Principles for Good Blog Design, pt 2

June 26th, 2010 | Blog Design, Blogging

help 4 – To reiterate… Some of your blog posts are going to be more popular than others. Once you recognize which blog posts these are, keep them from being buried by finding a way to highlight them. You may have a popular posts section in the sidebar of your blog, for example, keeping these specific blog posts from getting lost in the shuffle. Another option is to have a popular articles section in your sidebar where you list your most popular blog posts so that readers can continue to find them. You can also tag or categorize blog posts to reflect their popularity so readers can go back and easily find them later.

5 – Do not make a blog banner that is big or unwieldy. The banner is the top portion of your blog, spanning across from right to left. There is a lot of information that you can put here, like a graphic, the name of your blog or even your picture. If your blog banner is too big, and someone who is reading your blog has to scroll down in order to find your content, then its time to make a change. Your blog banner and how readable your content is are two details that will make or break your blog when people visit for the first time.

6 – Make sure that your blog is visually appealing. If you cannot come up with a design that screams “visual appeal!”, at least make sure that your blog is not ugly. You should avoid bright colors or seriously contrasting colors, and you should stick to fonts that are reasonable, such as Arial and Times New Roman. If you are looking for something with a little bit of flair, Calibri is a good choice as well. Once you are done, let a professional designer look your blog over and give you feedback before you start taking things live, because what looks okay to you may not look okay to the rest of the world.

7 – Get rid of anything that isn’t serving a purpose. If you have random widgets and other junk in your blog sidebars and they’re not serving any real purpose, get rid of them. Blogs can become too busy really quickly, and one, two or three sidebars can quickly become too much. Go through every widget and remove the ones that aren’t benefiting you or your readers in some way. Cut down on the clutter, because visual appeal and good blog design are your friends when it comes to attracting readers to your following.

* Keep in mind that not only is empty space allowable, but it can also serve a great purpose because it helps your readers focus on what truly is important: Your content. These concepts are really simple but they pack a punch when it comes to delivering the content your readers want without forcing them to be bogged down by poor blog design.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-02-06 08:20:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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