Blogging Bites #34

​COACHING · PAST TIPS · INSTAGRAM​

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Hey, Reader!

There are a lot of changes happening with technology at the moment - Google updates, new & improved AI tools, social media changes, etc.

I don't typically test new things during Q4 or when big updates are happening, but who knows when things will start to settle down these days!

I've recently changed/added a few new things to my blog which I'm hoping will improve user experience. These aren't recommendations at this point - I just want to share the ideas with you and see what you think!

I'm still in the early stages of testing and honestly, it'll probably be difficult to assess the impact with everything going on right now. However, I think creating a real and personal experience for my users is super important, and I'm hoping these changes will do just that.

First change!

You might've noticed from my previous newsletter that I removed the sidebar on my homepage. This is because everything from the sidebar should already be on the homepage, and I think it makes the homepage bigger and easier to navigate (on desktop).

However, with that change, I lost my About photo/blurb. This only really matters on desktop, which is a small amount of users, but it's important to me to have readers see right off the bat that I'm a real human making these recipes!

So, I added my About photo/blurb to my homepage towards the top. It's still in the area that about 50% of users scroll through, according to Clarity's heatmap data.

New addition #1!

Blog post intros are really important. They're the first thing your user sees and they help them decide if they'll stay or bounce.

I saw that Sally's Baking Addiction has a reader comment in her intro on this post, and I thought it was a great idea. It's real experience from a reader, which Google loves, and it shows users that someone has successfully made the recipe - win, win!

So, I've started adding them to my own posts with 5-star comments, like my sourdough discard cookies.

New addition #2!

Last up, I created a new graphic for my blog posts. I'm not totally sure how I feel about this one yet, but I figured I'd give it a try.

I've always added a CTA before my recipe card telling users to leave a review and tag us on social!

However, most of my users probably either don't see it or just ignore it. I checked Link Whisper (affiliate link) and it doesn't seem like anyone actually clicks those social links.

So, I added this new photo graphic. I'm hoping it'll catch the reader's attention a little more and add a personalized touch. Most users click the Jump To button, so I'm guessing they still won't really see this.

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These are all pretty minor changes and I'm curious to see how they play out. I'm hoping they'll help improve user retention, engagement, and maybe even EEAT a little bit, but it's possible they won't have any impact at all.

What are your thoughts on these ideas? Are you doing anything to try to make your user experience more real & personal in the age of AI? Hit reply and let me know! 😊

Happy blogging!
-Kayla