Web design matters when it comes to blogging. Here are seven easy tips pretty much anyone can use, even those new to blogging.
1. Yes, Your Web Design Is Important
Many people believe that if there is good content, that people won’t care about the design and they will still read the content. Nothing could be further from the truth. If your blog looks like crap, people are going to click off of your site before they even have a chance to determine whether or not your content is awesome. So you could have figured out the cure to cancer and posted it on your blog, and if people don’t like your design, they’re not going to stick around. Making your blog design reader friendly is a must.
2. Determine Your Color Scheme
Different colors give off different vibes, and you can use colors to evoke a particular emotion or to give your blog a certain look or feel. Think about how you can make colors work for you. Orange and yellows are happy, vibrant colors, while shades of blue are serene and calming. Greens are excellent to use for blogs about making money online, or healthy eating blogs.
3. Develop Your Logo
You may want to consider “branding” your blog, or yourself. This is a great way to link together your blog’s social media outlets, e-books, emails and more. Develop a logo that is unique to your blog and your online business. Use this logo in your blog’s header as part of your web design and you will have effectively established your brand.
4. Create A Focal Point For Your Pages
What do you want your reader to do when they get to your blog? Do you just want them to read content? Or are you gearing up for them to add their name to an email list or click on a certain ad? Think about what you would like every reader to do once they get to your blog, and then make that the focal point of your pages. This may be one thing for your whole blog, or something different for every page. Just make it easy for people to see what you want them to do. If you want people to add their name to an email list, don’t hide it off in the corner somewhere, because people will never find it. Make it prominent.
5. Consider Adding Your Picture (If It’s That Kind Of Blog)
Are you personalizing your brand? Are you writing your blog posts from a first person perspective? If so, you may want to consider adding your picture to your blog. People like to know who is talking to them. They like to see a face. You may want to do this on your blog’s main page, or you may want to do this in a separate “About Me” section. Either way, people are going to enjoy connecting with you more if they feel like they’re actually connecting with you.
6. Don’t Overlook The Font
Font plays a big role in web design, and it’s not something you want to overlook. For the love of all that is holy, do not use comic sans. Repeat: do not use comic sans! While playful fonts can have their place in a blog’s header, most of the time, they do not belong actually in your blog. They will usually make your blog look childish and unprofessional. People won’t want to read your blog, because…well, they can’t. The majority of your font needs to be clean and easy to read, in a size that is easy on the eyes. Arial and other forms of sans serif fonts are very good for this.
7. Less Is More
Many people put together a bunch of stuff and throw it on their blog, assuming that the more there is to do and see on their blog, the better. Actually, it’s the opposite that is true. When it comes to web design, less is actually more. You want to have a clean, well organized blog design that doesn’t have too much going on. If you have a ton of stuff everywhere, people aren’t going to know where to look or what to do, and they’ll get confused and click off your blog and go somewhere else. Make sure that the widgets and other blog design components you have on your pages really need to be there. If they don’t, eliminate them.
Get creative with your blog’s design and make it something totally unique and your own. Have fun with it!