Blogging is becoming more and more popular these days, and it’s more than likely because it’s for everyone. It’s one of the most general things that you can do with your time, and whether you are hoping to start a business blog or you are looking to start something more personal, there will always be topics to write about, rant about, rave about. Starting a blog can be both exciting and overwhelming, and if you do it right, you’re going to end up with something that has a lot of potential.

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Some people use their blog as a way to earn some cash; others do it for fun. Either way, there are certain things that your blog needs to be a success. Each of these points below will ensure that your blog looks good and is user-friendly: two things that matter very much in the blogging universe. Let’s take a look at the necessities:

Easily Navigated

There is absolutely no point in having a blog that is too complicated to use. People want easy. They want to log on and know where they’re going, what they’re looking for and how to find it. If you don’t make your blog easy to use, you’re going to end up with frustrated visitors who leave your site because they cannot get what they want from it. Readers should be able to move around the site without getting annoyed about it, so think of these critical things:

• Core pages at the top that are clearly labeled
• Each post should be categorized and tagged to find it
• User testing is vital, and you can benefit so much from doing this before you launch

Search bars on a blog should not be difficult to find or blended into the background. People need a way to search the information that they’re looking for without scrolling through multiple pages across the website. If someone wants to look for something, you need to give them the option and make it as simple as possible.

Something About You

The one thing that everyone gravitates toward on your blogging site is the “About Me” page. If someone is going to be poring over your posts, hungrily reading everything that you have to say, they want to know who’s behind the words. This means that you need to build a page all about you into your web design to allow people to get a little personal. They want to know your thinking behind your blog, what makes you tick and what your opinions are. You are also able to build a connection with your users if they feel you’ve got a little personal. If you don’t know what to type about yourself, this is the perfect opportunity to add a video to your blog and talk about yourself that way. People connect to faces, so if they can see you, they’ll be able to realize that there is a real person behind the screen and the words.

Email Marketing

One of the ways that your blog is going to continue to be popular is with email marketing, and it’s why you need a text box on your blog that people will be able to see at all times. This box is going to enable people to sign up with their email address so that they can keep up with your updates. When you have an established blog, subscriptions can be something that you rely on to build your reader list. Social media isn’t going to be the only tool that you use to drive traffic to your website, not when you give the readers the chance to sign up to your email list.

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Easy Contact

People love to give feedback, so whether you are offering a comment box at the end of each blog post or not, you need a page that provides people with the details of how to get in touch with you. It’s not just customers, either. If your blog is established, you’re going to find that brands want to get in touch with you to collaborate and build something together. Every blog page needs a contact page built into it, and it’s all in the web design to ensure that your visitors can find the contact details that they need from you. Quick contact is essential, and it’s easy to do!

A Way To Share

When visitors read something that they agree with, are passionate about, they want to share it with the world. If you don’t provide a simple way to share content for your readers, people won’t be exposed to your blog. Linking your blog with your social media is vital for traffic and exposure, and it lessens the frustration when your readers want to shout what you say from the social media rooftops. Make the buttons on your site easy to see and visible enough that your readers don’t have to go looking for it. When you choose to connect your social media to your blog, you can stay connected, and social media gives your readers a platform to talk to you – this extension of the relationship gives people a chance to interact!

Excellent Design

You want your blog designed in a way that it’s accessible on laptops and tablets. Responsive design is not something that you can leave as an option: it’s a must! You need a way to make sure that your readers know that your website is easy to interact with, and if you ensure that you do it with mobile design, Google won’t shove you down the search engines. The good news is that most websites now are built to be mobile friendly, so make sure that your blog follows suit. While we’re on the subject of design, make sure your blog looks good and isn’t too crowded with colors and text. It should be uniform for easy reading.

Good Analytics

Lastly, you need a way to collect data. You need to be able to analyze where your traffic comes from and maximize those routes. Google Analytics is the best way that you can do that along with your social media data collection.