Designing your blog isn’t just about making it look good. The point is to deliver a great reading experience to your visitors.
A well-designed blog makes it easy for readers to stick around, navigate your blog, and read more content. So whether you’re an experienced blogger or a beginner, having a sense of good blog design is important.
With that in mind, let’s explore the key elements of blog design and the steps to build an appealing and high-functioning blog.
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What is blog design?
Blog design refers to the visual and functional layout of a blog. It encompasses various elements like the overall structure, color scheme, typography, and navigation, all aimed at creating a pleasant and engaging user experience.
Good blog design ensures that your content is easily accessible and visually appealing, making it easier for readers to find and enjoy your posts.
It also includes optimizing your blog for different devices, ensuring that it looks good on both mobile and desktop screens.
Effective blog design combines aesthetics with usability, helping to attract and retain readers while reinforcing your brand’s identity and message.
Why is blog design important?
Blog design significantly impacts how readers perceive and interact with your content. A well-designed blog can enhance readability, making it easier for visitors to engage with your posts.
It helps establish credibility and professionalism, encouraging readers to trust your information and return for more.
Good design also improves navigation, allowing users to find what they’re looking for quickly, which can lower bounce rates and increase dwell time.
Additionally, a visually appealing blog reinforces your brand identity and can make your content more shareable. Ultimately, thoughtful blog design creates a positive user experience, driving engagement and growth.
Blog design best practices
Convinced on the importance of blog design? Now, let’s see what you can do to make sure your blog is designed well.
Start small
In the beginning, you don’t need to spend a ton of money and time tweaking your blog design. Nor do you need to pay someone else to do it.
I see many bloggers make this mistake. When building a blog, your first priority should be to work on things that will drive traffic to your content. Not to fuss over design elements.
You just need to get the basics right. And the good news is the basics have already been taken care of.
How’s that? If you have a blog, you likely used a blogging platform to create it, such as WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace.
Most blogging platforms today come with multiple themes you can choose from to determine your blog’s design. And those themes have already handled 80% of the blog design best practices for you.
The basic design you get from a decent theme is enough to present your content to visitors in a readable manner.
The only downside of this approach is that your blog will not look unique, as many other bloggers have been using the theme that you’re using.
But that’s not something you need to worry about right now when your blog isn’t making any money. You can always spend money on custom design later when your blog starts generating traffic and revenue.
The more time you spend on tweaking your blog’s design, the less time you’ll get for the things that truly matter in the beginning, like writing blog posts and building backlinks.
Maintain consistency
Consistency is super important for turning your blog into a brand that people recognize. What does it mean? Use the same set of colors, fonts, and other design elements on every page of your blog.
For example, view the AdEspresso blog. For every blog post, it uses custom-illustrated banners with the same look and feel.
Now, instead, if they had a stock photo as a featured image for one post and a custom illustration for another, that wouldn’t be very consistent. So, it will look unprofessional and chaotic. So keep that in mind when you design your blog.
Use the same blog post layout
Every blog post on your blog should have the same layout. As I said before, if you have been using a high-quality blog theme, this part is already done for you.
The format of your blog post should render properly on all screen sizes. The focus should be on easy readability. Keep fancy bells and whistles to a minimum.
Put your best foot (content) forward
Most blogs follow a standard arrangement of posts. The latest blog entries appear at the top, followed by the older ones at the bottom.
It’s an acceptable format, except for one problem. It makes it hard for readers to find your best content.
What about the awesome blog posts you wrote a few months ago? They’ll get buried under the endless weight of your recent posts.
For this reason, many blogs these days adopt more of a library approach to display blog content.
For example, the ActiveCampaign blog isn’t just a list of posts arranged in a “chronological” order. It’s a collection of the blog’s most popular posts.
Of course, not every blog will benefit from this approach. For example, if the focus of your blog is industry trends and news, then you are probably fine with the conventional approach.
But if your blog has many evergreen pieces of content, you may want to highlight them in front of your readers right away.
If you still want to stick to the chronological order of blog entries, then perhaps you can display your best blog posts in the sidebar.
Ensure proper readability
A blog conveys information mainly through the written word, which people should be able to read. If your content is difficult to read, your blog design will not be successful.
If your font size is too small to read, readers will usually click away and find something else to read.
