9 Blog Tips To Make Your Own Blog Design

It seems like everyone wants a blog these days. The first thing after making your mind for owning a blog is designing it. Even though most of us just select the defaults and templates and completely forget about the most important part that first impression is the last one.

If you are eager to create you own blog than you must be get ready to debug your error because design a blog is not about moving a sidebar to the left or right. Just changing your header art and making the background red instead of grey, adding pictures, all these practices are not a name of blog design. It requires time, knowledge and capability to remove bugs from your code and design.

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I have categorized the whole designing into parts, which will help you designing the super blog. Let us begin our journey from a blog to a super blog:

1. Header

This is the first thing that is visible on your blog and in most times it decides how your blog would be because the good blogs are attractive as well as content rich. So make a nice header, as it is your own brand and will distinguish you from the million other blogs. So make your header a nice and memorable as well as unique so the reader will visit it repeatedly.

There are thousands of headers that comes as a part of different templates and styles but still they are one of the most important things you should keep in mind.

How to make your header design great for your blog:

1. The first thing that we usually design in a web page is the header, because if header it good it gives good ambience to the rest of the blog. So before making a header finalize, on how your header looks like and what it should contain, character, message, design etc., so the best thing that I do is make notes of all I want and start my work towards getting the appropriate header I want.

2.Whatever you add in your blog make sure that it tell the purpose of your blog so the reader searching for food blog can know straight away that your blog is about technology not food stuff.

3. The most important part of making a header is that you should get creative and try out your weirdest dreams, which may lead to a nice header. Make a unique and striking header that even the best of us cannot neglect.

Few good examples of blog’s headers:-

1. Octwelve

Good example of distinct and nice header that will make you visit the site again. The best part about this one is that it also tells you what the blog is all about.

2. Cultfoo

This is another good example, which shows how you can remove any boundation on the header like boundaries with edges, rounded or rectangle corners, making is quite distinct.

3. Darkmotion

A cool header that is unique in every way.

2. Content Area

After the header, this is the most important thing because this is where your reader will spend their valuable time, so make this section easy to read and have least possible distractions so the reader can concentrate on the reading part only.

How to design a great content area:

1. The most important should come first, make a bold heading and after that the flow of post should be following this style; important  less important.

2. Don’t change the design in every post just because you can, so make it consistent and provide extra or related information along with the post either as attachments or as links.

3. There should be minimal or no distraction here so the reader can fully concentrate on reading only.

Few examples of content area:

1. Simplebits

A sleek and good design with links just popping enough so that they are noticed by the reader but he/she is not distracted.

2. WeLove WP

The worst problem most face when they choose dark design that it becomes hard to read but with proper background and font as well as font color the best results can be achieved.

3. We Break Stuff

Here is a unique content area which has the colored links and dotted lines to highlight them.

3. Primary Navigation

These are the pages names or you can say that the various main categories or the various info you are providing, home, topics, about, contact, etc., that you have created in the blog.

It should be properly thought and then made and make sure that they are written correctly in correct font and color as well as style that matches your blog. This is usually the first place where people see so it’s a good practice if you put them just below the header.

How to design a great primary navigation:

1. There should be limited primary navigation links, a max of 5 to 6 is sufficient enough to categorize your site broadly.

2. These should be displayed on every page of your site or blog so that the reader can navigate efficiently.

3. The most common of primary navigation links are the contact and about link.

Few examples of primary navigation:

1. A list apart

A simple primary navigation link.

2. Mindtwitch

Textured primary navigation links.

3. Jogger

Simple but also integrating various services in the links only, blog, techblog etc.

4. Secondary Navigation

These are generally the subparts or divisions of primary navigation links. These lead to different section or categories of your blog. They usually are in the side bar but many are placed like in a open up menu of primary navigation links.

These are important because they simplify the access to your blog’s other part for the reader. The most popular links that come in this category are posts, pics, series of pages, etc.

