Today’s Blogging from A-Z Challenge letter is “L” which, in my A-Z of Blogging stands for Layout, Learning and Links.
Layout. Layout refers to the appearance of your blog and includes where things are placed and the overall presentation of the site to external* users (*you can see the external view of your blog by typing in the blog URL into a new tab or window on your computer). There are no strict rules when it comes to your blog layout but it should be easy to read with clear fonts and font sizes, easy to navigate with menus and sidebars clearly labelled, and it should be uncluttered so avoid placing anything unnecessary into sidebars if possible. If you add or take-away any items that could effect how your blog appears should be checked by viewing as an external user.
Learning. With advances being made in technology almost daily, and new software, social media apps or additions to social media being introduced it is helpful to learn how to use these things even if you may never use them in the future. There are so many useful learning resources, many aimed at teaching blogging and blogging platforms as well as others that can teach more about the social media elements that run alongside. I found the “For Dummies” books to be a brilliant resource but there are lots of other ways to learn – Youtube, Google, Skillshare, podcasts (I highly recommend Pete McPherson’s Do You Even Blog podcast and the website – some really useful resources on both!). Learning from other bloggers is useful too, I have learned so much from being part of groups dedicated to blogging and even on Twitter too.
Links. Links connect one web page to another and, from a blogging standpoint, act as a way of showing your reader extra information about what you may be writing about. For example, I have used links in this post that direct you, the reader to the Dummies book webpage, Skillshare and the Do You Even Blog site which, when clicked will open the relevant page (hopefully) in a new tab or window for you to view. Links are not always necessary depending upon what you write about but, if you do use links, it is worth checking every now and again that they still work and take the reader to the right sites. There are a few ways to check if links you have used are broken or still valid and would recommend searching Google for link checkers and find one that you like using.
Do you have any thoughts on Layout, Learning or Links? I’d love to hear your comments so let me know below!