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What is in your Blog’s Sidebar?

June 10, 2013 · by Nicolette Roux · 34 Comments

Thank you for visiting!

  Please sign up for our newsletter and stay in touch on social media for more tips! Google Plus Community, Facebook and Twitter.   We would also love to share your blogging tip posts on our social media, don't be shy to leave us a link!   We appreciate you sharing this post. 🙂  

A blogs sidebar can be used for many things, personally, I like to think of it as “real estate” and a gateway to more of my sites content. The “area above the fold” (this means before you scroll on the page) is one of the first eye catching areas and as “Google” will tell you prime ad space.

I have over the last 7 months tweaked Powerful Mothering‘s sidebars a lot!

What is in your blogs sidebar thebloghangout

Today I would like to share with you some things I have read, learned and realized about the sidebar on my blog.

In no particular order:

Determine the average length of your posts and adjust your sidebar to the size. Having an extremely lengthy sidebar that only 2 or 3 people will see is kind of pointless if it drags the load time of your page up. For my blog I determined that on average I post 4-6 pictures per post with text and that is how long my sidebar is.

Having an About Me is one of those things that I feel should not be left out. Readers like to connect with people, hear what and who they are reading about. Try including a picture of yourself as well, us humans are very visual. You will want to have this very close to the top of your side bar.

about me Powerful Mothering

Prime above the fold advertising can bring in some nice revenue if you place the correct types of advertising. Try to place things your readers will be interested in, these usually get the highest clicks. Use affiliate ad networks, sell the ad space on passion fruit or set up a google related content ad. Scattering ads lower in your sidebar can also bring in revenue.

Having your social links and buttons easily accessible is important for gaining followers for your blog. Check out our DIY social icons set up if you need some help.

Offering a Newsletter or new post notification EMAIL sign up connects you to readers who follow your blog. Check out places like feedburner, mail chimp (we have a how to for multiple blogs here), mad mini and my favorite that I personally use, a plugin for wordpress called Wysija.

Proudly display products you offer near the top of your sidebar.

Doing button swaps with bloggers in your niche can also bring in new readerships.

I love nothing more than readers reading MORE of my posts! I set up a selected few featured posts in my sidebar to bring more interest to other posts on my blog. This is also a great way to bring attention to older posts.

featured post Powerful Mothering

Display your most popular posts, after all they are popular for a reason!

Have things that you are passionate about that you think your readers will associate with.

Get rid of out dated stuff! No one wants to see things from 2011 in 2013, it makes your blog look stale and neglected.

Keep your blogs sidebar neat and visually appealing, do your best to align and scale things you include in it. Try to keep flashing ads and graphics to a minimum. If you are on wordpress search for widgets to help you manage things.

I have also recently included links to my categorys in my sidebar so that readers don’t have to scroll back to the top, I find that most people do not know about the “to top” arrow in the lower right corner.

Here is a screenshot of some of the current sidebar. Pop over to view it live here.

the sidebar

Here is a list of the plugins I use for my sidebar:

Ads by datafeedr.com – Randomly display any type of advertisement anywhere on your site. Add rotating banner ads, Google Adsense, videos, text links and more to your sidebar, widget areas, posts and pages.

Ad Squares Widget – The Ad Squares Widget makes it possible for you to display 125×125 ad squares ( or some other configurable size ad, advertisement, banner ) into a widget-ready bar for WordPress®. It supports AdSense®, Javascript, XHTML and more.

Popularity Posts Widget – Allows you to show your most viewed posts as a widget on your blog.

Wysija Newsletters – Create and send newsletters. Import and manage your lists. Add subscription forms in widgets, articles and pages. Wysija is a freemium plugin updated regularly with new features.

WP MashSocial Wigdet – A beautiful widget inspired by Mashable to be used in sidebar, it allows you to add your Pinterest, G+ , Twitter , Facebook and Feeds Subscription in it.

PassionFruitAds.com – I paste the ad scripts provided by them into text widgets. No ads lined up no ads are displayed.

My theme for my blog allows me to have 2 separate sidebars, one just for the home page and one for posts.

I hope you found this run down about my sidebar helpful and that you are better able to keep your readers on your site or have them click on value added products and services you offer.

How often do you change your sidebar?

Do you have any tips to add?

Thank you for visiting!

  Please sign up for our newsletter and stay in touch on social media for more tips! Google Plus Community, Facebook and Twitter.   We would also love to share your blogging tip posts on our social media, don't be shy to leave us a link!   We appreciate you sharing this post. 🙂  

Filed Under: How To & Tips, Plugins & Themes, The Blog Hangout · Tagged: blog sidebar

Comments

  1. Antionette Blake says

    July 19, 2013 at 1:38 pm

    Can you place widgets above the fold on WordPress.com?

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      July 23, 2013 at 9:20 am

      I have no idea 🙂 Have you tried to google it? I’m sure there are people wanting to do just that

      Reply
  2. Ruth Hill says

    July 5, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    I am now following you from bloglovin’, and I am glad I read this. I know I need to get my blog into shape, and this is something I need to find out more about!

