Beauty Is in the Details: How to Strike a Great First Impression With Your New Blog


Blogging itself is fairly easy. Assuming you have some subject material to write about, you generally just interact with your readers and create content that is close to your heart. You try to write about things you’re interested in and you generally avoid topics that you haven’t got a clue about. It’s fairly straightforward and most people can get by with writing talent if they want to create a successful blog. However, the part that is difficult and can sometimes ruin a blog is the design. Designing a blog is completely different from just writing content because they are two separate professions. One is all about writing, the other is about design. Someone could be great at both writing and digital art design, but it’s rare to see. If you want to make your blog stand out, then here are a couple of points to keep in consideration.

Avoid Templates
If you’ve ever seen a website and thought to yourself “hang on, this looks familiar!” then you’ve probably stumbled upon on template. Templates are very common especially in the blogging scene because of how easy they are to set up. Most people don’t care about their WordPress website design because there are hundreds of templates to choose from, but the chances of a reader realising that you’re using a template are actually quite high. Once they notice you’re being lazy with the design, it might put them off reading any further. Avoid using templates and focus on creating your own website if possible. Hire a freelancer if you have absolutely no idea how to create a website—it will be worth your time and money.

Function Over Form
Form is important (hence why this article is about design) but you never want to get in the way of function. Before you add a certain design element to your website, ask yourself a serious question: does this enhance or detract from the viewing experience? If the answer is it enhances it, then add it immediately! If it detracts from the reader’s enjoyment and makes your website harder to navigate, then avoid it like the plague. If you’re going to add something fancy such as a search function or social media widgets, then make sure they actually work by testing them—no one likes broken functionality on a website!

Add an About Page
If you want to get your blog seen, then you need to spread the love and share it with people. In order for readers to connect with you, you need to tell them about yourself. An about page is the perfect thing to add to a new blog. Readers want to get to know you, they want to learn who you are, what you do, why they should read your blog, and what your blog is about. Without this basic information, the chances of you getting repeat readers are very slim, and you won’t gain nearly as much success as you hoped for. Make sure you add some basic contact information as well and include a picture or a logo for extra professionalism.