Your Blog is Ugly - Do You Care? - 5 Reasons Why You Should Care About Blog Design

Like most people, I suffer from a few pet peeves. I don't like the sound of nails scratching on a chalk board. I don't like it when other people touch my feet. Pulp in orange juice is gross. And bad blog design really bothers me.

It could be that I am one of the few people on the net that actually get an unpleasant physical reaction from bad blog design but my reasons, I think, you will find valid.

Unfortunately in both offline as well as online worlds, there is still a lack of user friendliness and usability. We have all visited physical stores that, for reasons sometimes unknown to us, don't leave us with a good impression. The same is true in the virtual world.

Websites with scrolling and blinking text (web 1.0 popular) and advertisements on every inch of the site give most of us a bad impression. It's a bad sign when you have to sift through "junk" to find the real content. Blog design should compliment your blog niche and encourage focus on content.

I am a firm believer in good content. So don't get me wrong and think I think blog design takes precedence over good content. I do however think that blog content is a the second most important aspect of your blog. For clarification, when I say blog design I mean the look, feel and overall appearance of a blog.

5 Reasons Why You Should Care About Blog Design.

1. First Impressions: First impressions are key. Rarely do we get the chance to make a second impression, especially on the internet. If your blog looks disorganized, cluttered, over monetized, extremely plain, or even too much like other blogs it could give people an undesirable impression. Within the first five seconds a visitor is on your blog an impression is made. Sometimes a really bad design is all the reason they need to leave and never come back.

2. Pleasant Experience: You can offer your readers a good experience or frustrate them with hard to find content. We should make it our goal as web publishers to offer our readers a good experience. We should not only offer great content but also a pleasant experience.

3. Returning Visitors and Feed Readers: If your goal is to just acquire feed readers then the importance of good blog design may seem unimportant. But it is important. First of all you should want people to visit your blog. The traffic received from visitors can increase your income (if that is desired), reader awareness of links you include on your site and increase blog comments.

4. Branding: Whether you realize it or not we are all visual people. Some of us visualize a lot and others not as much but we all can visualize things in our minds. Think about this. What do people see when they visualize your blog?
Good blog design is far easier to remember than bad or plain designs. Your blog can be remembered for having the worst design ever but if that is your goal then you are surely taking away from your content. Help your visitors remember your blog by offering them a design that is worth remembering.

5. Set the Standard: Have you ever visited a neighborhood where all the houses on the block had nice landscaping except for one? The standard set for that neighborhood is to have nice landscaping. Since nice landscaping is a desirable feature the one house that does not have nice landscaping is not meeting the standard and is an eye sore.
Blog design is continuing to improve within the blogosphere. The standard is already being set. Don't let your blog be an eye sore. Improve your blog design.

My hope is that these five reasons will help you to understand how design and usability can effect how your visitors view your blog. Though the design of your blog is not more important than the content, design is very important and should not be taken lightly.

Mona Weathers (monawea)

Founder of HerProBlog.COM - Helping Women Create and Maintain Professional Quality Blogs

Submitted by monawea (view blog

) on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 5:22pm

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One Of My Pet Peeves Too

Hi Mona,

I agree with you about bad blog and web design. It can be difficult to distinguish between what a blogger likes personally and what will or won't attract and keep readers.

I gotta tell you though, no sooner was I about to post a comment here about one of the things that bothers me the most: blogs with black backgrounds, then I decided to check out your blog first...and saw that your main beta page has...a black background.

Funny how that happens sometimes.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube
Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Submitted by Megan Smith on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 18:59

We all have preferences

Hi Megan,

Thanks for commenting. We all have preferences that's why I didn't give any specifics to what I think is a bad design.

That being said I do have definite opinions about what is user friendly and good for content. I think I may agree with you on the black background though, if you mean text directly on top of black. It's usually more difficult to read, making it not content friendly. That's why the actual blog post section of HerProBlog.com is against a white background.

The pre-launch page is just a short information page that has very little content so I wasn't much worried about the black background.

Thanks again!

monawea (Mona Weathers) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 19:31

Great Points

You hit it right on the head - the best explanation you could give - some blogs are so stuffed full of 'stuff' that the content is almost impossible to find.

I found when I first started blogging I wanted to add this and that and then that. Now I find myself checking to see if the sidebar does anything for the content.

Thanks for the post.

Joy OHare

Submitted by joyntheir on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 21:22

Thanks!

Thanks for commenting Joy. Appreciate your input.

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 15:44

but how?!

Bad blog design doesn't bother me as much with other people, but it does with mine. I don't much like my design and I keep telling myself it's temporary.

I want it to be easy to read, but I want it to be attractive enough to catch people's attention (I get a fair amount of hits, but people don't stick around). I have no idea how to do that! Does anybody have good resources for playing around with design?

