10 Tips on Blog Design from Savvy Blogging Summit

Continuing with my weekly look at ten tips from some of the sessions at the Savvy Blogging Summit in July, this week I’m going to share ten tips about design (with an emphasis on blog design), which was presented by Joy from Five J’s Designs.  (Joy is also the amazing designer who did the current design of Many Little Blessings.)

Now, my only problem with Joy’s presentation is that she shared SO much great information that I can’t really share even a good portion of it within one Top Ten Tuesday post.  So, I will have to share some today, and then some next week.

Of course, if you simply can’t wait until next week, you can just go buy Joy’s talk CSS/Code and Design, power point presentation, and checklist.  (Then again, I’m just giving highlights, so you might want to buy it anyway.)

Ten Blog Design Tips (Part One):

1. White space does not have to be feared. As a matter of fact, it’s a good thing.  Every space in the design (and on the sidebars) does not have to be filled.

2. If elements in a design are different, make them very different. Avoid elements that are just similar.  Use either things that are the same or very different.

3. Repeat visual elements throughout a design. Joy suggestions that some of the ways to have these visually repeating elements can be through colors, shapes, textures, fonts, graphics, sizes, etc.

4. Don’t just add things to a design for no reason. Every element should be placed for a reason.  (There should be some visual connection to another element.)

5. If there are elements that are related to each other, they should be placed close to one another. For example, all of your subscription buttons should be found together.  (Just like my two subscription buttons, Twitter button, Facebook button, and contact button are all in a line together here in the sidebar.)

6. Related to number five, when several similar items get placed together (like those social media buttons), people tend to look at it as one design element, rather than several. (This is good so that it doesn’t seem overwhelming visually.)

7. The best font size is usually 14 px to 16 px.  The best line length is typically between 50 – 85 characters (which comes out to around 12 – 14 words per line).  Both of these guidelines will help with readability.

8. It is a great idea to make a custom 404 page. The usual 404 error page on WordPress isn’t particular helpful.  However, you can make your 404 page with ideas about what a reader might be looking for.  Here are some examples of custom 404 pages. My own 404 page has a listing of archives and a listing of categories.  It also has a friendly message that although they didn’t find what they were looking for, maybe those items might help them find what they are looking for.

9. Readers should be able to figure out the purpose of your blog and the layout of your blog within the first five seconds of visiting your blog. Make sure your logo or title is easily seen.  Also, if your tagline doesn’t help to explain what your site is about, try to have an About Me section above the fold (like mine to the right).

10.  Links to your about me page and a way to contact you should be very easy to find. If you are using WordPress, a great plugin for a contact form is Fast and Secure Contact Form.

You can find my previous posts in the Savvy Blogging Summit series here: Effective Monetization, Personal Productivity, and Photography.

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