I can’t tell you how much I hate going to someone’s blog and not being able to find things easily. For instance, their social channels, contact email, newsletter sign up, and archives. These are things that most people want to be able to find as soon as they find a new blog they love. I have had a lot of questions over the years about how to organize your blog. Meaning where you should have certain things placed on your blog. While this isn’t a one size fits all kind of thing, it is a general idea of how to organize your blog so that it’s easy for people to find information.
Social Media: I am a firm believer in having subtle icons. As long as they are above the fold (looking at a website and not having to scroll). There is no spot that’s specific. I will say I love having mine at the very top of my blog. I know how easy they are to find and I don’t feel like anyone ever has to do much work to find them. Especially brands! I also have them on my sidebar under “Meet Neely” and at the very bottom of my blog. I personally think the best place for icons is the very top of your blog and then at least one other spot.
Contact Email: Your contact email address is one of the most important things on your blog. This is how people can find you. It is also how brands will contact you. If someone has to look hard for your email address you have lost them. They are moving on to another blog. I have my email a few places: with my social media icons at the top, bottom and side of my blog as well as on my “about” page and my “work with me” page. There are never TOO many places to have your email.
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Old Blog Posts: AKA archives. For most people these will be somewhere on your sidebar. Just make sure it’s in a neat and tidy fashion like a drop down. This is a great way to get more traffic on older posts.
Email Signup: This is not the same thing as your contact email. Your email signup is a place on your blog where people can sign up for your daily or weekly emails. I send emails every Friday and when you sign up you get one of two free printables depending on where you sign up! So the best place for your email sign up? Honestly it’s a personal preference. As long as it’s easy to find and more than one place I think that’s good! For me I have mine under each blog post that I post as well as large on the sidebar! I then have it at the very top of my blog. I also have a popup and if you come to my blog for the first time you see it right at the top! So you see I have a lot of options! Options are key! That way you don’t miss anyone.
About You: This may seem like a obvious discussion but I have gone to great blogs before with NO ABOUT PAGE! Oh goodness people, have an about page. Preferably at the top of your blog(see photo above). It is also nice if you have a photo on your sidebar so people can put a face to a name. Bonus points if said photo is clickable to your about page! Make sure to look here for how to make your about page more searchable!
Popular Categories: On most blogs people talk about a variety of topics: beauty, fashion, fitness, recipes, home decor, etc. It is helpful if your posts are categorized so that if someone really loves a beauty post you wrote they can see all of your other beauty posts as well. At the top of my blog I have a drop down with the 5 topics I cover most. Then on the sidebar I have those 5 plus a few more. This is not for everyone but I have seen a lot of increased traffic and great feedback from having those!
Search: Search is one of the most important things you can have on your blog. Someone may have read a post once and can’t remember when or what the exact title is and they may come search your blog for it. Also a brand may search your blog to see if and when you talked about them or a competitor. Have a search bar somewhere that is easy to find! I have a search bar at the top of my blog. When you scroll on my blog the search bar along with the social media icons and my pages scroll with you! So that no one has to scroll back up to search! Great idea!
A few more things to note: Somewhere on your blog preferably the same area as your about page you should have a page where brands can find info about how to work with you or collaborate with you. There should be a page with any kind of courses, or items for sale you have. If you can, I would have a plugin over your images so that they can be easily pinned. I would also have a way to share your posts under each post. You want them to be easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and StumbleUpon to name a few.
Obviously how to organize your blog is going to be different for each person. These are the way I do it and some tips that I think are helpful!
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I hope you found this post helpful! If you enjoyed finding out how to organize your blog make sure to check out my other blog advice posts and my blogging courses!
Yes! I fully agree with the hating of not being able to find things easily on certain blogs! I love this post! There’s some thing that I never even thought were needed on my blog.
Great list – you covered everything! Your blog is very easy to navigate : )
I think you covered everything. I don’t care for a blog that is cluttered and if I can’t find the comment section or share buttons moving on.
These are some great tips! I love it when a blog is easy to navigate and I can find what I need without having to search for it!
I used to have a photo of me in the sidebar but I recently removed it. I have an about page, photos of me in the the blog posts, and a photo in the footer. I haven’t seen a decline in anything and I feel like it’s still plenty easy for everyone to figure out who I am. It’s one thing I’m back and forth on but I currently have no regrets.
Love these tips! Is your top bar part of your theme ? The one thing I need to move are my social media icons!
These are fabulous tips! Easy to do but great ways to elevate your blog and make it more user friendly.
Great post! I enjoyed reading through these helpful tips.
Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com
Wonderful tips! I’ll be keeping them in mind when I check out my blog again. Thank you!
Thanks for the tips! Your blog is beautiful by the way!
You make a lot of awesome points. I love the way your blog is laid out. When I am reading a blog I like things simple and easy to find. I have a hard time with too much distractions. That might be just me. Great post!
I hate when I can’t find someones email or a search bar. Biggest pet peeves!
Great tips for someone wanting their blog to be better. Even though my blog is almost 4 years old, I only last year got everything where they are supposed to be. I am still cleaning up categories and tags from when I was a coupon blogger. Great post!
Great tips for newbies! I am all about organization. I took a lot of time thinking about my blog organization. I still have some work to do since changing themes though.
Awesome advice! I’m currently planning my new blog design, and this really helps!
Wonderful tips, thank you. I’ve moved my social media icons up my page so that they now show before the fold.
Totally agree, and excuse me while I make some minor changes!
Great tips, girl!
I have a contact form. Is it more preferable to just have an email address posted instead of the form? Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, you are right! It is frustrating navigating a site that’s not organized, the more I have to look, the more I lose interest. Thanks for the great tips!
All great tips!
After switching blogger to WordPress I realized how much I need to work on my blog! You really have some great tips!
These are great tips! I have made it a point to make sure every couple of months to double check the blog organization and that I am happy with where things are.
Wow, lots of comments! I like Blogs to be obvious of what they are, and who the author is when I click on them.
Really great tips! I’m going to have to re-asses my site now! 🙂
Theses are some great ideas! I totally believe in subtle social icons too 😉
Great list! I always try to keep up with making it more user friendly. That is such a pet peeve of mine when I cant navigate sites.
This is really helpful! I feel like I can organize my blog and think I have everything where it needs to be, but it’s helpful to hear what other readers like too!
Great list! I plan on moving my social media links to the top of the page. I love search bars! I hate going to blogs without them. Also, I’m an archive gal. I love getting a quick glance at what a blogger has posted recently.
Everything you have said is oh so correct–now to convince myself to do some of it at least. The one thing I don’t have but should is archives!!
Good blog organization tips! I just realized I don’t have an Archives section on my side bar…I’ll be adding that soon!
These are all such great organizational tips!
I think I’ve got it all down 🙂
xoxo, Jenny
I agree about the social icons at the top. Making it easy for visitors to find what they need is important!
Great advice! I always feel that way about a search bar. It drives me crazy when I want to look up something I read on a blog earlier but I can’t find an easy way to find it!
great tips..i do like reading about me page..and i absolutely hate when they prompt you to sign up as soon as i enter the blog..i actually leave 😛
These are some great tips! I am spring cleaning my blog at the moment and I will definitely be using some of your tips.
These are fantastic tips on organizing your blog. I do most. I have to admit that I do not have an about me page but, I do have an about me section. I too think that it is so important to have your email available for all to see along with all of your social media follow me. I really like how you explained about having a search on your site. This is so true. Not everyone is going to know how to find old posts. Thank so much for sharing!
THANK YOU! I have stumbled on s many blogs that contained awesome content but were so damn hard to navigate. It’s frustrating when I want to share a lovely blog post but cannot find the share buttons. Or when I want to comment and have to log in and create an account! Uggh! I know there’s a lot to learn when we’re new to blogging, so thank goodness for sites like yours that offer great tips. 🙂
You’re full of awesome tips as usual!
Awesome tips! Totally agree about social media needing to be up at the top!
I agree on the social media profile placement. I did read somewhere once that people have to be careful about altering those logos though, one said it wasn’t ok to do so.
These are some fabulous tips!!! I reall do need to organize my blog up! I’ve been a busy lately that things are just a mess lol
Hello, I came across your post on Bloggers Supporting Bloggers and decided to check the post out and I am glad I did, it was very informative for a newbie such s myself. I have to say I have already done most of these and feel that your advise is right on point. I also learned from reading this post, that I need to make my follow email signup more visible n other spot on my blog, not just my side bar. Great post! I also signed up to follow you , so I an get more great information.
Thanks for all of the great tips. These will especially come in handy for those that are starting out. I wish I would have known more of this when I first started out.
Such a great list and it comes across so convincingly that you know what you are doing via your BEAUTIFUL blog design 🙂
THANK YOU! This was so helpful and I plan on going through all of the items this weekend to check my blog and make sure it looks good. 🙂 Great post!
These are great points! I think I have everything on your checklist! I’m currently working on revamping some areas of my blog to have them up to date :))