Essentials of an Ideal Blog

Blogging started in the 90s, with Links.net, the first ever blog created by student Justin Hall to record and publish his writing. The earlier users found an outlet for their thoughts through blogs. It was a personal space, like an online journal where people used to share their thoughts.

According to GrowthBadger, there are over 600 million blogs currently on the web and about 92% of content marketers use blog posts as part of their marketing strategy.

A blog is a website where someone regularly records their thoughts or experiences or talks about a subject.

Blogging has undergone a sea change from its earlier avatars. Today, blogging is not just about personal space. It is more interactive and has become a popular way of making money. Modern blogging makes use of varied mediums like text, videos, and photos.

Blogging is quite easy and fun if you have the basics covered. These are the essentials of an ideal blog:

About page

The About page is basically welcoming your visitors and letting them know where they have reached. This is an essential part of every blog and is also one of the most popular pages after the Home Page. It helps build a relationship with the audience as they get to know the people behind the pages.

It should have

• A brief introduction to the blogger’s profile, experience, and background.
• A few details about what the blog is about.
• You can also use this page to highlight your vision, values, and purpose behind the blog.
• This page can also play an important role in directing your visitors’ next move.

Contact Page

Your visitors should be able to get in touch with you easily. It should be simple and carry details of the various ways your readers, advertisers, or collaborators can reach out to you.

You can mention your email address and various social media handles.

Adding a contact form makes the process easier.

It should have these details –

• How to contact you
• Details on what to expect
• Expected turnaround time

Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Terms of Use

In case are collecting personal data from users like names, addresses, email, credit card details etc, then it is a mandatory and legal requirement to state the terms and conditions and privacy policy.

• The privacy policy should outline information on the data you are collecting and how would you be using the same.
• It is also important to outline the rules, terms, and conditions pertaining to the blog.
• Including a page notifying your cookie policy makes your blog robust and professional.

In case you are not sure of the details to be included, you can use any online free Privacy Policy generator.

It is better to have these clearly outlined, even if you are not monetizing from the blog.

Search Option

A search button makes it easier for the readers to filter the content according to their preferences and find it easily.

Sometimes readers are looking for content similar to what they have read, or a post on a particular topic. Including a search button makes navigation easier and ensures that visitors spend more time on your blog.

Follow & Share

Every blogger has a presence on social media like Instagram, Twitter, etc. A simple follow button that enables your audience to follow you on your social media handles is a great way of establishing connections across channels, increasing engagement, and reminding them of new posts.

Picture this scenario –

A reader loved a post on your blog and wants to share it with the world. Alas, there is no option to do so! In such a case, the reader would just abandon the post.

But the same is possible if you have enabled a share button on your blog. Share buttons help you by spreading the word in the online world.

Disclosure

If you are earning commission through affiliate marketing, then you should dedicate a page to declare your disclosure.

Doing so helps you earn the trust of both affiliate marketing companies and your visitors.

There are plenty of online tools available to help generate the contents to be displayed on the disclosure page.

404

Broken pages and 404 errors are more common than we think. You can customize the 404 page of your site to make it stand out from the others.

Instead of the regular error message, you can use this page to guide them on their next course of action, show recent posts, or even the most popular content.

Apart from these technical aspects, there are a few more pointers one should keep in mind.

• The blog should be easy to navigate.
• The blog design should be visually appealing.
• The content should be original, relevant, updated, and refreshed regularly.
• Uniformity in the structure of posts improves the overall look of the blog.
• Enable readers to comment on your posts. Interacting with them helps in building relationships.

These are a few elements essential to every blog. By paying attention to these basic aspects, I have been able to maintain my blog without many hassles and am able to give my visitors an interesting and valuable experience.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop.