Essential Features for Your Blogging Site

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Blogging is increasingly becoming common, with many people finding unmatched opportunities in this realm. Currently, there are more than 600 million blogs that cover diverse topics, ranging from technology to health, home improvement, and other niches. However, despite the millions of blogs and topics, you’ll likely come across very few blog sites.

Like running an online store or other online venture, the key to successful blogging is loading your blog site with the necessary features. As you learn amateur blogging with Times International, below are essential features for your blog site.

1. Blog Post Archive

The homepage is probably the first thing blog visitors see when they land on your site. Most website homepages are designed to show recent topics from top to bottom. While this is what most visitors expect, it doesn’t mean this is everything they are looking for. You’ll be surprised by the number of people going through your old posts.

Having a designated post archive is important. An archive is a section of your web page that has all previous posts that can’t be displayed on the homepage. Categorizing your blog post archive logically, either by category or date, can increase page views and makes it easier for readers to discover more content.

Post archive increases conversions for most first-time visitors and makes it easy for existing readers to revisit posts they had previously read. Fortunately, you can easily create a blog post archive with a good content management system.

2. Comment Section

Blogging is beneficial over TV and print media as it allows visitors and readers to interact with content and the blogger. From your visitors’ perspective, the ability to comment, share ideas, and start a conversation about the topic is enticing. A comments section allows you to build your online community by allowing visitors to discuss the subject further with other engaged readers.

3. Comment Spam Protection

While comment spam protection primarily benefits site owners and administrators, it also helps visitors. Malicious digital marketers often leverage commenting systems with hyperlinks to increase their site traffic and ranking. Without proper protection, your blog site and topic can easily degenerate from an insightful platform to a useless link-sharing platform. Spam comments drown legitimate comments, leaving site visitors with very little to read in the comments section.

4. Search Feature

Apart from checking the blog post archive, you should provide an alternative way for visitors to find specific content on your blog site. Including a search feature allows them to search for indexed content using their search engine. Having a search feature improves user experience.

5. Social Media Integration

Social media has taken the online realm by storm. You should make it easy for readers to share your content with others by enabling social media sharing features on your blog site. Most social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, and others, have APIs that allow users to share content directly from websites.

Endnote

Your blog site should also have a contact method and RSS feed to remain competitive. If you are just starting, you can check out various successful blogs to identify key features that make them stand out. Similarly, you should work with a professional website designer for better chances of success.