It seems that I have never talked about this theory before, only about the design reasons and modifications of some local functions. Most of the modifications online are also for components. In this article, I want to write a purely theoretical article, using my current blog as an example to extend the design thinking of the blog.
I believe that through this article, I can provide some directional suggestions to small partners who want to modify their own blogs, instead of blindly using online components and directly copying them when they see something good.
This article is just an explanation of my understanding, which may be subjective.
Why do you blog?#
This is the reason why everyone starts to build a blog, and it will change over time. Speaking of which, I initially wanted to write all the problems I encountered in my blog, so that when I encounter them again, I won't have trouble finding them due to a long time gap.
So we can see that my initial goal is to "quickly find the articles I have written before by searching keywords, and easily find solutions".
Therefore, the most important thing for my blog is to optimize search.
In the past, when the butterfly version was relatively low, because there were many articles, it took a long time to load the local search index, so at that time, I first used Algolia. I remember two years ago, not many people were using it, but I knew I needed it, so even though the configuration was troublesome, I still chose Algolia first.
This is the design goal, every function of yours needs to be supported by demand.
You don't need to spend time on unnecessary functions, but you need to focus on the most important things.
Through this question, we know that there is a demand first, and then there is a function. The function should not precede the demand, as this will only waste development resources and your time.
When your demand is already met under the current conditions, then there is no need to improve the blog, but to find inspiration and write blog articles. Share the content you want to share. We need to know that articles are the cornerstone of a blog. Without articles, a blog not only lacks an entrance for others to come in, but also opens the door for them to leave.
Where do you expect people to come from?#
My initial goal was for people to come from search engines. Like when I search my own blog, others come to your blog through search engines.
So I knew from the beginning that I needed to optimize search.
Many people may not have planned to let more people see their blogs at the beginning, so they created QQ groups and shared new articles in the group's moments for friends to share and communicate.
Therefore, different audience groups have different design directions. For me, who focuses on search engine optimization, the first thing I need is for others to be able to find me. The first step is to register on various search engine webmaster platforms, and then optimize the page to meet SEO requirements. The most important thing is to "have a good title".
Although my search optimization is not very good, because I haven't deliberately studied it, I stumbled upon it myself. Here, I summarize what I think is the condition for optimizing search.
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Have a good domain name, .com or .cn, as short as possible. This not only shortens the length of your links, but also increases the possibility of memorization. If you have multiple businesses, you may need to manually enter the domain name many times. It's like when a teacher punishes you to write your name 100 times, a short domain name can save you time.
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Domain name registration. As long as you provide services in China, you need to register. Without registration, you can't do anything.
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Hosted on a domestic server. If the target audience is Chinese users, the demand for Baidu search may be higher. If it is hosted on a domestic server, it will be easier to crawl than hosting it on Vercel and GitHub Pages. (Tested)
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Stable service. Search engines need your website to be stable enough, because search engines need to consider that if users click on a link every time and enter a 404 or 503 error page, it will be a bad experience. Search engines will continue to crawl and monitor the operation of your website. This is also the reason why most personal blog search optimizations are not good. The services are either overseas or strange services (such as public network + NAS) (some people even use 1m intranet penetration to build websites), which leads to instability and greatly reduces the ranking order.
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Fast loading time. People's patience has been worn out in the Internet age. If your service takes too long to load, almost no one will be patient enough to wait. When I search for a result, I usually open a bunch of websites at the same time and see which one loads faster. That's why I have a separate section for my blogroll based on access speed.
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Have a good title. Your title should consider "what content users search for to read my article"? It is really different from naming on social platforms such as WeChat official accounts. The purpose of social platforms such as WeChat official accounts is "to make users have the desire to click when they see the title", while the logic of titles for search engines is "to make users more likely to search according to my title". Because the search weight is: the closer the webpage is to the search content, the higher the ranking. Websites have order weights, and keyword weights are greater. Ordinary small blogs cannot compete with large websites, so the most effective solution is to cover more user search content with good titles to achieve high-ranking inclusion.
Let's take an example:
"Python Study Notes 2"
Now there are many programmers writing blogs, and this kind of title is really common. You can really see a lot of this kind of title, which is ridiculous.
Let's analyze this title according to the method mentioned just now.
First, we judge based on the content. What kind of users will search for "Python Study Notes"? The answer is almost none. Because people who want to learn Python usually only search for "Python Tutorial".
Then judge based on the website. Because we are a personal blog, the title "Python Study Notes" has been used in many articles, even if we use this title, others cannot find it by searching for this article title, because the website weight is relatively low and cannot compete with those large websites.
Finally, the conclusion is: GG
A more comfortable user experience#
We have planned the functions and allowed users to come in and read the articles, so the last step is to let users see the correct content they need quickly and clearly.
There are many adjectives in the previous sentence, let's talk about them one by one.
Quickly#
We need to make the webpage load quickly, which is fast in terms of performance. This involves not having too many miscellaneous JS scripts, deferring and asyncing third-party services as much as possible. Preconnecting important resources as much as possible, and avoiding the use of third-party Chinese font files (pure English fonts can be used).
We need to let users see the content quickly, which is fast in terms of interaction. Let users see the content on the first screen, or even get the answer on the first screen.
If you want to improve the user's browsing time, you can delay the interaction, but do not compromise on performance.
Clearly#
Let users see your content and see it clearly.
You need to ensure that the contrast between your text and background is high enough, and it can be friendly enough for people with mild visual impairments. Overly complex backgrounds, especially backgrounds that are too complex under the text, will seriously reduce the user's reading experience and affect reading speed.
If your background is good-looking, it is even more dangerous. Users will be attracted by your background, making it difficult for them to focus on your content.
If you have a lot of dynamic effects, the human eye's instinct to capture moving objects makes it easier for users to be distracted from the content and be guided to be distracted.
So it is very important to let users read clearly.
Needed#
Some people deliberately create titles that do not match the content for SEO, making it difficult for users to see or even not see the content they need.
Search engines will analyze user behavior. When users visit your website and do not find the answer to their questions and then visit other websites to seek solutions, or if they visit your website for a short time, it may affect your weight and cause serious user loss.
Matching titles and content is very important.
Correct#
Wrong content is fatal for users who expect to get answers to their questions.
Most people search for blogs on search engines to meet their needs or solve problems. When you cannot provide the correct content, for users who are eager to find solutions to their problems, they don't have time to judge the authenticity. Wrong content will only bring criticism.
I have seen many tutorials that initially posted incorrect code and then added a sentence later saying that the previous code was wrong. There are also those who make jokes, and I have blocked them all.
(By the way, if you want to use my blacklist, you can visit the project Google Chinese Banlist)
Summary#
This is some experience I have gained from building a blog for more than 900 days. If it provides direction for your blog construction, you may want to continue to follow my blog/official account, where I will frequently share some Internet dry goods and tutorials.