DISQUS

DM · 2 years ago

Man... I've heard about big RSS buttons... but DAYMN, you break the record.

DM · 2 years ago

Man... I've heard about big RSS buttons... but DAYMN, you break the record.

Sunny · 2 years ago

Great post, you gave me something good to thinking about implementing on my blog and in future designs.

Sunny · 2 years ago

Great post, you gave me something good to thinking about implementing on my blog and in future designs.

Online Dating · 2 years ago

Thanks for all the info you post here! It is really a challenge for a new person these days.

Online Dating · 2 years ago

Thanks for all the info you post here! It is really a challenge for a new person these days.

MorganLighter · 2 years ago

Andy - As usual, you're spot on. Great idea on upper left positioning, etc. After reading this tip, I jumped on several sites and paid attention to what part of the opening page my eyes were drawn. Of course, it was the upper left or upper middle. I wonder if this is due to the way we read - we start at the upper left and go to the right and then back to the left. Wouldn't it be interesting to test this same principle out on those that don't read in English, but rather Middle and Far Eastern languages that don't start from the upper left. Take care.

MorganLighter · 2 years ago

Andy - As usual, you're spot on. Great idea on upper left positioning, etc. After reading this tip, I jumped on several sites and paid attention to what part of the opening page my eyes were drawn. Of course, it was the upper left or upper middle. I wonder if this is due to the way we read - we start at the upper left and go to the right and then back to the left. Wouldn't it be interesting to test this same principle out on those that don't read in English, but rather Middle and Far Eastern languages that don't start from the upper left. Take care.

John · 2 years ago

Good point about the top left of the page. Looking at my own blog, I reckon that space is a bit wasted so I'll think about changing things around. Not sure I like the really huge icons, so I'll probably go for something a bit more subtle.

I mainly wanted to comment, though, to mention that since the change I no longer see your sidebar on my feed aggregator (NetNewsWire for Macintosh). I'm pretty sure it was fine before the change.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

I am not sure how they handle sidebars, because most feed readers just serve unformatted content from the RSS feed.

You are right that size isn't everything, I just used the default graphic sizes, and found the small ones a little too small for my purposes.

John · 2 years ago

Good point about the top left of the page. Looking at my own blog, I reckon that space is a bit wasted so I'll think about changing things around. Not sure I like the really huge icons, so I'll probably go for something a bit more subtle.

I mainly wanted to comment, though, to mention that since the change I no longer see your sidebar on my feed aggregator (NetNewsWire for Macintosh). I'm pretty sure it was fine before the change.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

I am not sure how they handle sidebars, because most feed readers just serve unformatted content from the RSS feed.

You are right that size isn't everything, I just used the default graphic sizes, and found the small ones a little too small for my purposes.

David Airey :: Creative Design · 2 years ago

I think it makes the top left look cleaner here, althoug I've never been a fan of that style of button.

I for one am underusing my top left spot in a big way, and have been looking into different layouts for a while now.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

David what you should do is create some free to use icon sets.

There are plenty, but they are mainly for desktop use and prohibit use on the web.

It was hard to track down any alternatives, and I did work down lots of lists on various sites to come up with almost nothing other than what I eventually used.

David Airey :: Creative Design · 2 years ago

I think it makes the top left look cleaner here, althoug I've never been a fan of that style of button.

I for one am underusing my top left spot in a big way, and have been looking into different layouts for a while now.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

David what you should do is create some free to use icon sets.

There are plenty, but they are mainly for desktop use and prohibit use on the web.

It was hard to track down any alternatives, and I did work down lots of lists on various sites to come up with almost nothing other than what I eventually used.

buxr · 2 years ago

Andy.. Great stuff, but I wouldn't mask the email signup! RSS is good, but email is still king. Especially if the content subscribed to is a newsletter.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

I tend to think (but then I am biased) that my blog content is better than any email newsletter I have ever subscribed to, and I still subscribe to a lot.

Even with the email form before, my email subscribers are far fewer than RSS subscriptions.

In many ways I am in the blogging nice, though not totally, so there is high usage of RSS compared to email.

One negative factor is that every day it is a new 30K graphic to download.

I can't help thinking it would be better to use a graphic background with a text overlay, but then it wouldn't look quite the same.

buxr · 2 years ago

Andy.. Great stuff, but I wouldn't mask the email signup! RSS is good, but email is still king. Especially if the content subscribed to is a newsletter.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

I tend to think (but then I am biased) that my blog content is better than any email newsletter I have ever subscribed to, and I still subscribe to a lot.

