With all this talk about comment fragmentation and services like FriendFeed, Shyftr and a new one I just came across Feedego it is getting harder and harder for bloggers looking to monetize their content to get people to actually come to their blog. Tie this in with the proliferation of RSS feed readers there is just no reason really unless the headline grabs enough attention for people to click through to the blog.
However there is one area of a blog that can’t be found through a feed reader or any web service like FriendFeed and it is this area that if you use it right could be your secret weapon to get people to visit your blog. It all boils down to that simple little area at the left and / or right of your content called the Sidebar.
That’s right – your sidebar is like the icing on top of the cake. Right now the vast majority of us use it as a staging ground for any ads we want to run and other boring stuff like category lists and syndication information for the blog. When it comes right down to in a lot of cases a major section of your blog isn’t being used to its fullest capacity.
Part of the problem granted is that the most of the widgets available for your sidebar are just for those things so we get blase about how that space is used. As well we have to be very careful that what is there doesn’t drag down the loading of the blog page because readers won’t stand that for long. So this requires widget builders and javascript coders make sure their code is as clean as possible which sometimes doesn’t happen.
What we need are widgets or services that add value to our sidebars that help us provide something unique that doesn’t get fed through to or picked up by other services. One of the things I like to do here is always try out new widgets that I think both add value to the blog and possibly provide the reader with a reason to click through to the blog – even if only out of curiosity. For example how many of you have the Lijit visitor map widget or one of the other one’s like it out there.
It may not seem like much but look at it this way. Every single widget you could have in that sidebar could be a reason for a reader to actually visit your blog. They don’t all have to be ads after all what good are those ads doing if nobody is coming to visit. I know myself my sidebar is no example to go by but I also know that I am going to start being more adventurous with it and trying out different services that will help bring people to the blog.
When was the last time you looked at your sidebar as a visitor?
Is there anything there that would make you come back even if just to see what was going on?
Who is the sidebar for?
Great post. I value my sidebar so much that I only select Word Press styles that allow me to modify it to my liking. Lijit, Profilactic and polls are what I'm currently using to catch visitor's attention. I'm always on the lookout for new items that can increase the value of the sidebar.
As you say, it's often a neglected aspect of blog design. I hope your comments cause bloggers to revisit their sidebars and use them to the fullest.
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Interesting read, Steven. The sidebar has been something I have been considering for some time. With so many people subscribing via feeds, it is extremely difficult to get draw to your actual page. I have been tempted to begin pushing either small adverts or other items via the rss feed itself. Any thoughts on this?
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As far as adverts in the feed I don't think that as long as it is within reason that there is anything wrong with it. After all you can use Douglas Karr's excellent plugin http://www.douglaskarr.com/projects/postpost/ to add content -image or text – into your RSS feed as part of the post. However I don't know if I would want to go much beyond that unless it was an actual part of the post ie: Polls, video etc.
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Interesting read, Steven. The sidebar has been something I have been considering for some time. With so many people subscribing via feeds, it is extremely difficult to get draw to your actual page. I have been tempted to begin pushing either small adverts or other items via the rss feed itself. Any thoughts on this?
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I generally ignore the sidebar. I'll glance at it the first time I come to a blog (mainly for any site navigation or to see if the person's on Twitter, FF, etc.), but widgets like Lijit or MyBlogLog don't really draw my attention. If there's a poll, I'll check it out, but nothing much else. I'm rather single-minded when it comes to reading something.
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I am the same to a certain extent which is why it would be nice to see something new in the widget field that would benefit both the readers and the blogger and not just whoever is supplying the widget.
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My thing with widgets is that, every time I assume that no one can possibly come up with an idea for a new widget, someone does. And I bristle. (Bristle!) I think my main problem with widgets is that what I personally deem to be too many people tend to use what I personally deem to be too many widgets, leading to a cramped and crowded layout. Maybe I'm just a crazy, minimalist elitist or a crazy, elitist minimalist or simply a crazy elitimalist.
Some sidebars I don't mind, though, but that's mainly because they're customisable and linked to user accounts (e.g. on /.), which would probably be somewhat of an overkill for blogs.
