Got a messy sidebar on your blog? It’s time to clean it up (like I cleaned up my sock drawer today).
Check out the full sized version of this on YouTube, MySpace, Blip.tv and Viddler.
About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Really Awesome video Darren I will work out and clean up my sidebar
Thanks
Salman
http://www.tips4blogging.co.cc
Awesome video darren I will clean up my side bar @ http://www.tips4blogging.co.cc
I have to admit that some blogs are a bit cluttered. I cleared up mine. Thanks for the video.
Darren – you’re absolutely right! Skellie has an excellent post about this… Cheers!
Anthony
We try to keep our sidebar as minimal as possible … are we hitting the mark?
http://x-equals.com/blog/
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Was wondering what you were going to come up with when you mentioned writing about your sock drawer this morning :)
Wow… My system is also showing the messy sidebar. Thanks for sharing the info! I’ll remove those messy thing.
I love this… sitting here giggling!
You’re so right, D… I keep trying to tell my clients this stuff, and it’s so hard to get them to understand. You done did it!
Ya right the side bar at times can become clogged but calling it a sock drawer!!! LOL
I couldn’t help but crack up with the fake Nike logo on the sweatsock. Good cleanup tip, tho.
I went to my blog and checked my own side bar. Astonished to see few gadgets were not looking like a part of my own blog. Very useful video. Thanks Darren.
You’ve inspired me to finally clean out my sock drawer! I have people, or actually “person”, to clean up my sidebar. He has the easier job.
Darren, you hit the nail on the head here. I think of all the people that go crazy on the sidebar widgets and social networking buttons and services that most people never use. THANK YOU THANK YOU for posting this. I personally can’t stand a cluttered sidebar. I’ve learned that if you keep it clean, people will pay more attention to the ads and links that are there.
Dear god. The intro alarm noise is the same as I use on my iPhone to wake me up in the morning. Every time I hear that sound I shiver.
Good post Darren. Just finished the Problogger Book, and really enjoyed it.
You are right. Meseems Sock drawer is funny.
I agree about the sidebars. I hate seeing sidebars that are just full of unrelated content on blogs. Get those things organized.
My sock drawer is quite neat.
My sidebars are probably a bit crowded, but it’s a balance between having functionality that I want vs. too much stuff.
I have it minimalistic. Not too much of clutter. But I agree, I have seen some of others “sock drawer”, they are awful. It even stinks!!!! LOL..
Thinking on the same lines! The bigger pain is when you use “Free themes” available on the net, you have to edit it and make it readable and understandable.
I am half way through though :)
I try to keep my blog as tidy as possible. I swear I must suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder because the slightest misalignment absolutely drives me crazy.
I actually just redid my blog after noticing that it looked way too clogged and I personally think it looks way better now. :-)
This is awesome! I just posted this morning about some of my pet peeves and this was one of them. I really do feel like I am suffering from ADD when visiting some blogs because the mayhem in their sidebars are just so distracting.
btw… I love the sock drawer analogy. :)
hmm you are right :-) after reading this blog i started working on my blog :-P
regars
Admin
Nintendods
http://www.r4card.com.au
Nice advice, but 6-12 months is kind of a long time to go before cleaning out the drawers.
From now on i’m going to name all my sidebars “sockdrawer” ;)
Can someone please tell me if I have a messy sidebar cause I have no clue. Thanks
Thank god i use a theme which doesnt allow much of a sidebar modification. Even though it did i would have tried to use the footer instead !
Hi, Once again Darren, you are looking amazed?
any how great thanks for you for this video
Blogging, SEO and Money Making Tips by http://www.teratips.com
Hi Darren,
Could please let us know what are the ‘Must-Have’ widgets on the blog sidebar?
Hope you can share with us here.
Regards…
The sidebar will drive you crazy if you mess with it too much. Before you know it, you’ll be spending all of your time tweaking your design instead of developing killer content.
Great video. My sock drawer is well kept. I wish I could always say the same about my sidebars.
A good sidebar is key, it helps the whole site look better.
You are right, Darren. Its time to have a look at the side bar in the blog and do clean up. I did this morning and it looks eye catching now.
Thanks for sharing.
It is very tempting to add the lasted fancy widget, but I fight to keep my sidebar clean and tidy.
Just did this. It looks better, but I’ve got work left to do! Thanks for the tip Darren!
Another great post Darren. A clear sidebar helps the user concentrate on the content more, although some widgets on the sidebar are good for getting those readers in the first place.
I suppose a good balance is key.
I meant to ask Darren, what is your opinion on the featured content gallery widget? I have it on my blog at the moment, but is it really service a useful purpose. It slows down loading time a bit too i think.
Your opinion would be great. Thanks.
Ben
Having pegged out 15 of your socks (all odd) on the line yesterday, personally I am thrilled about your sock amnesty! I am also impressed you could use this metaphor for a blogging tip. Go D!!
I think that money saving / frugal blogs tend to have more widgets etc. on the sidebars, as there are so many great money saving widgets and links out there. I don’t really see a problem with this, especially if all of them help readers save money or make money online. For example, the ones on our site are designed to help our readers save money or make money online, so I hesitate to remove any of them!
Nice video! Sometimes I do have the urge to try the coolest new thing but you know what, if it doesn’t serve a purpose, there’s no reason to put it up.
You don’t always have to look the coolest.
I was scared I might end up with a cluttered BlogRoll, so I spun it out. What do you think? http://ptechnorati.blogspot.com
Ok…
But I was actually waiting for you to say WHICH stuff is ‘defunct’ in your sidebar…
Maybe we should have a poll on which is ‘in’ and which is ‘out’ – like a ‘top ten fashion tips’ for your blog?
I’d say:
IN – RSS/Subscribe, Featured Posts List and Recent Articles
Definitely OUT – tag clouds, twitter updates, archives and blog rolls
i’m all for sidebar clean up day. i try to keep mine neat and clean all the time but so many of the other blogs i read are so cluttery.
It will be great if you just write it Darren. Not everyone has broadband internet connection to watch videos comfortably.
Nice Video Post Darren~
You’ve always got something worthwhile to share.
Would you be so kind to personally give a sidebar review of our twitter blog?
Thanks my friend,
Al
Okay i will…i will.. lol!
I just completely re-designed my entire blog this week and I think it looks pretty stellar. (If I do say so myself!) Hopefully I got rid of all the stray “socks”! I’d appreciate any feedback!
http://capree.blogspot.com
I think have some my blogroll not active anymore
should I remove their link?
I had been thinking of getting rid of a few things on my sidebar so I went ahead and did it today. Thank you for the inspiration (as usual)!
Dear V:
got Darren’s tweet about your posting to this thread and had to come visit. It’s definitely a man thing the world over to take one sock off in front of the TV and one on the way to the garage. Glad to see that my hubby is not the only one with “sock drawer issues!”
most of my blog is, lol, gotta fix them up :)
Care to expand? What sort of things do you consider outdated and what would you recommend taking off sidebars. This is a good idea for a post, but not fully realized. Give us some suggestions please.