Starting and running a blog or content-focused website can be quite overwhelming to begin with. First, we have to decide which web host we wish to choose, including what domain to use, how to brand ourselves, and of course, what skins, profile features, themes and integrations to use.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we even begin to structure our page in that way, we need to have a good idea of what content we hope to post. Without that, everything else is just a frame, a frame that looks nice perhaps, but with nothing to champion.
Furthermore, not all blogs are alike. A blog dealing with health and wellbeing will need different features and draw a different audience than those hoping to learn everything there is to know about cryptocurrency as well as the latest day trading tips. This isn’t to say blogs can’t curate a number of topics, rather, it’s best to consider your strategy for each one.
So – how can you figure out which blogging features to prioritize in this light? That’s a great question. Let’s try and answer it:
Consider Your Style Of Blog
Considering the style of your blog can help you understand what features you may wish to implement. Often, less is more, and a little goes a long way. Keeping this in mind can help you avoid littering your pages with too many integrations. Instead, it can be useful to think of functionalities that actually matter, such as using a cryptocurrency API to offer valuations and trading statistics at the banner of your website – giving your articles more insight and allowing them to remain current.
Communicate With Your Audience
Communicating with your audience is, of course, essential, and so it can be nice to consider adding a few social integrations that work and that will be appreciated. For instance, you may decide to integrate Twitter live feeds to help people keep up on new posts or new links you’re posting elsewhere, without having to flood your actual blog pages with mini-pages. You may also consider communicating with your audience in the form of opening a comment section under each article, and allowing the sharing and likes of certain posts. In that respect, you’ll be in the best place going forward.
Measure The Metrics
It’s a good idea to consider the metrics of your blog and how to navigate them appropriately. For instance, tracking just what countries your visits are coming from, what hours your traffic is most frequent, what articles are being visited most and how your audience are interacting with your blogging features can help you make a picture of what to focus on in the future.
Measuring the metrics can also help you understand how much time people spend on your pages, or how your SEO investments are coming along. Keep an eye on this. It will help you measure the progress of your blog over time, and which fixtures have been working.
With this advice, we hope you can understand which blogging features to prioritize going forward.