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The sidebar is an important element of every blog. In a standard two-columns layout it’s placed to the right of the main section and includes information and links related to the content of blog posts.
A well organized sidebar should include some important items, such as subscription options, advertisements, recent and popular posts, and help blog readers find contextual information related to the article they are reading or, in general, about the blog they are browsing. Many blogs also add on their sidebar optional items such as external widgets (Facebook Fan Page or Google Friend Connect) and other various elements (for example job boards or Twitter updates).
All cited items are ordered and distributed within a sidebar according to their function and importance. Here is an example of the order and balanced distribution of those items (each item take up in average a certain percentage of the sidebar):
Subscription options: this section, which in some cases also includes a short presentation of the blog, is placed on top of the sidebar and covers in average approximately 5% of the sidebar area. It should include a link to the RSS feed, subscription options via email, Twitter and Facebook profile (many blogs use small or big icons for these links).
Advertisements: the sidebar is the perfect area to place advertisements. In average this section covers in many blogs 35% – 40% of the sidebar’s area. Widespread practice suggests to use not more than two banners (favorite size 125 X 125 pixels) for single row.
Recent and popular posts: separate sections with lists of recent and popular posts are a good way to suggest to blog readers what’s new, highlight popular articles, and increase in this way global page views.
External widgets: Many blogs add external widgets on their sidebar such as Facebook Fan Page or Google Friend Connect. This kind of widgets are not strictly necessary but can be useful to allow a major interaction between readers and contents and increase blog visitors.
Other elements: in average 10% of the area of some sidebars is taken up from various optional elements such as job boards, Twitter updates, tag lists or /a> and so on.
A last consideration about sidebar’s width. A too big or small width is not recommended: I suggest you to set the CSS width property to 260px so that your sidebar can contain two advertisement banners for row with a gap of 10px between banners.
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img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/emU0kzoMeyg9SMfc_9kioCUVt_E/1/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”>
The sidebar is an important element of every blog. In a standard two-columns layout it’s placed to the right of the main section and includes information and links related to the content of blog posts.
A well organized sidebar should include some important items, such as subscription options, advertisements, recent and popular posts, and help blog readers find contextual information related to the article they are reading or, in general, about the blog they are browsing. Many blogs also add on their sidebar optional items such as external widgets (Facebook Fan Page or Google Friend Connect) and other various elements (for example job boards or Twitter updates).
All cited items are ordered and distributed within a sidebar according to their function and importance. Here is an example of the order and balanced distribution of those items (each item take up in average a certain percentage of the sidebar):
Subscription options: this section, which in some cases also includes a short presentation of the blog, is placed on top of the sidebar and covers in average approximately 5% of the sidebar area. It should include a link to the RSS feed, subscription options via email, Twitter and Facebook profile (many blogs use small or big icons for these links).
Advertisements: the sidebar is the perfect area to place advertisements. In average this section covers in many blogs 35% – 40% of the sidebar’s area. Widespread practice suggests to use not more than two banners (favorite size 125 X 125 pixels) for single row.
Recent and popular posts: separate sections with lists of recent and popular posts are a good way to suggest to blog readers what’s new, highlight popular articles, and increase in this way global page views.
External widgets: Many blogs add external widgets on their sidebar such as Facebook Fan Page or Google Friend Connect. This kind of widgets are not strictly necessary but can be useful to allow a major interaction between readers and contents and increase blog visitors.
Other elements: in average 10% of the area of some sidebars is taken up from various optional elements such as job boards, Twitter updates, tag lists or /a> and so on.
A last consideration about sidebar’s width. A too big or small width is not recommended: I suggest you to set the CSS width property to 260px so that your sidebar can contain two advertisement banners for row with a gap of 10px between banners.
Originally posted here:
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