Even though the majority of your blog’s traffic will likely be on mobile devices, and thus most people won’t see the sidebar, you should still make sure your sidebar is useful for your desktop browser readers.
If you plan to get your blog into Mediavine it’s good to have several sidebar widgets on your blog so that you can serve ads to readers. Google’s ad recommendations generally require that at least one sidebar widget is present in between sidebar ads. This means that you’ll likely need at least two widgets on your blog sidebar to be able to serve profitable ads.
Typically, you’ll have one ad below the first sidebar widget, and a sticky sidebar ad below the second or third widget. Sticky ads stay stuck to the page while the user is scrolling.
What to Put in Your Blog Sidebar
Here are seven brilliant ideas for what to include in your blog’s sidebar!
A Short Biography
The sidebar is a great place to introduce yourself to new readers. I recommend adding 3-4 sentences in a short “about me” section so that readers can get to know you. Blogs with authors tend to get much more engagement since people know there’s a real person behind the content.
Social Media Links
Include links to each of your social media accounts on your sidebar. Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are all great networks to be a part of depending on your niche. Encouraging people to follow you will ensure that they see your social media updates regularly. If you post links often, this can drive traffic back to your blog.
Search Box
Adding a search box to your sidebar will help visitors search for the information they need much easier.
Email Subscribe Form
The sidebar is a great chance to get more email subscribers. Consider adding a widget and a piece of text encouraging visitors to subscribe to your newsletter.
Recent Posts
I sometimes like to add a widget showing my most recent posts to my sidebar. I only do this on blogs I update often!
Popular Posts
Another great idea is to add links to your most popular posts in the sidebar of your blog. As readers scroll through the article they’re currently reading, they might see a post that catches their eye and click on it. This decreases your bounce rate overall. The only downside is that competitors can steal the topics that have worked on your blog.
Topic Lists
A tag cloud or category cloud can help users discover more posts about different topics on your site.
I hope you found these sidebar ideas helpful!