    Reply
  3. Coco says

    June 20, 2013 at 1:11 am

    Hello dear! new bloglovin follower from the hop!
    Stop by whenever you like and share some love!
    xoxo
    Coco et La vie en rose
    Coco et La vie en rose on Bloglovin
    Coco et La vie en rose on Facebook

    Reply
  4. Cathy says

    June 19, 2013 at 11:06 pm

    I would love for you to share and link up at my weekly TGIF Link Party if you haven’t already this week. Your favorite posts, most popular, recent or new! The party is open every Thursday night and closes Wednesday’s at midnight. Followed by (Not SO) Wordless Wednesday! http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/. Hope you will join us! Have a wonderful week!

    Hugs, Cathy

    Reply
  5. Ambitious Curls says

    June 19, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    This post is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for sharing! Question:Which software do you use to create/ediit your pictures for your post?

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 20, 2013 at 7:07 pm

      I use awesome screenshot to take in browser screen shots and I either use pic monkey (free) or Fireworks (similar to photoshop) to edit images 🙂

      Reply
  6. jackie says

    June 18, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    omg. Clearly, not often enough! There are some really valuable tips here, Nicolette, and I intend to do some updating of my sidebar when I’m off this summer! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 19, 2013 at 4:02 pm

      Thanks Jackie! Glad I could help 🙂

      Reply
  7. Tiaras & Tantrums says

    June 18, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    looks like I’m okay then

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 19, 2013 at 4:03 pm

      Great news!

      Reply
  8. another jennifer says

    June 18, 2013 at 8:12 am

    Great advice. I think it’s important to constantly look at your sidebar as well. Every now and then (like now!), I realized it’s time to do some updating and/or cleaning up. Thanks for the resources at the end.

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 19, 2013 at 4:03 pm

      A pleasure!

      Reply
  9. Michelle says

    June 15, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Such good advice – I know I have some work to do on my blog sidebar to get it fixed up!

    Reply
  10. Joi @ Rx Fitness Lady says

    June 15, 2013 at 10:10 am

    I agree with your tips. I may have gotten a little carried away with my sidebar, but it’s working for me right now. We will see how it goes and I will remember to keep it updated. Thanks for the post!

    Reply
  11. Angie @ A Mother's Pace says

    June 15, 2013 at 9:29 am

    Thanks for the great tips on how to improve a sidebar! I like your first tip on determining the length of the average post. I’ve never thought about it that way and it makes a lot of sense!

    Reply
  12. [email protected] Mom says

    June 15, 2013 at 9:22 am

    I was just working on my sidebar last night! These are great tips – the sidebar is such an important tool to help people get to know the blogger. 🙂

    Reply
  13. Estelle says

    June 15, 2013 at 8:42 am

    Great tips! I’m going to have to check on some of these plug-ins. Thanks for sharing.
    Estelle

    Reply
  14. Cassi says

    June 13, 2013 at 8:28 am

    Thanks for the information!

    Reply
  15. Sue - The Spin Cycle says

    June 11, 2013 at 9:49 pm

    Great food for thought, Nicolette…the sidebar is an area that I think often gets ignored. Like a garden, it can become overgrown and needs to be pruned from time to time!

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 12, 2013 at 1:52 pm

      o it is! love the thought of it as a garden 🙂

      Reply
  16. suzyhomemaker says

    June 11, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    Great post. I have been trying to clean up my sidebar for the past week or so. But it is a work in progress. It is hard to get rid of things sometimes too.

    Reply
  17. kelly thompson says

    June 11, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    interesting to read! I change my sidebars like I change my shoes! all the time

    Reply
  18. Luanne says

    June 10, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    This is an awesome post! Very very helpful and started me to check on my blog side bar.
    This is now on my to-do list this for the holiday tomorrow. 🙂

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 11, 2013 at 8:39 am

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  19. Ann @ Such a Mama says

    June 10, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    I just redesign my blog last weekend and cleaned up the a LOT! I had too many redundant buttons and too may pictures. I too added the about me widget and then consolidated everything into buttons. Still a lot of categories, archives that I may hide eventually…. What do you think?

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 11, 2013 at 8:40 am

      can you maybe condense them a bit? Like a highlighted section 🙂

      Reply
      • Ann @ Such a Mama says

        June 11, 2013 at 9:28 am

        Thanks!

        Reply
  20. Cropped Stories says

    June 10, 2013 at 11:19 am

    Did I mention; love that first graphic too ;o) Totally pin worthy!

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 10, 2013 at 11:46 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  21. Cropped Stories says

    June 10, 2013 at 11:19 am

    Awesome post! Love these tips! You completely pulled me in with that first paragraph (I never even thought of this)! I’ll have to do a site check and make the necessary changes :o) Thanks for sharing! I’m pinning now to my blogging board and group board!

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 10, 2013 at 11:41 am

      Awesome! There are so many things to learn about just everything blogging related. Find new things weekly 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  22. Jana @ 333 Days of Hand Lettering says

    June 10, 2013 at 9:19 am

    I like to keep a really clean blog on my personal blog without ads and such but I do have a couple blogs I monetize and you have some great suggestions! I think the best thing is to give people several ways to get somewhere on your site.

    Do you have any widgets that you would suggest for blogger blogs?
    J

    Reply
    • Nicolette Roux says

      June 11, 2013 at 2:23 pm

      Thanks for stopping in!
      Unfortunately I do not know of any blogger based widgets. Hopefully someone will be able to leave a comment for you 🙂

      Reply

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