7 Top Blog Design Tips

Most blog platforms come with some



basic blog designs. They may call them



templates or themes or something similar,



and usually they are not bad although



some customisation is pretty common. I



often see some common mistakes, and



hopefully you will be able to avoid them.



1. Include an about page



Make it prominent and make it truly



about you, not some resume-like page.If



people find your blog and like what you



have to say, they are going to want to



know something about you.



2. Have contact information



visible



An email or maybe even a phone



number should be included. Your email



can be displayed as a graphic to



prevent spammers from harvesting it



easily. I would suggest using an address



that has your domain at the end to be



more professional. e.g tyrone @



internetbusinesspath.com, rather than



tyrone @ gmail.com.

Visible contact information will make you



seem more real and although people



may occasionally contact you, it will be



far less often than you might think.

3. Include a picture of yourself



Blogs are personal, even business blogs,



and people who visit yours will want to



know what you look like. It's also easier



to built trust if your picture is visible.



Though, you don't absolutely need a



picture, but it's strongly recommended.



Sometimes people might think you are



hiding something if you don't have one.





4. Show a top posts or articles page



Some of your blog posts are going to be



much more popular than others (you



may be surprised which ones they are). I



call these your pillar articlesDon't bury



your pillar articles, your most popular



blog posts. Highlight them somehow. You



might for example have a top posts



section in the titlebar or sidebar.

I have a most top articles section and I



list my most popular posts based on the



ones that are read the most. Other



people do it slightly differently. For



example, Brian Clark at



copyblogger.com has a "Popular



Articles" in his sidebar and under that he



lists his most popular blog posts. Yaro



Starak, on his blog



Entrepreneurs-Journey, calls his most



popular blog posts "Popular Articles"



and lists them at the very top.Somehow



or another highlight them. You might do



something as simple as create a



category called "most popular" and



include popular blog posts in that



category.



5. Don't have a blog banner that



is too big!

The banner is the top portion of your



blog that goes across the top. It might



have a picture of you there, the name



of the blog, perhaps some graphic -



they vary quite a bit.You don't want your



banner to be big. No one should need to



scroll down to see your content. People



decide really quickly when they first



reach a Web Site, and that includes



blogs, whether to read or to leave.



6. Create a visually appealing



blog

Avoid bright colors. Stick to reasonable



fonts like Times New Roman and Arial.



Have someone with a good eye look at



your blog, preferably a graphic



designer. Everytime I start a blog and



I've started dozens for myself, for friends,



and for clients, I always get a graphic



designer to at least look at it after I am



done.

The problem is that it might look OK to



you or me, probably neither having a



particularly good eye nor appropriate



training, but it still might look really ugly to



others. Having a graphic designer take a



quick look at it is good insurance.

7. Keep it simple silly!

Some blogs are just so busy: they have



one, two, sometimes three sidebars just



crammed full of all kinds of stuff. With



some of it you wonder why is it there.



What purpose does this serve? Now in



my opinion calendars are a prime



offender. What good is a calendar



there? Some people like them, but to me



they serve no purpose.

Empty space in a blog is not only



allowable, but it's a good thing. It helps



focus eyes on what is important, which is



your content and hopefully the few



things you choose to put in your sidebar.

Most blogs start with a basic template



which is then customised over time.



These tips will hopefully help you that



with customisation and help you avoid



common mistakes with blog design.