Content and design go hand in hand in blogs. Whether you are blogging for a living or you simply want to share personal experiences online, leaving a good, lasting impression to your visitors has certainly crossed your mind. Here are some suggestions on how to design your WordPress blog to make it more attractive to your visitors:
Choose well-designed themes
WordPress comes with functional themes that can be easily installed. The default theme Twenty Ten has spawned variations and is easily configurable in terms of colors, backgrounds, widgets and other features. Scour the theme database and find the layout that you think is presentable and is reflective of your personality.
Keep it simple
They say that good design is the epitome of using all the available elements with restraint. This applies even in web design. Choose plain backgrounds over heavy, patterned ones. Most blogs, nowadays, tend to look crisp and clean with their selection of light backgrounds partnered with thin serif fonts. Even the classic combination of black and white can do wonders for your WordPress blog.
Design harmony
As for color schemes, decide on two to three colors for your fonts and headers. A great tool for finding out color combinations that work can be found at colorschemedesigner.com website. From this site, you can select various schemes, from complimentary hues to analogic.
Images should be Web-friendly
Images on the Web do not have to be high-resolution or 300 dots per inch (dpi). If you insist on using such, you might end up losing visitors because of the slow loading times. Internet speed varies depending on the location of your visitor. The Web standard is 72 dpi. Save your photos in high-quality JPEG, and it should be presentable enough for your readers. Opt to save the files on an external site, such as Photobucket or ImageShack, instead of uploading the photos directly on your host to save on space. Larger files are excusable, if you are a web designer who offers wallpapers for free. If this is the case, have a preview version of your work, so that it does not lag the site.
Be your own editor
An often-overlooked aspect in blogging is the need to edit one’s work. Since most blogs are driven by the written word, you should be responsible enough in editing your work before you hit the Publish button. Nothing can be a bigger turn-off than seeing spelling and grammatical errors on a blog – it usually drives visitors away because it shows you don’t care about quality at all.
Most bloggers think that blogs are only for themselves. But what they tend to forget is that almost anyone in the world can take a peek into their little space on the Internet. It only means that presentation is a must. After all, blogs are now even deemed as alternatives to CVs and portfolios – you can use your blog to showcase your work. What’s more fascinating is the fact that you can generate income from a blog. Whatever your reasons are in pursuing blogging, always remember to make your personality shine through.
Erik Gaandt is a freelance tech writer and SEO enthusiast. He understands the importance web hosting has on a sites search engine rank. He enjoys sharing his insights on various blogs.
Recent Comments