I know we all have our little quirks about what we like or what we don’t like. Lately I’ve been finding more and more blogs that are lacking a few essential items that are important to me, as a reader.

It is important not to forget your readers and their needs on your blog. So many of these mistakes I mention below are easy fixes. Your reader’s will be grateful for the small changes that make reading your blog a pleasure.

10 Blog Design Mistakes You Need to Fix Today

1.  You don’t have an about page.

It takes so little time to create and is indispensable. People will connect with you if they relate to you. Don’t be boring. Be real.  It’s not a job application. The right readers will stick around if you’re honest and open.

2.  You don’t have a search box.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to someone’s blog, wanted to get just an outfit or quote from one of their posts and I can’t because that would mean I’m scrolling through years of posts trying to find the photo or post I wanted to promote. I just get frustrated and leave.  No free promotion for that blog.

3.  You have a black background.

This is just me, but I can’t stand them. It looks like something out of star wars and I truly dislike reading for a long time on a black background.  It hurts my eyes.

4.  The writing is aligned in the centre.

I get that you’re trying to be artistic, but if I’m trying to read something lengthy, centred text is hard on the eyes.

 5.  You don’t offer social media buttons to share content.

I want to share your content. Really I do. So don’t make it hard for me.

6.  Pop-ups or fly-outs come up right away for me to subscribe.

I wouldn’t mind, but it happens every time I visit your blog. It is annoying.

7.  You have music that I can’t turn off.

Seriously. We all don’t have the same taste in music. It is a guarantee that I won’t be sticking around long.

8.  There is too much text without visual breaks.

This is a big one for me. If I have to read a paragraph that goes on for a full page my eyes can’t take it and honestly, before I even begin reading I’m overwhelmed and turned off.

Break it up! Try adding some headings, or making long paragraphs shorter. You can also use photographs to break up text. White space is a break for the eyes. Even double spacing some text will make it more reader friendly.

9. The blog is difficult to navigate.

Those tag cloud lists? They are too difficult to read and make finding content on your blog frustrating. Create a real menu.

10.  They are still using CAPTCHA or word verifications for commenting.

Half the time I can’t even read what I’m supposed to be typing in that CAPTCHA and I give up and leave.

 

What about you? What are your pet peeves on blogs?

I’m still annoyed with my blog because I can’t seem to get people to receive the replies I’ve written to their comments and each time they comment they have to fill in all their info from scratch. Each plugin I downloaded to deal with these issues didn’t work. Solutions are welcome : )

Also I must mention that I don’t like it when a blog doesn’t have the posting date listed. I understand why they do this, they want all of their content to look fresh, but I really like to know when it was written.  Does that bother you as a reader?

Are there any design issues you don’t like on my blog?