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Is A WordPress Theme Framework Right For Your Blog?

December 20, 2010 By 13 Comments

Over the past couple of years, WordPress theme frameworks have been growing in popularity. With features like SEO integration and clean coding, frameworks like Thesis, Headway, Genesis and Platform Pro are continuing to take their bite out of the premium WordPress theme market. As you look at your blog and try to decide what look is going to go over well with your readers, it is natural to look towards these options due to their popularity in the market and marketing push, but are they the right option for your blog?

Over the past couple of weeks, I have redesigned my two biggest blogs incorporating frameworks. This blog, Blogging Labs, got the Pagelines Platform Pro treatment and Bike198 made the switch to Studiopress’s Genesis framework. Before we jump straight into if you should be looking to frameworks for your blog, let’s take a quick look at the before and after on each of my blogs.

Pagelines Platform Pro - Blogging Labs

Studiopress Genesis - Bike198

You can see the layouts and themes live by clicking here: Bike198.com | Blogginglabs.com | StudioPress Genesis | Pagelines Platform Pro

The Positives: Theme Frameworks

WordPress theme frameworks provide a lot of positive features for the blogger and these features are what make frameworks popular today. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant.

Easy Upgrades Over Time

In a typical setup, a WordPress theme framework acts as the underbelly to your theme. When installed, you do not edit or make changes to the theme itself, but you instead make a “child theme” that lays over top the framework. All of your coding, design and other changes are made within this child theme separate of the framework. When it comes time to upgrade Thesis, Genesis or any other framework you chose to run, you can completely upgrade the theme without having to change the core files again to reflect your changes. This is HUGE for bloggers who have really created their own look.

Provides A Solid Foundation For Custom Themes

Before theme frameworks, when you wanted a full custom WordPress theme, your designer had to go through the long task of converting their pages into the WordPress format. This procedure had a large cost to it as they are trying to get a specific look to integrate with WordPress. With theme frameworks, designers can take that look and lay it over a solid WordPress foundation seamlessly drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to develop a custom look. This also reduces to the cost to the blogger and allows for more “custom” options to lower budgets.

On the bloggers end, it also does not keep you tied to one designer as most of the community can work directly over these frameworks, so if your designer decides to hang up his designing hat…you can still find someone else that can work on your site without having to dig through custom code. The framework’s code is also very clean, so the blogger does not have to worry about the designers coding ability as that can have an adverse affect on page load speed and SEO if done incorrectly.

Hooks Provide Placement Advantage

Do you want to add a advertisement at the bottom of every article? How about a new global nav? This used to be a hard and tedious procedure as you had to dig through pages of code and test what would work to edit your core files and add that feature. Now…with theme frameworks and their implementation of hooks, you can easily add elements to your blog without having to edit core files. Some frameworks like Headway and Platform Pro allow drag and drop functionality and other frameworks like Thesis and Genesis have plugins that make things easier on the blogger. Either way…you are guaranteed to be able to add elements quickly and easily without affecting your core files.

Negatives: Theme Frameworks

However, like most things in life…nothing is perfect so you need to take a look at these drawbacks to theme frameworks before you make the decision to use one on your blog.

Do You Know How To Design?

When you activate your theme framework for the first time, you are going to notice that your site looks incredibly bland. Have you ever seen those plain white Thesis based sites popping up all over the web? That is because they bought the theme, activated it and started writing without any real knowledge of what it takes to make a blog look unique. Your blog design is one of your most important converting elements behind content. Your blog needs to stand out amongst the competition…not look exactly like it. If you do not have the funds or ability to make your WordPress theme framework unique, you are going to get frustrated as your blog looks exactly like everyone else that just hit activate and got to work writing.

While there are some premium child themes on the market and companies like Studiopress offer different child themes to go over their frameworks, be prepared to spend extra cash on top of the framework itself if you do not have CSS and php knowledge. Theme frameworks are not just plug and play like some other options from WooThemes, Elegant Themes and WPZoom which offer more out of the box options.

