Want to know why no one’s reading your blog? Then you definitely want to read Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox column, which discusses this week the top 10 design mistakes for blogs.
Tim Harrison, the guy behind the new and awesome MyCatholic.com Internet portal and who re-designed my blog, alerted me to this column and it’s a good one. Here are the top ten design mistakes.
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No Author Biographies
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No Author Photo
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Nondescript Posting Titles
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Links Don’t Say Where They Go
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Classic Hits are Buried
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The Calendar is the Only Navigation
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Irregular Publishing Frequency
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Mixing Topics
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Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
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Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service
Okay, I probably violate a couple of those, but I’m so entrenched in where I am now, it wouldn’t be worth it to fix it. Other mistakes I’ve avoided completely. And the rest are things I will keep in mind.
I know that one of the hardest tasks, whether it’s for the blog or for the magazine, is writing memorable, punchy, informative, and catchy headlines. It’s harder than you think, as witnessed by all the mileage Jay Leno has gotten out of unintentionally funny or weird headlines.
