Do you wish you had the time to overhaul your blog? Often when you’re trying to keep up with writing enough content, it’s hard to find the time to do anything extra.
But that definitely doesn’t mean you should give up. If you split your tasks into small chunks, you will be surprised what you can accomplish.
In this article, I’ll show you 10 two-minute tweaks that can help you improve your blog.
1. Make a Title More Compelling
Even if you’re great at coming up with attention-grabbing titles these days, you most likely have some great posts gathering dust in your archives that could use a better title.
Most readers judge your posts by the title. A few small tweaks like adding an adjective, number, or even rephrasing the title to make the benefits of reading the post clearer could give you a huge boost to your traffic.
Here’s an example:
Old Title: Using Twitter Effectively
New Title: Six Clever Twitter Tricks to Save You Time
It’s easy to see which of those is going to get more attention … yet they could easily describe the exact same post.
2. Link to Another Post
One great way to decrease bounce rate is to give your users ample amount of opportunities to check out other related content.
You probably have posts languishing in your archives that hardly anyone sees. Take two minutes to find an appropriate place to link them from an existing post.
You can also link to your new posts from your older articles. Perhaps you’ve gone into a topic in much more depth since you first wrote about it, so you should point your readers to your best material.
3. Update Your About Page
When did you last update your About page? If you’re like most bloggers, you’ve not touched it since you created it … and that might have been years ago.
Take a quick peek right now. Is there anything out of date? Look out for:
- Biographical details, new updates, press and mentions, etc.
- Information about your services and products – you may have ditched old ones or added new ones.
- Links to your best posts – you might have some even better ones now!
I recently updated WPBeginner’s about page to add testimonials, official logo, new stats, etc.
4. Add a Photo of Yourself
Photos can be a great way to help readers connect because it shows them the person behind the words. If you’ve got a good recent shot (it doesn’t have to be a professional one) add it to your About page.
You could even use it in your header, like I do, or in your sidebar.
Alternatively, you can add images to your older posts. A photo helps to break up the page and makes it easy to read your content.
5. Remove a Widget from Your Sidebar
Most blog sidebars are hopelessly cluttered. Readers often struggle to find the options they actually want (like subscribing to your blog or following you on Twitter) in the middle of all the clutter.
Take a look at your sidebar and find one widget that you could do without – then remove it. Hint: tag clouds and little calendars aren’t usually adding much to your readers’ experience.
6. Deal With Any Comments
Even if you’re not inundated with comments, it’s easy to get behind with dealing with them. Have a two-minute check for any that need a quick reply … or for any spam that’s snuck in past your filter.
Unanswered questions and obvious spam comments don’t create a great impression for readers.
They make it look like you don’t care about your blog or that you’re an absent blogger. If you find it hard to keep up, you might want to close comments on posts older than a month.
It’s also a good idea to turn off comments on pages (such as your About page) so that these don’t get cluttered over time.
7. Put More Information on Your Contact Page
Some bloggers put a contact form on their contact page and nothing else. While that’s not a disaster, it does create barriers for readers who may want to contact you in other ways.
Depending on your business, you may not want or need to include a phone number or address on your contact page, but it’s often a good idea to add:
- Your email address (not all readers trust that contact forms will work, and they may prefer to create their message to you through their email client).
- Links to your social media profiles, especially if you’re easier to contact on Twitter or Facebook than by email.
- Information about your preferred contact method. If you take a look at my Contact page, you’ll see that while I welcome emails, I let readers know that I’m most responsive through Twitter.
8. Add “As Featured In”
If you’ve been blogging for a while and have guest posted on other blogs, or been interviewed in a blog or podcast, then make sure your new readers know … especially if those blogs or podcasts are well-known names in your field.
My header includes logos of some of the key sites where I’ve been featured.
OptinMonster also does the same on their front page.
You should use your header or your sidebar for this. That way, every visitor on your site can instantly see that you’re an authority on your topic.
Also see: 9 ways to leverage Social Proof to Grow your Business
9. Fix a Typo
Typos happen to every blogger … but they can create a poor impression. If your posts and pages are riddled with spelling mistakes, you’ll look less professional and potential clients will – understandably – question whether you’re much good at paying attention to small but important details.
Read carefully through your blog articles starting with the ones that get a lot of traffic. If you spot a typo, fix it.
If you’re sure your work is typo-free, look out for sentences that you can improve or images / videos that you can add.
10. Add a Call to Action
When you get to the end of a blog post, it’s easy to just stop … but that’s a huge wasted opportunity. Instead, you may want to include a “call to action” – a prompt for your reader to do something.
You might want them to:
- Leave a comment.
- Share your post on social media.
- Comment on your post on social media.
- Take action in their business or life.
- Read a related post on your blog.
- Check out one of your product or services that’s related to the post.
