Jakob Nielsen's on a roll. The usability Guru recently came out with the Top 10 web design mistakes (I wrote a post on the top 3), and now he's just published the top 10 weblog design mistakes. I thought it would be interesting to test this blog against his list. So no holds barred, here we go!

1. No Author Biographies
The main reason to have a biography is to build trust: check (my bio).

2. No Author Photo
They serve to personalize and connect: check (my photo).

3. Nondescript Posting Titles

Jakob says:

Users must be able to grasp the gist of an article by reading its headline. Avoid cute or humorous headlines that make no sense out of context.

I think looking at the list of recent entry titles in the right column we can check that.

4. Links Don't Say Where They Go
Avoid sentences like there's more here and here. This one is sometimes difficult to remember to do, but looking at the links in this article I'll generously give myself a check.

5. Classic Hits are Buried
This means linking to your most read pieces. Not many people read this blog (yet!) so I have not implemented a “most read posts” - but will do soon. Verdict for now: fail.

this post is about navel gazing, so this is a photo of the navel of the earth

6. The Calendar is the Only Navigation
There should be 10 to 20 categories as additional navigation: check.

7. Irregular Publishing Frequency
I've been trying to publish a post a week, but this area definitely needs improvement: C-.

Jakob adds:

you shouldn't post when you have nothing to say. Polluting cyberspace with excess information is a sin.

8. Mixing Topics
Try to stay focused on one (narrow) topic. I'll give myself a check on that one.

Another classic quote from JN:

The only people who read everything are those with too much time on their hands (a low-value demographic).

9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
Hmm, maybe I should remove these compromising photos: B.

10. Having a Domain Name Owned by a Weblog Service
Jacob says that having a blog ending in blogspot.com or typepad.com will soon become the same as having a @aol.com email address: the mark of a beginner. Check on that one.

Verdict
7 or 8 out 10 - none too shabby.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Internet Usability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.