by Elizabeth, Delightfully Tacky
I would say that tantamount to good content is having a good layout. Let's face it, we are visual people and to add to that, we live in an era where information is given to us in a very visually designed way. Just look at how fancy the graphics are on news channels now! We have a hard time gathering information from sources that are poorly designed. So, that being said, I personally believe that if you want to grow your blog, it is a must to have a nice looking design.
If I go to a blog and the layout design is atrocious, it's unlikely I'll stay for longer than one page of it, and I'll probably never come back (unless the content is that good). I think having a nice looking blog is a testament to how much the author cares about his or her content. If you feel like you have good content, wouldn't you want your blog be a place where that good content is easily accessible and nice to look at? Reading a blog is like entering a cozy little corner of this giant house called the internet. A great looking blog can invite readers in and make them feel comfortable while they browse through your posts.
Here are a few benefits of having a great blog design:
1. Shows off your photos: Especially for those of us who post a lot of photos or outfit pictures, a good layout provides a nice canvas for those photos to be displayed on.
2. Easy to navigate: A good blog makes it easy for the reader to find the content their looking for. I've always made it a point to have links to my various types of posts (outfits/brave journey/food/travels). You can put this in your sidebar, or if you have a nav bar below your header, that's a great place to give people important links to stuff in your blog!
3. Identity: A good design gives people a sense of who you are and what your blog is about. Blogs with a focus on vintage might have more of a vintagey feel, like Rachel's blog Smile & Wave. A blog that is more into high fashion might have a more sleek look, like Le Blog De Betty.
4. Branding: A great blog design can be a part of your personal branding, which you can use for business cards and any other project that you put your name one. Your blog is essentially a tiny brand. Once you establish your branding, it can permeate your work. Use the same elements throughout your blog to solidify your branding. Pick a couple fonts and stick to using those two almost always. Pick a few colors that are essential to your branding, and use them when you add elements.
5. Consistency: I like to keep my blog looking essentially the same, even when I do tweaks to my layout. I like to keep my branding consistent. I know that some people like doing redesigns more often, but I really like a blog that I can go to and see the same design. You recognize it immediately.
Think about the blogs you love to visit and spend hours looking through. What is it about their design that you really love? Before tackling a redesign, think about the elements you'd like to include, what kind of vibe you want it to have, what your color scheme is going to be, and so on.
Working on your own blog design can be daunting, it still is for me at times! It's definitely not for everyone. If you don't have a lot of time to sit down and figure out all the HTML to do what you want, you can certainly consider hiring a designer to work on your blog for you! There are a lot of freelance designers out there looking for work. I know that Liz from SrslyLiz does blog designs, as does Kaelah from Little Chief Honey Bee. Usually if you find a blog design that you adore, you can either find on that person's blog a link to the designer, or the company they used to design it. Or, they may have designed it themselves and could have a link to their freelance design services! If they have none of those things, don't hesitate to ask who designed their blog!
I work for Freckled Nest blog design and I love it! They have an amazing team of designers and formatters so not only do you have expertise in the area of design, you also have people with the technical skills to make those designs come to life. You can see their more on their packages here, and you can browse through all the different designers here to get a better idea of who might be the best fit to design your very own blog makeover!