SEO Integration vs. Long Term Options

One of the marketing tricks of WordPress theme frameworks has been SEO integration. While I agree that their clean code does greatly help with SEO over time (Google hates messy code), theme frameworks also advertise their SEO integration with titles, descriptions and other elements that were previously handled by plugins like All-In-One SEO. In my opinion, by integrating all of those elements into your theme, you are marrying yourself to that theme over time and insuring your repeat custom basis with that WordPress framework by making it harder to switch in the future if you look to integrate a different look or framework. While it is true that less plugins equal a faster site, I still keep my SEO duties to a plugin so if I want to change my theme sometime in the future…I do not have to worry about porting that integration.

My Recommendation To Bloggers

As you are probably wondering by now…what is my recommendation to bloggers as you look to WordPress themes as a way to make your blog unique? Both of my main blogs are now running theme frameworks for the benefits they provide my sites. However, I have enough CSS and php knowledge to create that custom look that I was after without having to spend any extra money for a custom design. If you do not have the ability or funds to create a more custom look than the standard white on black that theme frameworks provide, I would start looking at places like WooThemes, Elegant Themes, WPZoom and Theme Forest to find a layout and look that fits your blog. There are enough great looking premium themes out there that you should not have to worry about looking exactly like your competition.

If you can afford to pony up for the custom look or premium child theme, WordPress theme frameworks are a great way to get clean code and a custom look without paying the high cost of a full blown custom WordPress option. The cost difference is in the thousands and there are plenty of quality designers that will work straight over any of the theme framework options. That also provides you with a solid platform to create edits as you see fit without having to contact your designer with every change.

As with most things in life, there is not one solution for everyone. You need to look into your needs and abilities to see what is the right choice for you. Just because everyone else is doing it…that does not mean it is the right option for your blog. If you plan on throwing up a stock install of a Worpress theme framework and making a lasting impression on your readers…you are going to be disappointed in the end.

Theme References Mentioned In Article:

WordPress Theme Frameworks

Premium WordPress Themes

Filed Under: Blogging, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How I Increased My Adsense Earnings 266%

September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Over the past week, I have increased my Adsense earnings 266% on Bike198.com. Really…no lie. I made some serious changes on the site over the past week and the results have been staggering.

It all started with the idea of a complete overhaul and redesign that changed the way my readers interact with the content. As we took a look at how readers were interacting and how we wanted them to interact…we saw room for improvement. The fun part…we were absolutely right and all of the stats are through the roof. Now, let’s take a look at the subject of this article specifically as it relates to other forms of advertising on your blog as much as it does Adsense.

I Use Adsense As A Litmus Test

First, let me start by clarifying that I use Google Adsense as a Litmus test on my “non-blogging” blogs to see how direct advertising and other forms of banner style advertising will perform given certain designs and locations. Why do I do this? Adsense provides you with real time feedback on certain ad locations and sizes will perform. In certain niches, it can also give you some insight into how much you should be charging for a given location. In markets where Adsense performs well, advertisers could have to beat what Adense is generating for a given location.

For these reasons, Google Adsense is a great way to test out specific locations in terms of performance, but it does not mean that it is the best means for maximum revenue generation in all niches.

How I Increased My Adsense Revenue 266%

As mentioned before, this all started with a redesign project that was based around user interaction with Bike198.com. The #1 goal was to integrate the various subdomains into a more seamless design that allowed for ease of movement among the content. During this process, I saw a real need to extract more performance around the banner advertising sections of the site. Who doesn’t like to make more money?!

Let’s take a look at the before and after with Mountain.Bike198.com as the example…

Before: Mountain.Bike198.com

Old Bike198.com

Mountain Biking for Beginners Section

After: Mountain.Bike198.com

Home Bike198.com New

Beginner Section New Bike198.com

You can navigate through Mountain.Bike198.com and see the other ad locations, but these screenshots will serve a purpose as you are about to see.

What Changed: Reader Interaction

As you take a look at the before and after, let’s point out the significant changes.

