A nice* blog design makes people want to stay and read.
Nice (in reference to blog design) adj. “A blog that doesn’t make your eyes bleed.”
I think that everyone has opinions on what a nice blog design is, some of us think a background design looks really cool, where others think that lots of white space is the cat’s meow. Some people like two sidebars, others prefer three or even four. Since this blog series is about what has worked for me, that’s what I’ll focus on, but also include some links to helpful articles and blog posts I’ve read on the subject.
Megan from Velveteen Mind said it best, regarding blog design,
“In essence, we are slipping our books into the shelves at Barnes and Noble and saying, “Yes, the cover is plain blue with only my title centered on the front, no excerpts on the back, and no one knows I wrote it because I just brought it from home… but yes, everyone here should single it out on the shelf and buy it. Because it’s damn good.”
Don’t judge my book by its cover, right?
I know it isn’t fair. Our writing should be enough. But when you have millions of voices saying that their writing should be enough, what are our poor readers to do?”f
Let’s talk about overall blog design.
1. A unique design makes you standout (unlike those provided by Typepad, Blogger, and WordPress.)
I know that when I switched from one of Blogger’s stock templates to a unique three-column design with custom header, I had an increase in readership. Certainly there are exceptions to this, as two of my favorite blogs, Swistle and Oh, The Joys, simply use the Minima template provided by Blogger and they are doing quite well without a fancy pants design.
There are thousands of free templates that you can find simply by googling “free template for blogger/wordpress.” Also, simply adding a unique header, easily made with the assistance of a program like Photoshop Elements or even Picnik can spiff up a basic template. If you happen to use Blogger for your blogging platform, Tips for New Bloggers is a great site that walks you step by step through tweaking and customizing the basic templates.
My blog uses a free template, courtesy of Scribblescratch, I designed the header myself, and Jennifer from Dress My Blog (and Jayesel) has helped me do a little tweaking.
If you prefer a truly unique design, there are many reasonably priced web designers who can help you. Here are just a few…
Dress My Blog
Swank Web Style
Temptation Designs
NW Designs
Simply Amusing Designs
Graphically Designing
Designs by Shannon
Judith Shakes Designs
Izzy Blog Design and Graphics
Splat Creative Designs
Pixel Pop Designs
2. Your blog MUST be fast loading
When people have 1000+ unread in their Google Readers or those who’ve stumbled upon your blog have to wait for your page to load, they simply aren’t going to wait and will click away, resulting in LOST READERS! {OH NO!}
In the past, I’ve had to remove widgets from my sidebar that caused my blog to load slowly. Other things that slow loading time are cluttered sidebars with excessive blog awards, coding errors, and flashy ads or backgrounds. You know those little flashy buttons that say things like “I <3 breastfeeding!” and “Twilight fanatic!”?? THOSE? Are the devil Kill the look of a blog Really impact the time it takes for your blog to load. Please make them go away.
Designs where the content is on the left, with sidebar(s) on the right, helps with improving loading, since at least your content is loading FIRST. If something is hanging up loading time, people can still read your post.
3. Make sure that whatever template you choose for your blog looks nice* in all web browsers.
You can check this by going to browsershots.org. *ahem* Apparently my blog looks like crap in Internet Exploder. I don’t know how to fix it and frankly, I think those of you reading this via IE should pick a different browser. Try Firefox or Google Chrome.
4. Your blog should be easy to navigate.
a) Is your contact information easy to find? Like, is it ON your front page, not just on a “contact” page or an “about” page? Please, for the love of all things bloggy, put your email address or a button that links to your email on your front page!!!!!! There is no reason to have to go on a scavenger hunt to find your email address. This is particularly important for those of you who are review bloggers.
b) Is it obvious where to comment on your blog?
c) Is your header “clickable?” If not, you really need to make a button that people can push to send them to your “home” page. On my blog, there is a “Home” button along the top, under my header. If your blog template doesn’t support this, it is easily done in your sidebar, you just need to code it….
For example:
<a href=”http://playgroupsarenoplaceforchildren.com>HOME</a>
You can also make your header clickable…somehow…if anyone would like to share with the class how to do this, please do so in the comments section.
d) Is your most recent post the first thing at the top of your blog? The one exception to this might be for those of you who frequently do giveaways and have your current giveaway as a “sticky” post. I’m referring to blogs that have an “about me” paragraph or a “cast of characters” before the first post. That’s information that is better left on a separate page or in the sidebar.
