Blogging Tips I Learned From A Visit To My Ex-Boss

This article is guest posted by Fitz Villafuerte.

I recently went to Manila Ocean Park with some friends and when it was time to go home, I thought of passing by the office where I used to work which is just a few minutes away. I have last been to that place almost a couple of years ago and since it was still early, I decided to pay my old officemates a visit and hopefully catch up with my ex-boss whom I really enjoyed working for when I was still there.

I entered the building and discovered that nothing much has changed. Unfortunately, most of the people that I was looking forward to see were not working there anymore. However, I was glad to discover that my ex-boss was still the one running the show in the department. I went to his office and was greeted by her secretary who asked if I had an appointment.

I introduced myself and said my reasons for the visit. She said that I was in luck because he’s on his way back from his last meeting and he would be available to accomodate me. Surprisingly, my ex-boss suddenly came in and immediately recognized me and he became enthusiastic about what I have been doing lately in my life.

We went inside his office and talked about a lot of things. He updated me regarding my old friends in the office – where do they work now and who got married recently and other news about them. And then he asked about me. I said that I’m busy managing my own business while doing a lot of freelance jobs. I likewise mentioned that I have recently started a blog on how to be rich, which I have been doing during my free time.

My ex-boss is not really a big fan of the internet so I had to explain what a blog is. I gave him my address and he immediately logged into the internet to take a look at it. I decided to go to his side so that I could explain more about my website. As I was walking towards the other side of his desk, I immediately saw his facial reactions as my webpage is loaded on the screen. I noticed the subtle movements of his eyes as he is scanning through the front page.

I decided to remain silent and observed him as he explores the site and scanned through several articles. He was reading a post I wrote about debt and self-renewal when he suddenly decided to click a Google advertisement at the sidebar. He was surprised to see my webpage gone. At that point, I explained to him what he just did and told him how he made me earn some money.

Suffice to say, we had a good time catching up that afternoon. During my drive back home, I realized that I’ve just learned a great way on how to evaluate the effectivity of my blog’s layout. Ask non-bloggers to visit your site and see how they will explore and navigate through your blog. What caught their attention first? Where did their mouse pointers hover and what did they clicked?

At that point, I decided that rather than just relying on theories, blogging tips and best known practices about web design and layout, I could likewise conduct an experiment with my non-blogger friends and observe how my website would appeal to them. This way, I will have a better understanding on how to improve my blog. You should try to do it too.

Be my next weekend guest blogger. Here’s how.