Jakob Nielsen, the Dr. Phil of usability on the web, has just released a compendium of 10 usability mistakes made by bloggers. Let's see how we did.....
Mistake #1 - No Author Biographies.
Mr. Nielsen contends that readers must know and trust you if you expect them to read your stuff, and that trust is hard to come by if they don't know anything about who you are or what you do. Fair enough. But how does an author writing stuff about himself inspire any more trust? I read Mr. Scoble's and Mr. Zawodny's blogs not because I have any personal knowledge of the fact that they work for Microsoft and Yahoo, but rather because the things they say are meaningful and relevant to me. I've never met either of them. I have no proof they are who they say they are on their sites. But I still read them, because in the blogosphere, content is more important than pedigree.
That being said, I have no real reason why I don't have my resume/bio up here. Part of me still thinks of this blog as not wholly situated yet (I'm waiting for my wife to design me a bitchin' logo first). I'll get there soon.
Mistake #2 - No Author Photo
This "usability" mistake baffles me. According to the post, photos enhance credibility and connect the virtual and physical world. Evidently, I am missing out on having throngs of blog groupies (bloupies?) snap photos of me at conferences because no one can put a face to my blog.
I don't have a photo here. Odds are I will probably not have a photo here. And I respond with a big, fat "who cares." I think this is totally irrelevant to the usability of blogs.
Mistake #3 - Nondescript Posting Titles
I think Mr. Nielsen got one right here. Random, overly general titles of posts don't exactly induce readers to muddle through the article to see what it was you were really talking about. For you email marketers out there, I think an analogy between an email subject line and a blog post title is accurate. If the subject sucks, forget about people opening the email.
I think I do ok here, but there's always room for improvement. And of course, you should view the post titles of Good Morning Silicon Valley as an example of the highest standard. Funny and relevant.
Mistake #4 - Links Don't Say Where They Go.
Amen. I'm reasonably guilty of this from time to time, and plan to make a concerted effort to eliminate links that say nothing more than "click here." Just as one should never put a button on a website unless it is obvious what that button will do, so it goes with blog links.
Mistake #5 - Classic Hits are Buried.
The gist of this one is that if you write pieces of lasting value to your readers, you should not make them search for it in your archives. Instead, they should be accessible through front-of-site links on your blog.
I don't get this one either.
I think Mr. Nielsen misses the point of what a blog is. See, if people like what you have to say in a particular post, they will link to it directly. It's these links that bring the people to the doorstep of your greatest hits, not a self-selection of back links posted on your right-side navigation. Blogs reach their highest potential when you allow your readers to find their own value in your blog postings. If you have pieces you believe to be hallmarks of your blog vibe, or great examples of your work, go crazy. But I wouldn't expect any massive spikes in readership from this recommendation.
Wow. All this introspection has wiped me out. I think I'll save the remaining five mistakes for later.
Actually, I very much agree with Neilsen's bio and photo suggestions. I really like having a face to put with the words. Print authors have had author photos for ages. Newspaper columnists frequently do also. I think there is something to there.
I don't have a good bio yet, personally. I've tried to write one and failed. Maybe I'll try again.
Posted by: Jonathan Nolen | October 20, 2005 at 03:52 PM