London, UK
Readers usually judge a blog by its cover before deciding to stick around.
Blog design is the cover judged.
Creating an attractive design sets the tone for a seamless user experience. People stay onsite to consume content from a well-designed blog. Boosting time spent onsite improves SERPs and increases blogging income. Folks who stick around a store long enough eventually pull the trigger to buy something.
Few bloggers design their blog from the eyes of their readers. Most want things to look how they want things to look.
Bad idea.
The ego possesses design blind spots. Perhaps you seem pleased at how your blog looks but readers often differ in their opinion.
Look painfully closely – even if it hurts – at blogs which load more slowly than a drunk snail chugging through molasses due to:
- multiple dynamic ads
- pop-ups
- heavy image usage
- low quality hosting
Most readers save true masochists exit slow-loading blogs within seconds. People need to stick around your blog to become:
- loyal readers
- community membersĀ
- customers
- clients
- referral traffic boosters
- referral business builders
Poor blog design turns these potential rabid followers into blogging “strangers in the night” who never visit your blog again.
Intelligent blog design parks readers in front of your:
- blog posts
- products
- services
to build organic traffic, time spent on site and blogging income.
Follow these tips to design your blog successfully.
1: Invest in Premium Hosting
Premium hosting offers you sufficient server space to handle:
- content
- images
- comments
- concurrent visitors
- traffic surges
Invest money in premium hosting to enhance blog design.
Wise bloggers hellbent on creating a pleasing design invest good money in hosting to handle:
- high definition video embeds
- image embeds
Smart blog design makes things look pretty and load quickly.
Your blog may look great but nobody will wait 30 seconds for your 10 images per blog post to load.
Pay up to play up.
Buy premium hosting – basically a step or two up from the basic options – to craft an appealing blog design.
2: Invest in a Simple Theme
Observe the Blogging From Paradise theme.
This design is simple. Clean and clear, no genuine excess exists.
Follow the Blogging From Paradise lead. Invest money in a clean theme to improve the user experience. Focus readers on your content.
Stay away from busy themes. Excess bells and whistles only distract readers to send them heading to the blogging hills. Few humans enjoy an assault on their senses the moment one visits a blog. Easy does it.
Practical TipsĀ
- invest in a simple premium theme
- choose a clean, clear design to craft a pleasing user experience
- avoid busy-looking themes guaranteed to repel most readers
3: Align Top-Down
Align everything top-down to speak your brand message.
Design with pure alignment in mind. Emit a singular theme in terms of what you offer.
Avoid confusing readers with off topic content or elements.
Peep Blogging From Paradise Dot Com. The domain is bloggingfromparadise.com. Look down. See Blogging From Paradise, Retire to a Life of Island Hopping then the Welcome message. Look below to scan blog posts. Move your peepers to the right. Observe the top menu. Look down to see a search bar, online course and popular posts. Scroll to the bottom. Check out my footer menu, social media icons and disclosure.
Look closely at my theme design. Does it feel like Blogging From Paradise? You betcha it does. Blue tones, blue skies, wispy clouds, palm trees, white sands, turquoise waters and a sail boat lazing in the background. The blog feels like someone blogging in a tropical paradise based on the imagery readers see. Consider this blog an experience. I like to think of readers stepping from behind the phone or laptop onto a tropical beach for blogging tips anytime one visits Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
Top to bottom, that is what you get here. That is the design.
Everything you see aligns with my blog name and brand message.
Design to align.
Be memorable by lining up all content and elements on your blog to fit within your brand message.
4: Use White Space Liberally
Employ white space to create contrast between content and said white space.
Focus readers on what matters most: blog posts.
White space adds quiet to your blog. Readers love a peaceful experience.
On the flip side of things, vomiting garish ads all over a blog creates jarring chaos. Some bloggers all but beg readers to bounce by jamming dynamic ads, extraneous elements and worthless widgets into all possible crevasses.
White space!
Use it liberally to create a softness, to establish contrast and to design a seamless user experience.
5: Craft Easy to Read and Scan Posts
Imagine readers following blog posts similar to tracing a typewriter.
Or picture cartoon characters consuming an ear of corn.
