Let’s face it, people can be judgmental. They see something or someone and instantly make an assumption.
Drive a flashy sports car and it implies you have money. Live on the “wrong side of the tracks”, some people think you’re “less than”. Wear wrinkled, dirty clothes and you could be labeled as “low life”.
It’s often written we only have a short amount of time (usually seconds) to make a first impression.
But what about online? On your blog? Does the same apply?
Yes, it does.
Today’s Lesson
I often stare at my blog and ask myself if it reflects my intent, if it reflects “me”, and the message I’m trying to convey.
When I look at my header, it fits my personality. It’s nothing elaborate, not too fancy, not too flashy, actually, rather simple, but professional looking. (I think.)
The body of my blog, shows others what’s important to me.
My content takes center stage. (well it’s not in the center, but you know what I mean)
My left sidebar starts with the most recent New Blog Of The Week. (you all know I love to promote new bloggers). Next, is my answer to Digg’s front page. It lists my highly most commented posts. ( I love comments). Below that are the most recent commenters, complete with the avatar and name. (I want to promote other blog authors, too.) Below that are random posts, and my blogroll.
The right sidebar is mostly for navigation purposes. You’ll find my subscribe buttons, what my blog is about, my most recent posts, categories and the beginning of my book review section.
As you’ll notice, what’s important to me is, or starts, above the fold.
As I visit other blogs, I look and make an assumption of what’s important to them. If everything above the fold is ads, that blogger is (probably) hoping to make money from their blog. If it’s half ads, half content, that says something too, as do photographs.
Today’s Assignment
If you look at your blog through a reader’s eyes, what will your readers first impression be?
Are you are on target with how you want your online presence portrayed?
Or, does it need to be changed?
P.S. Mine has changed many times since I started blogging.
Photo Credit: pedrosimoes7’s photostream
I love this post!
I’m still unsure about my blog. I like the way it looks, but I think I could improve it quite a lot. The issue of “above the fold” is still a problem for me. There’s no real content above the fold. I still need to figure this one out.
I can’t comment on my own blog yet, Barbara, but as I’ve travelled around quite a few blogs, I’ve developed a few preferences:
* Ad overkill turns me off
* Pop up ‘You’re the 1,000,000th visitor’ boxes infuriate me
* Too many categories confuse me
* Lack of color depresses me
* Too much clutter on a page loses my attention
… there are other features I could share, but that’s enough for now! 🙂
Looking forward to hearing other views.
That’s a really good question. I spent a lot of time on my site (about three weeks) before I went live. I changed templates four times in that period. Nothing felt right. When I found the theme I am now using, it was instant love. I loved the amount of white space and the flexibility. It felt confident and quiet at the same time. I love the skeleton. I bring it up several times a day. Each time, I smile to myself as I look at what I made. My posts are the most important thing to me, and I barely have time for those M-F, but on the weekend, is when I think about what I want to add or subtract, what worked and what didn’t, and if it looks like an accurate reflection of me.
Hi Vered,
I understand what you’re saying, but I’m so familiar with your blog, as a reader, I don’t notice it.
Hi Scott,
Those are all great points. I like hearing what irks a non-blogger. Looking at other blogs definitely helps us to re-evaluate ours and take off that which would distract us if we were the reader.
Hi Writer Dad,
Isn’t that amazing how that works? We can look at hundreds of themes/templates and say, “Yeah, that’s nice, but it’s not me”. Then when we find the right one, we know it. It does deserve a smile, doesn’t it?
Hi Ricardo,
You’re right! New bloggers are often stressed about getting it right from the get-go. I tried to, but couldn’t. Fortunately my readership was very LOW, so I just kept changing it.
Like you, I know mine will change again. I have a new theme waiting for me (I have to learn more about CSS), but unfortunately life is happening and the change is on the back burner.
I actually love watching new bloggers change their themes. It reflects their growth and direction. As long as the content stays good, I’ll keep following them no matter what.
