Before You read on remember  One Golden Rule in Blogging

You will Never Get a Second Chance to Make your First Impression

That surely makes sense doesn’t it ? .You have just a few seconds to show what you have got to a new visitor and if you waste those precious seconds by distracting him he may  close the browser window and never return In your Blog. Here are a few things to Avoid in your Blog Template and let the reader focus on the Content ( Well, That’s the only thing he wants )

1. Audio or Video Files that Autoplay : Gone are those days when a welcome video or an audio was used to grab the attention of your visitors. Today’s Internet Audience is  far More Intelligent so Do not waste their time by auto playing any Video or a welcome audio.In Most of the cases visitors would close the browser tab immediately without reading a Single word in your blog if you autoplay an audio or video File.

If you have a Superb Video that  you want to Use then have a System that Plays it when The User clicks the Autoplay Button.You can consider uploading the Video To Youtube and Adding the Embedded code in your Blog template.

2. Unmoderated chat Widgets : Okay a chat widget can be used to Directly Interact with your readers. But the point is : You can Interact with your readers only when you are online. If You are not Online then a Chat Widget is Just a liability.

Many times readers are confused by interacting with unmoderated chat widgets.  They ask Questions and expect a Feedback then and there. So If you cannot interact with your readers in the chat widget there is no purpose keeping it in your blog template.It also Takes up good amount of space and increases the clutter.and worst of all : If you  cannot Moderate your chat Widget then spam and  offending  Messages will hurt your Blog’s Reputation.

If you still Insist Using A Chat Widget make sure that You can Moderate it. Also create a schedule and a fixed time when you can devote to your chat widget so that Your readers get to know when they are most likely to get a feedback.

3. Pop Ups : Old school  Stuff. I don’t know  who invented this pop up technology but its simply a distraction. Do not allow  Excessive pop-ups  in your Website or Blog. It takes the Focus away from  the actual Juice. You have to  magnet your readers from the very first second and driving their attention to those stupid pop ups will waste their time and eventually yours.

Why are you showing the pop- ups ? Is it an advertisement ? Well there are a Lot of other advertising Networks that You can consider and that too without annoying your readers. If it is a Subscription  or a News letter offer then best Would be to Place it above the fold   in your Blog’s sidebar . If your content is good and strong enough then readers will Subscribe to your Services Themselves. If your Content or the services aren’t up to the standard  and do not provide value then Whatever techniques you Use will Surely Fail.

4.Too Many Feed reader options : Another distracting affair. You can spot many blogs Using almost all the Feed reader Icons in their Blog template as shown Below

There is no Point to  Show All these icons in your blog template.As i have said before if your content is good and provides value then your reader Will seldom subscribe to your blog. Instead of Using all those icons have a Big RSS icon on your sidebar. If you Still want to show all the Array of options to your readers go ahead and use services like : Add to any etc.

5. Badges, Counters and Unnecessary Icons : The same Is true for other Social Networking Icons If you are displaying them. Do Not clutter your template by showing each and every social networking icon. Instead Create a Separate page in your Blog and place the links  of your social networking profiles in that page.

6. paid Posts and reviews  : There are many Cases where  writing paid posts and sponsored reviews has Decreased a Blog’s readership considerably. It also Harms  your Blog’s Search Engine optimization . Moreover the Most Serious Disadvantage of Covering Paid and Sponsored Articles is that your readers are served with Peculiar and Irrelevant content. So it is strongly advised  to avoid paid posts on your blog.

It is a Better Idea to  cover paid posts on a separate Blog so that you can retain your Blog readers on your main blog and earn some Money on another. If You  have Only One blog and Still want to earn some extra cash by doing Paid posts  it is recommended to write only those stuff that relates to your existing content and Niche. More Importantly Write The paid posts Only If you think that It would Be beneficial to your readers and won’t drive them away.

7. Bad Web Design practices : Avoid Using Marquees, JavaScript rollovers or Flyout menus in your blog template. Sure they add a lot of Functionality in your Blog’s design  and “make” it look professional but  in reality visitors merely use them. Visitors only want the content of your blog so consider using a simple navigation structure and avoid dropdown menus, flyout pages etc.

8. Confusing colors ,  Modifying the colors of Links and Advertisements : Using too many colors to attract the readers is again a Bad practice. Many bloggers try to ornament their articles by using unnecessary and eye catchy colors.Using typical colors within the article body can turn off your readers concentration and makes it harder to read the article. So  it is advised not to used distracting colors in your blog template. Keep the body clean and make it easier to read your blog.

9. Broken Links : Dead links are certainly a big distraction and can put off readers in a moment. Readers expect some content behind a link and  everytime a user views a 404 page it hurts your blog’s clarity. So check your blog for dead links and rectify them periodically.If Your Blog Is On a Self Hosted WordPress platform then you can consider using the  Broken Link Checker WordPress plugin

10. Changing Your WordPress Theme Every 3rd week : Experimenting  with  Different themes is all right but at some point of time you should settle down with one particular theme. You should not change the theme of your blog frequently. Your regular readers are adjusted to an environment and when they pay a visit to your blog they expect the same environment the last time they visited your blog. So Changing the theme every other day still adds up in a distraction.

11. Too many Advertisements : Advertisements are okay but as long as they are properly placed. Your advertisements should not hinder your actual content. Many Bloggers try to fool their readers by placing All the Ad units above the fold.These are all lame practices and do not work.

One ad unit in the header and one ad unit in the sidebar above the fold seems to be tolerable . Anything more and it adds up in the distraction. Moreover do not place Adsense Ad units Within the article body. An adsense Unit Just below the title is a standard But do not embed them here and tghere Within the article body

12. A weird about me page: I have seen hundreds of blogs that do not have a Proper “about” page.  People visiting your Blog are always inquisitive to know who writes this blog and will search your  blog for the about page. When they arrive at your about page they want to know who you are and what You love to do. So always describe your interests, the topics you cover and things you love because nobody else is going to do that for you.

Those  are all the Top distractions that You should avoid in your blog template. To wrap it up here is another Golden rule

Readers are 100 times smarter than you. Respect their Time

Hope you found it useful. Is there anything your want to add? Share with us! Happy Blogging!!