Remove the clutter from your blog
I have been speaking with Elizabeth from Table for Five about her blog the last few days. Elizabeth is hoping to increase her pagerank to 5 in the next few months. One of the first things I noticed about her blog was the amount of clutter in the blog design, infact I’ve noticed this on a number of blogs recently.
What is clutter?
I define blog clutter as something that :
- Does not offer any value to your reader (eg. pagerank button)
- Distracts your readers from your content.
Some examples of blog clutter
Blog clutter is usually found in the header, footer and sidebar(s) of a blog but it’s possible to add clutter to the post area too!
Here are some examples of blog clutter :
- Too many advertisements - Just like too many cooks can spoil the broth, too many advertisements can put off people from reading your blog. Oversaturating your blog with banners can reduce click thru rates considerably.
- Unrelated advertisements - Don’t think that affiliate sites which offer higher commissions will neccessarily make you the most money. As I have mentioned in previous posts, unlreated advertisements are not the best way to make money from your blog.
- Displaying a subscription banner for every known rss reader - There is no need to display several ’subscribe to THISREADER’ type links on your sidebar. Why do you need a ‘Add to MyYahoo’, ‘Add to bloglines’ or ‘Add to Netvibes’ link on your sidebar if you can just use something like Feedburner and have everything on the one page.
- ‘Vote for me’ graphics - I don’t believe that blog directories bring a lot of traffic but if you want people to vote for your blog on a site like FuelMyBlog or SpicyPage I recommend using text links. I’ve come across a few blogs which have 4 or 5 banners plastered over the sidebar asking readers to vote for them!
- Too many links in theblogroll - Don’t just link to every blog you come across! Keep the links related to your blog content.
Why is clutter so bad?
I like blogs with pictures and relevant links in the sidebar but too much clutter can be overkill and can have a detrimental effect on your blog overall. An unorganised cluttered design can take readers attention away from your content and it’s the content which will keep people coming back to your blog week in week out.
I am not suggesting you remove everything from your sidebar however I want you all to look at your blog from the readers point of view. Will the banner you are adding interest them? Do they want to see so many voting banners on your blog?
If you are finding it difficult to have an unbiased view of your own blog, why don’t you ask your readers what they like and dislike about your design. I did this myself a few months ago and I made several changes to the design here because of it.
Good luck with the Spring cleaning!! 
Kevin
B. Durant | July 22nd, 2007 at 8:40 am #
Hey thanks for the advice. I guess it’s about time for me to go clear out some of the clutter on my blog and tidy things up a bit.
Cash Quests | July 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 am #
Personally (and many may disagree), I find that clutter extends to so much more than advertising and buttons.
My site is pretty simple at the moment and a lot of that came from asking myself these questions:
How many readers (other than those in it)find value in a ‘Top Commentators’ list?
Why do you need a recent posts list when all the recent posts are on the front page?
Why do you need monthly archives if nobody will search for ‘that post you wrote in january’?
Although there were many other points considered in the final decision, I also asked myself “if less than 3% of readers leave comments, does the amount of space devoted to them clutter the site?”
Success Online | July 22nd, 2007 at 10:19 am #
Great points! Bringing it all back the basics and fundamentals of successful design and relevancy…..
We needed to hear it.
Kevin | July 22nd, 2007 at 11:02 am #
I have to disagree with you Kumiko, I believe the recent posts lists to be incredibly handy. I use it myself on most blogs I use. Also, you’ll be surprised how many people search your archives
Jennifer | July 22nd, 2007 at 12:13 pm #
I agree for the most part, but I think those graphical things sometimes are good at breaking up a continuous list of just links. I like my calendar for that same reason. Link after Link….your head will spin.
Elizabeth | July 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 pm #
I do appreciate your suggestions, and I’m trying to take them! I would like to ask two questions that other readers may have as well:
1. Blogroll: I went through my links, and every blog I link to has either PR4 or PR5. And they are all bloggers I have either met personally or have been corresponding with for months, some for years. I feel like taking their link off my sidebar is like telling them “I don’t like you anymore”. Aren’t they getting a link from me every time I publish a post? Doesn’t it help my Google Page Rank to be linking to high ranking blogs?
2. Ads: I have Text Link Ads, and I’m keeping them! I make a good consistent income with them. I also have two badges for two weight-loss programs that I use personally, that I have mentioned in posts before, and by having them in my sidebar, I feel I am saying “look, here are two products I personally use that you might like”. Is that doing more harm than good? I also have a space set aside for BlogAds, if someone ever buys one, but I can convert that to a text link for now.
