If you're running a blog or a website, you know about the problems of using copyrighted material such as graphics.
I really love those designers who offer us such a wide range of nifty icons or graphics for a free usage in our sites.
Maybe you like icons in a grunge look? Then you should visit these grungy olive icons - and the best thing is: they are coming with a (CC) 3.0 license...
Also take a look at the main Index of free icons...
My friend Randa Clay has a laser-sharp eye for graphic design. And she's the one who gave the Performancing Awards their "gloss" and professionalism. When someone comes to me and says "Hey Ryan, I need a good graphic designer for project X" my reply is almost always -> go with Randa Clay.
She does beautiful design and her turnaround time is second to none.
Thanks Randa, you really made these awards shine.
A few days ago, I was able to interview Steven Snell from Vandelay Design. In less than a year, Steven's blog has become one of the most read blogs in the "blog design and usability" niche. In fact, the Vandelay Design Blog has over 1000 subscribers to its feed, a major milestone.
One of the reasons I picked Steven for an interview is that I believe he's performing the art of using a business blog to perfection. Unlike so many corporate blogs, that seem to exist just to exist because it's trendy, Steven's blog provides useful information, establishes his knowledge and authority, and makes his customers confident in his abilities. Most importantly, it gets him business. I know excellence in execution when I see it...so I present to you an interview with Steven Snell, from Vandelay Design.
1. Tell us a little bit about your design business, how long you've been on the web, and the services you provide.
Vandelay Website Design has been in business for about a year. We provide web design, blog customization and website maintenance/updates. The blog has been online online for about 9 months, with the first 3 months being very inactive.
2. I believe that all businesses should use blogs for promoting their business. But so many either don't, or do a poor job at it. How do you use your blog to promote your business?
Well, first of all, I agree that blogs are a great tool for any business that has the resources to run a blog. The whole purpose for starting the blog for Vandelay Design was to get some additional content on the site that would draw search engine traffic, and ultimately more web design business. There are so many web design companies out there that it's extremely difficult for a new one to compete well in search engines for popular words and phrases. The blog posts obviously create additional pages on the site that draw some long tail searches. In recent months the blog audience has really grown steadily and the blog itself is now more of an asset then was originally planned. The search traffic is now taking a back seat to additional opportunities that might be possible, like developing new services (such as marketing, consulting, etc.) that could be promoted through the blog. Actually, when I saw the announcement last week that Performancing is offering some new services I thought it was ironic because that is almost exactly what I would like to do at some point. Read the rest of this entry
Can you please step back and look at your blog like a 1st time visitor?
Does the single article view answer the readers question immediately?
Is your homepage a 5* hotel lobby or a cluttered discount shop?
"I have no idea how to find something on your page." Could this be the #1 answer of a 1st time visitor when arriving at your blog?
Believe it or not but this is the main difference between people used to read blogs and standard Susan Surfer. Standard websurfers have no idea how a blog works. They want to SUCK information. FAST!
From: Attracting Joe Surfer to stay: It's the navigation stupid
How many 1st time visitors do you have? I assume that a standard medium traffic blog has between 60% and 90% 1st time visitors. Please don't expect blogging knowledge from your 1st time visitors!
Some basics, a provocation and five 'go read' link tips... Read the rest of this entry
A few days ago I happened to be browsing through my blog, looking for some articles I had written last month. As it happens, I hit the category archives, but to my surprise it was showing ONLY the latest 15 articles. No links at the bottom of the page to older posts in that category, nothing.
I use the WP Page-Navi plugin, which allows you to show a full list of archive pages for that category on each archive page. Apparently that plugin had been deactivated by mistake (I can only guess that I had disabled another plugin that was sitting just above it a month or two ago and had click on the wrong link by mistake).
Bottom line - A simple act of carelessness made most of my site's archives (almost) completely unavailable to readers and search engines (luckily, my archives page lists all posts on the site, so there was at least one way for crawlers to get there).
It made me wonder what other things might be broken on my blog (and on other blogs), and how often we let our blog management go unattended and let small errors like these creep in (especially in design - read Shane's post on virtual clutter).
We've talked before about the need for doing monthly 'blog reboots' to your blogs to evaluate your progress and highlight how you can further improve your blog. It would be wise to add a 'audit' section in which you look specifically at what things are broken or have gone downhill from the last month.
After all, you don't want to be in a situation where no one can read your site's archives.
A well placed image can make or break your latest blog post. I'm sure it has been mentioned on Performancing many times in the past but I feel this is worth mentioning again as a reader, I continue to be confronted with screen after screen of unrelenting text.
Although many of us read for leisure, reading is not necessarily an easy thing to do, particularly if it is screen based reading. Screeds of text can be exhausting, both physically and mentally. Images within a blog post help to break up the flow of the text which, strange as it might sound, actually helps to improve the flow of your blog.