Fortunately, it’s not that complicated to ensure the readability of your blog posts.
Most importantly, make sure your font size is large enough. In most cases, anything between 15px and 18px is ideal.
Medium.com is a great example. The articles on the website use the 21px font, which makes them really easy to read.
Besides that, you want to ensure plenty of white space around your text. For example, look at this blog entry with very little white space. The words and sentences are packed tightly together, making them hard to read.
This is something you don’t want to do. Give your content ample room to breathe, with plenty of white space, headers, and bullet lists. When you break long walls of text into small chunks, it’s easy for people to consume.
Add social media buttons
Social media is an important channel to spread the word about your content. The more people share your blog posts on their social media accounts, the better your reach.
While most of your readers will not share your content on social media, some can. But only if you remind them and make it easy for them to share.
Adding social media sharing buttons near your blog posts can fulfill both of these conditions. However, don’t make the mistake of adding dozens of buttons. Doing this will overwhelm your readers, and they’ll end up leaving without sharing.
Choose 2-3 social media channels that are suitable for most of your target audience. And display sharing options for these websites.
Analyze competitor blogs
Getting design inspiration from competitor blogs is a smart way to stay ahead in your niche. By analyzing their layouts, color schemes, and visual elements, you can identify trends and ideas that resonate with your target audience, and design your blog accordingly.
Start by browsing through their most popular posts and pay attention to what makes their designs effective—whether it’s a clean, minimalist approach or bold, eye-catching graphics.
You should also note how they organize content, use typography, and incorporate images. Don’t just copy their style; instead, use it as a foundation to create something unique that aligns with your brand.
Look for elements that can enhance user experience on your own blog, such as better navigation or more engaging calls to action. This way, you can refine your design strategy and make your blog more appealing, ultimately driving more traffic and engagement.
Format your blog posts
When you format your posts effectively, you make them more readable, engaging, and accessible. Start by using clear headings and subheadings to break up your blog posts, letting readers scan the content easily.
Incorporate bullet points or numbered lists to present information concisely, and use short paragraphs to keep your text digestible.
You should also pay attention to font choice and size to ensure readability on all devices. Incorporate images, infographics, and other visuals to add interest and support your points, but make sure they are high-quality and relevant.
Additionally, use bold and italics sparingly to emphasize key ideas without overwhelming the reader.
Prioritize user experience
User experience is paramount in blog design. If visitors find your blog difficult to navigate or visually overwhelming, they’re likely to leave quickly. Here’s how to prioritize UX:
Intuitive Navigation: Make sure your blog is easy to navigate. This means using descriptive labels for menu options and ensuring that your categories and tags are well-organized. A search bar is also a valuable addition, helping readers find specific content quickly.
Responsive Design: The usage of mobile and tablet devices has been growing for many years now. So, it’s essential to have a responsive design that works well on all screen sizes. Ensure your blog is mobile-friendly by testing it on various devices and adjusting the layout as needed. Google also favors mobile-friendly sites in search rankings, which can boost your visibility.
Fast Loading Times: Visitors won’t stick on your blog if it takes too long to load. Optimize your images, use a reliable hosting service, and consider using tools like caching plugins to improve your blog’s loading speed.
Focus on engagement and conversions
An engaging blog keeps readers interested and encourages them to interact with your content. Here’s how to enhance engagement:
Calls to Action (CTAs): When designing your blog, include clear and compelling CTAs in your posts to guide your readers on what to do next.
Whether it’s subscribing to your newsletter, leaving a comment, or sharing the post on social media, CTAs can significantly increase engagement.
Interactive Elements: Adding interactive elements like quizzes, polls, or comment sections can make your blog more engaging. These elements encourage readers to engage longer with your blog and interact with your content.
Wrapping up: blog design
Blog design is a crucial aspect of building a successful online presence. It’s more than just aesthetics; it’s about creating a user-friendly experience that keeps readers engaged and coming back for more.
By focusing on readability, navigation, and visual appeal, you can reinforce your brand identity and fosters trust with your audience.
Whether you’re a newbie or an experienced blogger, investing time and effort into your blog’s design can pay off significantly, helping you attract and retain readers while enhancing the overall effectiveness of your content.
Did I miss anything? Did you try these tips? Do you have any questions or comments? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
