It is evident that blogs are becoming, more and more, the preferred choice for a professional web presence.  Why?  For one thing, it is easier for the newbie to learn, as they are much easier to set up and maintain than the standard websites.  As blogs are browser based, they do not require expensive web design software or negotiating a steep learning curve to get up to speed with HTML and CSS.  Nor does one have to be a web designer, since there are many available free themes than can easily be used.

However, even with that said, it is beneficial to have a professional looking blog to make a good impression on visitors.  For my blog of choice, WordPress, it is all too common to see the default theme still being used.  It’s hard to miss – just look for the gradient dark blue header with the white text of the blog title over it.  While that is not a fatal flaw, beginners need to understand the importance of customizing their blogs to match their business and/or online persona.

Here are a few guidelines and suggestions to get you started:

Header – As previously stated, do NOT use the standard headers that come with blogs, even the ones that come with free themes.  Unless you are a Photoshop guru or graphics design whiz, spend $25 and get your own custom header created.

Color Schemes – While this topic is subject to debate and personal choice, it is best to align your blog layout design colors to match your blog subject or niche.  For example, a gardening blog might have greens and earth tones, a baby related blog could use soft blues, pinks and purples.  That is not to say you cannot get crazy or expressive with colors, but most visitors are there to read/view your content and having too many wild colors can get distracting.  Oh yeah, white or light colored text on a black or dark colored background = bad idea!

Navigation & Menus -  With ever changing content additions, blogs can tend to get a bit unwieldy, so it is important to give visitors a clear, concise way to navigate their way around your blog.  Cascading or “tree” menus can help in this regard.

Elements & Multimedia – Blogs are about interaction.  So be sure to add images, audio, video, surveys, social bookmarks, etc.  And of course, you MUST have an optin box to capture leads.

There you go, blog design basics in a nutshell.

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If you resonate with this and have some ideas or encouraging words to share, I’d love to hear from you down below. And if you think the people over on Twitter would benefit, a ReTweet is always appreciated too, and if you think your Facebook following would benefit from these words feel free to share them with your friends.

Wishing you prosperity and joy,

Scott

PS. Be sure to subscribe to receive my blog updates by leaving your information in the form below.