How to Design a Better Blog and Make More Money

Why is Your Blog Design Important to Your Blog’s Success?

You have been told over and over again that the key to success with your blog is creating quality content. That is true, I won’t argue with that, but if it was that easy how come your blog isn’t as successful as you wish it to be? I know it isn’t, because you are still looking for new articles on how to make it even better. What people often don’t tell you that can keep you from the success that you want is your:
Blog Design.

Who are you more like you likely to believe when looking to buy a house, a guy in his pajamas or a guy in a suit? The power of first impressions can not be denied in first person contact, but it is often overlooked online. just because you can hide behind your computer doesn’t mean your blog is immune to the same effects. The people visiting your blog operate in a very similar way to how they would in first person contact.

A blog that looks like it was put together by someone’s nephew in their basement or uses a free template will give off the impression of being unprofessional, lack of credibility, and sketchy. You could have created the world’s most comprehensive blog on a subject, but your blog design can prevent people from even giving you a chance. And without readers, how are you suppose to make any money?

Focus on the following strategies and you will be able to design a better blog and make more money, gain more traffic, and get more subscribers.
Usability

If it takes too much effort or time to navigate around your blog, find articles, or use, then your visitors will leave you for your competitor. The most important thing to pay attention to in regards to usability is to make it so the blog is easy to use.

People are use to a certain way a blog works. There are headlines, posts, comments, archives, and links to posts that are usually in a general area. When you try to get too innovative with your blog, you might end up making it harder for your visitors to use your blog, because they never used anything like it before. Don’t assume they are willing to learn, because they really don’t care. This is even more true for first time visitors to your blog.
Color

Don’t choose a color because it matches your personality or it just looks good. Pick each color you use with the full knowledge of what it will do for the message you are trying to communicate. This has a lot to do with knowing your audience, which I assume you know very well or else you need to start researching again.
Visual Interest

Visual interest is all in the details of your blog design. They are the little details that leads a visitor’s eyes to certain parts of the blog that you want them to pay attention to. When visual interest is weaved into your blog design right, you will be able focus the visitor on the most important parts of your blog, such as your money-making posts.

The dangerous thing about visual interest is that if you overdo it, you can make it harder for the user to pay attention to anything as there are too many things on the blog that is vying for the user’s attention. Attention is a scarce resource that users give so don’t squander it. Use it only for the most important parts of your blog design.
Functionality

While blog design is an art, it is first and foremost an interface people use in order to get to the information that you have written. That is why it is important to breathe more life into a blog design by enhancing it with increased functionality through the use of javascripts, ajax, widgets, and other extras.

The point of increasing functionality has to do with usability, which is to make it even easier to use. The easier you make it for a new visitor to navigate your blog like they been there 10 times already, the more likely the visitor will find your content, subscribe to your blog, and make you more money.