I’ve read so many times, from successful bloggers and website admins, that one of the biggest tips they can give is to build trust, build trust in your website, but even more – to build trust in you as the author.
One of the first things, first ways to help build up trust is to have your bio in the sidebar. Its one of the first things they will see when going to your page. They can see your photo, read about you, and from the very begging you building up that trust.
This quick post/tutorial will show how I add an author bio box to my site, just follow along if you want to add one for yourself.
1) Add your author bio to your user
The first thing you will need to do is add yourself some text to your bio. You need to write your bio, something that tells the story about you and you’re why or about this website.
To do this, first you need to go to Users -> All Users
Users -> All Users menu option
Then, you need to select the user to add the bio too, either you or another author on your site
Select the user
The bio box
Add your bio
Once added you need to save by clicking the blue ‘Update Profile’ button to save.
Update profile button
2) Next, add the widget
To add your bios to the sidebar, we need to add a widget. I personally use the ‘Meks Smart Author’ myself, but any of the author widgets will work.
To do this, first, add the widget from Plugins -> Add New, then searching for an author widget
Plugins -> Add New menu
Once done, go to Appearance -> Widgets
Appearance -> Widgets menu
Finally, pull the new author widget you added into the sidebar, then select your user from the list and tweak the widget to your personal design.
Add your widget to the sidebar
3) Take a look at your side to check the bio box
All changes are now done, and you bio box has been added. Validate the look by checking your page – then tweak it as required to suit your design
Bio box added to website
Simple, but effective change
Adding the bio box just gives you face to the page, and really connects you to the people that visit. It’s a small but worthwhile change to make – and very simple too.
Note: The changes in this post are for the Thesis Classic Responsive skin. Although some of the visual builder elements may be the same for other skins – the CSS changes may not work for other skins.
