Great content is the foundation of any blog, but it definitely helps to have a Pittsburgh blog design that brings it all together. When you go to buy a book, you probably like to have the version with the more interesting cover. It’s the same for competing blogs. Most importantly, the appearance and the content should work together to deliver and promote your message.

Effect of a Cohesive Blog Design

There are a few main reasons why you want your blog design working for you.

  1. It conveys the theme of the blog at a glance: If your blog has a theme, whether that’s representing the views of one political party, discussing topics related to rock climbing, or sharing knitting patterns, visitors should be able to tell that they have come to the right place. If you do handle certain topics, you will want to add in graphics or background images that cater to your subject-matter.
  2. It reduces bounce rates: If your blog looks poorly constructed, your visitors may bounce off your page even before glancing at the content. In order to hold their attention, you should have a visually appealing site. When your design looks professional and put-together with a clear theme (if applicable), your content also appears more valuable as well. This is known as the “halo effect.” Alternatively, a poor design detracts from your content’s perceived value.
  3. It increases sharability:People like to share materials that will make themselves look better to other people. They want to be associated with a valuable resource. The better the presentation and the higher the perceived value, the more likely readers will want to share your blog posts.

Blog Building Techniques

  1. Header: The header is the piece that gives readers their first impression of a site. The title, font, and any imagery (including your logo) all play a part in this. Well-done custom headers will generally get more positive attention than the one that comes with the template.
  2. The first thing you need to decide for the layout is what the balance of main content to sidebar content is going to be. In most cases, you do not want the sidebars to pull too much attention away from your main posts. Layout choices you will have to decide on are the number of columns (usually 1-3), what information your sidebars should contain, and if you want full posts or teasers to appear on the page.
  3. Navigation: Clean navigation will help visitors find the other parts of your blog. If the navigation is confusing or overly complex, it may prevent users from exploring your full site. Consider using category sub-menus or breadcrumbs to make things clearer. Of course, be sure that whatever you choose makes sense within your overall layout.