How are you using blog sidebars?

01 Dec

Posted by: BryanPerson in: Blogging

Do you spend much time looking at sidebars of blogs?

I know that Jason Falls has a whole heap of tools in the right-hand columns of his Social Media Explorer site, that Mack Collier grades sidebar content in his blog checkups, and that bloggers galore incorporate widgets and badges into their sidebar designs.

I’m just wondering wondering how much of that content you ever bother to look at? Because for me, the answer is, almost none of it!

No poking around sidebars for me, thank you. No clicking through blogrolls (Be honest: When’s the last time you update your blogroll?). No scrolling through MyBlogLog avatar images or perusing tag clouds.

Thanks to RSS (I use Google Reader), I seldom visit the actual blogsites at all. And when I do, it’s typically to read comments to a post, and possibly leave one of my own.

Then, I’m out.

What I do look for in blog sidebars

There are a few exceptions, of course.

When I discover or am pointed to a new blog and decide to subscribe to it, I need the site’s RSS feed. That’s typically in the sidebar. So, too, is the search box, as well as a blurb about the author(s) and/or focus of the blog. And a blogger’s contact information, if it’s not on a separate page of the blog, might be included in the sidebar also.

Giving ‘em options

But don’t just take my word for it. We blog readers are not a homogeneous mass, and my RSS-centric approach to blog consumption is not necessarily typical.

If you’re a blogger, you undoubtedly have heaps of visitors who want to come back to your site again and again to find out what’s new. Some readers do want to dig into your your blog categories, click through your Flickr badges, study your upcoming.org widget list of speaking appearances, and find out how to connect with you on Pownce (uhm, about that …).

So when practical and within your blog platform’s suite of options, offer your readers plenty of choices for keeping up with all the good content you produce.

I won’t salivate over your blog sidebar cleverness, but others just might.

12 Responses

ocha
01|Dec|2008 1

I do tend to at least glance at the sidebar hitting mostly the bold type to maybe get some ideas of what they may be promoting.
Doug Haslam
01|Dec|2008 2

I actually look at some of the sidebar content– if it is a link for a current event, for instance. I do look at the MyBlogLog avatars, as I belong to the community.

Mostly, though I find the sidebars on my blog are for me– I scroll through the recent Utterli posts from my circle, check the MyBlogLog visitors, and look at the Social Media Club widget I just added. I don;t expect that too many visitors look at my sidebar– and i don’t keep a blogroll any longer– but one never knows…
Stefan Martens
02|Dec|2008 3

I’m still wondering why there’s still a direct link to archives on a blog’s homepage. I mean – who reads a blog post and subsequently has the information need to read another post from MARCH 2008 or sth.

This criticism is a bit superficial because the archive IS a navigation element, but there are certainly more useful ones (recent xy, most commented xy, etc.).

I just wanted to connect with you on Pownce btw. It seems to be down ;]
mack collier
02|Dec|2008 4

Honestly, I update my blogroll constantly. And I do like to see widgets like the MyBlogLog one to see a picture of who else is reading the blog when I get there.

I agree that a lot of times I will just read the post and move on, but I do often pay attention to a blog’s sidebar elements.
Nicholas Tolson
02|Dec|2008 5

I’ve said for years that people need to think more about their sidebars. (The problem begins with blog “templates.”) First on my list has always been to really think if you need the “By Date” listing. When was the last time you went to a blog and said, “I wonder what they wrote in August of 2007?” Or, “I remember that they wrote that in March.” Would you have a day of the week listing? Of course not. This is just as ridiculous as a month listing.

Bloggers need to put as much thought into their sidebars as the rest of their content, IMO. This is navigation, people! Use it wisely.
BryanPerson
02|Dec|2008 6

@Mack: I know you pay close attention to the content in a sidebar, which is why I mentioned you! It’s good to give readers options. I don’t give a lick about MyBlogLand, but bloggers should keep in mind folks like you who do.

@DougH: I hadn’t thought about your angle: That you use your own sidebar as a way to keep track of things on your blog. Good point.
Nicholas Tolson
02|Dec|2008 7

One more thing, if bloggers stopped using their sidebars as the junk drawer of their sites – loading them up with archives, endless categories, ads, and social media widgets they can find – it would go a long way to making them relevant again.
Sarah Fowler
02|Dec|2008 8

The only thing you didn’t mention that I think should also be in a sidebar is a link to the best posts (or however you want to word it) so new visitors can get a good overview.
I think everything in your sidebar ought to fit in the “top fold” of the page. A blogroll, archive, and other information can easily move to another page for people who really care to look.
BryanPerson
02|Dec|2008 9

@Nicholas: Great point with your second comment. Many sidebars do look very much like junk drawers. Mack may be diligent in updating his blogroll, for example, but I’d be willing to bet some decent money that he’s in a very small minority.

@Sarah: You’re right on. Highlighting favorite or most-commented/most-trafficked posts are a good way to continue to drive traffic to those posts, and to give newcomers a better sense of a blogger’s top content.
Nicholas Tolson
02|Dec|2008 10

@BryanPerson Indeed. I’d guess that the majority of people don’t update their blogroll more than once after originally putting it on their blog. The endless widgets and stuff are worse than an old blogroll, though, IMO.

(You saying my first point wasn’t a good one?! )
BryanPerson
02|Dec|2008 11

@Nicholas: First point wasn’t bad, either I’ll admit that I occasionally dig into monthly archives, but that’s usually only if I can’t get what I want from the search box first.
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08|Dec|2008 12

[...] Bryan Person of Social Media Breakfast asks whether blog sidebars are useful. I think they are and I feel I could definitely utilise mine more efficiently. How do you use [...]