  • Cleaner Overall Design
  • Sidebar Location Moved To The Left
  • Lighter Colors
  • 300×250 Ad Spot Moved To Top
  • Restructured Navigation

At first, I was a little bit nervous about removing a lot of the image elements of the new design as a lot of people liked that aspect of the site, but…after the fact…everyone is actually liking the lighter look and increased speed of the site (if the flood of “it looks great!” emails aren’t proof enough). Now…let’s get to what you are actually reading this article about…increasing revenue.

How The Site Re-Design Increased Revenue

The re-design of Bike198.com did two things that were specific goals that directly affect revenue.

  1. Put the emphasis back on the content.
  2. Put the ads in direct view of the reader without being obtrusive.

Having a lot of graphical elements, widgets and other miscellaneous “looks cool” items on your blog can get a good reaction from your readers, but you need to realize that…most times…those elements go against what you are ultimately trying to accomplish…more interaction with your content and revenue streams. The previous Bike198.com design got that “wow factor” but the image elements distracted from advertising and the content.

When we moved the sidebar to the left and brought the color of the design into the content and the ads instead of the design, we drew the eyes of our readers where it mattered the most without any distractions. The result…more conversions (rss, Facebook, YouTube), higher comment counts, more emails and ultimately more revenue on the site.

When you are trying to extract more dollars out of your blog, you need to be the eyes of your reader.

Where do you want your readers eyes to go? On an image that generates you nothing or on an ad that brings you income? How about an article or picture within an article that will bring you more traffic? It is not about what you think looks cool or getting a compliment about which background you chose, it is about increasing efficiencies and incorporating elements into your design that help you achieve your goals. After that…you start testing, moving and experimenting to see how you can increase these elements even further.

As a general rule, the simpler the design, the better it will convert as long as you have set defined goals. With less distraction from conversion elements, the eye will gravitate towards color and size, so structure your elements in a hierarchy of importance keeping those to aspects in mind. If you spend all of your time chasing what you think looks good without any technical backing on why, you will be spinning your wheels wondering why you are not making any income.

The redesign of Bike198.com drastically increased earnings because reader interaction, conversions and income generation was the ultimate goal.

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

33 Social Media Icons Sets That You Can Actually Use In Your Blog Designs

July 1, 2010 By 12 Comments

If you are anything like me, when you go to insert social media icons in to your blog, you start to scour the net for the perfect set that matches your style and your design. Ever since Smashing Magazine started doing “## Top Whatever’s” list posts, everyone and their mom has come out with their own version clouding up Google with the same list after list.

Don’t get me wrong…there are a lot of really cool looking icons in those lists, but can you honestly see me using leaf icons on any of my blogs?! What about those crazy, complicated icons that you can’t even tell what they are trying to promote? I didn’t think so…

So, every time I need to find some clean, professional looking icons to integrate into my blogs, I end up having to look through every pointless list after list for that one set that is going to work. After having to do that too many times, I have decided to put together this list of social media icon sets that you can actually use in your designs as a resource for myself and you guys. No leafs, Popsicle’s or random weirdness here…just clean icons you can actually use on your blog.

33 Social Media Icon Sets You Can Actually Use

So here it is…the list. Click on any of the images below to download the set to use in your blog design.

IMPORTANT DESIGN NOTE: One thing to keep in mind. You are not picking the icon set that you necessarily like the best. It is about finding social media icons that integrate into your design to make it look seamless. You do not want your icons to look like a “cut and paste” after thought just because you think they look cool. Careful planning goes a long way…