Sorry to take up so much space in your comments, but I am learning so much from your blog. In fact, I was thinking about adding it to my blogroll
Kevin | July 22nd, 2007 at 4:35 pm #
Elizabeth, to answer your questions
1. It doesn’t matter what rank the sites are as you are linking to them, page rank is only passed to the site which is being linked. Therefore it doesn’t matter if you link to a site with a page rank of 0 or a site with a pagerank of 6, both of those sites will receive the same PR from you and you will not receive any back unless they are linking to you.
2. I’d keep using text-link-ads if you are making good money through them. Theres a huge difference between linking to loads of related sites for free and linking to sites which have paid to be there. I think your doing the right thing advertising a product you can personally recommend.
Sly | July 22nd, 2007 at 5:02 pm #
I agree with everything. I try to make my site have more content and design than everything else like banners, ads, and sidebar widgets. It’s very important to let your readers have an easy time on your site.
GoddessCarlie | July 22nd, 2007 at 5:23 pm #
I like “top posts” more than current posts, and that way you can see what everyone else is reading. But I’ve been thinking about removing that too, or moving it to a page. I never read “recent comments” either.
Elizabeth | July 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm #
The only thing I’m not liking about switching from badges to text links is that my theme doesn’t have any CSS that separates the different sidebar sections. If I could make the sidebar titles a completely different color, or in a box like yours are, that would probably help. I also don’t know how to separate each link with an underline like you have. And believe me, I’ve Googled it, I’ve tried to figure it out, but I can’t seem to find CSS for DUMMIES which is what I need!
kher Cheng Guan | July 22nd, 2007 at 11:22 pm #
I agree with you. I’m guilty of this cluttering stuff myself. Too many distractions and temptations. Good advice.
Blogs Do Make Money | July 23rd, 2007 at 1:09 am #
Oh boy, am I guilty of cluttering my mommy blog (http://immomsdaughter.blogspot.com). Each time I try to srping clean, I’ll remove a thing or two and then 2 months down the line, when I spring clean again, it looked like I never do it before. Lol.
Btw, I’m not removing my PR button. I’m hoping in the next PR update (cross my fingers & toes,it’ll bring me publicity and fame equivalent to high profile bloggers like you
Kevin | July 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 am #
Elizabeth - Post some of the code for your blog theme or point me to where I can download it if you are using a free theme and I’ll try and explain how you can put the graphics in boxes
Blogs Do Make Money - Well for a start I’m not a high profile blogger. Secondly, this blog has a pagerank of 0
Elizabeth | July 23rd, 2007 at 9:42 am #
Kevin, I have this theme now on Table for Five:
http://aydin.net/blog/2006/03/23/three-column-k2-theme-for-wordpress-3k2/
but per your suggestions, I would like to switch to this one:
http://cavemonkey50.com/code/clean-and-mean/
Here’s the main problem-I’m hosted with BlueHost. They have completely redesigned the interface of their site. In order to access FTP, I now have to install files on my desktop, and sign up for FileZilla, and it’s seems so much more complicated than it used to be. I haven’t even been able to figure out how to drag and drop a folder from my desktop to one of my wp files yet! And yes, I’ve tried clicking the Help link, and Googling it too. So until I figure that out, I can’t even upload a new theme.
Kevin | July 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 am #
I haven’t used bluehost but you should just be able to use a standard ftp program. Have a look at my How to upload files to your host using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) post from last month. That should help you upload the files.
If your still unsure what to do then please email me or make a post in the forums. I’d need hosting login details etc but it wouldnt take me too long to upload it for you if your really struggling
Jennifer | July 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 pm #
I have bluehost also, you can FTP straight from your browser if you wanted. (I can help you with Filezilla if you want.)
To do in browser though, you put: ftp://(your domain)/public_html
It will ask for user name and password in in you go. You can just drag things into your browser and the FTP is done.
Elizabeth | July 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 pm #
I finally found it in Ultimate FTP in BlueHost. Took me long enough! Thanks everybody!
Blogs Do Make Money | July 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 pm #
In my books, you are anyway
And you’re predicted to get PR6 in the next update *sigh* I wish!
Btw Kevin, I’ve cleared up the clutter of blogrolls by using this script http://www.fooble.com/scripts/expand.php and I hope my sidebar do look neater.
Nirmal | July 26th, 2007 at 12:28 am #
I agree with you Kevin on these fact especially the Subscribe one, sometimes I get irritated seeing that. Feedburner is sufficient for everything.
Michael Fultz | July 30th, 2007 at 11:30 pm #
I try to keep my blog clean and readable for the same reason. I think I need to start using more pictures, though..