Do You Have A Visitor Navigation Strategy For Your WordPress Blog?

I don’t know about you, but I want visitors to not only visit my blogs, but I also want visitors to be able to navigate easily to find what they are looking for if it is available.

This is the best way I know of to develop your blog readership (visitor loyalty and repeat traffic) and to build your blog subscriber list.

Here are some visitor dynamics you need to be aware of first:

The first time a visitor comes to a blog, it can be challenging to “figure out” how to navigate a fully set-up, monetized blog, especially if you don’t have set-up your blog to help visitors discover all that your blog has to offer.

Most visitors will not find your blog by going to your blog’s home page. They will find your blog first by clicking from a search engine link to a specific post you have published . If the visitor decides to stay for a bit, they will then look at what else your blog has to offer.

Here is the visitor navigation strategy that I use on this blog:

- The first navigation feature is at the top of this blog, where you will see a Search Box. This box allows visitors use search terms to find related blog posts on a particular subject.

This search box and its placement are provided automatically by the Flexibility theme that I use for this blog.

I really like this next one:

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This is probably one of the best navigation features that I have for visitors, short of my email list where I can point subscribers to a specific blog post.

- The next navigation feature that I have is the Sidebar Login which provides an easy way for visitors to login/register for this blog from any page or post.

You will also find these navigation features in the sidebar:

- The top sidebar box is an “ad rotation” series—but each of those “ads” lead to specific informational blog posts on this blog.

- Categories (leads to post archives by post category)
- Recent Posts (last 5)
- Popular Posts (last 5)
- Tag cloud (provides links to posts with common tags)

This still allows me space for advertising and for other sidebar features because I am using a 3 column theme.

On individual post pages, at the bottom of the posts you will find:

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But beyond the obvious reasons to provide visitors a means to easily navigate and find information on my blog…

I have personal reasons why I want visitors to find what I have published because…

I really try to provide “meaty” content, provide real resources, share real statistics and really give visitors more than a sales pitch for another “fantastic” product they don’t really need.

It takes me a long time to produce a single blog post. I try my best not to have “filler” content about what I had for lunch, what I bought at the mall or the vacation I am on. So, I want readers to the content that I have published.

And as corny as it sounds…

I want to provide my visitors with solid information that they can really use to get results. I want to cut through all the hype and overblown BS and get right down to the nuts and bolts of what it takes to blog for profit.

But as good as the information I provide may be (or I think it may be)…

It’s not any good if a visitor can’t find it. So, I believe having a visitor navigation strategy is a big deal.

What do you think? Your comments are welcome.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
Online Business Consultant

About the Author/Founder of the IMS Blog

This former Navy Senior Chief (ret.) and professional entertainer didn't stop when he retired from the military...

Steve Roye is also an author who has also been an online business owner and consultant for almost a decade.

Now Steve focuses on helping others start or expand their online businesses.

Please check out the Featured Articles page for direct links to articles on this blog.

Last 5 posts by Steve Roye

• Facebook Marketing For Newbies - March 14th, 2010
• Entertainers Have The Edge When Building An Online Fan Club - March 11th, 2010
• 7 Secrets For Getting More Hits And More Traffic To Your WordPress Blog Now - March 8th, 2010
• The Lies About Making Money Online With Google Adsense - March 5th, 2010
• The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Wealth Strategies - March 2nd, 2010

Tagged with: Blog • navigation features • navigation strategy • plugin • visitor loyalty • visitor navigation • wordpress • wp

Filed under: Advanced Users

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