A cohesive web design is critical for engaging online users. Readers will likely leave your site if it’s cluttered with too many words and links.

Adding a sidebar can boost the engagement and functionality of your website. Sidebars improve your website’s design and make users feel less overwhelmed when viewing your page. Plus, you can use them to share useful content, such as a limited-time offer or related products.

In this post, we’ll start by explaining what a sidebar is and who may want to use one. Then, we’ll discuss their pros and cons and explain how to create and edit a sidebar in WordPress. Let’s get started!

What Are Sidebars?

A sidebar is a vertical column that’s typically located on the left or right-hand side of a page, similar to a newspaper layout. Websites use sidebars to display widgets and supplementary content alongside the main text, such as ads and contact forms.

It’s also common for a website to use a sidebar for navigation options. For instance, Reddit users can access different topics, such as Internet Culture, Games, and Technology directly from their sidebar:

They have also included a Resources section in their sidebar content. Here, users can view job openings, learn about Reddit, visit the pressroom, and more. By including these links in the sidebar content, users don’t have to scroll to the bottom of the page to explore the website.

While a sidebar typically appears on either side of the main text, some content-heavy sites are commonly designed with two sidebars (one on each side).

Who Can Benefit from Sidebars?

Adding a sidebar to your website allows you to display relevant content without overwhelming visitors. They’re useful for any website type, especially websites with a lot of posts, such as online publications.

If you operate an eCommerce website, you can use a sidebar to display relevant products and point customers to similar items.

Moreover, sidebars are a great place to share coupon codes and flash sales. Customers may be more likely to complete a purchase when they see advertisements and promotions for your products.

You can also use your sidebar to display extra information about an item, such as customer reviews. When potential customers read reviews, they may be more likely to choose your business.

Sidebars are also the ideal place to share your bio if you’re an author or influencer. For example, the author of Gimme Some Oven food blog uses the sidebar to introduce herself in a brief bio:

She has also included an email subscription form and social media links. This is an effective way for influencers and small businesses to collect leads and boost engagement.

Furthermore, if your website has a blog or newsroom, you can point visitors to popular posts from the sidebar. ABC News and other news sites use sidebars to categorize and display trending stories and videos:

If you share multiple stories each day, you might want to add a search bar to your sidebar. That way, users can search for categories and articles that interest them.

What’s more, a sidebar can help you boost site revenue by displaying advertisements and affiliate codes. Presenting ads and links in the sidebar can help it feel more organic and less like a money grab.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Sidebars?

Sidebars have various benefits for your site. Most notably, they improve your website’s layout and design. By eliminating clutter, you can improve your organization. Plus, you can enhance navigation and boost functionality.

Additionally, sidebars allow you to display various information and features at once. For example, you can advertise your latest blog post and display an ad in one place. That way, your visitors can see more content without scrolling to the bottom.

While sidebars are fantastic for desktop users, they don’t translate well for mobile devices. That’s because there’s not enough space to include a full sidebar in mobile design. Plus, it can hinder download speeds.

To create a cleaner and faster mobile site, you may need to hide the sidebar for users who access your site from this device.

How Do You Add and Edit the Sidebar?

Adding sidebars to your website is easy when you know the steps. Fortunately, many WordPress themes already include sidebars on their pages.

For this tutorial, we’ll be showing you how to edit the sidebar using the Twenty Twenty-Four theme. These instructions may vary, depending on the theme installed on your website. However, if you’re using a block theme, you should be able to follow the same steps.

First, you’ll need to navigate to Appearance > Editor in the WordPress dashboard to open the Site Editor. Here, you’ll see the Design sidebar on the left with navigation options:

Next, click on Patterns, scroll down to Template Parts, and select General:

This will show you the general templates for your theme. Click on the Sidebar template to edit it.

Here, you can click on the plus (+) icon to add widgets and blocks to the template. To remove any blocks you don’t want, click on the three dots and select Delete from the drop-down menu:

When you’re finished editing the sidebar, click on Save.

If you want to add a new sidebar template, return to the Patterns page, click on the + button at the top of the left sidebar, and select Create Template Part:

On the next screen, you will name your sidebar, leave the General option checked, and click on Create:

Now, you can click on the blue + block insertor to add blocks to your sidebar. With options like contact forms, star ratings, business hours, and much more, you can create a custom sidebar to fit your business needs.

When you’re satisfied with how it looks, you can click on Save. As you can see in the image below, we created a sidebar with a contact form, business hours, and a button to chat on WhatsApp:

Now, you can insert it to any page in the Site Editor by clicking on the + block inserter and searching for the template’s name.

You can edit the placement of the sidebar by first creating a column block:

If you want a left sidebar, you’ll choose the 33/66 option. For a right sidebar, you’ll choose the 66/33 option. For left and right sidebars, you can select the 33/33/33 or 25/50/25 options.

Conclusion

A cluttered website can make users feel overwhelmed. By adding sidebars, you can keep your content organized, improve bounce rates, and boost sales.

If you publish a lot of content on your website, you can include related posts, social media links, and an email subscription box in your sidebar. Moreover, the sidebar is a great place to put your contact form, business hours, and other ways for visitors to reach out to you.

Do you have any questions about how to use a sidebar for your website? Let us know in the comments section below!