A is for Appearance of Your Blog
Today marks my 300th post! I can't think of a better way to celebrate the occasion then starting off the A-Z Bloghop with a bang. Even though I've been blogging for two years (I started in April of 2011) I've never had the guts to participate.
I was on a two hour car ride home a couple of months ago when a theme for A-Z struck me and I knew I had to sign up. You see, when I first started blogging I was so clueless! I made so many completely embarrassing mistakes and I've seen others repeat these awful no-no's. Since then I've wanted to share what I learned to help others along the way.
So my A-Z Theme is Blogging Tips!
As you may have guessed from the title of this post, today I wanted to focus on blog appearance. There are a few basic rules that all bloggers should follow.
1. Never have light text on a dark background, it's freaking hard to read.
2. Make sure your font is big enough.
3. Don't get too fancy. Not every font is readable, I've chosen Georgia becasue it doesn't feel too stiff, but it's pretty basic as well.
There a couple of things that should be considered as well when deciding on your appearance.
1. What are you trying to convey when people visit your blog? I personally want to convey two things, what my blog is about (my writing journey) and youth + fun since that's what writing Young Adult Novels are about. If my blog was gray and orange (which it was when I first started) it wouldn't really speak of those two things.
2. Is there anything distracting on your blog that would take away from people actually reading?
a. - It drives me absolutely insane when I go to a blog and my mouse changes to something with sparkles falling out of it. I just keep moving my mouse around the screen hoping it goes away. I won't be staying to read for very long.
b - Please don't put music on your blog. I often visit blogs when my kids are napping and it really scares me when I forget to turn the volume down and music starts to come out. If you wake my baby up, I kill you ;)
c - Take out gifs from your sidebar, I can't concentrate on what I'm reading if something keeps flashing at me. I want to get it out of my line of vision as soon as possible.
Google ratings go up if people spend more time visiting your blog. Take the time to make sure your blog is a welcoming place to be. It will make all of the difference in the world.
Have you made any of these mistakes? What other advice would you offer?
I was on a two hour car ride home a couple of months ago when a theme for A-Z struck me and I knew I had to sign up. You see, when I first started blogging I was so clueless! I made so many completely embarrassing mistakes and I've seen others repeat these awful no-no's. Since then I've wanted to share what I learned to help others along the way.
So my A-Z Theme is Blogging Tips!
As you may have guessed from the title of this post, today I wanted to focus on blog appearance. There are a few basic rules that all bloggers should follow.
1. Never have light text on a dark background, it's freaking hard to read.
2. Make sure your font is big enough.
3. Don't get too fancy. Not every font is readable, I've chosen Georgia becasue it doesn't feel too stiff, but it's pretty basic as well.
There a couple of things that should be considered as well when deciding on your appearance.
1. What are you trying to convey when people visit your blog? I personally want to convey two things, what my blog is about (my writing journey) and youth + fun since that's what writing Young Adult Novels are about. If my blog was gray and orange (which it was when I first started) it wouldn't really speak of those two things.
2. Is there anything distracting on your blog that would take away from people actually reading?
a. - It drives me absolutely insane when I go to a blog and my mouse changes to something with sparkles falling out of it. I just keep moving my mouse around the screen hoping it goes away. I won't be staying to read for very long.
b - Please don't put music on your blog. I often visit blogs when my kids are napping and it really scares me when I forget to turn the volume down and music starts to come out. If you wake my baby up, I kill you ;)
c - Take out gifs from your sidebar, I can't concentrate on what I'm reading if something keeps flashing at me. I want to get it out of my line of vision as soon as possible.
Google ratings go up if people spend more time visiting your blog. Take the time to make sure your blog is a welcoming place to be. It will make all of the difference in the world.
Have you made any of these mistakes? What other advice would you offer?
Comments
Excellent theme and tips, JA. I didn't have a clue when I began blogging either.
Love the theme!
I've been thinking about doing something new to my blog. I'm looking forward to your month of posts!
Congratulations on starting the journey!
Your blog looks great, by the way!
Patricia, Sugar & Spice & All Things ? Nice
I also started blogging with absolutely NO CLUE about the do's and don'ts... and learned by trial & error!
Great post!
Some of these are really basic, but some, like the no music one, people break all the time. Much to my annoyance.
Thanks for the tips. I am looking forward to the rest of the month.
I was completely clueless too. I started blogging right after you did (June 2011).
The woman who was the cause of my old site being deleted had one of the worst blogs I ever saw. Beyond the whole creepiness factor, it was poorly-designed—white text on black background, creepy dirge-like playlist, and worst of all very disturbing, graphic pictures of her miscarried fetuses on her sidebar, with NO warning that the reader was about to see that. I feel sorry for her losses, but that wasn't the way to design a blog!
:)
and cursive fonts are impossible to read!
you are doing a goid service!
I love your theme :)