Posted by Ray White on November 27, 2009 Comments (1)

Blogs are the easiest sites to set up, and it doesn’t even have to put a dent in your wallet. Customization is simple with free templates, themes, widgets, and plug-ins for just about every blogging platform available. You add the content, set the font, pick the colors, throw in a few fancy graphics, and presto, you have a web site as unique as you are up and running.

Installing every free blog accessory that you can find isn’t necessarily a good idea though. While it may be tempting to add a traffic stats widget, a snazzy background, an ornate font, and a cluster of flashy animated gifs to your blog, this kind of plan can easily backfire. How? It takes focus from the blog posts, which is the reason why your visitors are there in the first place. It also can slow down the loading of your site. Not everyone has the patience to wait for a site to load if it takes longer than a few seconds.

Research the free blogging tools that are available so that you can make an informed decision about what to add to your blog. Choose only the options that will truly be useful and informative. A visitor counter can add a “wow” factor, but is it really useful information to your readers? Does that flashy background improve the appearance of your blog, or is it distracting? Your blog readers want information, and they want to be able to find it quickly and easily on your site. Too many additions can make your site look cluttered and disorganized.

The key to getting the most from free blog tools is being very selective with what you install. Be realistic about assessing what kinds of blog accessories will improve your site. Even a blog tool that doesn’t cost you any money may not be an asset in the long run.