Hello everyone! I am so happy to
be here today, and want to thank Kristi for having me as a guest
today! I have had an online business since 2007, and been blogging
for about a year and half. In that time I have gained a little
knowledge here and there. Over time I have come up with my own list
of top 10 design tips for blogging. I thought it would be fun to
share those with you!
My Top 10 Blog Design Tips
1. Use color and pattern carefully. Think about the
color scheme for your blog as one that should be easy for the eye to
rest upon. If you like bright colors use them in moderation and with
lots of white space to balance them out. Dark backgrounds are a faux
pas and hard on the eyes. Be careful with busy backgrounds, as they
can be hard on the eyes as well. Make sure you content is the star and
center of attention!
2. What are you about? An about page with a picture
of yourself is the most important part of a blog. That is always one
of the first places people will visit when exploring a new blog, and a
picture of the person makes us feel even more connected.
3. Make contact. The longer someone has to work to
find your contact and social media information, the less likely they
will stay. Make sure your information can be found within seconds. I
have sometimes given up trying to find a blog’s information when it
was too hard.
4. Where do I subscribe? I can’t tell you how many
times I have been on blogs and can’t find an easy way to subscribe
through my Google reader. Please make it quick and efficient or you
are missing out on a great opportunity.
5. No music on your blog! Coming to blogs that have
music can be a turn off and make others want to click away. (There can
be exceptions to this, but it is rare!) If you insist on using music
and feel it enhances your blog then do it, but think about an easy
option button.
6. Make it simple for people to comment on your blog.
Sometimes it isn’t always easy to comment on blogs. Think about
taking off the option of having to approve all comments, and make sure
your readers don’t have to go through loads of steps just to leave a
comment.
7. Are you button happy? Try to minimize flashing
ads and too many buttons. It is so tempting to get buttons for every
occasion, and link party. Make sure that every button has a purpose
and that all ads and buttons are really enhancing your blog. I am
always working in this one. It takes regularly de-cluttering to keep
up on it.
8. Do I need glasses? Choose a good font size and one
color for all your links. Try not to use a bunch of different colors
in your text or links. People get confused where to click and where
to read.
9. Make sure people can find old posts. This is one
of my biggest concerns with my blog. Use search bars, archive lists,
and category lists to your advantage. You don’t have to show the last
five posts from the week all in full form. The trend in blogging now
is to show a current post and then snippets of some others. Sometimes
having to scroll too far down is a turn off for people.
10. Listen up! Put up periodic blog surveys as a free
tool to gauge your readers preferences. This information is priceless,
Since people are anonymous they will be honest. Be sure to keep an
open mind, but you might be surprised what people like and don’t like
about your blog. Also find some blog friends to give you honest
feedback about your blog. Then be willing to listen.
Sharing Some Bloggy Love
Blogging has been a roller
coaster ride for me. I have started and quit one blog already! I
just started a new faith based blog, Denise In
Bloom which is where my heart and blogging belonged all along. I
am so grateful to some sweet bloggers who have been an encouragement
and given me a positive word or helped me out when I was discouraged
or confused about what to do. I want to thank Emily from Remodeling
This Life. She has been an encourager to me when I really needed
it. Emily’s simplistic approach in her life, challenges me to do the
same.
I am also grateful to my dear friend Lori from Bountiful Mom
who designed my latest blog, and was my first online friend. We built
websites together and she has designed for me along the way for my
websites. She is a mom of 6 kids and her wealth of knowledge is
amazing!
Last but not least, I want to thank Myra from My Blessed
Life for so much encouragement this last 6 months! She really
“gets it”, when it comes to the challenges we as bloggers face, and
she is a gal who is strong and knows where she is headed. I am
constantly amazed by her!
I am grateful to so many genuine women who I have met because of
blogging. It truly is a blessing!
Denise is a stay at home mom of 3 boys. She is blessed to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she stays busy renovating her old farmhouse and keeping up with her 3 busy boys. She blogs over at Denise In Bloom, where she shares practical tips for moms, and inspiration for the heart and home. Her greatest desire is to live out her faith and to encourage other women to do the same!
I can honestly say that Denise is someone whom I look forward to talking to! She is warm, sweet & encouraging! She shares her knowledge freely and offers great advice for the situation. This article is just the tip of the wealth of knowledge she has! And the 3 bloggers she is spreading bloggy love to? All are exactly as she says-wonderful, helpful people!
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These are really wonderful and practical tips. I always like reading about how to impriove my blog and appreciate the advice!
Great post
Awwwww, so sweet!!!!! I love all your tips Denise and I’m SO thankful for you.
What wonderful advice for building a good blog! Both Denise and Kristi are sweet ladies, and ones I’m honored to call friends. Denise and I have been on a long journey through the past almost 5 years, I learn as much from her as she says she does from me!
Wonderful, wonderful tips. They are simple but effective. Thank you for posting!
Denise, thank you for these tips. As a beginning blogger, I am grateful for those who have gone before me and learned these things. Although, I do have a dark color scheme, I really liked it. I have thought about having something a little lighter, brighter, and fun though. And I whole-heartedly agree with the no music tip. I hate going to blogs with music; then trying to find the player so that I can turn it off is sometimes very difficult as well. I hate it when I’m trying to be quiet while someone is sleeping and I stumble across a blog with music. I know I could just keep the computer muted, but…
Great post, thank you!
In my own blog, I’ll try to improve topics 3 & 4 right away!