… or any other action that would benefit you (and hopefully them too).
Each of these tweaks could take you just two minutes – but it could reap you huge benefits.
Which tweaks will you be putting into practice today? Do you have other 2-minute tweak suggestions? Let me know in the comments.
If you liked this article, then please follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
Excellent tips Syed! I just overhauled my entire website and applied most, if not all of these tips.
That’s awesome to hear Peggy. Thanks for leaving a comment
Thank you I found this so obvious and so unimplemented. Will be implementing most of these in the near future if not immediately.
You’re welcome Amy. Yup we often get caught up with the daily chores that we forget that with just little bit of effort we can keep improving our blogs
Good advice, Syed. I do nearly all of these things with my blog (which I hope to one day upgrade into a full website as I’m planning to move from blogs to video presentation and webtoons), except for the part involving social media. I recently opened a Facebook account upon requests from friends and family, but I don’t think Facebook is for me. I have no interest in Facebook beyond promoting my site, and from what I hear, Facebook generally frowns upon that, preferring social interaction, which isn’t really my thing; I prefer to keep my personal life private. If I can find something like Facebook that’s used purely for self-promotion and generating traffic to my site, then I’ll be all over that.
It’s going to be hard to find a social media network where you can get the benefit from it without being social.
Interaction is crucial — if that’s not your thing then you’re better off buying ads to get traffic.
Syed, I really can appreciate your answer to Damon P, since his words sounds an awful-lot like my own. Millennials and younger friends have told me they use Facebook to look us up, much like Boomers used the Yellow Pages!
Hi. I am in the process of building a website and these tips are very useful. I will be referring to them in due course.
That’s awesome Clara – thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment
Thanks for the very helpful article. Most of your suggestions are ones I’d never thought about but can see myself doing.
Thanks for the kind words Connie
All the knowledge i got today about WordPress are from you.
You’re thoroughly a real teacher, not some of us(Nigerian Webmasters) that collect money before helping a fellow blogger.
You have good work drop here!!
Right now am gonna start overhauling my whole site.
Thanks for this idea and tips.
Thanks for dropping by and leaving such kind words.
Many thanks for the ideas. Practical and easy, I love things that leverage work and reach.
My pleasure
— Glad you liked them.
Thanks for the nice info
Some great tips I’m just starting out and fill like I know so little. I sure these will come tip will be of good use.
Thanks
Lury
Thank you for these great tips! I’m very new to blogging, so I appreciate the help. I found several things I need to apply to my site.
You’re welcome Christi. Glad you found it helpful.
Even though I went through a major overhaul earlier this year when I migrated from WordPress.com to self hosted (with many thanks to your team at WPBeginner), your post has highlighted two areas easily forgot
– link to another post (#2)
– Other contact methods (#7)
Give me four minutes, and I should be complete!
Thanks for leaving a comment Martina. I’m glad my team was able to help. Yup 4 minutes to add those would go a long way
Great tips! Thanks a lot! Loved your post
Thanks Fabiola
helpful stuff !!
thank you Syed a good read and thanks for sharing. I have just updated my contact page on my blog and am now going over to my website to do the same
thanks again best ashar
My pleasure Ashar
— glad you found this helpful.
Great tips Syed- thank you!
Nicely written Syed. I’ll be using a few of these tips soon. Have you got any tips on creating a Google+ page to coincide with a website? Maybe this would be a topic for another blog.
Thanks Jayne. Yup I’ll write another tip regarding local SEO
Awesome post (as usual) and excellent reminders. BTW I noticed a typo in the first line on your ABOUT page and a couple of other typos within
Just thought you’d like to know.
Thanks for letting me know. I fixed some of those
Thanks you for help me.
Hi Syed,
Honestly, I found myself lacking some of this tips, and I hope to implement them to my blog in the new future.
Glad you found these helpful Christian
Love these tips, especially the “add call to action” tip. I am a Feng Shui blogger, so many of my posts contain information about harmonizing the environment. One way I can engage my readers in my passion for Feng Shui is to have them participate in some of my suggestions. Thanks a bunch!
That’s a great idea Amy. Asking for user suggestions definitely increases engagement.
Thank you for mentioning the call to actions at the end of your post! I definitely need to do this more with my posts and you’ve got some excellent ideas for what I can ask my readers. Thank you!
All these tips are easy to follow and easy to implement. I have implemented most of the tips already. Now I am working on number 2, 5 and 7
Excellent post!
Awesome
Thanks for the great advice, Syed. I am a newish blogger and am always looking for great ideas to improve my design and content. I’ll be bookmarking yours.
Thanks Lori
Can we put ads in sidebar as a widget?
Sure why not.
Another excellent tips Syed, I have applied 3 or more of them on my site.
Thanks