I’ve been thinking a lot about blog design because in the last couple of days, I’ve gotten some compliments out of blue on one of my blog’s designs. This was surprising because I don’t think the design is exceptional. The design is based on a popular premium theme, which I modified with my limited coding skills. I changed the colors, resized the columns, and moved and deleted some of the visual elements. Also, I hired a designer to create a custom header. These changes made my design look very different from the original look.
Make It Unique
One key is standing out from the crowd. No one will talk about your blog design or even take note of it if it looks too similar to other blogs.
Many of the blogs in my niche were using popular free WordPress themes, so they looked like other blogs. While there are many great free WordPress themes, if you use them, you’ll often find many blogs that look just like yours. Therefore, you’re not standing out from the crowd and your design doesn’t make a lasting impression.
Takeaway: If you do use a popular WordPress theme (whether free or paid), make sure to modify it enough so it has a fresh look and doesn’t remind your readers of other blogs with the same theme.
Cut Out The Clutter
My design may not win any awards, but one thing I kept hearing in the compliments was the simplicity of the design. A clean, uncluttered design goes a long way to improving the usability of your blog.
Many blogs have too much going on. Whether it’s five different ads above the fold or ten widgets on the sidebar, a cluttered design can frustrate and confuse your readers.
Takeaway: If you give your readers too many things to look at, they may miss out on the most important part of your blog, your posts. Keep your design simple and you’ll highlight your content.
Content Vs. Design
One of the blogs in my niche has uses the WordPress default theme so the blog feels very boring and bland. However, I look forward to visiting the blog because it’s regularly updated and has high quality content. The blog has grown quickly and is starting to become one of the most popular blogs in my niche.
This just goes to prove that content is by far more important than design. Still, that blog could get a big boost from a fresh design. A custom design will cause it to stand out even more from other blogs. It will make the reading experience more enjoyable, generate buzz within the industry, and improve the blog’s brand.
Takeaway: Focus first on the quality and quantity of your content, but once you’ve got that down, a custom design will take your blog to the next level.
Performancing offers custom blog designs with our blog launch service.
11 thoughts on “How Important is the Design of Your Blog?”
I’ve always found that the design of a person’s blog is very important. It’s effectively your image on the web. I know that for most people it seems to be something that is skimmed over; however, I think that if some time and effort is applied, it can make a real difference to the appeal of the site. Thanks for the post!
yes blogs are quite important for links to be visit.Blogs should have a design that fits to its topic.
Thank you, I have been debating this same subject with a buddy of mine..content rules. I get simple affiliate and PPC that make money just because they are simple and load extremely fast. Yes I have had the Mercedes of websites however all my time was invested in graphics and not the information people were looking for.
Thank you, I have been debating this same subject with a buddy of mine..content rules. I get simple affliate and PPC that make money just becuase they are simple and load extremely fast. Yes I have had the Mercedes of websites however all my time was invested in graphics and not the information people were looking for.
Thanks for the insights. I do like the simplicity of your blog and the white makes it easier in the eyes to read.
I spend time building wordpress sites for my business. And I agree that both design and content is equally important. Design, because you want to make the site user friendly for your readers, this will only increase your business. Content for SEO and user information purpose as well. The content is also mixed in wil the design because of SEO and easy navigation for user and search engine robots.
I think as simple as you can will be better
The design aspect of the blogs is very important too for the success.Site visitors are also want to see if it has a great design. This will entice people to scroll and visit other pages of your site. Building loyal readers you need also to grab their trust as soon as they land on your website. A blog should have to establish it’s own identity that the visitor would have something to remember even when they are not searching online By this the chances are your blog will have competition in the search engines so it is important to compete with them visually so that you can attract some of that audience.
I am in the process of designing a new blogspot for myself..it will really help me..thanks
Thanks so much. Just looking into setting up a wordpress blog and going through the investigation stage. Your site is very helpful.
Regards,
Shel
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