1. Social Bookmark Icon Set from Vikiworks

Social Bookmark Icon Set

2. Socialize from Dry Icons

Socialize Icon Set by Dry Icons

3. Circular Social Media Icons from Blog Perfume

Circular Social Media Icons

4. Aquatiqus.Social by jwloh

Aquaticus Social by jwloh

5. Handycons by Janko at Warp Speed

Handycons by Janko at Warp Speed

6. Chrome by Chris Wallace

Chrome Social Media Icons by Chris Wallace

7. Social Media Icons by ~plechi

Social Media Icons by plechi

8. Social Media Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

Social Media Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

9. Glossy Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

Glossy Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

10. Social Media Icons by Sebastiano at WeGraphics

Social Media Icon Set by Sebastiano at WeGraphics

11. Splatter Social Icons by My Ink Blog

Splatter Social Icons by My Ink Blog

12. Social Icons by Elegant Themes

Social Icons by Elegant Themes

13. Sleek Social Icons by Andrew at Design Instruct

Sleek Social Icons by Andrew at Design Instruct

14. Vector Social Media Icons by Icon Shots

Vector Social Media Icons by Icon Shots

15. Vintage Social Media Icons from Web Expedition 18

Vintage Social Media Icons from Web Expedition 18

16. Social Media Icons by FreeSocialMediaIcons.com

Social Media Icons by FreeSocialMediaIcons.com

17. Vector Social Media Icons by Icon Dock

Vector Social Media Icons by Icon Dock

18. Social Media Icons by Pink Moustache

Social Media Icons by Pink Moustache

17. Gray and White Social Media Icons by Web Treats

Gray and White Social Media Icons by Web Treats

18. Extreme Grunge Social Media Icons by colaja

Extreme Grunge Social Icons by colaja

19. Polaroid Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

Polaroid Icon Set by webtoolkit4.me

20. Rivet Social Icon Set by John Campbell at DesignBump

Rivet Social Icons by John Campbell at DesignBump

21. Social Duo 2 Icon Set by IconBlock

Social Duo 2 Icon Set by IconBlock

22. Web Social Icons by NarjisNaqvi

Web Social Icons by NarjisNaqvi

23. Picasso Social Media Icon Set by Six Revisions

Picasso Social Midea Icon Set by Six Revisions

24. Social Media Icon Set by Paper Leaf

Social Media Icon Set by Paper Leaf

25. Social Media Icon Set at WeFunction

WeFunction Icon Set

26. Social Networking Icons by Cheth Studios

Social Networking Icons by Cheth Studios

27. Social Icon Tabs by Cheth Studios

Social Icon Tabs by Cheth Studios

28. Life In Pixels Icon Set by Six Revisions

Life In Pixels Icon Set by Six Revisions

29. Social Media Icon Set by Media Loot

Social Media Icon Set by Media Loot

30. Social Media Icon Set by sawb

Social Media Icon Set by sawb

31. Mac Style Icons by designbold

Mac Style Icons by Design Bold

32. Black and White Icons by webtoolkit4.me

Black and White Icons by webtoolkit4.me

33. Social Clean by Icon Shock

Social Clean by Icon Shock

There you have it. The 33 social media icon sets that you can actually use in your blog design. These clean, unique sets can integrate into your design to create higher conversions and a more custom appeal. Be sure to pick a set that fits with your color scheme and feel as you look to increase your social media presence.

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Is Your Blog Design Doing For You?

May 19, 2010 By 13 Comments

Blog and website design can be a tricky animal for bloggers that do not come from the design or marketing world. Your blog design is your digital business card that creates a snap judgment, first impression on new and existing readers, but…more importantly (and the most overlooked)…your blog design is your medium to convert readers into affiliate income, newsletter subscribers, rss subscribers and viral content spreaders. Is your blog design doing everything it can to insure that the function of your site is performing the necessary tasks? Or is it just what you like to look at on a daily basis?

What Is Your Blog Design Doing For You?

As you look into your own design to make tweaks or redesign it completely, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What is my blog design doing for me well now?
  2. What isn’t working in my design now?
  3. What do I want my design to do?

While these are simplistic questions with more complicated answers, they get you to the meat and potatoes of any design tweak or rework. There are plenty more questions you need to be asking, but this will get you started on the right track.

1. What Is My Blog Design Doing For Me Well Now?

What aspects of your blog seem to be performing well now? Are you getting a lot of comments? Are you seeing people retweet your articles? Maybe your newsletter and rss numbers are climbing. You need to take an objective look at your existing metrics to see what your readers are interacting well with now and what can be tweaked to increase those conversions.

