Continued from Part Thirty-Eight
New to the Series? Start with Part One
Blogosphere: A series
Part Thirty-Nine: This little Blog of mine, I’m gonna make it shine…
Image: I made this one.
What’s the best way to trick out your blog so it dazzles and shines? Don’t.
No. Really.
Just one more widget (gadget), right? One more very cool add-on and your Blog will sing and dance, sit up and speak, entertain and entrance. Or will it?
In my opinion, one of the major issues with a new Blog (or a new Blogger) is that there are so many possible bells and whistles you can add that it is hard to make a choice. Worse, it is very easy not to make a distinction and just add items indiscriminately.
Earlier I mentioned that posting full-sized, mega-pixel photos on your Blog, while lovely to look at, has a down side of taking up a large amount of space on your limited disk allowance (this refers to free Blog Hosting accounts.) They also take forever to load. One thing the Internet has taught anyone who is paying attention is this: The information age has done a number on our attention span. We want it fast. We want it now. We can’t wait for the Quantum Net–you know the net that is so fast downloads happen just before you decide you want them?
Blingin' Your Blog
In the meantime, being aware of the limits of the Internet, as well as that a good many readers are still not on cable or satellite feeds, is a kindness to the people who frequent your Blog.
The same holds true with some of the fancy widgets available. Everything you add to your site that isn’t directly related to your message, detracts from it.
Think I’m kidding? Think back to a blog you’ve found while out scavenging data. You find one that is full of bright colors, moving icons, flashing words, 8 or 9 advertisements, a scrolling marquee pimping a new series, and you start to feel an epileptic seizure coming on. Sites like that are too busy, to attention diluting, to actually deliver on their promise… or for that matter to even identify the promise.
Bottom line? Stop and think before you add more to your site. Remember the scene in Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”. ”All right,” he says, “just one more bite.”
Continued in Part Forty
Uphill Writing 
I agree. Less is more.
Hey! That’s what I was going to say!
Also remember that some readers from remote countries are paying for their bandwidth; if your tinsel is too loud, they’ll run a mile.
Didn’t realize there was ‘a limited disc allowance’. Information applicable with respect to comments as well I would surmise. Thank you.
Not a problem, Loreen. Of everything that goes into a blog, the actual text takes the least amount of space. One good size photo, however, if the same number of bytes were used for text, might be a full (and long) book.
Short messages not required. )
Thanks, Richard, but I will for the brevity needed for wit….(except I guess for text of fiction, etc. where this might not be always possible. Best new text here, maybe to practice being brief….and coming up with something on demand….
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When finding what I wanted and needed on my page I went around and ‘shopped’ other blogs for widgets and ideas that I really liked. Then I found ways to incorporate them into my own.