Blogging A-Z: D for Design
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When starting a new blog there is more to the design than just the header and other graphics. It"s the layout, careful consideration of blog categories, etc. After blogging for a few years and doing web design and development for over 8 years I learned what tends to work and what doesn't. Here are my suggestions:
- Lose the large header. This is something I still need to implement here at Faithful Bloggers. By having a large header on your site you are wasting valuable real estate. People visit your site for your content not for your huge header. By using a smaller header you will have more room for content, possible advertisements, opt-in lists, etc.
- When determining the layout of your site, think about where you want your visitors eyes to go to first. Plan your blog layout based on your visitors needs. Make it easy to navigate around and easy to read.
- Turn off the music that automatically plays. Most people will immediately click away from your site if you have music that automatically starts when the page loads. If you really want music available, make it an option for the visitor to turn on.
- Don"t clutter your sidebars, unless that is what you want people looking at. Your content is what you want people to read and see, I assume. If you clutter up your sidebar with ads and buttons, you are taking your visitor"s attention and putting it elsewhere.
These are just a few little things that can make a huge different in your site. Do you have any tips?
