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Blogging Tips Book: Best Blog Design Elements

Blogging Tips - book cover, copyright Lorelle VanFossenThe following excerpt is from Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging by Lorelle on WordPress.

The ideal blog design is one that:

  • Downloads in less than 10 seconds.
  • Never requires scrolling left or right or resizing the window.
  • Limits up and down scrolling.
  • Contains easy to find navigation.
  • Features design elements in common and familiar locations.
  • Prints beautifully.

A good blog design must include the following:

  • Blog Title: A consistent blog title on every page of your blog reminds the visitor where they are and what your blog is about.
  • Home Link: Help the reader find the front page of your blog easily. Designers often make the blog title and/or header art or logo clickable to the blog’s front page.
  • Search Form: The gateway to finding information on your blog from any page.
  • Showcase Categories/Tags: Information on a blog is grouped by categories and tags, displaying related content together.
  • Information Links: Links to your About and Contact pages quickly direct your readers to learn more about you and your blog, as well as how to contact you.
  • Link to a Site Map/Archives: Your blog’s site map is its table of contents, directing readers to more information through a topical list of your blog posts.
  • Show Intent: Show the intent and purpose of the blog quickly through graphics and text.
  • Be Readable: It must be readable with no interference between the reader and the content.

This is an excerpt from Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging by Lorelle on WordPress. For more information on the book and ordering, see Blogging Tips.

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This entry was written by Lorelle VanFossen and posted on June 6, 2007 at 4:20 am and filed under blogging tips, Web Design, WordPress with tags , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

One Comment

  1. kaoko
    Posted June 6, 2007 at 11:08 pm | Permalink

    Ran into this post as I was looking for wp contact form plug-ins, and I’m glad I did. It’s very useful, especially for someone like me who’s moving up to a fully customized blog for the first time.

    I’m also happy that I don’t seem to be straying far from your list, except maybe for the heavy image use, but then, can’t be avoided since I’m mostly an image oriented site.

    Thanks for the tips, grabbing your RSS feed now.

    Reply

3 Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. By Make Your Blog Shine! « My Life With IT on June 6, 2007 at 6:16 pm

    […] Blog design is important because it is too cluttered with Adsense, Nuffnang, and all those monetizing ads, I won’t be able to read the actual post despite its quality. I wouldn’t be able to find its RSS either. Not that it’s difficult, just put the URL in Bloglines and the job is done. While it is debatable with full vs. partial feeds, blog designs are important to keep the readers coming again and again to your blog. The comments section must be easy to find and as Lorelle has put some more tips on how to make your blog more readable. […]

  2. By Improve Your Blog: Usability : The Blog Herald on December 12, 2007 at 6:14 am

    […] you move through the blog, what elements do you look for to help you move? Next and previous links? Tags? Categories? What compels you to dig deeper into a […]

  3. By How to Blog, Part 1: Creating a Blog | A Classic Housewife In A Modern World on December 29, 2008 at 1:11 am

    […] Blog Design Tips for Lorelle on WordPress […]

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