20 Sep Why Your Blog Makes People Go Away

There’s one web design mistake that is a death sentence for your blog… clutter!

Do you have tons of widgets, plugins, social media profiles, links, badges, ads, and more clogging up your sidebars? As if this weren’t enough of a confusing turn-off, do you have one of those rude pop-up windows that crawls across the screen while your readers are halfway through a compelling post? OY!

It’s the same thing we tell our clients that have just bought a billboard: LESS IS MORE.

What do you absolutely NEED visitors to do to grow your business? Do they need to see your whole Twitter feed running down the side of your blog in order to decide to call you or sign up for your services?

In most cases, you need visitors to subscribe to your email list, so that’s what you should focus on. Kick the rest of the baggage to the curb! Clutter-free sidebars will outperform their busy counterparts every time.

What should be in your sidebar?

You should have an opt-in form for you newsletter, links to popular articles, and a list of resource pages, which are sort of “advice” pages that highlight your best content around your expertise. Within these pages, they should link to several of your best articles on the topic you’re addressing to help people get the exact information they are looking for.

Why a resource page? Your articles are your most popular pages. When people are done reading them, they often look for what they can do next. People who visit these pages are now warmer leads and are more likely to sign up for updates from you: a.k.a. a captured lead.

What about you? Does your blog offer way too many distractions? Do people leave before exploring your class-A content? Do you convert readers to list subscribers or do they abandon ship?

Try cleaning house and let us know how it works!