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I am the same to a certain extent which is why it would be nice to see something new in the widget field that would benefit both the readers and the blogger and not just whoever is supplying the widget.
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Also consider the safety of the information these widgets may be gathering, unbeknownst to the unwitting Publisher who installs them.
As a mom, you know our Blogs, like our kids, need to be protected as they grow. P.U.B. [Publishers Union of Bloggers] has pending inquires to Widget Providers concerning how they generate their income and what percentage of this income goes to the Blog Publisher making the critical decision to allow a Widget on their site for their readers. In addition we are requesting transparency on the critical issue of how the private statistic from Publishers Blogs are being used, hopefully with the Publisher’s permission!
P.U.B. expects to heard back from Lijit on these financial and private statistics issues from P.U.B’s inquiry we sent to Lijit in mid April 2008. When we do we will let great Blog Publishers like you know their deal.
Will publish these results to keep the community of Blog Publishers informed on this critical component of Widgets on our Blogs. Thanks again for being a great mom!
Sincerely,
Barney Moran
Founder, P.U.B.
Facilitator, Daddy Boot Camp, Boulder, CO
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Also consider the safety of the information these widgets may be gathering, unbeknownst to the unwitting Publisher who installs them.
As a mom, you know our Blogs, like our kids, need to be protected as they grow. P.U.B. [Publishers Union of Bloggers] has pending inquires to Widget Providers concerning how they generate their income and what percentage of this income goes to the Blog Publisher making the critical decision to allow a Widget on their site for their readers. In addition we are requesting transparency on the critical issue of how the private statistic from Publishers Blogs are being used, hopefully with the Publisher’s permission!
P.U.B. expects to heard back from Lijit on these financial and private statistics issues from P.U.B’s inquiry we sent to Lijit in mid April 2008. When we do we will let great Blog Publishers like you know their deal.
Will publish these results to keep the community of Blog Publishers informed on this critical component of Widgets on our Blogs. Thanks again for being a great mom!
Sincerely,
Barney Moran
Founder, P.U.B.
Facilitator, Daddy Boot Camp, Boulder, CO
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[...] WinExtra covers the advantages bloggers with sidebars have if they use them correctly in a recent post entitled, “A blogger’s secret weapon – the sidebar”. [...]
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Blog sidebar widgets might contain an author's wishlist, the current weather, an instant message box, or much more. Authors choose and place their widgets using drag-and-drop techniques instead of editing HTML and other forms of complication. The easily packaged widget allows quick deployment and customization for blog visitors while extending the personality of the author. It is a useful thing in my point of view. I just can't ignore it.
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Blog sidebar widgets might contain an author's wishlist, the current weather, an instant message box, or much more. Authors choose and place their widgets using drag-and-drop techniques instead of editing HTML and other forms of complication. The easily packaged widget allows quick deployment and customization for blog visitors while extending the personality of the author. It is a useful thing in my point of view. I just can't ignore it.
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im just encountered that yesterday
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I know what I want for to do with my side bar but dont know how to code it myself, maybe some one can tell me where. What I really need is a widget or gadget that allows me to do a sort of a mini-post with a photograph, maybe fifty to one hundred words and a linkor two that would archive seprately from my regular posts. This would be for like a recent projects or discovers. This would be fantastic for artist and craftsman who have there normal subject and could use this for specific projects or details. If anyone know how to do this or where to find it please le me know at bigchambers@gmail.com. I know I want to develop every inch of my blog and I am more interested in ways to add content than little games that could be on thousands of blogs.
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I know what I want for to do with my side bar but dont know how to code it myself, maybe some one can tell me where. What I really need is a widget or gadget that allows me to do a sort of a mini-post with a photograph, maybe fifty to one hundred words and a linkor two that would archive seprately from my regular posts. This would be for like a recent projects or discovers. This would be fantastic for artist and craftsman who have there normal subject and could use this for specific projects or details. If anyone know how to do this or where to find it please le me know at bigchambers@gmail.com. I know I want to develop every inch of my blog and I am more interested in ways to add content than little games that could be on thousands of blogs.
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