How to design a great secondary navigation for your blog:

1. There should be no unnecessary or random links in this category.

2. Diving the secondary navigation into various areas will not only simplify the access to each section of blog but will also look presentable.

3. The bad thing is when people add many widgets on these, well its high time to stop this habit and use only the most important ones.

Few examples of secondary navigation links:

1.Elitistsnob

2. Mancub

3. Designdisease

5. Headlines

The main importance of headlines is to draw complete attention of the reader and induce curiosity so that the reader becomes compelled to read that section.

How to make your headlines pop:

1. Just change the font and color and it will become different from the rest.

2. Use bigger font size, making the headlines catchy.

3. Use dates and even pics to get the edge over the usual text.

Few examples of headlines:-

1. Henry Jones

Big fonts used making this different from the rest of the text.

2. I Love Typography

Creativity is essential when writing headlines so the reader is attracted.

3. Blogsolid

A pic added to draw attention towards the headline.

6. Post’s footer

This is the part where the reader is bound to find some extra info or related links. So make this section less cramped but fill it with max info in min words. Here the reader usually finds the sharing or the like links in many cases.

How to design great footers for the posts of your blog:

1. Give the footer of the post a clear area separate from the content. This lets the reader know that it is not part of the content and it also helps it pop out more. You can do this by using a different background color.

2. Decide what you want in the post’s footer before beginning the design of it. This will help cut out unnecessary garbage and make the design process more smooth.

3. One of the best content to put in the post’s footer is links to related posts. This makes it easy for your reader to find other interesting posts on your blog.

Examples of great footer designs for posts:

1. Freelanceswitch

Distinct post’s footer with every related info making is stand alone in the mist of everything.

2. PSDTuts

3. Standards for Life

7. Comments

This is the most important part as this allows the reader to communicate with the author. The discussions takes place as well as this is a great promotional area.

It not only has relevant info about the post by readers but also few words of appreciation or depreciation.

How to design a great comment design:

1. The comments should be separable and distinct so the reader can know which one is which. The simpler the better and the complex the bad is what should be in your mind while creating the comment box.

2. Use of color in altering fashion will increase the efficiency of our comment box.

3. Dated and timed comments help other readers know which is the recent comment.

Few examples of comment box:

1. Chris Shiflett

Simple and sober

2. Darkmotion

Colored comments.

3. Blog Design Blog

Proper separatin of comments.

8. Footer

This the p[art of the blog where people don’t put many things, here you can add extra secondary navigational links, the like and sharing links, even the links of other posts of your blog so when the reader is done with the current one he/she can visit the other post.

How to design a great footer for your blog design:

1.Use good contrasts and colors. Add as much info as you can without boring the reader.

2. Add links to other posts of your blog.

3. Add links for linking, sharing etc.

Few examples of footers:

1. Designshack

Secondary navigational links.

2. Web Designer Wall

Colorful and other post info.

3. Chris Shiflett

Simple and effective footer.

9. Advertisements

Advertising has become a need not only because it generates a good revenue but also helps in promoting products that are still unknown to half the world. If you add ads in the middle of the posts it would not only distract the reader but also ruin the mood of him because he was disturbed from something that he was concentrating on.

Secondly, the ads when popping in other windows are annoying and not only irritates the reader but also makes him go away from the blog. So the right thing is when it’s done at the right time, hence place the ads the proper place like in footer or side bar so that the reader can see them but is not distracted by them.

How to design for ads?

1. If you are adding ads or planning to do so make sure that you plan them beforehand so you don’t have keep on changing the basic structure of your blog.

2. Use standard sized ads so that you can accommodate other things in between or along them.

3. preview the ads before publishing so you know what exactly you are promoting.

4. The ads should be properly demarcated either by labeling or making them look prominent but not too overpowering that the reader is watching your ads rather than reading you content.

Few examples of ads on blogs:

1. Copyblogger

Standard sized ads.

2. Webdesignerwall

A propely labeled ad is better that no labeled.

3. Problogger

Uses banners for ads.