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If you have low end, cheap hosting package, then the simple answer is, go with right sidebars.
If you have a high end host then it doesn’t matter, but I still recommend going with a right sidebar. Scroll down to see why I recommend using right sidebars for a blog, without the technical reasons.
Technical reason for using right sidebars, instead of left sidebars.
When browsers are loading up a website they process coding from top to bottom.
On a typical website, the first area loaded is the Header or the top area. Then afterwards it loads the body of the website, then the footer.
The body area is typically programmed as a large box, with several small boxes inside of it which are programmed using Tables or CSS.
Typical body coding forces a browser to load up the left sidebar box, then the content box, and then the right sidebar box. After the rightbar is loaded, then the footer area is loaded and displayed.
If you have ever wondered why Google Analytics needs to be inserted right before the closing tag of the body area? It’s because Google knows that the Analytic code can take awhile to load and will force the web page to hesitate if it’s in the header or the upper body area. Therefore it’s inserted at the very bottom of the page, so it doesn’t interfere with your visitors browsing experience.
By now I am sure you have figured out why left sidebars are a bad idea, from a technical stand point.
It is the first box loaded before the content area is displayed. For visitors this means they have to wait, typically impatiently, to see your content, which is the only reason why they are on the website.
If, like many bloggers, youl have a sidebar with lots of widgets, ranging from RSS Subscribe, Flickr, Twitter, Categories, Recent Post, Recent Comments, Advertisements, Etc.
All of these widgets will take time to load before they are displayed, even with proper caching in use. (See the post about WP-Widget Cache plugin; Works with Wp-Super Cache and Hyper Cache.)
So in simple turns, if you have a sidebar on the left side of your website, your traffic has to wait for every widget to load up and install in the sidebar, before the content area is displayed.
If you use a right sidebar, then your content area will load up first, giving your visitors what they want. And while they are browsing your content, the left sidebar will be loading up.
Now I do realize that there are Themes out there that use absolute CSS positioning. With Absolute positioning the content area can be set to load up first, and then the Sidebar coding will load in the left and right sidebars afterwards, in absolute or relative areas. This type of programming is rare on free themes, even premium ones.
But in general terms, stay away from left sidebars if you are on a shared web host, or a host that over sells it bandwidth, producing a slow loading website.
The non-technical reason for using a right sidebar over a left sidebar.
The first thing a visitor will look at on website is the top left corner and then scan their way diagonally down from that area. This is why your most important information should be in the top left corner, but don’t over do it, because it can have negative effects.
Following the train of thought of what people look at first, it would then make sense to put your sidebars and navigation on the left hand side, Right?
Wrong, at least for a blog.
What is the main purpose of a blog? To provide content such as news, how to, sales copy, pictures, videos, and so on.
So your first priority as someone who has a blog is to make your content easy to find, see and read for visitors.
Here is an example of giving your visitors what they want, using an e-commerce website.
Why fill up the top of an e-commerce website with content, sales copy, mission statements, about us, and other happy text, when the only reason a visitor is on the website is to shop and buy products.
The purpose of an e-commerce website is to sale products. So don’t stop people when they are there to buy. Show them what you have to offer and then provide an easy store navigation so they can find other products.
Then at the bottom of the website or on a different page, you can put about us and mission statements.
With a blog the opposite is true. Visitors come to your website for your content, and they want to get to it as fast as possible. They do not want to see all your fancy widgets that you have installed on your website.
Maybe after a visitor has read your article or viewed your media content, then they will look around your website and see what else you have to offer. And then you can show off your fancy widgets, related content, chat box, and other items of interest.