“Mine has changed many times since I started blogging.” — Barbara
I’m glad you pointed that out because new bloggers can really stress themselves out (I know I have)! It’s the “perfectionist” in all of us that stresses us over “getting it right” (so-to-speak)… The look & feel of your blog, your about page, are all fluid. It’s ok if they change over time… Mine has too and I don’t doubt that it might again moving forward.
Hi Barbara – interesting questions! I’m happy with mine, for now – I’ll keep tweaking it along the way as new ideas come along (which I may well get from you!) I think a simple header like yours is good if you are going to have images in your posts, so the images aren’t overshadowed by the header. My header doesn’t really go with the post images, but I can live with it for now.
I tried to put the little avatars on my recent comments, but that plugin didn’t work on my blog, for some reason.
Great article Barbara. It is good for us to take a look at what we’ve created. Does it portray what we want? I think this is a work in progress for many (it is for me). I spent a long time at the start trying to choose a theme that really matched me and what I was trying to say. It was tough! What I haven’t done in a while now is to review that and really think about if that is still fitting for me. I think you can put alot of your personality into what you create online (the look along with the words). And that’s important, and that does really make a first impression. It does for me when I visit other sites.
By the way, I really like your design. It’s clean and simple. Easy to navigate. And really does a great job of highlighting what you’ve said above is important to you.
I am continuously evolving my theme to make sure that the prime area (above the fold) is useful for the users (especially first time readers). I am also working on a plugin to do some further optimization on the same…
Barbara, I guess BWAB is just awesome when it comes to its simplicity of appearance and comphrehensive natuer underneath! Good for beginners as well as advanced readers!!
(I even talked about your assignement style in my last post)
Cheers,
Ajith
Barbara,
Are you telepathic? Before you gave us “today’s assignment,” I blogged about one of the very things you asked!
It’s so good to have you back after the weekend. Knowing that you use your blog to promote other bloggers, new bloggers and allow us all to share about ourselves without feeling threatened, shows how confident you are in your “blogdom.”
Your site is clean, easy to navigate, and so full of information without being crowded. I, and I am sure, others, learn so much about blogging from your ease of prose.
Welcome back!
Rita
(and please note that I did NOTask you if you were telekenetic, like Carrie – the new post will be coming up shorrtly!)
It is interesting huh? I had to go back and look at what was above the fold. It really does represent what I want to show people.
Now that I’ve added Medicine Mondays I feel that I am trying to include everyone and address very real needs. That’s the fun part when you can feel like you’re not just talking you’re also helping.
That’s what you do Barbara! 🙂
Dr. Cason’s last blog post..Medicine Monday- Bruising, Thumb Sucking and Anemia in Children
Some blogs have too much. I just want to be able to navigate through old posts easily. I want to get an idea of who the author is and enjoy the blog.
I think my blog does just that. I’ve kept it fairly simple and it’s not overcrowed with things.
I think your blog is a bit overcrowded. I hardly ever look at the side columns Barbara. But I do like some of those features, don’t get me wrong.
I think I’m just more of a plain and simple kind of guy.
Chase March’s last blog post..4 Things to Keep in Your Wallet
Barbara I also enjoyed looking at my blog with fresh eyes after reading this. Although above the fold content may show what we care about, I must admit that did not come into play for me and perhaps it needs to. I think it’s all driven by why we are blogging.
By the way in an earlier comment I asked about blogging purpose and I’ve since found Lorelle’s four part blogging focus series that you shared with us. It’s excellent and just by reading that I’ll be making some juicy changes soon. Thank you.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work’s last blog post..Big Life Lessons and Hitting Bottom
I haven’t decided on my Blog Body Language, but I’m workin’ on it!
Our eyes take in far more than what our brain filters out for us to focus on and “see,” otherwise our brains would be overloaded with visual input. Despite the brain’s filtering process, the whole image still goes into the mind elsewhere. This means the overall image will impact on some level.
I’ve lost count of all the ways that I’ve changed my blog. I like things to be perfect, even though they never will be. I’m always tinkering. Always trying to improve aspects of how I deliver my message.
I’m in the process of redoing my blog. It will be cleaner and more in line with my personality.
I know that this new design won’t be perfect either, but that’s what blogging is for me. Trying to deliver as much value with the least amount of clutter, so they want to keep coming back.
