I am by no means an expert on blog design or anything like that, and I'm sure that most people reading this aren't either. Which is why I've decided to put together a simple list of really easy, beginner tips that I think will make a big difference between whether someone will stay to read your blog or click away from it immediately.
1. Readable font - Go totally crazy with your header and headings, but when it comes to the main body of text go with something simple like Arial, Times, Calibri, etc. They may seem boring but its so much easier to read. Even basic fonts can sometimes look blurry so make sure you check before you make a final decision.
2. Big, clear images - I will always use the 'extra large' option when placing a photo. I think this is really important, especially on a beauty blog where you are taking photos to show swatches or make up looks, because the whole reason you are taking them is so people can see what they look like!
When possible, take photos in natural light and consider downloading free Gimp software (basically Photoshop but with a weird name) to edit. Practice doing simple edits and touch ups with beginner online tutorials if you have the time.
3. Make the most of a navigation bar - Make sure you have a 'home' button or your title/header/logo links to your home page (or both) - not all readers stumble up on to your blog at the home page, and if they want to read more they will want to be able to navigate to it easily.
Make sure to label all of your posts with keywords, then create different pages on your nav bar based on these labels, e.g. reviews, make up, fashion. This will make is easy for readers to find posts they are interested in - here is a simple tutorial for making label pages.
4. Links to popular posts - This is a widget you can easily place on the 'Layout' options. I would definitely recommend adding it, one of the posts may catch a readers eye and encourage them to stay on your blog for longer. You don't even have to do any HTML editing to add it, so it really is super easy.
5. Don't clutter your blog - while having a nice blog design is important, the main reason readers come to your blog is to actually read your posts! So if you have so many extra features on your blog that it becomes slow and unresponsive, this is going to put people off straight away.
Also, having a background design that looks a bit too crazy might discourage people from reading too.
6. Add a search bar - and I don't mean that rubbish search bar gadget that comes on the blogger layout options. Simply google search bar widget for blogger and there will be plenty of options to choose from, this is the one I have used.
Simply add labels to your posts and the search bar will show posts containing these labels, which is really helpful if you have a lot of posts as readers probably aren't going to search through your archive to find something.
I know a lot of these tips seem really basic, but you'd be surprised how many times I've immediately left a blog post because I couldn't read the font or the pictures were so tiny. So I hope this post helps somewhat when creating your blog!
xxxx
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