5. Did I mention before the design should look nice*?
Oh yes, I did! And this is what I mean…
Think about these things…the colors you choose for your background, headers, links, and fonts. Make sure they are easy to read. White writing on a black background…not so good, except for Photo Blogs. Stay far, far away from tiny fonts, they’re too hard to read! Even the font on this blog is a little too light-colored, I think. I keep meaning to change it, um, uh…anyone know how?!
Beware of really elaborate or flashing backgrounds, as they can distract from your content. If you have ads on your site, make sure they don’t overwhelm your content.
There is also a debate around the blogosphere about music that automatically plays on blogs. Music that automatically plays isn’t my favorite, though I won’t definitely click away. There are people who swear that they immediately leave if music starts playing. It’s just something to consider.
Here are a few links to posts that discuss blog design…
43 Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid
I’d love to hear what you all have to add about nice* blog designs. Please, please, please, please…make certain your comments don’t sound like “I hate blogs that…” I certainly don’t mind people putting in your opinions about what makes for a good blog design, just please consider the feelings of others.
Previously in this series…Writing Tips, Blog Promotion and Social Networking, StumbleUpon School
Business Cards Printing
November 14, 2009 at 2:55 am
What I love blogs with a nice design, is that it gives me the impression that their posts are worth reading because they exerted effort for the blog design. Thanks for sharing the things to avoid. So nice of you.
Trenches of Mommyhood
Twitter: sarahviz
November 14, 2009 at 8:06 am
I always read these blog tips of yours and get totally inspired to fix some things on my blog b/c Jennifer just told me how! and then damn, I spot something shiny and get distracted until your next blog tip post…
(Loving all the tips though – truly!)
OHmommy
Twitter: OHmommy
November 14, 2009 at 9:11 am
I like simple designs because my eyes have ADD and can’t focus online. When there is too much going on I get distracted.
OHmommy´s last blog ..Sto Lat, Dziadek!
Marylin
November 14, 2009 at 9:58 am
Oh the music playing as soon as I land on a site is a real bug bear of mine, especially if it’s difficult to locate the widget and turn it off!
I love visiting your blog instead of through a reader as you have such a nice clean design, which makes the reading more enjoyable.
Changing the font colour will be somewhere in your of your css file, I think! I use thesis now so I can do it all through the admin panel instead of delving into things I know nothing about! hehe
Marylin´s last blog ..In Your Face Friday 13th
Michelle
November 14, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I had to go to my blog and click on my header and make sure it took me back to the home page of my blog. I probably should’ve known that but thanks for reminding me to check.
I second the music comment. I like music just not on blogs. I keep my computer muted for that reason. I often am multi-tasking. If my computer starts playing music my kids always come over and try to look over my shoulder and see what is going on. Plus I think it is distracting to those around me.
Thanks for these tidbits. I love learning more.
Michelle Smiles
November 14, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE – do not put music on your blog. For the love of God, don’t do it. Nothing will make me click away faster than suddenly hearing music. I can’t find it fast enough to silence it so I click the big red X to get away from it.
Michelle Smiles´s last blog ..Show off
Nicole Feliciano
November 14, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I think it is also important to constantly refresh the design. I’m not talking huge overhauls, but little tweeks that keep things interesting. I just hired a designer to make me some holiday gift buttons and I think it livens up Momtrends. Great post.
Country-Fried Mama
November 14, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Thanks for schoolin’ us. Question: when did you find it worthwhile to pay for blog design? I have a modest little blog and free template from Wordpress. There are things I’d love to change, but I certainly don’t have the skills to do that. And yet, I wonder whether paid design is for more established bloggers. Thoughts?
Country-Fried Mama´s last blog ..I’m hearing voices. They’re making me do things.
mep
November 14, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Love the blog tips! I have been meaning to really improve my blog’s design since last year’s blog school by Jennifer.
It’s about time. I need to email Nap Warden and get things in motion!
mep´s last blog ..Much too young to feel this damn old?
