I’m one of those notorious, PC-crashing, chaotic hoarders of inspirational digital imagery and a prowler for excellent web design. Everything existing, in lieu with a vague and previously uncharted concept, is something worth stacking aside for later. But with so many design scapes begging to be born, and feeling the pressure to be different, there are certain needs your design should incorporate in order to be a success. Here are ten design methods that rationalize the development methods for true blog fineness:

1. Content is the focus.

Your content should be the focal point of the design, otherwise all of your effort to get your content out there will be for naught – distracting readers with excessive images and extra items can be counterproductive. For this reason, many of the best blog designs are fairly simple. Simplicity is common for blogs that want to emphasize the content.

2. Ease of navigation.

 The audience will fid your blog via search engines, links from other blogs, RSS feeds, social media sites, etc. Only a small percentage of your readers will enter your blog through the front page. This makes navigation even more important. The sidebar typically will include the majority of the navigation with links to categories, recent posts, and sometimes popular posts. Footers are sometimes also used for additional navigation. 

3. Quick load time.

 Many of your visitors will have a very short attention span (this is really no different for blogs than traditional websites). In order to immediately catch their attention and avoid having them click off of your site, your pages should load quickly. This is especially important you plan to use social media to generate traffic. Some blogs are weighed down by excessive widgets that really hurt the page load speed. By keeping your blog clean and free of unnecessary items you can really cut down on the time it takes to load.

4. Memorable (in a positive light, preferably).

 Most blog readers visit a number of blogs each day, and many of them will feature the same (free) themes. Make it easy for your visitors to remember your blog and standout from all of the free themes by customizing a theme yourself, or by having a blog theme professionally designed.

5. Position in order of importance.

Important content must be in the more prominent positions. Effective design directs attention to content in order of importance.

6. Compatibility with multiple browsers.

Your visitors will be using a number of different browsers, and if your blog is not functioning well in all of them you could be losing readers. Fortunately, 90% of your visitors will probably be using the leading 3 or 4 browsers. In order to know that you blog is functioning well you’ll need to test it in multiple browsers.

7. Personality. Some pep, some vim!

Like anything with true personality, it would be one of a kind. On the flipside, how would you feel if your hard-worked weeks, pixel for pixel, suddenly appeared on a website that wasn’t your own? Albeit unsurprisingly, the more impressive web designs (especially those sourced within ‘inspirational design’ for their excellence) are susceptible to plagiarism on a level unknown to the real owner until reports from supporters surface on their end.

DigitalMash survived a shocking bout of plagiarism by numerous people claiming expertise in web design as a business. In this case, the copycat’s site was awarded design excellence and featured in a magazine. No content (including the original author’s portfolio of professional work) had been edited, the only difference being a replacement of the original author’s name and business. Have a look!

 

8. Up-to-date content 

Regularly update your blog! If unable to maintain your web site at least once a week, remember that there are other methods to look busy – try updating via Twitter or Facebook.

9. Easy to read.

This is really more about formatting the content of the blog than it is about a theme design. Keep in mind that most readers will be scanning your posts rather than reading them word-for-word. Use headlines, white space, lists, and bold text to make it easy for readers.

10. Good use of colour.

 The best designs effectively use color to improve the appearance. This can be done any number of ways, and sometimes it’s even a subtle aspect of design. The color combinations don’t have to jump out at readers, in fact, they actually need to make it easy for visitors to read the blog posts. If you’re looking for a good color combination, be sure to check out the resources listed in Find the Perfect Colors for Your Website.

Tags: blog design, inspiration