Many times, simple changes in placement, wording or color can make drastic increases in conversions, so testing out different methods can prove to build upon already positive results. This essential testing through the use of monitoring your statistics and metrics can mean the difference between a successful blog design and one that is leaving things on the table.

2. What Isn’t Working In My Design Now

Do you have elements that are not converting well? Are there items within your design that are not doing anything at all?! If your design is not performing in certain areas, they either need to be reworked to trashed completely. Your screen real-estate is extremely valuable and limited. The last thing you want is a low converting element distracting your readers from more important high converting, business building elements in your design.

One of the biggest mistakes I see bloggers make is adding in too many low converting, non-business building functions into their blog designs.

If that new, super cool widget does not build your business, it needs to go. Do not clutter up your blog design by adding in the latest and greatest of everything. Your design needs to be based off a foundation of function…not what you think is cool that week.

3. What Do I Want My Design To Do?

This is the #1 most important question you need to ask yourself when you are looking at adding design elements or redesigning your blog. It is also the #1 question that 99.9% of bloggers fail to look at as they go through designing processes.

What are the major functions in your blog that need to convert for you to be successful?

  • Do you need to feature your newsletter sign up and free gift?
  • Do you need to have your articles spread through specific social media outlets?
  • Do you need your readers to dive deeper into your content?
  • Do you need to sell more eBooks?

Ask yourself the questions that need answers. Once you have those answers, you can tailor the elements of your design and blog experience around what is going to make you successful in the long run. If you need more newsletter sign-ups, then you probably need to feature that sign-up predominantly on the homepage and in an action section of your post pages (single.php). If you need to get your articles in front of the Reddit audience, you will need to have a share button for that specific social media site at the bottom of your posts.

How Can I Make The Blog Design Process Easier?

While this may seem like a lot to digest at once, you can make life much easier on yourself by following a couple of tips.

1. Use The Tools Available

With free analytics like Google Analytics and paid versions that create heat maps like Crazy Egg, you can find out what your readers are currently clicking on when they visit your blog. Crazy Egg takes it one step further to show you were their mouses are hovering as…statistically…the mouse pointer follows the eyes of most readers.

Tools like these will give you insight into what is working and what is not. They will also give you the ability to test out new placement and other ideas to see what converts better over time.

2. Start Off On The Right Foot

By starting off with a premium theme like the ones from WooThemes, you can cut out 70% of the work. There are plenty of free themes on the market, but the coding is typically subpar and it takes a TON of time to find one that fits the needs of your site. By ponying up and purchasing a premium theme, you can almost get away with doing nothing for awhile as many of the core features that are needed in blogging are built in.

3. Don’t Panic

Go into the design process with the mindset that you are there to make things better. Find excitement in the process and try to to get too overwhelmed as you dive into all that is blog design. Remember…you do not need thousands of dollars to create a quality, high converting blog design, you just need to ask the right questions…

Filed Under: Blogging, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , ,

New Look For RobbSutton.com And The Reason Behind The Madness

April 5, 2010 By 16 Comments

You might have noticed that a couple of things have changed around the pages of RobbSutton.com. Over the weekend, the design has gone through some changes and they are pretty drastic. While the actual article format hasn’t changed all that much, the overall site design went through a major overall. It was time for something different that fit the needs of the site and what you see today was the result.

The previous design based off the Headlines theme by Woothemes. While I really liked the way the site looked, the design was very image based and there was a lot of dead space between elements. Over time, I continually shortened up that dead space in the css, but it became distracting to the goal of RobbSutton.com (more on that in a minute).

When I was flipping through potential donor themes (I like to keep things cheap and base my designs off of established premium wordpress themes), I ran across a new one from the crew over at WPZoom that I knew would work perfectly. I downloaded the Yamidoo PRO Magazine and got to work. After several days of hacking away, I got to a compromise that was good enough for launch and initial testing. There are still a couple elements that need to be added and some bugs to fix, but overall I am really happy with the result.

So…back to the real reason behind the madness.

