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The SITS Girls

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Best Blog Designs: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Online Space

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Is your blog starting to look cluttered? Have you lost sight of your blogging goals?

Are even your most loyal readers thinking of jumping ship because they’re confused about what your blog is really offering these days?

Don’t worry, because most blogs become cluttered over time. It happens to all bloggers.

An important key to successful blogging is a blog design that meets the needs of your readers.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you should have a clear idea of who your readers are. It helps to focus on two or three individual readers when evaluating your blog and blog design. Whether these readers are imaginary or real is up to you. However, as a blogger, you should have a clear idea of your readers’ age, gender, location, employment status and income. We are going to look at what all of the best blog designs have in common, and how you can implement those things in your own blog.

From focusing your content to having a great blog design, these tips will help you get your blog noticed in the crowded online space.

Building One of the Best Blog Designs

When evaluating your website and striving to become one of the best blog designs, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Make sure your blog design is polished and professional. Think about your branding, including the images, colors, and language, that will most appeal to your target audience.
  • Be aware that if your site looks boring, amateurish, or cheap, that’s how you or your business may be perceived.
  • Don’t run with the default images in templates. Make an effort to make your blog look as good as possible within your budget.
  • If you don’t have the budget for a professional design, then less is more. Try to find one hero image or photo which really brings your blog to life and shows people what you’re about.
  • If your blog is a marketing tool for your business, then its worth investing a few thousand dollars in a classic design that will stand the test of time and prove to be a really good investment for your business.

How To Evaluate Your Blog Design

Imagine you’ve never visited your site before and don’t know what it’s about. What is the first impression your readers might receive? Is this the impression you want them to have?

If the answer to this question is no, then it might be time to update your blog design and copy. Most new blog visitors will only spend about five seconds assessing your blog before deciding whether to continue reading or simply move on.

There are three main questions readers would like answered as quickly as possible:

  1. What is your blog about?
  2. Who writes it?
  3. How will it benefit them?

Incorporate these elements into your blog if you haven’t already, and you’ll be on the path to becoming one of the best blog designs out there.

If you’ve already done this work, then consider whether the information should be updated and ensure that it is “above the fold,” aka the part of your blog that people see immediately without having to scroll down.

Additional Blog Design Elements to Consider

  1. A Tagline: A tagline or slogan will instantly tell people what your blog is about. Don’t worry about making it clever or witty. Just focus on telling people in as few words as possible what they’ll find on your blog or how it will help them.
  2. A Photo of You: It’s human nature to want to know who writes a blog and if we can trust them. A smiling photo of you will instantly inspire confidence in your readers.
  3. Blog Topics: Include up to eight blog topics with short names so people can quickly scan them to see if the topics match their interests or needs.
  4. Branding: Evaluate the colors, layout, and images on your site against whether they will all appeal to your ideal readers. If you want to inspire your readers, then you need to have an inspirational look and feel to your site. If you’ve got a business site, then you may prefer a clean design that instantly gives you a professional edge.

Author Bio: Annabel Candy

Annabel Candy is the author behind Get In The Hot Spot.

More on Best Blog Designs

Interested in more blog design how to tips? Then be sure to read these posts:

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Larissa says

    Annabel is right on with these! I feel as bloggers we feel pressured to include SO MUCH on our sites. Sidebars are completely overwhelmed with badges and ads and popular posts, etc. I just went through my site and cleaned house.

    If anyone on here is interested in updating your blog design, I have a couple openings for new clients! Email me at stephanoff.media at gmail.com to talk details. 🙂

  3. Mikki says

    Thank you for all the great tips!
    I just moved my blog over to wordpress and I’m currently trying to find the best theme. It seems Genesis is a must and than finding one that fits me best.
    I actually love how clean and simple the SITSGIRLS theme is! LOL!
    Thanks again!

  4. Madeline | My Fitter Life says

    Such a useful post once again 🙂 I would like to know what you think about my blog layout. I bought the Generic Press template and altered it a bit, kept it very clean (too clean?) and created my own logo… It’s ok so far, but whenever I play with the layout I like it for 24 hours and then start hating it immediately after, lol.

  5. Brittany says

    I really need to focus on whittling down my “tags” and “topics” and creating a really easy way for my readers to search old posts. I’ve gotten completely rid of the tag widget for now because it just takes over my sidebar!

  7. Sheila says

    I have been blogging for a while but only recenetly started taking the whole thing seriously and great tips like thses are very much appreciated – thanks x

  10. Blair Scheepers says

    Thanks for the advise. I have struggled with the design of my blog and beat myself up because it’s not professional enough. In reality, it’s simple and to the point. Which is me.

    Thanks again!

  12. Krishann says

    I’m still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing and have so much to learn. This was a great post! Looking forward to more 🙂

  15. Roses daughter says

    This post was right on time! I’m currently redesigning a portion of my blog and needed this advice!

  17. Through the Lens of Kimberly Gauthier, Photography Blog says

    Thanks for sharing these tips; I’m reading this right as I’m choosing the next blog design. I currently have two blogs and I want to make the designs more in sync with my company, A Novice With Moxie. I’ve currently taking the time to decide between two designs and I’ll definitely keep your tips in mind. Thanks again!

  20. Rachel Allison says

    Great tips! I’ve begun thinking about things that I may need editing when it comes to my blogs design. I’m happy with what I’ve designed for my blog at this point, but these tips are very helpful! 🙂 Thanks!

  21. Laura says

    I need a new tagline for my blog, but I’m not sure what it should me. I outgrew the tagline I have now. Time to put on my thinking cap.

  22. Susan Silver says

    Great tips, I think getting user testers with a fresh perspective can also help. I am doing so on my blong now using a free account from SurveyMonkey. They even have a template you can use so it is super easy. You only get 10 questions though, but it helps you see your blog through the eyes of a reader/stranger.

  23. angela says

    What great tips! I am planning on moving from Blogger to WordPress in the next couple of weeks, and I want to do some updating. These will help 🙂

  25. Michelle @Radiant Brown Beauty says

    Thanks for sharing this information. I think I’ve incorporated these tips into both of my blogs but it’s difficult to evaluate your own blog.

    Maybe we can get something going where we can do groups of evaluating each others blogs (using each of these tips)?

    • Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot says

      Hi Katrina,

      Great to hear you’re updating your blog soon and you’re right. Even beside the actual blog design and tech issues there is other work to do. I regularly have to update the copy on my static pages (about, contact etc) and have changed my slogans several times as my blog evolved. Slogan writing is fun, enjoy it and let us know what you come up with:)

  29. Susan Freeman says

    Thanks for the great tips. I am continually learning and updating my pics and my text. I want to keep readers while gaining new ones.

    Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

    • Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot says

      Hi Susan,

      That’s a great point. It is good to focus on nurturing the readers you have by building that relationship and giving them the content you want. Hopefully if they like what they read they”ll be spreading the word about your blog and helping you find new readers through them:)

    • Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot says

      Hi Stephanie, there’s always a lot to learn to begin with but after you’ve been doing it a while you start to get a feel for what will work and what won’t:) Your blog name is definitely resonating with me! My kids are a bit older now so there’s less snot but also less hugs and kisses – I have to steal them;)