Feb | 21 | 2008

Blog Usability: An Introduction

Posted by Guru as Design

Blogs have a very basic design with the blog title/header, tagline, content, and sidebar(s). Despite the fact that most blogs basically make use of the same elements the difference between the feel of various blogs is very noticeable. Many blogs with just the most basic of elements use very straightforward navigation but end up really boring and offers no real choice when it comes to looking for more specific information. Some blogs are littered with too many ads and obviously exist mainly to generate profit. On the other hand, there are blogs that really do stand out in terms of web design. These blogs do not only take content or profit into consideration but are winners when it comes to usability.

Usability is very important in any website’s design - including blogs. Of course, in blogs content is the main thing, however usability shouldn’t be set aside. Personally I read most blogs using a reader but I find myself clicking on a few favourite blogs and visiting some of the actual blogs more often than others. The quality of content of course comes into play, since the content is the one that catches my eye first (in my reader at least), but after having visited a blog with good content I realized that I tend to never visit ugly blogs again and visit those that have more to offer just for the sake of reading the blog post in its original layout.

In my next posts I will discuss some blog usability issues and give some tips to help increase your blog’s usability.

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