The question comes up all of the time..How important is appearance when it comes to my blog? Needless to say, image is all important with anything someone does online..especially with their blog. The blog is the center of the social media universe and how your blog is received is how you will be received by others online.
The Goal is to produce a better blog and keep the volume down on useless content. There is no need in being real long winded. Save some of you overall point for another blog post.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating a blog site:
1) Use visuals – Keep it simple and to the point. Be conscious of the fact there is a fine line between visually appealing and visually overwhelming. It shouldn’t take a long time for visitors to load the page. Also, the images should not compete with the content on your page, but rather should be relevant complements. Use relevant imagery.
2) Make it interesting – It is very important to make sure you know your readers and become their ‘go-to’ resource. Make it easy to get the information they are seeking quickly. Don’t fall for others telling you should put blinking ads or pop-up on your site. Don’t misleading or confusing to your viewers. Develop a high level of ethics when blogging and keep your overall positioning on a subject in mind when writing.
3) Be minimalist in styling – Do Not overwhelm your page with messy backgrounds or overly dramatic fonts and styling. Make sure your blog is eye appealing by maintaining clean lines, simple formatting and neutral background colors.
4) Simplify it – Make the landing page where viewers can quickly scan and get to the information you are providing. Employ, sub-headers, bullets, numbered lists, bolded titles, subtitles and indentation to organize the information. The quicker they can get to your point the more they are going to come back.
5) Use variety – Using the same format or style through out the blog theme will eventually bore your devoted readers. Mix it up in terms of both content and style. Don’t be afraid to take risks in what your blogging about. It is OK to be controversial in what you blog about as long as you stand firm on the principles that support you opinion. It is also good to write about peripheral topics that will get your readers thinking. If you fail, your readers will let you know and you can adjust accordingly. If you succeed, you might tap into a new and more interesting audience.
It is good to get some advice from someone who has been blogging for a number of years to find out what to expect and what REALLY works. Check out my NEW! Blogger Start-Up Kit Training program I have developed. It is good to start your Blog off on a good foot.
The problem with most short blog posts is that they are both short AND useless. Add to this, the titles are purposely engineered to make you think the blog contains highly useful content – “Important Tips on Invoicing for Small Business” where all of the points are along the line of “Be sure the address is correct on the invoice.” In many cases a third-party marketing company is churning out these useless blogs for their client to help them with SEO and find customers. But I think this is backfiring, Blogs are becoming a commodity.
Blogs on technical topics should be drafted by professionals in their given fields, and of whatever length necessary to convey useful information.
Steve,
Thanks for the comment. Great points and I agree. The Content Provider companies are really making a mockery of many blogs sites which I too get a little nauseated at times thinking that someone is paying for the dribble they provide. I guess once people find out where the true viable..and yes valuable… content is they will leave those blogs that take 2500 words to tell you to ‘Have a Nice Day’.
Thanks for your support.