Blogging Tips - Is Changing Blog Design Risky?
Every once in a while, a thread pops up at the Warrior Forum that asks a really good question.
This morning, one such question smacked me right in the face and it really got me thinking about this issue.
If you change the design of your blog, something I have done several times, is it risky? Good question.
It wasn't something I really thought about until now.
Anyway, keep reading to get my personal take on this issue.
Naturally, you will want to do your own testing.
There are essentially two concerns when changing the design of your blog.
The one concern is with rankings.
The other concern is with the retention of your readership.
So let's take each of these concerns one at a time starting with rankings since that is the one that bloggers are most concerned with.
The truth is, nobody knows what changing a blog design will do to rankings.
They may go up, down, or be totally unaffected.
Remember, we're not changing the content of the blog itself...
just the way that it looks.
Theoretically, a search engine, such as Google, shouldn't care what your blog looks like as long as the content is relevant.
But since nobody really knows everything that goes into Google's algorithm in determining rankings, by changing your blog design, you are essentially taking a risk.
How big a risk depends on how relevant design itself is to rankings.
Those are the facts and can't be disputed until Google actually comes out and says that design DOES play a major role and changing it WILL affect your rankings.
But let's forget about rankings for now.
What about your long time readers? Sure, the people first coming to your blog won't even know it's a new design.
They'll evaluate this design on its own...
good or bad.
But the people who have been coming to your blog for a while, what do you think might happen if they see a new blog design? Do you think it's not possible that they might think that they're in the wrong place? After all, what they're looking at isn't what they're used to looking at.
So, it's quite conceivable that they'll see the new design and navigate away from your blog because they DO think they're in the wrong place.
On that level alone, changing your blog design IS risky.
Having said all that, should you do it? Well, it depends.
Is your current design ugly? Are you not getting much traffic? Is your bounce rate high? If you answered yes to those questions, then quite honestly, you have nothing to lose by changing the design.
But if you're blog is number one in the SERPs, you're getting 10,000 visitors a day and you're making six figures a year, changing your blog design could be suicide.
So whatever you decide, decide wisely.
To YOUR Success, Steven Wagenheim
This morning, one such question smacked me right in the face and it really got me thinking about this issue.
If you change the design of your blog, something I have done several times, is it risky? Good question.
It wasn't something I really thought about until now.
Anyway, keep reading to get my personal take on this issue.
Naturally, you will want to do your own testing.
There are essentially two concerns when changing the design of your blog.
The one concern is with rankings.
The other concern is with the retention of your readership.
So let's take each of these concerns one at a time starting with rankings since that is the one that bloggers are most concerned with.
The truth is, nobody knows what changing a blog design will do to rankings.
They may go up, down, or be totally unaffected.
Remember, we're not changing the content of the blog itself...
just the way that it looks.
Theoretically, a search engine, such as Google, shouldn't care what your blog looks like as long as the content is relevant.
But since nobody really knows everything that goes into Google's algorithm in determining rankings, by changing your blog design, you are essentially taking a risk.
How big a risk depends on how relevant design itself is to rankings.
Those are the facts and can't be disputed until Google actually comes out and says that design DOES play a major role and changing it WILL affect your rankings.
But let's forget about rankings for now.
What about your long time readers? Sure, the people first coming to your blog won't even know it's a new design.
They'll evaluate this design on its own...
good or bad.
But the people who have been coming to your blog for a while, what do you think might happen if they see a new blog design? Do you think it's not possible that they might think that they're in the wrong place? After all, what they're looking at isn't what they're used to looking at.
So, it's quite conceivable that they'll see the new design and navigate away from your blog because they DO think they're in the wrong place.
On that level alone, changing your blog design IS risky.
Having said all that, should you do it? Well, it depends.
Is your current design ugly? Are you not getting much traffic? Is your bounce rate high? If you answered yes to those questions, then quite honestly, you have nothing to lose by changing the design.
But if you're blog is number one in the SERPs, you're getting 10,000 visitors a day and you're making six figures a year, changing your blog design could be suicide.
So whatever you decide, decide wisely.
To YOUR Success, Steven Wagenheim