A simple tip describe here is for all the bloggers out there. If you are a blogger, chances are that you’re blog contains different types of elements somewhere whether it’s a plugin that does something, or a list of links to important articles.
No matter what niche is, these 6 elements every blog should have. Without these elements, a blog is incomplete.
1. Great High-Quality Content
This is a no brainer. This is the most important element of a blog. It’s the reason why your readers are reading your blog in the first place. Without this content that you write, there is no blog.
2. Visible RSS/Email Subscription Link
Every blog needs this no matter what. No excuses. A blog isn’t a blog if readers can’t subscribe to it whether if it’s through RSS or email subscriptions. You need to be able to send out content right to their feed readers or email inbox. Otherwise, it will just be a regular site.
The location of the subscription links are also important. Most of the times, they are located on the highest point of a blog’s sidebar. It’s also a good tactic to optimize them within each and every post, just below the content. Use the Subscribe Remind WordPress plugin to add a little snippet of text at the end of each post to remind readers to subscribe .
3. About Page
Readers love reading about the blogger who owns the blog. It provides them with a way to connect to you indirectly, and by having an about page, you are increasing the trust and loyalty they have for you. If you need help with writing your about page, check out Darren’s post on How To Write Your “About Me” Page from ProBlogger.
4. Contact Page
You need a way for people to reach you. Having a page that is dedicated for this is essential. If you don’t have one yet, try using the Cforms plugin. It creates nice-looking contact forms that you can put on your contact page.
5. Archives and Categories
Whether it’s on the sidebar, or on top of the page like I have for this blog, you need to provide your readers with the links to all the different categories that your posts are written on. It makes organization and navigation 300% easier for both the blog and its readers.
6. Featured Content
Whether it’s your most popular posts or most commented posts, it’s important to have some form of featured content listed somewhere. As you can see, the most popular, most recent, and most commented posts for SlyVisions are located on the sidebar. It doesn’t matter which one you have as long as you have some form of featured content. This gives new readers a quick look at your best work.
If You Don’t Have Them, You Don’t Have a Blog
These 6 elements are essential. If you don’t have them, you don’t have a blog. Just take a look at every blog you read and go over the list. Does it have those 6 elements? 99% of the time, the blog will have these elements. If you see a blog that doesn’t, do the blogger a favor and point them to this post.