We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: blogging is a continual learning process. Even the most successful and popular blogs have to revamp their designs, plug-ins and content development to suit changing tastes and trends in the blogosphere.

For many bloggers, the amount of room they give their visitors, in terms of how they control the experience of the blog, presents a particular challenge. Certainly there are optimal ways to read certain types of content but it is recommended that bloggers take a more liberal stance on how their work is accessed.

Here are several common sense methods, and their rationale, that will help bloggers yield more control to their readership:

Let readers open new tabs and windows themselves. It’s often tempting to have links open in separate windows to keep visitors on your page for a longer. But doing this often frustrates users as their browser becomes increasingly cluttered. Just because your links take them outside your blog doesn’t mean they won’t come back.

Let the reader start audio and video files when they want to play them. One of the most irritating signs of an ill-conceived website is music or video that plays (and loops) automatically when the content loads. It can be jarring, repetitive and make your blog appear cumbersome. Returning visitors will also be forced to turn off content they’ve already heard the first time. Let your visitors hit the play button.

Let your readers search through your content. Help them find exactly what they’re looking for by including a search tool on your blog. Also have archival links on your sidebar or on a separate page if you’re blog has been around for a while (you don’t want so many weeks/months/years cluttering your front page).

Avoid excessive Flash animation and intros. Forcing your visitors to sit through animations and intros (especially ones that take a long time to load) is a major turn off for those wanting to access your content quickly. Even if you include a ‘skip intro’ option, the excessive use of animation slows down your reader’s access to information and will quickly turn new visitors away from your blog. You should use Flash only when it’s absolutely necessary, like if you’re promoting a fantastic new product or feature.

Keep your blog’s navigation as simple as possible. Direct readers to your content with easy to read, easy to spot text links and icons. Avoid drop down menus or images that may confuse the reader and slow the navigation process down. The simpler the navigation, the better, as it lets the reader have more control when exploring your content.

Do not use pop-ups. Pop-up windows, especially advertisements, are incredibly annoying and will more than likely be blocked by your users’ browsers anyway. Don’t bombard your readers with pop-up ads, as it delays their access to your blog and leaves them feeling overwhelmed.

Have as little registration as possible. Having users register their personal information to either access information or to comment will detract from their experience of your blog and will turn many new visitors away from the get go. Make it easy for new visitors to comment on your posts. While, you still want to avoid spam, the commenting process should be as free as possible to make your blog more inviting. You still may want to consider having some sort of blog ‘membership’ to share premium content and develop a dedicated core readership. But at least in the beginning, it’s important that you don’t make your blog too exclusive.

Provide several bookmarking options below your posts. Having only one or two bookmarking options below your posts may discourage readers from sharing your content with others. Be as open to different social media as much you can. Have a clear list of options below your posts (but be sure not to clutter your page). If you notice on our blog, we have a convenient drop down menu of chicklets from Add This that clearly displays several popular social media sites. While Digg and Stumble Upon are among the most popular, you want to avoid limiting your readers’ options by only listing your preferences.

So there you have it, 8 simple ways of giving your readers more control when they visit your blog. Considering how people read and explore your blog is just as important as how they respond to it, so put some thought into how you can make their experiences easier.

Be sure to keep coming to Apollo’s Blog for more tips on streamlining your blog, developing content and using social media sites. We hope our strategies for blog development will help you make the most out of Web 2.0. Do you have any suggestions for improving your blog’s accessibility? We would love to hear them!