If you are running a blog or have a blog connected to your website, chances are you have a sidebar. And if you don't - you should set up one ;) Having a sidebar designed the right way will help you attract more clients and retain your website visitors. On the other hand, if you have a cluttered, poorly designed sidebar, this will definitely affect your traffic conversion. So how do you design your WordPress sidebar?
Today’s tutorial is part of our series Master WordPress.
Here’s an overview of the upcoming blog posts from this series:
How to set up and customize menus in WordPress
How to add custom fonts to WordPress
WordPress sidebar design - best practices ( this post)
How to set up an online shop on WordPress
In today's tutorial, I am sharing some essential plugins and design tips based on best practices, which will help you optimize your WordPress sidebar.So how does the perfect sidebar look like?
A pretty picture of you
You know what people say; a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, it is definitely true! Regardless of whether you are running a business or a fashion blog, people want to see who's the person behind the content. Make sure to use a professional picture that shows a friendly face:)
A short bio
Readers would love to get to know you better, so below the picture include a short introduction and link it to your About page. 1-2 sentences are enough.
Social media links
In my opinion, having social media links in the sidebar is a good practice, but it's not a must-have. It really depends on the overall layout of your website. Some websites display prominently their social media badges in the header menu. If you have a "sticky" menu and the users are able to see your header while scrolling the website, you can add those links further down your sidebar. On the other hand, if you don't have any social media badges or links in your header, then you must include them underneath your bio.
A CTA banner
There's always something you want to promote on your blog or website, whether it's your services or someone else's services or products, like e-books for example. Banners perform best when they are placed above-the-fold. This means that they have to be positioned in the upper half of your page and must be visible to the users without scrolling down.
Blog categories or services
If you own a blog, you would want to show your readers you have more awesome content that they can check out. Giving them an option to filter your content by category makes for a great user experience and reduces your bounce rates.
Most popular blog posts
For bloggers, this is a must-have! Include your top blog posts about a certain topic or the best-performing ones (most shares). This will show your readers that you are experienced at what your blog/business is about.
Search box
You should only have a search box in your sidebar if you don't have a search icon in your header menu. It might be useful if you have lots of content and you want your readers to be able to find a particular piece of content.
Final thoughts
These are the most important elements you should have in your sidebar that will increase your chances of converting your website visitors to customers and decreasing the bounce rates of your blog.I hope you enjoyed today's blog post. If you have any questions, feel free to write them in the comments below.xx Iglika