Hi Barbara,
I like my blog but it took a turn after the first one. I had to change it when I found this theme. As for the above fold, I believe is right on. However, I keep tweaking at a minimum of once a month. Change ads around, delete some and some general housekeeping.
I believe I will keep this one for a while. Still trying to find
a balance of what to keep and what to delete.
It will always be a struggle in deciding whether to change or not.
Good post. I think it is a bit hard to judge your own blog (but it makes sense to try). Having some others do it for you would be even more valuable – but you need to make sure they feel they can be honest. It doesn’t do any good if they think you blog is all full of tacky ads and don’t want to tell you because you might not want to hear that.
I think mine does fine – it could be better but… Just one ad and lots of text. Some people would like less text, and I agree that could be a bit better but my default instinct is to cram in as much content as possible…
John Hunter | Curious Cat Investing Blog’s last blog post..Can I Afford That?
Great question, Barbara! I’d also like to add that the question should also be kept in mind as to who the target audience is. I’m an active user of StumbleUpon and I try to make sure good stuff is “above the fold.”
I’m in the midst of a redesign so I’m glad you’re asking us this fundamental question. Thank you!
Al at 7P’s last blog post..The Hero with a Thousand Jobs
Great timing! I’m dying for a redesign, since I love my theme but it’s too common to be distinctive. However, nothing seems to “fit.” I want it to be attractive and functional, but it simply has to be simple and clean.
So far, no luck finding that balance. In the meantime, I’ll stick with clean and unfussy over anything else!
Hi Barbara: I had a drive-by-shooting by the Men with Pens this Sunday and they pointed out a lot of ways in which I could improve the design of my blog. I already applied quite a few of their suggestions and my blog looks a lot better (if I do say so myself). One of their suggestions was to put my two ad banners above the fold, which I did. I hope it doesn’t turn people off. They also said I need more “bling” on my header, so that’s my next project.
Hi Barbara –
This is a good question and something I ask myself quite often. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I began designing a new theme for myself. I’ve been toying with the idea of changing things for a while and just wasn’t finding anything I really felt was “me.” I’m still figuring out all the coding stuff – am about halfway through that part but I had to set it on the back-burner while we sorted out our septic issues.
Right now with the current theme, the newest post is showcased at the top of the blog just below the header. Although the header does reflect a part of me, it doesn’t reflect the whole. Finding something to do that is near impossible! 😉
I like blogs that are uncluttered for the most part and don’t have a bajillion ads all over the place. That really annoys me! Especially when it’s at the top of the post and you can hardly tell the post from the ads.
Like most things, there is a balance and sometimes it takes a while to find that. And of course, one must just every now and then to keep so.
~ Annie
Annie’s last blog post..Stories make us who we are, part 2
Since my blog is so new, I am satisfied with how it looks . . . for now. I spent over six months reading blogs and seeing what design elements I liked or didn’t, and creating what I wanted my blog to look like in my mind. Just as in clothing & furniture, I found my blog design preference is clean and simple — not too fussy.
Barbara, I like how you “cleaned up” your sidebars recently. I think they’re much easier to read and use now.
@ Marelisa — I happened to read the Drive-by late last night and wondered how you would react to it. I’ll have to go see what you’ve changed. btw, I think you were brave to do that publicly! I think MWP have a great idea going with those type of posts, and I love their writing style!
Linda Abbit’s last blog post..TV Watching and Our Aging Parents – Part 2
I’m quite happy with my blog for now. I will be eventually moving to a hosted site and until then, I am content to leave it the way it is. I like your blog Barbara. Not too flashy and not too many ads waving at you.
The main thing on my mind when I visit a blog is to read the most current post and that is what I see when I land here. There is a lot on your home page, but you’ve got a lot going on. I think the info is well organized and easy to find.
Hi Dr. Cason,
Thank you for your kind words.
You’re right. Your “Medicine Mondays” are helping others. By sharing what you know, your readers will become more educated and informed.
Hi Robin,
You do bring up a great point. Our header can often conflict with photos we include in our blog posts. If it gets too busy, we can easily distract our readers.