Submitted by visionaria on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 06:00

A Lot Depends On What Blog Platform You Use

I use Typepad which has many design templates to choose from. For the first year of my blog Megan's Minute, I used those. Then I felt like I wanted something unique, so I hired Swank Web Style to design something for me and I was very happy with what they did. They didn't cost a fortune and they were very accommodating.

My design for Video Runway is a Word Press template and very simple.

It's all determined by how involved you want to get in creating a design that works best for you.

Good luck.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube
Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Submitted by Megan Smith on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 08:03

HerProBlog is Here to Help!

Your situation is one of the very reasons I decided to start a website for women bloggers. The brand new website is dedicated to helping women who are looking to improve their blogs and to help newbies get started.

We just launched today (July 15th) but we have some great articles already published and more to come.

We also have plans to go even further and offer consulting, and step by step online training. We will also be publishing interviews with some of the top women bloggers in the blogosphere.

In the mean time I would recommend you searching for other blogs in your niche with good blog design. Ask you self.. what make this design good and model your blog after it. Try and think of things from a readers perspective.

There are thousands of free resources available online. If you have a self hosted Wordpress blog you can easily find a free theme. If you use Blogger there are also a lot of great themes available.

If you want my personal advice on your blog design I can offer you some private constructive criticisms and suggestions (at no charge). Just fill out our contact form.

I hope that helps!

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:16

opps!

Submitted by monawea on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:26

Thanks!

I really needed that! I just changed my template yesterday. Reading your article gave me more ideas to incorporate in the future.

What do you think about Blogger?

Submitted by hkbmom on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 08:18

Not really a fan of Blogger

I am not really a fan of Blogger for reasons to many to include in a comment. If you have a personal blog, I think it's a great because it's free and easy.

Blogger can be limiting. Also, since you are it's not self-hosted you are subject to Blogger.com rules and policies. They do allow you to do just about anything you want but who's to say that won't ever change. Self-hosted means you have more control.

I do know that many successful bloggers have used Blogger and are happy with it.

I use self-hosted WordPress for all of my blogs.

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:39

OOOHHHH I NEED YOU! TODAY!

Where have you been all my blogging life? I have a bunch of blogs that need help--MAKEOVERS. The help is too much to say here. But I certainly could use your advice. I will fill out the contact form.

Are you coming to Blogher..not I wouldn't dream of holding you hostage there, but to meet you...you should be doing a workshop...are you?

Love,

Babz

Submitted by Lovebabz on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:39

Wish I could go to BlogHer

I will not be coming to BlogHer this year even though it's in my home state. Hopefully I will be able to make it next year.

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 19:48

Great post

Thank you for your tips and I look forward to reading your blog and getting your opinion about mine!

Renée

Submitted by cutiebootycakes on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:41

Thank you so much

Your tips are great. I am such a computer neophyte that any help is most appreciated.

God Bless you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.ClaudiaBroome.com

www.LadiesDontQuitYet.com

www.ToHaveAndToHoldHostage.com

Submitted by Claudia Broome on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:57

Congratulations on the launch of
HerProBlog.com

Hi Mona,

Congratulations on the launch of HerProBlog.com and thank you for the offer for a private *free* consultation on your website. I'm off to fill in the contact form.

P.S. I would be honored to be included in your sites interview section if you have interest in a travel writer. Will you be attending BlogHer in SF?

Nancy Brown

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/What-a-Trip/

Submitted by Nancy Brown WhataTrip on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 14:48

Blog Reviews and Blogger Interviews

Nancy,
If you are interested in having your blog reviewed or being interviewed, please send requests to hpbinterviews[at] gmail [dot] [com] or hpbreviews[at] gmail [dot] [com].

That goes for everyone. Anyone interested in having your blog reviewed or having yourself interviewed send requests to those addresses.

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 19:59

Blogger

I do want to say that I just completed a redesign under Blogger and I have yet to find a single thing that you can do in WordPress or TypePad that you can't do in Blogger. There are so many possibilities with Blogger that people don't utilize because html or programs like CS3 scare them. And that's okay, but the Blogger format is so easy to work with that people can just adjust elements as they want to, without fear that they are going to be blog-less while they do so. I changed my template to mimic what I see on other WordPress sites and I think it works fine.

:: 3daintydelights.com {cleverlyeleanor.blogspot.com}

Submitted by cleverlyeleanor on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 09:22

You did a great job with your Blogger blog

I think you did a great job modifying your Blogger blog. Blogger is a great place to start and I wasn't suggesting that is people should not use this platform.

I got started with Blogger and used it for over a year before I started using WordPress. As soon as I found out that self-hosted WordPress offered thousands more options in themes and plugins I decided to teach myself how to use it.

