Sidebar or Sidebar is omnipresent on WordPress sites staple of blogs, a simple look on the right of this article and you will see all kinds of widgets.
WordPress sidebars are very popular especially because of their great flexibility. You can put just about anything and anything (images, text, stream, pub, etc). The problem is that too many blogs abuse this freedom and end up with dozens of widgets next to their content, to the point of drowning it in a mass of pubs and other calls to action ...
By having this pitfall in mind, today exploring the most popular elements of sidebar encountered when browsing through blogs and make a judgment about the practical value of each.
Begin by seven widgets that you should take into consideration and six that you should absolutely avoid ...
Useful Widgets To Your Sidebar
Bio From the Author
Considered the essential widget Bio of the author of this blog is usually its brand identity. On the web and generally in blogging, it is important that people recognize you and know who you are.To install a mini bio nothing more simple, use the WordPress text widget then open a new section, create your content in "visual mode" and switch to "text" mode and copy / paste all the text widget.
Subscribe Newsletter
The newsletter is an important widgets on your blog, collect the email addresses of your readers an advantage. Therefore placing this entry prominently is paramount. On this blog, this entry is at the bottom of each article, the results are almost identical or even better at the top of the Sidebar.I highly recommend the Plugin Newsletter Wysija, simple, effective and French.
Recommended items/Popular
View a list of your most popular items in the sidebar is considered by some as evidence. And in theory, they are right, but I think there are good and bad ways to do it.Besides the problems of duplicate content which must be considered, we see too often categorized lists based on the number of comments or the number of readings, and it is clear that these are not necessarily your best articles;)
Here are some plugins to help you do:
Pages Of Resources
Display prominently a relatively succinct and intuitive list of all your classes, your services or benefits on your blog is altogether difficult but absolutely necessary.The alternative is to create links "resources" that include some of your services or subject categories and present prominently in your sidebars.
Again, the "text" made in WordPress widget will be very useful!
Search form
The research is a necessity for any blog offering a number of items consistent. Visitors expect to be able to easily find the content - this is the most common form of web browsing.A good place in the Sidebar (or in the menu like this blog) improves ergonomics and research on your blog. Native search function in WordPress is very improved, I suggest you use a search plugin to improve it.
Social Networks Buttons
Do not confuse the display buttons / counters social networking and sharing (share) your articles on networks.You must necessarily include links to your social networks? This generates traffic on the site. Of course - it drives people to your profiles, but are they necessarily follow you? Furthermore, is it really useful to see if you have 12 followers that duel?
Testimonials
Even if we can estimate that it relates more particularly to bloggers Pros, it is always helpful (and reassuring) to display some evidence.Extremely effective is social proof of your skills and it can make a difference. To display just use the free plugin Testimonials Widget.
Widgets To Avoid
If some widgets are very useful, others are not. Everyone is able to judge what is best for him and for his blog but in my case is a list of widgets that I do not recommend using the sidebar.Latest Articles
We all know that the home page is by far the most visited page of your blog and it already appears likely a reverse chronological list of published articles. In that case, why do you need a "Recent Posts" widget? You're just duplicating what already exists!The Cloud Of Keywords/Tags
The tag cloud but it was in the 90s, well ok I believe ... But let me ask you a simple question? When was the last time you clicked on a tag cloud?It is an abuse and a mess of links. There are other ways to improve the navigation and usability of your WordPress blog ...
Latest Comments
This one I do not even understand its usefulness ^ ^ Tell me what's in it for your reader to read a series of comments, without head or tail, displayed in your sidebar?Still links or irrelevant content that you display on all items in your blog ...
The Ads
Like everything, abuse seriously affects the health of your blog. Delays, SEO, disaffection readers, use and abuse of advertisements / Adsense on your sidebar make less compelling ads. In addition, how we use AdBlock permanently on our web browsers?Blogroll
Abuse links is strongly disapproved by Google and should be avoided whenever possible. As far do I completely remove them? No, but it is used sparingly, for example on one page. Avoid at all costs footer and sidebars to display a blogroll.Twitter Feed Or Facebook
What is the interest for your reader to see in your sidebar the flow of your social networks? A series of comments, answers, or other private joke that will bring him nothing. Avoid slow benefit your blog and go away!Use Better Space Available On Your Blog
In conclusion, I would say that you need to be ruthless with what you include in your sidebars and the less the better! Do not forget a fundamental principle: Fewer choices means more action!
If you can, try to focus down your main calls to action for more conversions, everyone will find: your readers, your blog and you;)
