Book Blogger Hop: On Cluttered Blogs

Posted July 13, 2018 in Blog Fests & Hops, Uncategorized / 12 Comments

Book Blogger Hop at www.curiousdaydreams.comToday I’m taking part in the Book Blogger Hop, a weekly hop hosted by Billy B at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer (originally created by Jennifer at  Crazy-For-Books). You can see the hop schedule here.

 

“Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.”

 

This week’s question:

Does a cluttered blog have you not returning? By cluttered I mean too many columns, small type, too many photos, difficult to follow, etc. 

(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)

 

Yes, to a certain extent. It’s all very subjective and some may view mine as cluttered because it has quite a few colours and images rather than being white and minimalist like a lot of modern blog layouts. I try not to overload my sidebar too much, but I do have some affiliate ads on there that could be a bit of an eye-sore.

I definitely prefer layouts with a maximum of two columns and a clear, easy-to-read font. A white or pale background is good too; I do avoid blogs with white text on a black background or even scarier neon combinations as they just hurt my eyes.

I like to see interesting things in the sidebar, but not too many gifs or busy images as apart from giving me a headache they also slow down the loading time of the site. The follower links should be easy to find so you don’t have to hunt the site for them (ain’t nobody got time for that).

So, yes, cluttered blogs do put me off following. However, I do make exceptions. There are several blogs I follow where I’m not really a fan of the layout but the posts are so good that I keep returning. On the other hand, there are blogs I’ve visited where I adored the layout but I wasn’t really interested in the content, so there was no point in coming back.

So in conclusion, I’d say that a simple blog layout is important in attracting followers, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. The most important thing about your blog is the content and that’s the real reason followers will stick around (or not).     

 

What about you? Do cluttered blogs put you off returning?

Tags: , ,

Divider

12 responses to “Book Blogger Hop: On Cluttered Blogs

  1. Red

    Interesting question. I do avoid blogs with small type, although engaging bloggers will keep me coming back. If I get into a back and forth in the comments with the blogger, I’ll forgive their font choice. Background doesn’t really bother me, and I’m with you on the 2-column thing. But there is one blog I used to follow, and did their regular blog-hop, until she reformatted. Suddenly, there were no columns, just a bunch of different image links to different sections. Very hard to navigate.

    I wholeheartedly agree that the blog content is the most important thing.
    p.s. I read your blog often, but can’t comment every time. So many error messages!

    • Yeah, I’m not a fan of those image block layouts like you described. Each to their own, though! Sorry you’ve been getting a lot of error messages from my blog. I was using a CDN called Cloudfare which I’ve now cancelled, I’m hoping that will fix the problem. If you do get any more error messages could you please let me know which errors you’re getting and I’ll look into fixing it.

  2. Tizzy, there’s no way your blog is cluttered! Like, seriously, you have a good balance.

    I actually get put off if I think a blog is too minimalistic. Unless the blogger’s style lends itself to that kind of design, I think it just comes across as bland and character-less, especially when loads of people have a similar design.

    • Thanks, Cee! Yes, I know what you mean. Too white and plain can be a bit boring. I think the more minimalist styles are in fashion at the moment, but I don’t like all of them.

  3. I don’t think your blog is even a little bit cluttered! Your blog design is elegant and pretty but also simple and easy to navigate.
    To me, uncluttered doesn’t mean monochrome or soulless. It just means not too many flashing things, not being overwhelmed with pop ups, having text that fits within the designated spaces etc.
    Your blog design is a win, imo. 🙂

  4. Olivia Roach

    I don’t like blogs that are too cluttered either, but I also don’t like blogs which look a bit too simple or empty. I find it hard to judge if my blog is cluttered or not, but hopefully not too much DD:

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.