Many people don't like WordPress and never change over and that is perfectly fine as well. It has more has to do with preference and your blogging goals.

Thanks for commenting ;o)

Mona Weathers (monawea) is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 14:42

thanks

I admit I'm unfamilar with WordPress so it's really not my place to compare. Seems like you have experience, and there's definitely a possibility that I'll make the move sometime in the future. I've also been checking out HerProBlog.com for marketing tips > I am excited for more suggestions to implement.

Thanks for checking out my site, I apprieciate it.

:: 3daintydelights.com

Submitted by cleverlyeleanor on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 14:47

Re: Blogger

Hi Elanor,

Nice blog! The light green font you chose for your link color I find too hard to read, but other than that it works. FWIW, I've been a long time user of Blogger as well. One of the perks I've noticed about Blogger (maybe because it's a Google product), is that posts are indexed in Google very fast, often just minutes after I post them. That in itself is a big plus.

-Bob

Submitted by bobafifi on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 10:23

Agreed

Thanks Bob, I totally agree with the link color suggestion. I think I am going to make them darker today. What do you think of the visited link color? It's light gray, which is difficult to read as well, but I want to differentiate it from the main text without having it another color. Don't want to get too color crazy (although I might already be there).

Eleanor

:: 3daintydelights.com

Submitted by cleverlyeleanor on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 11:12

Re: Agreed

Hi Eleanor,

I think the gray is OK for the visited links, but some version of purple would be better from a usabiltiy point of view (though that probably would mean changing your current color scheme). Unless there's a compelling reason not to do so, sticking wth conventional link colors is my preference. One other thing is the splash page for http://3daintydelights.com -- I know these once were very popular but nowadays, I find them to be in the way. Would much prefer the redirect to go straight to the blog.

anyhow...

-Bob

Submitted by bobafifi on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 13:32

Re: Your Blog is Ugly - Do You Care? - 5
Reasons Why You Should

Hi Mona,

I just had a look at your blog and to be honest, I find it difficult to understand the hierarchy. There seems to be far too many uses of the logo on the home page (I count twelve), Firefox threw up a pop-up alert (not a good sign), and because the comment area below each post is equidistant to the post above, it's confusing which belongs to which. Nice idea for a site though.

-Bob

Submitted by bobafifi on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 10:48

I didn't say Blogger was bad

Hi Bob,

I just want to be clear on some things. I didn't say using Blogger was bad. I said I didn't prefer it because you have less control. Yes, you can modify it as much as WordPress but you are basically at the hands of Blogger. A self hosted blog gives you more control.That being said Blogger is a great place to start and I usally recommend it to brand new bloggers.

I also never said my blogs are perfect. There is no hierarchy suggested. The main reason I wrote this article was to encourage people to think about how their blog might be viewed by other people. HerProBlog.COM is just one day old and I know it still needs improvement.

I am aware of the 12 logos on the site and have actually good reason why they are there and do plan on changing it in the near future.

The popup is nothing to be afraid of. It's just a reminder to subscribe to the blog. Many very well known respected blogs use popups. It only popsup on the first visit.

I do appreciate you letting me know about the confusion with the comment area. I plan to fix that as soon as possible.

Mona Weathers (monawea)is the Founder of HerProBlog.COM, a website dedicated to helping women blog professionally.

Submitted by monawea on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 14:23

This is a great point. Image

This is a great point. Image is important for branding and a lot of bloggers I know miss out on a branding opportunity when they use a template in it's original format instead of customizing it or hiring someone to customize it so that the visual transition is seamless, or at least cohesive, when a client or reader clicks over from a company website to the company blog.

I know not everyone knows HTML, but on Blogger there are a few click and build options in the Layout section that could be taken advantage of by novices users to begin customizing their blogs :o)

Submitted by The Flirty Girl on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 16:16

Converted to Wordpress from Blogger

I've been investigating blog hosts and like what Wordpress has to offer -so I just made the switch this week.

I rather like the fact that I can add 'page' to my blog to enable some add'l content people seek.

I've written a post about my reason to switch here:

http://creativegoddess.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/studio-news-official-new...

I'd love it if you guys could swing by and take a look and let me know what you think. I'm still working on the CSS to make the text easier to navigate and other small modifications.

http://creativegoddess.wordpress.com/

Many thanks!

Lisa, Creative Goddess
----------------------------------------
Creative Goddess
CalligraphyPets

Submitted by ecstewart on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 07:37

Wordpress rocks on

I moved to Wordpress from Blogger in March of this year, and have had so much more fun with the designs and flexibility. Mucho more traffic as well! 4000 hits today - in 4 months. That's ridiculously more than my poor little Blogger blog.

Submitted by redstaplernation on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 07:43