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
Related Posts -
What is the Difference Between Blogging and Content Writing? Sometimes it seems like articles and blogs are so similar to one another in content that it can be difficult to tell what the difference is between these two types of written media. Blogs tend to have more leeway, and follow a completely different structure because they can be short...... -
Do You Need a Blog Sitemap? If you have a blog, you may be wondering if you need to have a blog sitemap. What is a blog sitemap and what does having a blog sitemap mean for your website? A blog sitemap is a collection of links outlining the structure of your entire website. These links...... -
Joining a Blog Carnival Joining a blog carnival is capable of allowing you to improve your blog. Have you ever heard of what a blog carnival is all about? Let us go into what it takes for you to join a blog carnival including what the benefits are for participating in a blog carnival....... -
How to Get Blog Traffic in Five Steps Every blogger is looking to achieve the exact same thing: They are hoping to be read. There are millions of bloggers that give the idea a shot but then eventually give up because they feel like nobody is reading them. They feel like if they are unable to get blog...... -
Creating a Blog Video Online About two years ago, blogging hit a surge that allowed its way into the mainstream, and now everybody is blogging for a wide variety of different reasons. Blogs resemble web-based public diaries of sorts, where the creator can record their thoughts, their opinions, questions and answers and essentially anything else......
Related Websites -
Three Secrets of Successful Corporate Blogs Every week, new corporate blogs spring into existence, but many are doomed to fail from the start. How can you be assured that your blog is going to be a success? Follow in the footsteps of the leaders and learn from their mistakes! There are three main secrets to successful...... -
Introduction to Photo Blogging Photo blogs, which are also commonly referred to as photologs or phlogs, are great examples of the tendency for people to keep connected to one another at all times, as well as to share as much information as is possible with people who are virtually strangers to them. Photo blogging,...... -
User Friendly Corporate Blogging Tips Once you know what niche or industry you will be blogging about, the next step in the process that you need to consider before you actually begin writing is some basic blog design tips. When designing and modeling your blog, you absolutely need to be able to keep your readers...... -
Profitable Methods For Building A Blog That Sucks Readers In Ever wonder consider how many blogs there are on the internet? Here's This is The following is Here is a simple trick you can use apply make use of utilize to get a glimpse an idea. Go to Head over to Google and type in the search box "diet blogs",...... - Learn How To Consistently Create Targeted Traffic To Your Blog There are many ways to generate traffic to a blog, but many of them are not really useful in the long run, as they rely on shortcuts. The purpose of this article is to show you how you too can get high quality traffic coming to your blog on a......
- Designer Chandeliers Home Lighting
- Changing Colors Gazing Balls Garden Décor Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living Nursery
- Serving Trays Kitchenware Housewares & Kitchenware Collectibles
- Better Homes And Kitchen Design Publications & Software Gardening & Plants Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living
- Plates Dinnerware & Serving Pieces Kitchen, Dining & Bar Home Store
Most of the open source blogging platforms out there are going to come with at least a few different basic blogging designs. Some platforms call them themes, others call them templates, and others still have completely unique names for them. Most of these basic themes or templates have nothing inherently wrong with them, but customization is somewhat necessary otherwise everyone would have a blog that looked exactly the same as every other blog. Most blogging templates are really basic, and adding your own flair to them is easy. Still, many people get the whole customization thing wrong, and need to be steered in the right direction. There are some basic mistakes to how people go about customizing their blogs, and hopefully we can dispel some of them in this series on principles for good blog design.
