Comments on: Top 5 blog usability tips

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:29:41 +0000

David – Thanks for your contribution. You raise some important points – after all, if people can’t read your content you are wasting your time, right?!

Smiley – You aren’t alone; I would guess that the vast majority of people expect to be taken to the homepage when they click the logo.

Karel – Good points. Not really relevant to usability as such, but still valid nonetheless.

By: karel zeman

karel zeman — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:33:48 +0000

When refering to a another blog one must remember that in order for the trackback function to work you have to link to a particular post and not just the blog�s home page.
I think a lot of people also forget how much it appreciated it is to actually visit the commenters blog and reciprocate with a comment of your own.

By: Smiley

Smiley — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:03:14 +0000

I think making the logo link is very important. It’s an automatic reaction of mine to click on the logo on websites to be taken to the home page.

By: David Hamill

David Hamill — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:51:51 +0000

These are nice tips but I wouldn’t say they were the top 5. Making your logo link to the homepage is nice to do but as long as you have a clear method of getting to the homepage it isn’t massively important. No reason not to do it though.

I’d say that choice of font and line length are more important than a lot of these things. Between 10-14 words per line average is a good length. Also an easy to read font without large paragraphs. Use sub-headings to break up your content. People won’t always read every paragraph.

Lastly but most importantly write in plain English. Nobody will thank you for using big words and complicated sentences.

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:53:20 +0000

Flug – Usability often seems to be a forgotten art these days; I wonder why that is? Is it because of faster connections? Is it because of the rush to be perceived as ‘Web 2.0′? In any case, one aspect of the Web these days is the increasing importance of community and social interaction, so surely we should all be replying to blog comments – even if it takes us a while

Tertius – I still see it even today, and sometimes on highly trafficked blogs. I am glad you enjoyed the article, and I hope my reply was fast enough!

By: Tertius

Tertius — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:05:23 +0000

I myself am very surprised when I find a website that has #5 out of order. That’s just crazy!

I have noticed that my theme is organized so that the ‘comment’ link is in the wrong position… I’ll have to see to that.

Thanks for these basic usability hints that so many of us just seem to forget about. I’ll be expecting a quick reply to my comment… Which is don’t really think is all that necessary. It’s good practice none the less.

-T

By: Flug

Flug — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:56:08 +0000

Hej Martin,
I really appreciate you�re thinking about usability-subjects, since this doesn�t happen too often. Very well then, you are sharing them! You are right in the most points, but not every webmaster likes to answere the comments. Not everyone has the same motives! But by publishing topics. What�s really anoying is when you submit a comment and you are not informed about whether it is awaiting moderation, has been saved, whatever, then you don�t know what happened and you most probably will lose this contributor, that�s right.
Anyway: Great tips and great blog!
Kind Regards
Flug

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:18:20 +0000

Link – You’re right, when I ask questions or make constructive comments I feel ignored if I do not receive a response. Sometimes it can be hard for a blogger to respond to every comment made on their blog, but they should at least answer any direct questions.

Japhy – Thanks for the link, there is definitely some valuable information there!

By: Japhy

Japhy — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:36:45 +0000

Nice post. Have you read Jakob Nielsen’s blog recommendations?
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

By: Link Building

Link Building — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:24:01 +0000

I totally agree with you about the blogging tips. It is, also, very unpleasant to not get an answer when you post a comment and you don’t get a feedback when you really need one. It is a sure thing that I will not post on such a blog for the second time.