Getting Started: Blog Design

The first topic in the Growing Your Blog Series is Blog Design.

When someone visits your blog, the first thing they notice is your design.  Before they read a word of any of your fabulous posts, they get a first impression based on the overall look of your little corner of the blogosphere.  Your background, your header, your text, and the overall appearance of your blog make a statement about you and readers will make a snap judgment, for better or worse.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you critique your current design.

When readers come to One Artsy Mama, I want them to know they’re here and not one one of the other thousands of blogs out there.  There are a lot of things that get really popular in the blogopshere and then all of a sudden, everyone has a new blog design and they’re all the same colors and themes.  Are they attractive looking?  Absolutely.  But can you immediately tell what blog you’re visiting?  Not always.  I wanted to create a sort of “brand” idea here at OAM so that when you come here, you know where you are.  And when you see me on Facebook, Twitter, and Etsy, you recognize me there too.  Each place, you’ll see the pink/green/orange/yellow combo and that familiar flower. 

Coming up with a color scheme and some kind of identifiable logo or graphic that sets your blog apart goes a long way. 

So, ask yourself what it is that makes your blog look special and unique.

Most of us do this whole bloggin’ thing at least partly for self-expression, so we have to make sure our design does just that.  Your “look” should say something about who you are or what your blog is about.  Mine is bright and fun because I do a lot of kiddo things, but also girly too, like me. Recently, I tweaked my background and header and made it tone-on-tone chevron.  And I never loved it.

Because it’s just not “me.”  I like chevron just fine, but am I wild and crazy about it?  Nope.  I like it on other people’s blogs, but I’m not obsessed with it myself.  What I do love are polka dots.  And the second I changed my background to the very same color with dots?  Love at first sight.

Part of the immediate judgment new readers make has to do with how “professional” your blog looks. 

Does it appear to be organized, or does it just look like things were thrown up there any old way? 

Trust me, I understand that there are a LOT of things to think about and learn when you’re putting your blog together.  I can’t count the hours I have spent on designing pieces of my blog, trying to size things correctly, and getting it all to look “just right.”  And there have been times when I just couldn’t figure out how to do some particular thing.  But I’ve also learned that there are plenty of other girls out there with lots of experience who can give you a hand and talk you through it.  If you’re not a designer yourself, there are plenty of folks who design buttons, headers, backgrounds, and entire blogs really reasonably.  If you like to play around with it yourself and you get stuck, I guarantee you can find someone {consider me volunteered} who is happy to help.

Part of making your blog look professional and attractive is that the whole thing “goes together.”  Know what I mean?  Make sure your header matches or at least compliments your background and that your buttons, social media icons, and any other elements you design look like they belong together.  If you give your blog a facelift, make sure it’s a complete one so that you don’t have elements that look out of place.

As you play around with design, you’ll come up with some things you like, and some you don’t.  This is the very first button I ever tried to design.  It’s a far cry from what I ended up with, but I did find that I liked the font, and I liked that little flower.

A few edits later, and you have the current version:

Keep experimenting until you find the design that makes you say YES! 

Something unique, something YOU.

It’s totally worth investing your time because it’s the first impression that every person who visits your blog will have: that means readers, potential followers, potential sponsors and affiliates too.

Again, I’m no expert, it’s just this artsy mama’s thoughts on a crucial element of blogging.

What are YOUR thoughts?

See you tomorrow for some basic posting tips!