Hi Lance,
Thank you. I do try to make my blog easy to navigate. (Stay tuned for more on that subject).
Yes, as bloggers, we change, as does our audience. It’s who is reading our blogs we must think about.
Hi Tom,
You’re welcome.
I’m happy this post inspired you to look at your blog with fresh eyes. Often we get so busy creating our blog posts, we forget to review what our readers “see”.
Hi Rita,
Thank you!
No, I don’t think I’m telepathic. 🙂 I share what I find holds true for me, what I observe, and want all of my readers to be informed bloggers.
You’re right. I don’t feel threatened. Even if all of my readers left (by following links to other blogs), I would know they had found great writers to follow. It’s my way of paying it forward.
HaHa! You know I’ll be over later to read your latest post.
Hi Karl,
Who’s counting hey? It’s never ending, and like you, my blog will change many times, too.
I’m looking forward to your new design as I know you’ve been putting lots of work into it. How soon before the unveiling?
Hi Chase,
Yes, my blog is still crowded. With my new design, I hope to alleviate part of that problem. ***crossing fingers***.
Simple is ideal as long as we can give our readers what they’re looking for.
Hi John Hunter,
It’s great to see you here again.
Very true! It can be hard to judge our own work, or get someone to give us an honest, unbiased opinion. Sometimes the truth hurts and we need to be a little thick skinned.
Hi Al,
You’re welcome.
You’re right. We cannot forget about our audience.
StumbleUpon users are often quick to judge. If they don’t see what they’re looking for above the fold, they’re off to the next blog post.
Hi SpaceAgeSage,
Blogs are almost always “a work in progress”. As we change (as bloggers) so does our site.
And you’re right. The overall image will have an impact.
Hi Sara,
Hunting for a theme that suits us can be time consuming. Unfortunately, even if we get a theme professionally designed, it may not suit us six months from now. Good luck on your search.
Hi Linda,
You bring up a great point. We need to find a balance on what works. If we run ads, are they working? Should we wait longer or just take them off? As in real life, housekeeping (of blogs) is never ending.
Hi Marelisa,
Drive by shooting? How exciting. Putting ads above the fold may get you more activity on those. I’ll come by later and take a closer look.
I’ll be looking forward to see what kind of “bling” you add to your header. 🙂
Hi Annie,
You’re way ahead of me. I would love to learn how to design my own theme, but like you said, it takes time. I’ve found a theme I’m trying to modify, and that’s taking me into CSS, of which I still have tons to learn.
Balance is key. We want our blogs to be a reflection of us, but yet we need to consider our readers.
Hi Linda Abbit,
Thank you! I’m liking it better, too.
Clean and simple does provide for an easy read.
Hi Davina,
Thank you!. Yes, I’ve removed all ads. No sense having something cluttering up my site if they’re not working.
For new bloggers, it’s often best to give yourself time before making major changes. Waiting until you go to a hosted site is a good idea.
Hi Bamboo,
Adding a category section would be helpful to your readers.
Hi Ellen,
You just reminded me of something. When we do make changes, we need to remember to test them in more than one browser. Often Firefox will work great, but IE may show problems.
I like how you said you site and admire your site. It’s an awesome feeling knowing “this is me”, live on the internet, isn’t it?
Hi Ann,
Thank you! I picked out this title, changed it to something more “search engine friendly”, but then changed it back. 🙂
You’re right, adding images is time consuming. Plus, if you’re like me, finding an image can take a long time too. I use Flickr and can spend a half hour or better looking for “just the right” one.
amazing question there at the end.
my gut? YESYESYES
now I need to step back and ponder.
Miz.
I feel confident with my blog and its portrayal.
More than anything, I want my content to represent me and the blog itself.
The only immediate changes I see that need to be made at this current point are that I need some functional additions such as a category section.
I keep forgetting to check the “comment luv” option 😛
Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..The Frightening Truth about Bloggers
Ah, good post!!
I’m fairly happy with mine, and like Ellen Wilson, I’m proud of the fact that I designed it with the techie help of my Other Half. I even photoshopped the background design from a photograph that I took myself.