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 14, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Country-Fried Mama, I initially paid someone to design my site when I’d been blogging for a year. Once I moved to WordPress, I couldn’t afford to pay someone to do the work. I learned on my own how to do a lot of the tweaking. I also learned how to make a custom header, which is really so simple and can make a huge impact.
If you want to be serious about blogging (ie: to make money, get published…), I’d recommend paying someone to design for you. Or you can be like me and learn to do it yourself!
Devilish Southern Belle
November 14, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Mine probably still isn’t the best, but I’m pretty satisfied with it. Of course, my readership is a small but loyal group of folks, so they may be biased
Now…..how do I figure out how long it takes my page to load? It comes up in a flash for me.
Devilish Southern Belle´s last blog ..Finally on top of my game!
Denise EPL
November 15, 2009 at 3:19 pm
This is a great post. I’ve been so disenchanted with my boring blogger template. I haven’t made the switch to my domain yet, but you inspired me to switch to 3 column design, with a little html tweaking! Oh and then I had to resize my header. There goes my morning. But thank you.
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 15, 2009 at 6:38 pm
DSB, I don’t know if there’s a specific site that will tell you how quickly your page loads! I know that I’ve assumed that my site loaded fine because it did for me, but then I found out from readers that people using different browsers had difficulty.
I say that if it’s loading slowly in IE, not to worry about it! (That’s so mean of me.) If it’s loading slowly with firefox, chrome, safari…that’s when I’d be concerned.
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 15, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Denise, No kidding! You go to make one little change and it ends up taking an entire morning/day/week.
If you use Firefox, I hope you know about the Firebug plugin, it allows to make changes to your html and see what happens when you make the changes before doing anything permanent. Greatest invention ever.
Karen Lewis
Twitter: amusingdesigns
November 15, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Jennifer,
Thanks so much for including me in your list of affordable designers!
It’s an honor to be included in a list with some of the top names in web and blog design.
And for anyone who is interested in a free website or blog analyzing tool, I find that the Web Page Analyzer does a pretty good job for what most people need.
Cheers!
Karen Lewis
Texan Mama
Twitter: TexMama
November 16, 2009 at 12:25 am
I like simple blog designs too. But, I think a blog design that is memorable, even if it’s just a memorable header, is a good idea. Not necessary, but a good idea. It’s helpful if it all can tie together, meaning, the name of your blog, plus a design that kinda matches it, plus a gravatar that also kinda matches it. Then stick with it. If you make changes, that’s okay, as long as it stays within the theme.
I know, that limits choices down the road. But, if you want your name to get out there (and your name is, for example Jennifer – sorry Jen) then you have to distinguish yourself from everyone else. (like the example you gave with the book cover).
Texan Mama´s last blog ..Meal Rotation
Holly
November 16, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I hate sites with music! I’m usually on the internet during my kids’ naptime and there is nothing more frustrating than realizing I forgot to mute the computer and therefore being unwillfully subjected to some twangy country song blaring from the speakers. It’s woken my twins up before and trust me, there is nothing scarier than a mother whose twins have been prematurely awoken from their nap. (This is also why the girl scouts avoid my house now. I miss the thin mints but would rather have sleeping twins.)
Holly
November 16, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Shoot. Forgot to leave my site address. I think my layout might be a horrible mess. If anyone wants to take a peak and comment, I would appreciate it!
~Laura
November 16, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Thanks for the great tips! A custom header is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. I’m on blogger and I think it is more limiting than wordpress on what you can do on your own. We’ll see what I can manage…
~Laura´s last blog ..The Showdown
sam {temptingmama}
Twitter: temptingmama
November 17, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Aren’t you sweet for including me in your designer list?! I love you!
As for the sidebars and content part – YES! Having the sidebars to the right is a good thing not only for the reason you mentioned above, but I think it helps with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) crawlers read sites starting on the left and therefore pick up content faster if it’s the first thing. Or so I’ve been told. LOL
sam {temptingmama}´s last blog ..Today
Ben
Twitter: benbramz
November 20, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I think your blog is very nicely designed. Its very conducive to reading your entries. You seem to have done a great job. Ive had a look at your code on the header, there are a few minor problems but other then that very nicely done.
Angles
December 4, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I posted some comments before anyway, because lots of your stuff is really informative.Absolutely amazing man!
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