Through the internet’s convenience, anyone with half an opinion and an interest in sharing it can do so in as little as an afternoon — it’s called a blog. While it’s difficult to put a specific number on how many exist on the internet, we’re easily talking in the hundreds of millions.
So, how can you stand out in the quest for readership?
Providing unique content is no longer enough. Attention spans diminish even as options for entertainment multiply, the case for user-friendly everything is stronger than ever.
With that said, here’s how to simplify your blog and enhance your readership.
Fewer Categories Makes for Simpler Navigation
When setting up your blog or changing things over time, it might be tempting to have a category for every possible thing you’ll eventually talk about. But don’t do it. That’s what tags are for. Your category pages are sacred ground; have too many and you’ll kill your site’s focus. Having too many categories can also make your site seem outdated because many categories won’t have fresh content.
Further, would you want to visit a blog with 18 categories on its home page? Where do you click, where do you direct your attention?
You’d probably just leave.
Simplifying your navigation through fewer blog categories can improve the number of pages users access per session. If you sell merchandise, art, or anything related to your blog’s purpose through a cloud e-commerce store, then clear navigation will move visitors to your store section easier.
Readable, Accessible Fonts and Colors
Do you see any news site rolling with a background that isn’t white? There’s a reason for this. It’s hard on the eyes! Don’t make things more complicated on yourself; choose a font that people can read and stick to a white background—that’s it — you’re good! No obsessing over trivial details that likely only matter to you. Blog readers come to read (or scan), let them do that pleasurably and maybe you’ll pick up more readers.
Formatting to Encourage Engagement
There’s nothing intriguing about a massive wall of text on a screen. Even if it’s some of the best stuff ever written on a topic, readers won’t stick around long enough to find out. This is why formatting your blog posts is so important — things like descriptive headings, bulleted lists, bolded subheadings and high-quality images break up text and allow readers to absorb your content easier. If you want people to read your blog, you need to limit the amount of work and effort on their end.
Vet Your Theme
Many bloggers can really overthink deciding on a theme. Not to say a theme isn’t important; far from it. But it’s common to choose a theme for ourselves and what we like, versus what our target audience wants. If you look at your blog and love its elaborate design, consider being a new visitor who knows nothing about you or the content you provide. Too many bells and whistles might push them further away from your content and the intent of your site. Keep your blog theme minimal and readers will be more likely to explore your content versus bounce off the page.
Keeping Topics Bite-Sized and In-Depth
Many bloggers fall into the trap of covering too big a topic in one pass, resulting in a 3,000 word piece that, while high-quality in content, is poorly formatted and hard to parse for quick answers. This will lose most readers’ interest, as well as make your content have a harder time ranking in search results, especially for featured snippet opportunities. In other cases, bloggers are writing to write, with little thought to the structure and relevancy of how each topic serves the higher mission of their blog.
When you create your content calendars, focus on breaking down topics as specifically as possible, then go from there.
There’s of course more tactics on how to simplify your blog and enhance your readership, but starting with these areas will get your blog to a point where analyzing bounce rate, time on page, scroll depth and other engagement metrics will lead you to further opportunities for improvement.
