XYUENX: Must-Know Tips On Blog Design (Part 1)

Hello there! I'm sure all of you know that a while back I was designing my blog to be what you're seeing now. Before that, this was a private blog, meaning you need an invitation to read it. Why? I'm not so much disappointed at my writing quality as disappointed at my blog design, it's bland, boring, and the template was (shockingly!) from a "free templates for blog" website.

Hence, the readers-by-invitation only. But after SPM, I managed to drill hours of painstaking designing and tweaking codes for more than a week to turn my horrible terrible blog into what it looks like today. Even haters of pink will still think that it looks much better, right? XD

And since I have free time right now, guess what, I'm taking you guys down my road of designing! Strictly an amateur, but passion is the driving force that makes people successful, right? =D So pros at designing can totally ignore my tutorials, it's okay. ^.^ And yes, I admit I learnt all those stuff through other people, so technically they aren't my own tutorials, but I'm hoping that more people out there would be able to learn the art of blog designing through me, and also to spread the awareness that YOU can design your own blog to be beautiful too.

I'm sure you guys know what, in overall, is a good blog design and a bad one. Here are some examples:

Bad one..

Good one.

This is the first part in a blog design tips series. It's not a tutorial series, but more about the psychology side of design and how to capture readers' attention and increase your pageviews, followers, etc.
Note here though, I only know how to design a blog the way I do. If you're looking for an elaborate template, then these tutorials are not for you. You'd better off finding a professional website designer.

Okay here we go. The ultimate TIP:

More often than not I've always seen messed-up, sloppy blogs, and other websites as well. One look and I'm outta there. It's always like this, you have only ONE chance, ONE look, to grab readers and hold them there. So that ONE look, the FIRST impression, is of the utmost importance. I can't tell you how important it is. People see what they like, they stop. If what you're presenting turns them off, they leave. At that first look, it doesn't even matter about your blog posts. Your writing isn't going to shine and get noticed IF you failed the first-impression-round.

Bad design. Sure, it's very artistic and all, but the design is over-the-top

It's sort of like an interview. You go into the room, looking like you just got out of bed and haven't washed, what you say next doesn't even matter anymore. Why? Because there are as many people out there who could do (or write) the same things as you, with the same quality or even better. And if they present a better first impression, why shouldn't interviewers (or readers) go to them?

I apologise if I'm a bit too long-winded. If you're interested in designing your blog, this is the first important thing you must know and understand. If you got this right, giving your blog an amazing makeover will be a breeze.

Here are the tips on designing a great blog, in a nutshell: