The structure of a healthy blog

I've received a long list of questions over the past 4 months and even though I've replied to them personally I think a lot of them are things many of us in the blogging world ponder on frequently. I spent yesterday categorizing those questions and I find this to be something very basic and important that we sometimes overlook.

With all the gadgets that every blogging platform provides it is easy to forget that your blog should only contain elements that are relevant and helpful to the people who read it. You may think you should only be worrying about this is you have high traffic but most of them will actually help you achieve some of the things you want to do in the future faster. 

As am enthusiastic blog reader and designer I think I healthy blog should accommodate the following attributes:

Header  One of the first things that a reader focuses on is your reader. The issue is not how modern or trendy it is but how it translates the general feeling of your blog.

About Section  Your latest post shows literally what you blog about but you also want to tell people about other things you write about. You can be as detailed as you want, the most loved blogs are those from people who aren't afraid of opening up.

Social Icons   If you are part of social media such as twitter, facebook or pinterest. You should give your readers the opportunity of visiting other sites where you post or share.

Comment Section   I know bloggers who are choosing not to have comments recently because either they cannot keep up with how many comments they receive of because they feel the comment count is not a reflection on their success.  No matter what the case is I a blog should ALWAYS have a comment form where readers can give their two cents. Interaction (as I always say) is key.

Categories or archives  As you can see on my blog I do not provide Archives. I don't because my blog is too recent and getting from beginning to end is easy which makes me feel that archives will be too redundant.  My blog reader side though, thinks categories are better than archives. This allows me to chose what to read depending on my interests.  This of course is mainly beneficial only if the blogger properly categorizes each post.

Share possibilities  I happen to be one of those who shares when I like a post. I find it very important that a blogger gives a list of buttons and options to share because it makes it easier for me than browsing around until I find the service I need to share on.

Defined sponsor area   I'm always cheering for bloggers to gain sponsors and be remunerated for their efforts but I do have to say that not only for looks but for the benefit of your sponsors, an area of your blog should be designated to them so that the blog look cohesive and again functional.

Subscription Links  When someone likes a blog they will naturally want to subscribe. People use different tools to subscribe to a blog, email, rss, reader and other third party sites. Look through your analytics sources and provide the most common forms of subscription in your blog.

Search Bar  Many times people will need to use a search bar while scouting through your blog, specially if you have been blogging for a long time. Categories and Archives won't be enough.

F.A.Q.   A list of the most frequent questions you provide is very helpful and a good time-management practice. Some people very impersonal to have this type of forms but I truly appreciate someone who has a list of questions because ti makes my life easier.

Terms  Many sponsor opportunities, product testing and even press opportunities come from thoroughly analyzing your blog and allowing people to read the small print.  You can easily create a list of terms and conditions or privacy policies using a generator. This allows companies to read how you manage your blog and what sort of publicity they can expect if sponsoring or publicizing your blog.

Copyright information  Depending on your ways of finding images, crediting and allowing other to use and manipulate your content you will also need a copyright section that explains your terms briefly and conceive.

Contact Thank you Mirka who reminded me of a contact link. Email links are a must.

Sample blog: Oh Hello Friend

Is there anything you'd add to this list? How do you develop your blog?