In the world of blogging, there is only room for one king. I know you have heard over and over again that content is king and there is no substitute. Well…I am here to dispel the lie. Content is not king. Why is content not the king in blogging? Because there are thousands of blogs out there with fantastic content that are still only make pennies on the day. Content by itself does not insure the success of a blog as there is an overload of quality content on the net.

So if content doesn’t sit at the head of the table…what does?

Conversion Is King In Blogging

Before you jump off this page thinking I just mentioned a mentioned a spam word…hold on for a second and go on this ride with me.

Conversion is you key into the best part of blogging…the interaction between blogger and reader. The absolute best part of this blog and my others is the connections I have been able to make with other like minded individuals. The only way you can build more relationships is by converting causal, first time visitors into subscribers to your rss feed and newsletter so that you can start the process of gaining trust.

Without that conversion, you can not build your business. Don’t worry though…content plays a HUGE part in the conversion process by attracting that first time reader to begin with, so it goes hand in hand with what I am talking about. It is also your first impression on potential new subscribers, so don’t go thinking you are going to convert well without some kind of quality content on your blog.

Now…what does that have to do with the site design change? While I really liked the way my previous design looked, it was not high enough on the conversion scale for my needs. Sometimes, by using too many images and distractions in the design, you can bring the eyes of your readers away from your content and conversion elements bringing that focus on the peripherals.

Not a good thing if you are a blogger.

So on the new design, you will find the focus back where it belongs: content, newsletter sign-ups and rss sign-ups. No clutter, no confusion and all out converting so I can connect with more bloggers and help them improve their blogs. That is what this site is about and that is the goal of RobbSutton.com. If anything else distracts from that goal, it has to go!

As you can see by the new layout, there is special emphasis paid to newsletter subscription sign ups and other assets for this blog. While I completely believe that many readers are visually attracted to blogs (through the use of images like I have talked about in earlier articles), there is a balance between the two that can not be ignored.

I have found success in blogging through helping others doing something they love…only better…regardless of niche. The more I give back and structure my sites in a way that makes that goal easy, the more success comes my way. It is a beautiful thing and outside of the connections made in various industries with passionate people…it is on of the other things I absolutely love about blogging. This new design is a step forward in the right direction to help more bloggers.

So what do you think?

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: , , , , ,

One Of The Most Powerful Weapons In Blogging Revealed

April 1, 2010 By 8 Comments

My life is a series of obsessions strung together in time. Some call that intense…others call it OCD…I call it my life. It is who I am and there isn’t much changing that at this point. Part of that obsession rolls into imagery and capturing life through the lens of a camera. While I am not very good at it right now, I can see the power of pictures through friends that are amazing photographers and that is inspiration to get better. Now that I have about one more line to convince you to read the rest of this article that had a title about a blogging weapon…what is it exactly and does my experience relate to something you can apply to your blogging?

Imagery In Your Blog Posts Set The Mood Of Your Articles

If you are not taking a serious look at how you use images, icons and illustrations in your blogging, you are missing out on a key connection point with your readers. While you may feel that your words can part seas and move mountains, the fact remains that not all of your readers are stimulated the same way you are. By using thought provoking images in your blog posts, you are able to connect on a deeper level with readers that are more visually stimulated. These same images also compliment the content for those readers that prefer to be moved by words.

Images Do Not Stop With Blog Posts

However, the use of imagery on your blog is not limited to complimentary images in blog articles. Through the use of illustrations and icons in your design, you can set the mood of your entire blog and make it a more powerful converting weapon. By using “eye catching” images and icons, you are directing your readers to where you want their attention. This can be newsletter sign-ups, rss sign-ups or advertisements for your paid eBooks. Whatever your most important assets are in your blogging, you can attract attention to those items on the page by using images and icons.

But be careful…

I have seen bloggers use this theory to an extreme creating a cluttered look that generates the opposite desired effect. Too many images and icons can cause a distracting mess that not only takes away from your content, but it also returns a lower conversion rate due to the mind blowing confusion. Like with all things in blogging and design, moderation and planning is generally the best rule.

So How Do I Get Kick Ass Images On My Blog?