Left to right. Drop one row. Left to right. Drop one row. Left to right. Drop one row.Ā
Design an easy to read and scan blog. Minimize element usage. Drop paragraphs. Use headers. Embed bullet point lists. Use bold text and italics for contrast.
Make blog posts easy to scan. Some want a quick blogging snack not the whole blogging meal.
Give these readers what they want.
As for font size, 16 to 18 pixels seems about right for most bloggers and readers. Stick to commonly used font types. Typically, go with the default on your blog to play it safe. Deviating from common font types usually emits an amateur hour vibe at best or at worst, a 1990’s website feel which is the last thing you want. Convey a professional image by choosing a simple, plain, commonly-used font.
Use H2 headers for your main points. Break down each point into either H3 headers or bold fonts to taper down effectively.
Beware designing the post end to be as busy as Midtown Manhattan traffic. Some bloggers call readers to 3, 4 or 5 actions with contrasting fonts, aggressive images and obnoxious buttons. Refrain from this brutish strategy. Give readers one clear call to action at post end for a graceful but effective design. Point gently in one direction versus yanking them around violently in 5 directions.
Practical Tips
- design content to be fairly narrow east to west
- go deep north to south for easy scanning and reading as content length increases
- imagine readers following the movement of a typewriter to get into the proper design frame of mind
6: Make it Navigable
Click through every link on your blog.
Does it seem easy to get around?
Look closely at your menu locations.
Do readers easily find each menu?
Make your blog easy to navigate.
Give readers a simple way to get around quickly to obtain what they want.
Readers travel around your blog. Make their commute easy.Ā Remove roadblocks. Trash detours. Clear their path from one post to the next.
Practical TipsĀ
- ask someone to click through your blog for 5-10 minutes; tune into their feedback
- make it seamless for readers to see and click through to whatever content, products or services that they want
7: Embed a Search Bar
I feel flummoxed every time I visit a blog without a search bar.
This design flaw remains ridiculously common.
Let me ask you: When you visit any website do you instantly know how and where to find content matching the questions in your mind?
No you do not.
How in the heck do you expect readers to get their questions answered if you neglect embedding a search bar?
This would be like Google removing the search bar in favor of listing search results for readers to scan through, one-by-one, for hours on end.
If that sounds nuts you better include a search bar for readers immediately.
Post it high on your blog sidebar – above the fold – for easy viewing and using pleasure.
8: Embed Popular Posts
Embed popular posts via your sidebar.
Blog design should include giving readers what readers want.
Readers want popular posts based on the post popularity (duh). But new readers easily see these posts courtesy of your sidebar. Remember; newbie readers were not around at the original publish date.
Plug-ins do the trick on this one.
Practical TipsĀ
- use a plug-in to embed popular posts
- consider adding 10 posts to keep readers onsite consuming the most read content
- embed along your sidebar for effective placement
9: Embed Related Posts
After reading one post give readers related posts to drill home the point.
Smart bloggers design with alignment in mind.
After reading this post:
1 Sneaky Aspect of Blogging Most Hate to AdmitĀ
inquiring bloggers see this related post:
10 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your BlogĀ
The first post invites you to look within to conquer limiting beliefs. The related post extends the questioning to get super duper clear on the direction of your blog.
Add related posts to do legwork for readers. Give them related ideas to explore to drill your point home.
Practical TipsĀ
- use a plug-in to embed related posts
- place at the end of blog posts to draw readers to similar ideas
- drop 6 related posts for a rich library of aligned concepts
10: Make Your Business Page Prominent
Post your business page prominently.
Give readers easy access to premium products and services.
Make your best help highly visible to benefit readers.
On the back end, this boosts blogging income for you.
I include:
- a Store link
- a Courses link
- an eBooks link
- an online course embed on my sidebar
My Store and Courses links adorn the top menu. My Store, Courses and eBooks links grace the footer menu
Conclusion
Designing your blog successfully is a skill.
Fine tune this discipline through careful observation.
See your blog through the eyes of a first-time reader. What design features influence them to stick around? What design flaws send them packing quickly? Honestly assess what needs improvement along with what works for them. If you cannot imagine your blog from their perspective simply ask your current readers for design feedback. Listen closely for helpful ideas.
Follow the above tips to improve the user experience on your blog.
Running a well-designed blog tends to be the springboard for a successful blogging career.
