have less than a second in scan time to grab attention
4. Links Don’t Say Where They Go - tell people where they are going, what to expect, and don’t use nicknames.
5. Classic Hits are Buried - make best articles direct navigation links, and link in other articles (good one!)
6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation - categories are key!
7. Irregular Publishing Frequency
8. Mixing Topics
“The more focused your content, the more focused your readers. That, again, makes you more influential within your niche. Specialized sites rule the Web, so aim tightly.”
9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
10. Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service
Having a weblog address ending in blogspot.com, typepad.com, etc. will soon be the equivalent of having an @aol.com email address or a Geocities website: the mark of a naïve beginner who shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Letting somebody else own your name means that they own your destiny on the Internet. They can degrade the service quality as much as they want. They can increase the price as much as they want. They can add atop your content as many pop-ups, blinking banners, or other user-repelling advertising techniques as they want. They can promote your competitor’s offers on your pages. Yes, you can walk, but at the cost of your loyal readers, links you’ve attracted from other sites, and your search engine ranking.
A very well rounded tip base. I think #5 is far too often overlooked - and makes me want to add more navigation tips to my own blogs. #8 hits home - simply start more blogs! and
#10 - ah, a pet peeve of mine. Just imaging what you would put on your business card and how much better it would look if you could match your email to your domain - oh, but if you don’t own that domain, you’re outta luck. There’s just too many restrictions associated with that route - and, for a simple $15 a year for a URL, free services like WordPress, and easy hosting solutions, why would you even consider a site whose domain you don’t own?
BTW - for those of you pro writers out there who follow this domain route, let it be know that people like myself often think twice before subscribing after wondering why you don’t own your URL, why you would bother with some annoying platform, and how seriously you take your future blogging efforts. :)
Via Boing Boing
October 18th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Thanks, Arienna. I have been thinking about getting my own domain all year. And Number 10 really drove it home for me. Do you have any affordable domain route recommendations?
October 18th, 2005 at 11:13 pm
GoDaddy is a great resource to buy domains. Depending on what you affix to it, it’s usually about $10-$15 per year. It “looks” better from an SEO side (and they do look) if you register for >1 year. :)
October 23rd, 2005 at 12:14 pm
Hmmm……..
I think Nielsens comment about having a blog on a weblog service is a little harsh! Blogger, Typepad and the rest have their place. They are free, anonymous and can be started in seconds. For some non-technical people that is all they want. Whats wrong with that?
Ray
November 2nd, 2005 at 12:42 pm
[…] Blogging Help A very well rounded tip base. I think #5 is far too often overlooked - and makes me want to add more navigation tips to my own blogs. #8 hits home - simply start more blogs! and #10 - ah, a pet peeve of mine. Just imaging what you would put on your business card and how much better it would look if you could match your email to your domain - oh, but if you don’t own that domain, you’re outta luck. There’s just too many restrictions associated with that route - and, for a simple $15 a year for a URL, free services like WordPress, and easy hosting solutions, why would you even consider a site whose domain you don’t own? […]