September 23rd, 2009
by Nicki Gauthier
Hump Day Marketing Motivation:
“I figured if you’re going to do something, you should do it the best you can.”
– John T. Walton
This inspirational quote leads me to One Big Blog Tip: if you are going to blog, do it the best you can. The goal is to keep people on your blog, to build the know, like, and trust factor not to DRIVE them away.
One thing I have noticed on some of my favorite blogs, are the pictures or links used in the blog posts, when clicked on, immediately open to a new site driving me away from the blog I was reading – rather than the link or picture opening in a new window. This drives me nuts because when I click on a link it doesn’t mean that I want to stop reading the blog post, I just want to check out the link referenced in the blog post.
If you use Word Press, this is how you make sure your image or link opens in a new window without driving your blog reader away:
For more web marketing tips, tune in to our next Blog Talk Radio Show with the Marketing Therapist. Emilia Doerr will be the next guest on the Ask the Marketing Therapist Show to discuss Search Engine Marketing Best Practices for Blogs.
Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:
- Search Engine Marketing Blogging Tips Including Why Duplicate Blog Content Can Hurt Your SEO
- Make Your Marketing Multi-task – Ask the Marketing Therapist Blog Talk Radio Show
- Boss Lady Request: Share Blog Tips
- Misty Gibbs on the Ask The Marketing Therapist Blog Talk Radio Show
Ian
(September 23rd, 2009 at 3:05 pm)
Regarding your blog tip, many other bloggers recommend doing the opposite – in essence, saying that it’s vain to force users to stay on your site. Personally, I agree with your approach, but opinion is definitely divided as you can see from this article and the comments http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/
Lorrie
(September 23rd, 2009 at 3:15 pm)
Hey Ian!
Thanks for the comment. I think forcing people is not cool, but a link to a new window to follow a link so a reader can go back to the blog they started on is good service.
Off to read http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-windows/ (that will open in a new window LOL)
Keep reading – great to know you!
-Lorrie
Lorrie
(September 23rd, 2009 at 3:16 pm)
actually, our comment links do not open in new windows – so we compromise!
Nicki Gauthier
(September 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 pm)
Thank you Ian for the great feedback! I agree that opinion is definitely divided. One of my expectations as a web user are for clickable links to open in a new window. The article states: “Users need to be able to rely on consistency of the user interface and know that they won’t be distracted or disrupted during the interaction.”..and I completely agree with this!