The sidebar of your blog can be filled with anything you want, but there are 7 things that you definitely won’t want to miss.
Items that will not only help retain readers longer on your site, but will also invite them to return to check your new articles, or better yet, subscribe to your newsletter and purchase your products or services.
Here are 7 elements that you should not forget to put on your sidebar.
1. Opportunity to Subscribe via RSS or E-mail
If your blog has high quality content, your readers will naturally be attracted to read your latest articles.
But you should simplify their lives!
Add an icon that links to your RSS feeds and allow them to receive notification of your new posts via email.
2. Categories
You can call this a list of topics or issues of interest. Whatever you name it, this list makes it easier for readers to navigate your blog and find exactly what they are looking for.
My advice is to not create more than 8-10 categories – unless you really need them – so that things aren’t so chaotic. Remember, simplify things for your readers.
3. Most Commented Articles
If you’re allowing comments on your blog, the sidebar is the ideal place to post your most commented posts, in other words those that attract more traffic.
This way, readers will not have to waste time finding your more popular articles, but they will be driven by curiosity to find out why these posts are most popular.
You can use the WordPress Popular Posts plugin, which has different options to list your most important articles. In fact most themes now have widget options that can be easily added for this.
4. Recent Articles
Inserting on the sidebar your latest articles, primarily helps visitors that come to your blog through a post, rather than the homepage, to understand which are the latest articles that have been published.
This is a great way to invite your visitors to read more and to stay for more time to your blog, learning more about your expertise.
5. Search Box
The search box helps visitors find articles that contain a specific keyword or tag.
You can put it on the sidebar, but another option is the top navigation bar, which is fairly a common place.
Just be sure that your Search Box is functioning, as you do not want to worsen the experience of your visitor with a tool that leads nowhere!
6. Link to Your Profiles on Social Media
Including a link to your pages on social media networks, allows you to keep your readers updated on other alternatives to your blog pages. Pages that probably are visited every day.
You can add a Facebook Like Box, or the Twitter Following widget, or the Google Plus button. There are so many options for these – Just make sure you choose one.
7. Call to Action (CTA)
Now that you have ensured that your best content is easy to find in your sidebar, it is time to include a ‘call to action‘ or literally, a request to your readers.
The invitation should be to subscribe to your newsletter, for example. Or to learn more about your services and products.
Try to make the CTA as visible as possible in your blog. Just think about this situation: If it was the first visit for a reader, it should be the first thing he sees when he arrives on your blog.
After all, those who sign up to your mailing list, will receive exclusive content, that is not otherwise available on your blog. Like for instance a free eBook, a training course or a series of video tutorials.
Just be sure that this call to action is clear and visible.
Topics: Design
The sidebar of your blog can be filled with anything you want, but there are 7 things that you definitely won’t want to miss.
Items that will not only help retain readers longer on your site, but will also invite them to return to check your new articles, or better yet, subscribe to your newsletter and purchase your products or services.
Here are 7 elements that you should not forget to put on your sidebar.
1. Opportunity to Subscribe via RSS or E-mail
If your blog has high quality content, your readers will naturally be attracted to read your latest articles.
But you should simplify their lives!
Add an icon that links to your RSS feeds and allow them to receive notification of your new posts via email.
2. Categories
You can call this a list of topics or issues of interest. Whatever you name it, this list makes it easier for readers to navigate your blog and find exactly what they are looking for.
My advice is to not create more than 8-10 categories – unless you really need them – so that things aren’t so chaotic. Remember, simplify things for your readers.
3. Most Commented Articles
If you’re allowing comments on your blog, the sidebar is the ideal place to post your most commented posts, in other words those that attract more traffic.
This way, readers will not have to waste time finding your more popular articles, but they will be driven by curiosity to find out why these posts are most popular.
You can use the WordPress Popular Posts plugin, which has different options to list your most important articles. In fact most themes now have widget options that can be easily added for this.
4. Recent Articles
Inserting on the sidebar your latest articles, primarily helps visitors that come to your blog through a post, rather than the homepage, to understand which are the latest articles that have been published.
This is a great way to invite your visitors to read more and to stay for more time to your blog, learning more about your expertise.
5. Search Box
The search box helps visitors find articles that contain a specific keyword or tag.
You can put it on the sidebar, but another option is the top navigation bar, which is fairly a common place.
Just be sure that your Search Box is functioning, as you do not want to worsen the experience of your visitor with a tool that leads nowhere!
6. Link to Your Profiles on Social Media
Including a link to your pages on social media networks, allows you to keep your readers updated on other alternatives to your blog pages. Pages that probably are visited every day.
You can add a Facebook Like Box, or the Twitter Following widget, or the Google Plus button. There are so many options for these – Just make sure you choose one.
7. Call to Action (CTA)
Now that you have ensured that your best content is easy to find in your sidebar, it is time to include a ‘call to action‘ or literally, a request to your readers.
The invitation should be to subscribe to your newsletter, for example. Or to learn more about your services and products.
Try to make the CTA as visible as possible in your blog. Just think about this situation: If it was the first visit for a reader, it should be the first thing he sees when he arrives on your blog.
After all, those who sign up to your mailing list, will receive exclusive content, that is not otherwise available on your blog. Like for instance a free eBook, a training course or a series of video tutorials.
Just be sure that this call to action is clear and visible.
Topics: Design
Published on February 10, 2015
About the Author: Ashley Bardonaro