Even with the email form before, my email subscribers are far fewer than RSS subscriptions.

In many ways I am in the blogging nice, though not totally, so there is high usage of RSS compared to email.

One negative factor is that every day it is a new 30K graphic to download.

I can't help thinking it would be better to use a graphic background with a text overlay, but then it wouldn't look quite the same.

John · 2 years ago

My feedreader presents blog posts as text only when you are looking at the list of most recent posts. But when you click on the headline, it opens in a new tab fully formatted as if in a normal browser. But if most readers don't do that, then I guess the lack of a sidebar isn't an issue!

John · 2 years ago

My feedreader presents blog posts as text only when you are looking at the list of most recent posts. But when you click on the headline, it opens in a new tab fully formatted as if in a normal browser. But if most readers don't do that, then I guess the lack of a sidebar isn't an issue!

smoMashup · 2 years ago

Awesome work man. This is far superior to what you had before. I'd like to see a followup down the road to find out how the testing works out for you and to see if this actually converts more/less people into subscribers than your other methods.

Cheers mate!

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Greg you are one of the people who enquired about the previous code, so I am glad you like it.

It is hard to track specific signup rate for new visitors as most people seem to use bookmarklets.

I just think it is a little cleaner, but still "noticeable"

smoMashup · 2 years ago

Awesome work man. This is far superior to what you had before. I'd like to see a followup down the road to find out how the testing works out for you and to see if this actually converts more/less people into subscribers than your other methods.

Cheers mate!

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Greg you are one of the people who enquired about the previous code, so I am glad you like it.

It is hard to track specific signup rate for new visitors as most people seem to use bookmarklets.

I just think it is a little cleaner, but still "noticeable"

Maki · 2 years ago

I think this new design might appeal to most people because its feels more in-your-face. The large size makes it feel a little tacky but they'll probably do their job well enough.

All my feed subscription options are at the extreme right and I've left it there because the heat map tests I've done seem to indicate that they receive adequate attention, although not as much as the graphics I use within each post.

I really need to start flaunting my feed count as well. :)

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Maki I would hope yours is over 2K now

Maki · 2 years ago

I think this new design might appeal to most people because its feels more in-your-face. The large size makes it feel a little tacky but they'll probably do their job well enough.

All my feed subscription options are at the extreme right and I've left it there because the heat map tests I've done seem to indicate that they receive adequate attention, although not as much as the graphics I use within each post.

I really need to start flaunting my feed count as well. :)

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Maki I would hope yours is over 2K now

Fitness guy · 2 years ago

I think the idea is sound but, It also seems to take away from the beginning of the post. On a 1024 screen res you don't see much of the beginning of the article to spark interest and i think some readers would navigate away.

Fitness guy · 2 years ago

I think the idea is sound but, It also seems to take away from the beginning of the post. On a 1024 screen res you don't see much of the beginning of the article to spark interest and i think some readers would navigate away.

MichelleVan · 2 years ago

Andy,I've heard this before, and so I started with left hand columns. Since I don't know much css or html I wanted a layout that was simple that I liked - and that took me back to right columns. I'm just finding my voice still, but I've gone back and forth with where to put everything on my site. I just can't get it exactly how I want it without learning css on top of everything else.WAUGH!

MichelleVan · 2 years ago

Andy,I've heard this before, and so I started with left hand columns. Since I don't know much css or html I wanted a layout that was simple that I liked - and that took me back to right columns. I'm just finding my voice still, but I've gone back and forth with where to put everything on my site. I just can't get it exactly how I want it without learning css on top of everything else.WAUGH!

Howard White SEO consultant wi · 1 year ago

Thanks dude i will be incorporating this in the company's blog and also press for this in the clients websites. btw should the site look more cleaner or the emphasis should be on usability and visibility

good job
Howard

AndyBeard · 1 year ago

Howard honestly unless you are throwing a lot of traffic at a site, it is extremely hard to split test results.

Howard White SEO consultant wi · 1 year ago

Thanks dude i will be incorporating this in the company's blog and also press for this in the clients websites. btw should the site look more cleaner or the emphasis should be on usability and visibility

good job
Howard

AndyBeard · 1 year ago

Howard honestly unless you are throwing a lot of traffic at a site, it is extremely hard to split test results.