Blog design is becoming the one thing that will separate your site from the rest of your competitors. Online writers are getting better, competition tighter, and the spaces are filling up to find your unique voice among all of the shouters.
So how can you differentiate yourself from your competition (other than having a great voice and awesome content)? Well, the first place you could start is having a great blog design.
As stupid as it sounds, I choose to go to Engadget.com over Gizmodo.com for one reason, I feel the design looks better and is easier on my eyes and to get the information I want, faster. Gizmodo may be the biggest gadget blog in the world, but the Engadget website design is so much more superior than Gizmodo’s design, I choose Engadget first every time.
So how does one achieve great website design? Well first, the best way is to have a great designer. Finding a freelancer that has a great portfolio on a forum such as WarriorForum.com or on a freelancer site such as Elance.com is a great place to start. Talking with them and mashing out some ideas on paper and letting your designer know what you want (let them give suggestions to make it more user friendly) is the first major step before any designing starts.
Some elements to look out for are navigation, content size, white space, and ad placement.
For navigation, it is important to make sure your navigation menu is easy to find and easy to navigate (duh). Make your navigation bar clash with the rest of the site and accent it in color, do not make it the same color, it will be harder to find and differentiate.
Content size is important because you want your main content to be the focus of the website. All other elements should draw your readers eyes to the content (and advertisements). But making the content the right size and easy to find and read is the most important step of design. Give your content room to breathe.
White space is the empty space around your content and website, no it does not have to be “white.” It simply means give your design some padding, or room around the elements of the design to allow for easy navigation and sight patterns (letting the eye move easily across the webpage).
Ad placement should be in the content and directly next to it. Ads can be anywhere on your site but make sure your placement isn’t overly obtrusive to your reader.
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