Since I have BlogDumps.com as one of my web sites I do a lot of blog surfing. I have to look at the new blogs that have been submitted to the BlogDumps Blog Directory and make sure every one meets the guidelines of the site.
As I visit these sites, I noticed that some blogs load fast and others don’t. What I have found is that most of the blogs that don’t load fast are the ones who have way to much on their page. I realize that some people blog for fun and relaxation and others are blogging for dollars, but that really doesn’t matter at this point because this actually effects both types.
The blogs for fun and adventure on the web that load slow have way to many third party scripts, clubs and awards that call to another server, their blog has to go get and then load these other files from elsewhere.
The same thing happens to the blogs that are blogging for dollars. Affiliate ads, Google Adsense, Analytics, awards and a ton of third party files have to be called in order for the page to load. Slow loading causes a new visitor to your blog to just move on, especially if they are on dial up or satellite and you have videos all over the place.
I have looked at some of the new WP themes and OMG they don’t miss a pixel you can put information everywhere on the page. I visited one recently and after a few tries, finally gave up! There was way to much on the page to wait for it all to load.
I have found that to use your blog to it’s fullest, less is more. I know you want all that stuff on your site or you want those clicks… So what to do? Well, you saw it when you arrived today – a static front page with links to what might be of interest to your visitor. Link from your static page to your awards page or if you are blogging for dollars or for web services work add links to those pages and then of course a link to your blog. Make the static page simple with a small amount of graphics, just enough to show who you are and then links to all the pages and to your blog. Or in my case to my Web Design Store and to my blog because I think both are just as important.
In the case that you are a business that actually sells different products to consumers from a store and you use your blog for a convenience to your customers, you don’t want them to wait for a long loading page.
So the solution is a simple static front page, a nice background, a simple header and some links to specific parts of your site. Make sure to give the right impression to whatever your niche is (Music, Web design, Coffee store or just a stay at home mom that is blogging for fun) and what your interests are. A simple “About the Author” or “About the Company” in the middle of the page that’s not too wordy and lets visitors know what to expect is great.
Using a WordPress blog, this can be done simply through your pages by creating one to be a static front page. It’s not like you can’t change it around every now and then to spice it up or to add or remove links. You will find the page will load much faster and you will see visitors that just want to read your latest post will go there or maybe they will go straight to your store etc… it gives the visitor control of what they want to see instead of bombarding them with a ton of information that they have to figure out what all of it is and then decide what they want to visit… Too many steps and Bam! a bigger bounce rate.
Don’t forget Title and tags on your static page for the search engines and make sure there isn’t a on robot no follow on the static page also.
I hope this helps, Have a great day
Wolfbernz
