Blog Design - Keep It Simple

Simplicity is the key to a good looking blog. 
Today’s web readers are inundated with a plethora of visually stimulating advertisements, ideas, posts and photos. The result is overwhelming, and very exhausting. 
A clean, crisp blog can relax the reader and make them enjoy their stay on your blog. This doesn’t mean make your site boring - it just means it’s time to throw out the Comic Sans font, and put the fancy photo backgrounds back in your high school yearbook. 
Here are just a few simple guidelines that will give your blog the air of professionalism, without giving up your originality or personality:

Fonts: 
Step away from the Fancy Fonts. They can make your blog look unprofessional, and often, childish. According to America’s Most Fonted –  Comic Sans is the worst font of all. Just Google “comic sans” and you’ll find a long list of web designers that share the sentiment, including websites like bancomicsans.com. 
Here are the top 7 Most Hated Fonts in order: 

1. Comic 
2. Bradley Hand ITC 
3. Curlz MT
4. Papyrus 
5. Vivaldi 
6. Kristen ITC 
7. Viner Hand 
A good rule of thumb is to make sure the font you use is “Sans Serif” such as Arial, Calibri, and Verdana. Let me explain. “Serifs” are the small finishing strokes on the end of a character such as Times New Roman. “Sans serif” fonts do not have these finishing strokes. Serif fonts have been widely used in traditional printed material such as books and newspapers. But once you start using the web, with varying screen resolutions and sizes, serifs become difficult to read, and hard on the eyes. 

Backgrounds:
White Text on Black Background is bad. We can’t read your blog. Tatham Oddie explains the scientific reasoning which has to do with your iris opening to receive more light, and create a “fuzzy” effect. 

Thanks to UxMovement for this demonstration

Just keep in mind the key is readability. 
Downloading blog templates can be great, but can also be disastrous. You want your blog to stand out because it’s good, not because it’s a prime example of what not to do. Fancy backgrounds with photos can work if they don’t distract from the most important part – your posts. Make sure the background behind your post is clean, clear and offers enough of a contrast for even the lowest resolution screens. 

Photographs/Pictures:
We are a visual generation – we need photos. "Text only" means a boring blog. Break the monotony with photographs, videos, slideshows, etc. But again, make sure the photos don’t detract from what you’re saying. 
Make sure the photos are large enough to see. Think of the photos that catch your eye and make sure yours fit that category.
Don't go overboard!  Adding too many photos can prove taxing for the reader and also for the browser which will add to the download time, different sizes, places and photos plugged anywhere threatens the professionalism of your blog.
Also make sure when you are adding photos that they are scaled properly, meaning not out of proportion and check the creative commons for the legality of using someone else’s photo. To get more information on legally using photos go to Blogger.com’s help page on posting photos. There are plenty of sites that also offer free images including morgueFile, RGB stock and FreeFoto.

Simplicity is the key to a well designed blog

Finally, Consistency: 
A consistent approach to layout, colours and fonts allows readers to adapt quickly to your design and get comfortable. The visual language of your blog is a reflection of who you are and what people can expect. Don’t speak in a number of tongues. Impress visitors with not only a great first impression, but also an even better lasting impression.

The Need for Links in your Blog

Why?

Your blog is a resource tool for your reader. It’s important that you create a solid resource for them.   This can be done through a useful set of practical tips, tools to solve a problem, and, of course, links to other sites.

Links - it’s part of what makes a blog a blog. It takes time and should be an on-going process.

Be sure to include links to other bloggers, external sites and even defining a heteroclite word.  Links serve as a way to get further information. Links are one way to direct other bloggers back to your site.  By linking to another blogger or blog entry they’ll often find your blog through their stats, thus building your community.

Simply put, "linking out" makes your site a more valuable, scalable resource and encourages positive participation and contribution.

According to Rand Fishkin of the Moz Blog "Linking is common practice on the web - expected and respected by users of all kinds - and therefore, extremely unlikely to harm your reputation."

It also helps your SEO.  Google likes to see outgoing links to relevant and reputable websites.

Don't forget Internal Links.  Social Media Examiner reminds you to build in a couple of links to other pages within your site. The link will still hold search engine value even though it’s coming from within the same site.

How?

Blogger makes linking to another website very easy. Simply highlight the word you'd like to turn into a link and then hit the link button on the toolbar.

A pop-up window will appear where you enter the URL you'd like to link to.
Be sure to check off "open this link in a new window" so your readers won't be navigated away from your site.

The Purpose of Labels

Labels, tags, keywords - what does that box at the bottom of your new post really accomplish?

What are they? Labels (or tags) make it easy to group related posts, without having to create specific categories for each subject. They give visitors the ability to browse all your posts that relate to a similar subject. When two or more blog posts are given the same label, visitors can easily click on the label to view those posts grouped together in the archive template.

Why should you use them? What’s more important is that these labels also serve as a great way for search engines to find your blog. When I’m deciding which words to use as labels for my post, I always ask myself “if I was searching this topic, which keywords would I enter in Google?”

Keywords are a source of traffic. Considering Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the highest priority in creating a successful blog, these labels will direct the traffic to you.

Mr. Ven of eMoneyMakingOnline.Com offers important advice on using keywords in your blog: “Don’t always write articles to stuff keywords instead “convey the message naturally” and you will ‘use keywords naturally’.”

How to do it? When creating a new post, there is a space at the bottom of your form marked "Labels for this post" (other platforms use “Tags”) Simply enter your keywords (labels), separated by commas. (If you click the "show all" link you’ll see the list of labels you've used before. Then just click on those labels to add them.) When you publish your post, the labels will be listed with it.

Label List

It's also a good idea to add a label list to your side bar.  This helps navigate your blog, and instantly categorizes your topics  To do this go to Add A Gadget and find Labels.

At this point you can edit your label and choose whether to sort labels alphabetically or by frequency of use and as a LIST or by CLOUD. Until you’ve built up a bank of labels, I would suggest using the list option. To add this list, go to add a gadget and add labels.

Remember: Relevant Labels = SEO.