That's enough of the why you should use images. Now it's on to where you can find them.
It is preferable you don't just yank photos from any old site, just because you like the image. Apart from the copyright issues, it is also tad rude. Having said that, it can sometimes be surprisingly difficult to get images from a corporate source. It is amazing how many places release press releases without an image or do not have have some images available for reporting purposes. Apple's PR is a good example of how to do this well. Use PR images where you can. The quality is almost always excellent and formatted with online use in mind.
Another good source of cheap, good quality images are stock photo places like iStockPhoto. This gives you easy and quick access to a wide range of photos at an accessible price. Just be sure to check the licensing agreements as these change from service to service.
If you are like me and either too cheap or can't afford to pay for blog fodder, Flickr is your friend. The default license for Flickr photos is a Creative Commons one. Remember that this is only the default license and many uploaders choose to reserve their rights so check the status before you use any pictures. The best option (and my own little secret weapon) is the Flickr advanced search. The advanced search lets you select only Creative Commons pictures. As an advanced tip, sort by "interesting" rather than "relevant" for some images you might not have ever thought to use but once you've seen them, you can't imagine ever not using them.
As always with images, please be sure to attribute appropriately (and in the case of Flickr, please also respect the Community Guidelines).
With those tips above, there is no reason not to regularly use images to spice up your valuable written content on your blogs. Remaining easy on your readers' eyes improves the chances that they will come back for more.
b&w tired eye originally uploaded to Flickr by izzie whizzie. Used under a Creative Commons By Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license.
As I reassess my own blog designs, I have come to the conclusion that clutter is a state of mind that doesn't just stop at your desk. It is virtual too, and it has a big impact on how I as reader perceive other writers' blogs. I have begun studying other people's blogs for design ideas and I have come to the conclusion that there are 3 main culprits for blog clutter. I'm probably not sharing anything new, but the following often detract from my reading experience:
Keep in mind that I'm not perfect and I've often been guilty of the first two. It is by making these mistakes that I am learning to be a better blogger.
I don't have a problem with widgets as an idea. Some of them are quite useful and I understand that Wordpress, for example, is so strong partly because of its range of useful add-ins. However, it's all about the context. If the widgets don't help the story your blog is trying to tell, should it really be taking up valuable real estate? For example, if you have a tech blog, do you really need a widget keeping everyone up to date with your latest Jaiku or Twitter micro-post?
Use expandable post summaries. Please. I know not all platforms use them (Blogger for one doesn't, unless you are prepared to have a half-useful XML hack-around), but if your chosen platform permits it, use them. Large chunks of text make it very difficult to scan the front page looking for relevant material. Post summaries allow the casual reader access to a wider range of your content, which can only be a good thing.
Ads are fine, but place them nicely. If you want them in the sidebar, that's fine. If you want them between each post, okay. If you want them in the header or footer, go for it (although if your page goes off the screen, I may not see any in the footer), sure, why not. What clutters the screen is when all of the above options are exercised. I understand why you have put the ads there, but I'm here to see your content, not to have third parties try to sell me something.
While I'm on the topic of ads, if the ads are too large and intrude on the reading, I'm just going to switch off. If you look like you're trying to sell me something I didn't come to buy from you, I'm switching off. If every post is divided with ads, splitting up the content inside a post, ruining my reading flow, I'm probably going to surf away. Keep the ads simple and relevant and I'm much more likely to click through on a couple. Flashy, intrusive and all over the place is likely to just push me away.
What pieces of virtual clutter distract you?
I'm proud to announce the latest WordPress theme from Performancing, the News Theme.
The theme intends to mimic the look and feel of a print magazine or newspaper, with paper-like upper and lower edges, which is quite suitable for blogs that want to put forth a newspaper-y type of image (aided by the display of the current date on the masthead).
The color scheme uses subtle shades of grey and blue, with the sidebar standing out with orange tints.
It's a return to the traditional 2-column format with the header able to pack in plenty of links and information while looking clean and professional. The background color in the sidebar panels is a nice touch, although for the blog I've got planned for this theme, that's the first thing I'd change.
The sidebar is wide enough to accommodate graphic ads or text links, and the 3-column footer gives it a very nice balance.
The News Theme also fits almost all the criteria I set out in the 'what makes a WP Theme great' post last month, and overall I'm thrilled to have this theme come out, and I'll be launching a new site using this theme soon which I'll announce here in this thread.
Hope you guys like the theme - let me know what you think about it and how (if) you think it can be improved.
Also see: Performancing WordPress Themes
Disclaimer: My website, Soccerlens.com, sponsors the News Theme.