Personally, I’ll always go for the plain and uncluttered look. I hate pop-ups, I hate music, I hate things that flash and move, and if there are too many ads, I’ll move on. I also hate white on black writing, but that’s because of vision and migraine problems. I find them nigh on impossible to read.
What I would like to know is if mine is too plain for some people? Do they get turned off by that in the same way I’m turned off by ‘too busy’? Do they find it lacking in interest and features?
It’s an odd concept to me that a blog can have too much text, because I thought that’s what blogging was all about!
Hi Barbara,
I am very proud of my blog because I designed it all myself. Well, not the template, I don’t do CSS yet. But I already told you all that, didn’t I? But sometimes I just stare and admire it. That sounds very vain doesn’t it?
I spend a great deal of time writing and choosing my photos because I want to show my very best. Of course, this is impossible, you can’t always have “the best.” And a lot of what the best is is very subjective.
I’m having fun now watching my ads. I get a kick out of Adsense even though I don’t make any money off of it.
I really don’t know what kind of blog template I’ll use next. I’m always doing a bit of housecleaning here and there. Some of it is for funtion, or what I think looks better, but some is also for little quirks that have appeared. Like for instance my sidebar wasn’t loading all the way and I put my link list away and now it appears that it works fine. Weird.
I went and took a peek at my blog before I commented and realized that I don’t look at it very often! I make sure my most recent post is okay, and then I’m off.
I took a while to choose my theme, and it suits me. I like the color scheme and the “artsy”, more organic look. I was limited to existing wordpress.com themes and this was my favorite.
I don’t have ads (or any other bells and whistles really) so all you see is content. I’m on the fence about how important images are. I add them when I can, but it’s time-consuming. Sometimes I just get lazy and I don’t mind how posts look in my theme without images.
Barbara, I loved the title of your post!
Hi John,
Yes, when we write about more than one topic (or niche), it’s important to explain to our readers how they tie in together. Without continuity, we often confuse our readers.
That email was a great learning experience for you. Thank you for sharing it with the readers of BWAB.
Hi MizFit,
You’ll have to come back and share after you ponder. 🙂
Hi Jay,
You gals sure are talented.
I agree, those black backgrounds are difficult for me to read, too. I just clicked over to your blog. I like the simplicity of it, plus I like the lavender color in the sidebar. That’s a color that’s not used too often, and it’s easy on the eye.
Can a blog be TOO simple? Good question.
Hi Natural,
Although I don’t know you in real life, from all you’ve written, I think your blog is a good reflection of you, as well.
Barbara – funny you mentioned this today because today I’m writing about the continuity of my blog since someone recently discontinued their email subscription because “Content No Longer Relevant.”
I see where the confusion is because I write about being an entrepreneur and web development – how do they mix?
I’ve got an answer and I’m fired up to explain it. I need to show people how all my articles work together.
@ Vered – Looks like you have quite a large header taking up a lot of above the fold real estate on your blog. It can be changed, but you’d probably either want to shrink your current logo or better yet, get a new one designed. Then in the code, probably your css, you’d have to change the dimensions of your header.
Easy if you know html and a little css, hard if you don’t.
Hi Ajith,
Again, your comment ended up in my spam folder. Hopefully before too long, Akismet will learn your comment is valuable.
I just checked out your post. You nailed it on why our readers are often passive. Thank you for saying BWAB is awesome. It will forever be a work in progress, but I do hope to help others along the way.
Hi Urban Panther,
It must be exciting to know you and the Lion may end up with a different “look”. Change is good, not only in life, but on our blogs, as well.
what will bloggers see, i don’t know, i had to go back to my own blog and look myself. well there’s not much above the fold, which by the way i didn’t know that was the space without scrolling, i thought it was much higher, thanks for the explanation.
i guess i can’t hope people just like my writing, design and keeping their attention is important as well. never really thought about my design other than i like to keep it clean and not too many distractions.
i really don’t make assumptions…the only thing that bothers me about a blog is when it’s too messy and full of stuff (ads, flashing buttons, awards etc), otherwise, i’m okay with scrolling or how their blog looks as long as i can read it.
i think my online presence reflects me.
good questions, now i’m scratching my head a little. 😉
It took me a while to figure out what ‘above the fold’ exactly meant. Glad I did. And glad you mentioned. There are some changes that are still pending on my blog. Because they lie in the above-the-fold section I guess they have become more important.