Luckily, I have already published a couple of articles for you to check out on using images in blog posts.

And…of course…you can just take your own!

Here are a couple out I have taken recently…

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Photographs Tagged With: , , , , ,

10 Blog Designs That I Use for Design and Blogging Inspiration

November 24, 2009 By 6 Comments

I have heard the same broken record over and over again…”content is king, not your design”. Normally, the same blogger that is screaming this tag line to the heavens is the same one using a base Thesis Theme and their plain white space is failing to attract subscribers and income. While they got part of the equation right (a blog is nothing without valuable content that people actually want to read), your design is how your audience interacts with that content outside of a feed reader or email. Your conversion rates, blog income and image as a blogger are all handled through your design and how your readers interact with that design.

As you go through the process of fine tuning your current design or redesigning your blog, I wanted to give you some examples of blogs that I use for design inspiration and why. Now…keep in mind…once you throw a design on the screen, your readers are going to tell you what works and what doesn’t by how they interact with the elements. Just because something looks really cool…doesn’t mean it is worth the screen real estate. Always test and retest elements to see what performs the best for your audience.

The following blog designs are ones that I used for inspiration in my design work.

Tutorial9.net

Tutorial9.netTutorial9.net not only has a great overall look and feel, but David Leggett did a great job at structuring the content in a way that is easily accessible. Tutorial9 can have several different readers all looking for a different section of content, so David structured a very strong navigation so there is zero question on where you want to head. You can really see David’s design background in the blog as everything is very visually appealing.

IncomeDiary.com

IncomeDiary.com

Michael Dunlop’s IncomeDiary.com may not look incredibly unique from a design standpoint (uses a WooTheme with a custom designed homepage), but the overall function of the site is very well developed. With every aspect of the blog carefully planned, IncomeDiary.com is a converting machine. As you click through the site and articles, take a close look at each of the elements that make up the content and sidebars. Each of them are carefully laid out with a specific goal to convert readers into successful bloggers while also bringing in income to the blog.

WorkAwesome.com

WorkAwesome.com

WorkAwesome.com has a feel on the site that directly correlates with the content. You actually feel like you are at a working desk as you read content that will help you work awesome.

Tutsplus.com

TutsPlus.com Network

The Tutsplus.com network from Envato is HUGE. The clean design and the way Collis Ta’eed structured Tutsplus is genius. Not only do they have possibly the largest blog network on the net…but they present all of their valuable tutorials in a way that is easy to digest with a clean, hardened design. I will actually be structuring the new Bike198.com using the same sub-domain/similar design with different colors theory.

GoMediazine.com

GoMediazine.com

Another great example of how you can take a standard premium theme and really make it your own. GoMediazine uses some overlapping CSS elements and background image work to the elements to make the Fresh News theme from WooThemes look really unique. For those of you that think you have to have thousands of dollars to have a unique blog, GoMediazine is a prime example of how a smaller budget can turn an impressive design.

Koodoz.com.au

koodoz.com.au

Koodoz.com.au is really just another great look and feel site that fits the brand. I have seen this blog on several other design lists in the past year, and – while it may not seem incredibly special – the design speaks directly to their clientele with a brand image that oozes who they are through a clean and welcoming design.

Yoast.com

Yoast.com

Yoast.com is a great example of how to personalize a blog. Joost de Valk’s blog portrays him as a person and WordPress/SEO blogger with a welcoming message and illustration of Joost himself. The clean layout and structured elements also play well into his WordPress coding and SEO background without being impersonal and harsh.

Colorburned.com

colorburned.com

Colorburned.com is a great example of carrying a theme throughout the design. They take the rough, grunge elements of the design and bring them to every aspect of the blog for a very unified look and feel. Sometimes we like to focus on one section and forget that the entire site needs to work together seamlessly. Colorburned is a reminder to keep the theme rolling throughout the site.

blog.thepixel.com

blog.thepixel

ThePixel.com is an incredibly unique blog design that carries the theme all the way to the footer in a seamless design. It also has to be one of the more unique blog designs I have seen and it works perfectly with their message.

