Page Design: How to Choose a Blog's First Look

TypePad is a complete platform with page design templates. Simple and focused on the content. For a clean layout take a look at TypePad.COM

Ed: This is a short detour from the introduction to blogging series. PAGE DESIGN is crucial for some people. If a blog is the only web presence you have, a design could give you an advantage over the competition. It could also give you a "first impression" image which you may want to fold into the business' marketing. A simple design focuses the eye at the content: article titles, sidebar content, pictures and article length, etc. Hosted systems like Blogger.com, WordPress.com and TypePad.com give you initial starting points. But usually you will want to customize the look even at the setup stage. You will certainly need to customize the look later on. Researching on your own or hiring a page designer can be helpful. I would leave the custom design after a little experimentation. Even if you already know what you want, write a few articles (posts) and ask for feedback from people. Another method is to experiment on your own with the page design. In all the blogging systems you can add and remove widgets (boxes which are part of a page), change the style and look of the page itself (with images, background), change the post look, length and widgets of the post itself and change the "template" itself (this is like a template in Power Point or a style sheet in design programs.) All these changes you can do quickly and see the results in seconds.

Like I suggested in earlier posts about writing and editing, it helps to look at other blogs to get ideas for your design. To me a page layout is like a new house. Some people design everything and have it furnished before they move in. Some like to live in it for a while and move the furniture a few times before they feel comfortable ordering new furniture and redoing the kitchen. With a page there are a few things that will affect the content itself. The surrounding design: sidebars, widgets, post heading and footer will focus or distract from the writing. You can reverse engineer other people's blogs, try different widgets, track traffic and comments and see what fits your needs. If your blog does not get lots of traffic, let changes stay for a while and see what people think. Remember that most blogs do not invoke strong opinion on the design (or layout). Even if you have a design blog ask friends or customers on what they think. Let's get down to details.

Designing your blog page is easy. Blogs for the most part use templates. In blogger (this site is hosted on Blogger.COM) there are standard templates that come when you set up the blog and templates developed by designers you can use for free or buy. In WordPress there are hundreds of templates, from simple free ones to highly customizable "premium" templates (cost vary from $30 to hundreds.) You can also hire a template designer or customizer to make changes to a template or design you one to your own specs. Complex templates (also called themes) can have enough "elements" (or code) to become a complete web site and some actually use WordPress or Drupal as a basis for a magazine blog. These customizations enable publishers to support a large team of writers and editors. Some blog themes are used for Pod Casting or photo magazines. Note how the content (article text, images, MP3 files) can stay constant and the template change dramatically. There are some limitations and the theme designer will usually help with drastic changes. If you need to redesign the template completely be aware of changes to connection widgets which sometimes get "lost" (plug-ins in Java Script from twitter, digg, stumble-upon, etc.) In general, if you need help with a professional template, the designer or coder can take care of all the details and help you understand what needs to be redone and what potentially needs to change or be lost. Good luck with your page design and get going... if page design is a little intimidating - you simply need to get your feet wet - blogging for business is a great way to promote and market your image! ITS WORTH THE EFFORT!