Hi Alex,
Isn’t it amazing how a new theme/or major adjustments to our blogs can re-energize us to post again? Often it’s because we’ve outgrown the old one.
I’m looking forward to your upcoming writings.
Hi Avani,
Yes, what people see when they land on our blog is very important, and what’s above the fold is where we’ll capture a visitors interest.
Right now, my blog is set up the way I like it, with information in the order that makes sense to me. However, I am always open to innovative ideas that I might not have thought of. In the Fall we are giving some brilliant website design guys, Men with Pens, a chance to throw their suggestions at us. (James is chomping at the bit). I liked my brother’s (Alex) site and didn’t think it needed changing, but he let the Pen boys at it, and now I LOVE his site. It will be interesting to see what direction the design of the Lion’s and my site eventually heads off in. I’m quite excited about it really.
Urban Panther’s last blog post..A night at Navarra
Having just changed my blog – not just the theme but the content, I totally get what you’re talking about. The new site is totally me. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t have thought about changing the theme if someone (James from Men With Pens) hadn’t mentioned it to me.
Now I’m jacked about posting to the blog again, after a while of feeling kind of ho-hum about it.
Cheers,
Alex
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Commitment to Growth: Tina Su Interview
Hi Evelyn,
That’s right! Without content, what’s a blog?
Hi Shilpan,
Some of those AdSense ads can cheapen a blog. Since they use keywords to generate the ads, one never knows what they will publish.
Simplicity affects blogging, too, doesn’t it?
I prefer my blog to be simple so that I can add pictures to every post. It creates color balance; and prevents it from looking too gaudy. I also prefer to customise mine on my own as I can do anything I want with it.
I certainly agree that at the heart of it all, is the content. The content must reflect who you are and the message that you intend to share.
Barbara –
When I visit a blog and see cheap adsense ads showing some girls, I rush to click the return page button. I also dislike cluttered pages with too many things on the page that irritates my eyes. Simplicity is the key even when it comes to blogging.
Shilpan
I think mine says dumb name and cheap starter blog.
It’s helped me share my nuggets with my mentees, but I think I might need to consider taking it to the next level.
Hi J.D.
It’s great to see you again.
Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be following you. I love your nuggets. I noticed earlier I have some catching up to do. See you soon.
Hi Catherine,
I did notice you’re making some adjustments to your blog. That is time consuming, isn’t it?
BTW: Welcome back from vacation. I hope you had a great time.
Hi Barbara – I think I’m halfway there. I only started adding ads recently and I need to make a lot of improvements in that department.
Also there’s so much I need to change. I have a list of stuff I need to do based on many of your recent recommendations. Just getting round to doing them all is the biggest challenge for me though.
Hi Patricia,
You’re welcome. I’m looking at your blog right now and I don’t see any sign of previous posts on your post page. If someone comes to you through a link or search engine, that is the only post they will see, unless they hit “home” or the arrows (at the top of the post).
I noticed your “Table of Contents” (on your home page) which is divided up by category. Ask your web person if they can add “recent posts” and “related posts” to your blog. Links to these plugins can me found on my blog under “Categories”, “Pligins and Widgets”.
If you have any problems or more questions, please let me know.
Barbara,
Thank you for commenting on my email that was so nice to discover. I keep hoping that some folks will comment on my blog. I learned quite a bit from this post today – about layout and style and I need to say as a person with vision problems if the site is so busy and moving a great deal – I can’t stay and just have to give up or get a headache. I then miss out on the article and that is frustrating. I wish I could get some comments on my blog about layout as my web person has to pick most of the pictures and format for me – I trust her but it would be good to get some feed back. I like the ease of your site for getting to learn about new blogs and making comments on other sites from this point of reference. Thank you for this important information.
Patricia’s last blog post..10 Things I Have Learned About Celiac Disease