This is an ongoing series of posts about making blogs better. I’ll take a look at what “experts” say we bloggers should be doing to attract more readers and make our blogs more user-friendly, and then I’ll throw in my take. Your input is always welcome, because I’d love to know what you think, especially if you’ve had any successes or failures with a specific topic.

How important is it that your blog feature an “About” page, a spot where your readers can go to find out more about you?

According to some articles, it’s a major key to success.

I will admit that when I visit a blog for the first time, I do want to know who’s doing the writing. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate “About Me” page; a simple little box on the sidebar that tells me a couple of quick details is enough.

My blog, for what it’s worth, has both.

A picture is always nice, too. But I know a lot of people aren’t comfortable with that. The only thing I can say is that as a reader, I’d rather see a picture than not see one. Maybe that’s because we’re all a little curious about each other: I think that’s part of our nature.

I did find this article with some suggestions about what should be on your “About” page. (Wonder if mine has them all!)

Here’s my take on their take:

• Your name: Yes, I think this should be obvious, but it often isn’t. Imagine shaking hands with someone and not bothering to introduce yourself. That’s sort of what not having a name is like. If the writing is good enough, I might still come back, but I’m never going to stop wondering who the writer is. And to be honest, a fake name is better than nothing if you’re really worried about your privacy.
• Who you are: Beyond your name, you ought to say something about what makes you tick. If you’re a “card-carrying Republican” or a “diehard liberal,” why not say so? Sure, it might turn some people off, but it might cement an immediate bond with others. If politics isn’t your thing, then tell me something about how who you are relates to what you post about.
• What the blog is about: I don’t know that this…maybe it’s fine if who you are or what you do dictates what your blog is about. But for most of us, isn’t the blog just about what’s on our minds on a given day? Do we need to spell that out?
• Publishing schedule: Really? Not sure about this one. Unless of course you actually have one. A lot of us don’t. We may try to publish X number of posts a week, but life happens and sometimes we don’t. If you’re not treating your blog as a business, then this one seems like a stretch to me.
• Subscription options: I don’t think this one’s on my page, either. Then again, this is at the top of every page, so I don’t think it necessarily needs to be part of the About page.

Here’s another page with the requirements a different blogger says are essential:

• Image: This is pretty important to me, although it’s not important at all to other readers. I think there’s just something within us all — some call it just plain old nosiness — that makes us want to see who’s doing the talking writing. On my blog, there’s an image of me right on the front page, but I put an alternate one on the About page, too. I’m just glad it doesn’t seem to run off at least a few people.
• About Yourself: See my comments above.
• Helping Others: ¿Que? I have no idea how I can help you, other than to (hopefully) entertain you for a few minutes as you read my take on something. Anyone else have a good idea on this one?
• Contact: I put this in a separate page that’s always part of the navbar right below the title of the blog.

So I guess my About page hits a few of the marks, at least. With mine, I also tried to do a sort of Q&A, that I may change. I seriously doubt I’ll replace it with some elaborate explanation of how I can help you…unless something really brilliant comes to mind.

Don’t hold your breath, please.

Now it’s your turn: Do you have an About page on your blog? How does it compare with what these articles say you should have? Was there anything you like to see that they left off their lists?

Don’t be shy: you know what to do!