Design of a blog is one of the key to success

There are blogs, which just looks like a trash can and get 80,000 visitors or more per day by virtue to rigorous improvement on SEO, some popular articles and many unknown things. People visit them just because they come on the top of search results and may be get some good information which they were seeking for and forgets it after the work is done. But, there are websites, which are not only remembered for unique, high quality content, but also for fantastic and unique design layout; people usually bookmark them, subscribe to feeds.

We can mention two such nice website, you might have came across while searching for something; one is the Tuts plus network tutorial blog sites, including PSD Tuts plus where probably thousands of dollars is invested to keep it up, another is Lorelle’s blog : Lorelle on WordPress, which is based on completely free WordPress blog and she herself designed the unique layout. Both of them stands out from the crowd. These are blogs those will live for another ten years, if not more.

When creating a blog (or update) a lot going through the designing is required. It is often very hard to start and create the proper design. Here are some tips for getting a successful theme. This is intended for creating a child theme of your own and distinguish yourself from others.

To do list

Before you start the computer and Photoshop, we must first think about your design, what are the strengths, what to highlight the message that it must pass etc. Take a piece of paper and write down whatever the theme needs to match what you expect. Then when you go on to create, it will already be much easier to find inspiration as it will be guided by your goals.

Coding part

Start coding immediately without having to model (written, not in your head) is often a mistake to avoid because it will save your precious time, because without it you may encode components that you remove unnecessary thereafter. The model is done in 2 stages, first start with a pen and scribble a draft design of your future, do not make out the details but the main blocks, the general shape. Then and only then, you can switch to Photoshop to create your final layout with the details. So you have to do is cut and encode without thinking.

Page loading speed is important, but more important is to master the methods of compressing a webpage to load faster. The default WordPress Twenty Ten theme on this website took 7 seconds to load without any performance tweak. With this theme, it takes ~2.7 seconds (depends on your location and other variables) to load. Read our old posts and stay tuned for future posts for performance mod. No one, indeed loves a slower website too.

Do not overload

Now with the influx of widgets and other ancillary elements, many tend to overload their blog, but it is a mistake for two reasons. First, your visitors do not come to see your widgets, but for your posts, so if you overload the page, they are often poorly integrated and culminate to slow loading of your page. Secondly, the widgets are created to attract the eye so they often impede reading, do not forget, is the main purpose of your visitors. There is no need to to put a clock on your blog, for example.

Another is the lazy loading Facebook fan widget. We are thinking to remove it to make the page load faster.

Organization

The highlight of a theme is often its organization and hierarchy, all should be clear and easy to navigate. So do not hesitate to use the breadcrumbs, tabs and other tools to facilitate the site visit and, for most of the time, significantly increase your pageviews.

Choosing colors

The color choice is obvious because it must match the message you want to spend and your visitor. In addition, avoid using too many colors, limit you to three, and do not use either of opposite colors too much so that it does not interfere with the reader. A tip: try a main color (like blue for example) and then enhance with more pastel colors, effects and often pleasant in tone and rather 2.0.

Match your readers

Remember that your theme is just to highlight your content and meet the expectations of your readers and not necessarily trying to make the best design but rather the most effective design. You are not here to participate in a contest and a sophisticated design too might negatively affect the drive if you do not treat design, graphic etc.

Creating a perfect theme is almost impossible but with certain rules, you should be able to effectively create a theme that should be what you expect, then remount the sleeves and start now!