Launching A Blog? Don’t Leave These 2 Things Out…Part 4

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I can’t believe the number of blogs I come across both new and established that leave out these two critical things on their blogs. I was going to post some more interesting stuff today but, I felt compelled to take this detour and write this article instead. Attention bloggers, for the sake of your blog and your readers, please make sure you have these two things on your blogs ASAP!

Have you every visited a blog and wanted to contact the owner or find out more about them? Isn’t it great when you can do that easily and almost effortlessly?

Have you ever not been able to contact a blogger because they had no contact form? Also, have you searched for a blogger’s “About” page only to come up with nothing?

If so, how did that make you feel as a reader?

Here’s my experience with this. I have come across several blogs that have failed to include a simple “Contact Us” or “About” page on their blog! This has got be breaking a couple of the Blogging Ten Commandments written somewhere on a couple of stone tablets. Even one of my readers of theBlogQuest.com does not have an “About” or “Contact” page on their blog.

As a reader, I find it frustrating when I spend time looking for something on a blog that should be very easy and straight forward to locate and use. In this case, I am talking about a simple contact page.

Why is it important for a blogger to have a “Contact” page?

1)  Consideration of their readers: If you want to contact the blogger, there should be an easy way to do this. As blogging is all about interaction between the blogger and his/her readers. Besides, not everything you want to say is appropriate for posting the comments section on one of the blogger’s articles. You may want to say something personal that you do not wish to share with the rest of their readers.

2) Bad for business: I have had many people contact me trough my “Contact” page. Some with personal questions and comments. Others have been other bloggers wanting to network or give me tips, which is good for your blog! I have even had potential advertisers inquire about advertising on one of my blogs! A “Contact” page is to a blog, what a telephone is to a brick and mortar business.

Why is it important for a blogger to have an “About” page?

1) Readers want to know more about you: Although the “About” page is secondary, it is also necessary have one on every blog. People want to know who is doing the blogging, why, what are you into, etc. This helps the connection between the blogger and their readers become more personal.

2) Can help the blogger stand out more: People have a lot on their minds these days, we are living in complex times and are inundated with enormous amounts of information. A blogger has to what he/she can to stand out and make an impression in the minds of visitors coming across their blogs. One way to do this is to have an about page that has some personal information about you.

What to do?

Just add a simple “Contact” page and “About” page to your blog as soon as possible if you don’t already have them. If you are using WordPress, you can install a simple plugin called WP-SpamFree. It blocks spam and includes a simple contact form that is easy to install and configure for your blog. For other platforms, I am sure there are contact forms or something equivalent.

Related Posts:

• Launching A Blog? Don’t Scare Your Advertisers….Part 3
• Launching A Blog? Don’t Block Content From Visitors!
• Launching A Blog? I Wouldn’t Keep Doing This One….Part 2