Are you planning to start a blog for your business or your brand? Starting a blog is not as easy as it looks because your blog’s design must stand out from your competition. When people see your blog, they must immediately think you are a brand they can trust, and you are offering something new.
Want to get on the right track with your blog’s design? Here is a shortlist of things you need to consider:
1. Unique Domain
The domain is one of the first things you need to design and focus on when starting a blog. Your domain reflects your branding and personality, setting the tone for the rest of the blog. It must be easy to remember and spell.
Be careful in choosing your domain name, though. 123.com can also be onetwothree.com, and you may end up needing to buy both so that your customers will not be confused. Another thing to note is to make sure that your domain name is not one alphabet away from a famous drug or porn site or just about anything that you don’t wish to be associated with.
2. Easy-to-use CMS
Whether you are familiar with coding a website or not, having an easy to use content management system (CMS) is vital to consider to make your blog designing easier.
Most CMS come with easy-to-edit theme options for users who are not familiar with coding, as well as premade themes you can immediately use after minor edits.
3. Readability
Your blog layout should be easy to read but still have a good contrast of colours to reflect your brand. Use light colours that contrast nicely, and don’t hesitate to use colours that can evoke positive responses.
Another way to make sure that you have good readability on your articles is to use hemingwayapp.com, which helps cut down the unnecessary fluff.
Keep in mind that most readers are reading from a mobile phone, so the key is to keep your message clear and concise.
4. Functionality
Every page and link of your blog must also be working and secure for your users to check because any broken links or at risk pages can turn off potential readers to stay on your site.
The page must also work perfectly no matter what medium or browser the user is checking your site, whether through their phone, tablet or PC.
5. Social Media Integration
With social media a big part of many promotional activities today, you will need to have a way for you and your readers to share posts and comment on the site.
Social media is a great place to interact with your readers, and you must have sharing buttons easy to spot on your page.
MiddleMe.net is linked with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Every time a new article is posted, my social media will be updated as well. This is a function provided in WordPress.
6. Anti-spam
Some comments may not be from legitimate readers, which is why you will need to have safeguards from what is considered spam accounts. Captcha tests and anti-spam add-ons are available for your blog to protect yourself and other readers from spam.
7. Quick Loading Time
While it can be tempting to put a lot of plug-ins for your blog to cater to everyone, it may slow down your website drastically. Before putting your site up, test how fast the site loads and fix any potential glitches. Readers want a fast site because they want their information on time, and if you can’t deliver, they will switch to another site.
I’m not too fond of heavy loading websites. This irks me to death. If you have a lot of high-quality photos on your site, do sign up with a hosting partner that can support your needs.
Conclusion
These factors I cited above are just some things that should be on your checklist when designing your blog. Overall, you will need to make sure your blog is easy to navigate, use, share and engage in to build the impressions you need to build your brand.
Let’s make sure your blog is optimal for your readers by following these tips: Blog Images Are More Important Than You Think How to Get Your Blog Noticed Tips For Entrepreneurs Building Their Own Business Website
Can’t get enough of MiddleMe? You can find me sharing my thoughts here as well: Instagram @kallymiddleme Twitter (MiddleMe_net) FaceBook (MiddleMe.net) LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/kallytay
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