ZenHabits.net

ZenHabits.net

Not all designs have to be colorful. Leo proves that you can still do it right with simplicity at ZenHabits.net. However, it 100% completely fits the message on his blog and that is why it works. I think a lot of people see how successful zenhabits has been with an extremely simplistic design, but – remember – his tagline and blog message is “simple productivity” so a colorful, involved blog design probably wouldn’t work for his readers.

Which blog designs do you use for inspiration?

As you visit your favorite blogs, what aspects of those sites inspire you to test out new elements and designs on your blog? As you can see from this list, it is not always the 100% custom design that can catch a readers eye and convert them into a subscriber. A well thought out customization to a premium theme can accomplish the same result when done correctly.

Are there any other blogs that you would like to see on this list?

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Taking Your Blog Mobile – iPhone and Cell Phone Browsing

October 5, 2009 By 9 Comments

If you have Google Analytics installed on your blog and you are keeping track of your traffic statistics, you are probably noticing that the amount of visitors you are getting from mobile devices is on the rise. As data plans get cheaper, people get busier and the iPhone continues to conquer the world, this traffic stat is going to continue to rise as time goes forward.

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Are you more worried about your blog design than content?

July 30, 2009 By 3 Comments

Blogging is all about quality content, but the way your content is presented to your readers through your blog design can have a strong impact on repeat visits. When beginner bloggers take on the task of setting up a successful blog, they take at look at other successful blogs in their niche (and sometimes the blogging/make money online niche) for ideas on blog design and layout. This normally equates to an obsession over every little design detail on your blog while you forget about content production. Much like an obsessed lawn perfectionist, we may worry about what everything looks like on the outside and forget the dense roots that make up our blog…the content. Without strong, healthy roots, the lawn can not flourish and grow, so we will be left with brown waste after hours of labor.

Falling Into the Perfectionist Mentality in Blog Design

It is a hard battle to fight. I have fallen into the obsessed blogger fretting over every pixel that graces the screen of a potential reader trap time and time again. As bloggers, we want our blogs to portray our voice, look unique and also look professional for potential new readers and advertisers. When we worry about every aspect of our blog design, we are getting away from producing quality content that will ultimately grow our blogs in the long haul. When you add the inexperience in coding that most blogger posses (minus the actual designers out there), the time wasted multiplies rapidly.

So how can we get away from the design obsession trap?

Here are a couple of tips/tricks that will keep your perfectionist mind at ease and allow you to focus on what is important as you grow you blog.

Designs come and go…but content is here to stay – Over the course of long term blogging, your design will change and adapt with the times. As new standards of html hit the streets and CMS’s like WordPress continue to evolve, you are going to change your blog design several times. Your content, however, is here to stay. Each time you change your design, you are changing how your existing content displays on the screen, so don’t you think it is more important to focus on the asset that is unchanging?

Buy a high quality premium blog theme – This site uses the Thesis Theme by DIYThemes…I have used various themes from the crew at WooThemes…there are dozens, if not hundreds, of high quality premium themes on the market that will give your blog a high quality, professional look by simply hitting activate and swapping out a logo. High quality, premium themes are also easily modified in the future for less than building up a custom theme from scratch. Typically, premium WordPress themes run in the 60 – 100 dollar range for a single use license and for that price…they are well worth the money.

Have Cash? Outsource and go custom with your blog design – Have the cash to throw down on a blog design? Outsource your design to a design firm that specializes in blog design. For Mountain Biking by 198, I hit up the crew at JusttheWeb.com for a great custom theme that really sets my blog away from the competition. I was able to work hand in hand with Just the Web as we tailored MTB198′s design to exactly what I needed and how the site was performing. The result was fantastic and the weight was off my shoulders as I continued to pump out content during the process.

As you can see by these tips, the goal is to take away the stress of blog design to allow you to focus on the vastly more important content production task. By focusing on blog content, you are able to solidify solid roots on your blog that will end up being the foundation for your future.

Obsessed Lawn image by Jez Page

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