Left or right sidebar?

by DavidO

Posted: 14 years ago 12 replies

WEB DESIGN

Is there any accepted preference for a sidebar on the left or right in a standard 2-column layout?

I'm using a 600px main content area with a 300px sidebar. I know that people tend to start reading from the upper left, so placing the main content first on the left would make sense.

But visually I prefer the sidebar on the left. What do you designers think on this issue?

#left #sidebar

Mohsin Rasool 14 years ago

I prefer sidebar in the right side for the blogs and left for the static simple sites...

-Mohsin
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- 2 replies
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- Tredi Andrasa 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Mohsin Rasool
  
  I prefer sidebar in the right side for the blogs and left for the static simple sites...
  
  I agree with Mohsin, but usually people eyes movements is tend from left to right, CMIIW
  
  Thanks
  
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- arwanfiles 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Mohsin Rasool
  
  I prefer sidebar in the right side for the blogs and left for the static simple sites...
  
  -Mohsin
  
  I agree this.
  
  Thanks
  
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SEOExpert104 14 years ago

Right for blogs, and left for other sites like Mohsin said, that's why you usually find sidebars on the right side in wordpress blogs, blogger blogs and etc, but just think of this, what suits you better?
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lr89 14 years ago

definitely people look more at the right side. That's why in general the logos are always on the right (except for hebrew or arabic that write from right to left). You will probably see ads should be more expensive on the right than on the left, because of this.
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RedMatrix 14 years ago

Right hand side for useful sidebar stuff, left hand side for navigation type stuff.
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~Dave
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awyne 14 years ago

Right Sidebar is most preferable.
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j-spratt 14 years ago

if it is a web site left make sense, but blogs look and are read better from right to left
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weaverIT Banned 14 years ago

[DELETED]

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- clickbump 14 years ago
  
  I design commercial sites consisting of blog sites and static page sites.
  
  I prefer the right sidebar for both. The eye scans from top left, down a few inches then sweeps to the right. You want your most compelling content to be presented to the user on that first downsweep of eye movement. That's why, in my opinion, the best layout for a two column design is with the sidebar on the right side.
  
  ~ s
  
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  Lambert Klein 14 years ago
  
  Most are left, but the right side is good too. One thing is that most users keep their mouse cursor on the right side. If the menu is there then its easier to navagate.
  
  It just depends on what you or your visitors like....
  
  Lambert
  
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GMatthers 14 years ago

Sidebars do catch attention on left aswell.
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Istvan Horvath 14 years ago

What nobody has mentioned... although it is quite important:

What do you want first in your code (to be read by the bots): a sidebar with a lot of links or your REAL content? One of the reasons blogs moved the sidebar to the right was to keep the ever refreshing content (your posts) to come first in the code

Of course, if you know enough html/css - you can have both left and right sidebars AND have your content coming first in the code.
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