3 Ways to Make Your Blog More Usable

Blog Usability is something taken for granted because most bloggers don’t design the template of their own blogs. But that shouldn’t be reason for bloggers to ignore usability completely.

If you’re a web designer, there are some easy to implement practical usability methods, such as basic heuristic review, user research, and prototyping. Bloggers who are more into the writing can do other little things that can go a long way to improving the blog’s usability:

1. Write in short paragraphs – The principle behind is that research found that people who use the web scan pages rather than reading them outright. Meaning good spacing between paragraph blocks is a must.  This also means that you have to alter your writing if you’re used to long and meandering paragraphs.
2. Place elements consistently – One thing about usability is setting the expectations of your users. What this means for you as a blogger is that it may be better to lay-out images, block quotes, and even headings. This will help your readers “learn” how your blog is laid out and avoid getting confused with other elements.
3. Avoid overriding your template’s styles – While most blog software like WordPress and Blogger do have a mature WYSIWYG editor, overriding the default styles defined in the template can do more harm than good.

Just remember, the guiding principle of blog usability is to make it easy for your readers to use your blog and read your content. You don’t really have to invest much to achieve improvements in your blog’s usability.