In the last hour or so I've been scribbling notes for what would make an ideal WordPress theme. It occured to me that any successful theme would have to meet 2 main objectives: proper structure, and focus towards a particular audience.
By structure I'm talking about the basic building blocks of themes (or even websites):
A website will be limited by the imperfections in its foundation - so if you're building a theme that will be as popular as Cutline or K2 (or even more popular), then you must lay the proper foundations.
The second condition is focus - and knowing which audience you are designing the theme for. Read the rest of this entry
Part 3 of the Performancing Reboot.
It's supposed to be: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That's good, commonsense advice. If something is running and is successful (like a good design - heck, like Perf's current design), then don't rock the boat.
The problem here is that the "don't mess with it" mantra is a risk-averse strategy. It keeps you safe, but there are a lot of times that you DO have to take risks. Performancing wouldn't be here if the founders didn't take a risk.
When you take a risk, there's a chance for success and failure - you can minimize the chance of failure to a certain degree but after that, it's all about timing, luck and a lot of elbow grease.
What does this have to do with design?
The common proposition towards design is that if it's working, you shouldn't change it. Stability is good.
Stability is also positive-spin for being stagnant. Not all change is good, but that does not stop you from going out and seeking change, seeking improvement.
When it comes to blog design (or blogging, or anything you do in life), I think you should be pushing for constant refinement and improvement. Don't rest on your heels and accept the status quo - when you are successful, look at how you can improve and then do so.
It will give you an added advantage over the competition. Read the rest of this entry
Unfortunately, sometimes the logical thing to do and the "technically right" thing to do are polar opposites. Such is the case with those little tiny links at the bottom of your WordPress blog that send your reader into the pits of your archives. One must make a choice here... should I link to "page 2" of the blog archives using the words "previous posts" or "next page"?
Technically speaking, they are indeed previous posts. One would think that while a person is browsing the articles on your blog, they would naturally know what "previous posts/entries" meant, and would consequently know intuitively which link to click when presented with the options.
One would be wrong. Read the rest of this entry
Many blogs use the related entries plugin (or it's equivalent) - along with anti-spam plugins and smart URLs it has become an integral part of a blogger's arsenal.
I've recommended the plugin myself a countless number of times but yesterday while working on one of my blogs I started wondering if, in some cases, showing related posts would actually be less effective?
Consider this - the most common spot to show related entries is at the end of a blog entry. However, that spot is also a prime advertising spot, that's where you put the comments and if you want people to digg/reddit/delicious/stumble/etc your post, that's where you put your social bookmarking links as well.
All that clutter means that when the reader reaches the end of your article, he doesn't have just one thing to do - he's presented with an array of options. More often then not, I've found out that the fewer choices you give to the reader in terms of what to do next, the better results you will get. Read the rest of this entry
I generally subscribe to 3-5 new blogs per month. Maybe they're not new, but they're new to me, because I've never heard of them or read them before. But trying to quantify the features of the blogs I subscribe to is hard to do. Why do I subscribe? Is it the content? The design?
Because I'm a curious guy, I decided to take some inventory of the blogs in my reader. It was actually a pretty fun experiment. I was surprised to actually see the design of some of the blogs. Since I read exclusively from my reader, I didn't even remember what the design looked like :-)
Here are 5 features I've found to be effective to convincing me to subscribe.
1. Would it be cliche to say that content matters?
I don't really care if it's cliche or not, content matters! If you don't have regular decent articles, or at the very least articles that encourage lively discussion, then don't even bother starting a blog. I'm dead serious. Blog content, to a person who reads 80+ feeds, is of paramount importance. Don't even think about softball articles.
2. A clean, simple, aesthetically pleasing design
If you can't design a site for your blog software, pay someone to do it. We are professionals. This is what we do. You can't ignore the fact that if your design sucks, you won't get as many readers. I'm partial to sites with the content on the left and two well used right hand sidebars, but that's just me.
3. Readable Text
If your readers are like me, then they will bookmark your site before subscribing to it. Normally, I will bookmark the blog in del.icio.us and come back once or twice a week and check the content. I use this time to see if the site is worth a spot in my reader. So.... that means for at least a week, I will be reading your content directly on your site ... which means you need readable text. For me, that means either Arial or Trebuchet MS fonts. If you use Lucida Grande, I'm gonna be pissed. I just thing that font is unreadable. If you use a Georgia or Times New Roman font, you might be pushing the line. It better be a big font with lots of space. Serif fonts, without good spacing, can be unreadable as well.
