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