4. Prominent Link to Your RSS Feed
I like to reward good bloggers by subscribing directly to their feedburner feed ... if they have one. The joy of seeing new readers in your stats is a good encouragement ... something you don't get if I subscribe to your blog's feed address. So, don't make me hunt for your link. If it takes me too long to find the link, I'll just click the RSS button in the address bar of FireFox. Normally, that will give me your blog's feed, not your feedburner feed. Worse still, if I'm in a bad mood and I can't find your link, I might not even subscribe at all, out of spite for the time you made me waste. Think about it.
5. Comment on My Blog
OK, OK, this has nothing to do with your design, but it will get me to read your blog. My personal blog is religious in nature. I like to find good bloggers in my niche. The way I do that is by checking who my favorite bloggers link to, and by checking the sites of the people who comment on my blog (also, linking to me gets you lots of love). If you can contribute to the conversation in my comments, I will probably assume that you can contribute to the conversation on your own blog. Nearly every single one of my regular commenters holds a place in my feed reader. That's not a coincidence.
What about you? What makes you subscribe to a blog's feed? Be honest and asses the blogs that hold a place in your reader and ask yourself why you subscribed. Was it the cool design? The great content? The ease of process? Did they comment on your blog? What was it? Let everyone know in the comments!
It's nothing you haven't heard before. Simple things like knowing what to put above the fold, placing your ads in the right places, designing around a brand, and being both simple and memorable ... these are the kinds of things we all know we should consider when designing our blogs. But sometimes amidst the frenzy of coolness, we forget about usability. Sure it matters where you place your ads, but if it gets in the way of a graceful user experience, will it even matter?
And I don't even mean the W3C usability standards either (although that's a good place to start). I'm talking about simple psychology. Where does a reader's eye go first on the page? How does he/she scan articles? What fonts are the most readable (without being ancient)? What colors go well together? How long should a line of text be?
Think about a newspaper. The front page has all the key elements a reader is looking for (or has come to expect). The name of the paper, major headline and partial story text with perhaps a picture, secondary headlines and story excerpts, table of contents to other stories and categories, and maybe an advertisement or two. Also notice the length of the lines of text in the story text ... you think they are short like that by accident?
Bloggers can learn a lot by studying the strengths and weaknesses of mainstream media. Blog designers can do the same thing. I mean, there's no reason to reinvent the wheel.
1. The title of your blog
Make it prominent, but don't let it overshadow your content. I know this seems like common sense, but there are too many blogs out there who forget this simple, but effective, strategy. Your blog title should serve 2 major purposes: Identify/brand your site, and get the user back to the homepage (by making it a clickable home link). Making it too big or bold doesn't help either of these purposes, and could in fact do damage to your brand. For a good example of what a title should look like, have a look at the site you're on right now, performancing.com.
2. Headline Stories
This may be a little less clear, and I understand there are loads of opinions out there about how you should handle headline stories on the homepage. Personally, I'm a fan of either using the tag (in WordPress), or calling excerpts for homepages. This allows the blog owner to fit more content on to the homepage, and allows the reader the option to quickly "scan" for what they want to read. There are some bloggers who would never do this though, and believe the reverse chronological list of full articles on the homepage is the best way to go. You'll have to make that call for yourself, and perhaps do some trial and error, but this you can be sure of ... the way you list your stories on your homepage is NOT an insignificant detail. It matters a lot.
3. Secondary headlines
This is actually pretty interesting, and if you've never actually looked under the hood of your blog software or theme, you may want to skip this one. There are plenty of ways of displaying "aside" stories on your homepage, and it's something I really like. It gives the blog author a quick way to communicate non-critical information to the reader without getting in the way of the major blog headlines. Perhaps in the future, I'll do a tutorial on how to put a small "aside" box in your sidebar or maybe at the very top in a colored box or something. Another good option is putting the headlines from your different categories into an "aside" box. Either way, it's a great use of real estate on your homepage.
4. Table of Contents
For a newspaper, it's the place where it lists the sections and what pages they are on. For blogs, it's called "recent articles" and "categories". Displaying these on your homepage is a fantastic way of letting your reader know what your blog is all about. Descriptive titles for both your posts and categories are always a plus.
5. Ads
Honestly, I think this should be the last thing you should consider when building your homepage. But there's no doubt that placing your ads intelligently is important, especially if you use pay-per-click ads like adsense. You don't want to hide them at the bottom, but you also don't want to sacrifice prime headline real estate on ads. This makes for a bad user experience. There are plenty of tips on how to place ads, so I won't beat that dead horse. Just be sure to put a lot of thought and research into placing your ads.
Studying the mainstream media and piggybacking on their readership research can be a great way to optimize your blog's homepage. Pick up a newspaper (preferably a successful one) or magazine and see what they do ... then rip them off :-) A simple, yet effective piece of advice.
Blog sobre design, acessbilidade e outros tes te ste stes
Boost your traffic, improve your blog and become an authority in your niche with Peformancing Services.
