Chicago Web Design Blog: Blog Design mistakes you should never make

This article is targeted mostly at those who blog and get paid to do it or make money from their advertisements or through subscriptions, but when it comes to blog design, there are commonalities between unpaid and paid bloggers. There are also several common mistakes that need to be corrected or avoided in order to make your blog a successful one. For a design company, these should be no brainers, but for the general population, these are good tips! So listen up bloggers! There are some major pitfalls that you should be aware of.

1. Overwhelming Advertising

We all want to make money. But blasting your readers with ads all over your website is the easiest way to lose readers and turn off potential readers. Do NOT let ads take over your content - people do not visit blogs to look at the ads. They visit blogs to read what you've got to say. If you're only offering ads: don't expect a return reader. IF you must use advertising to support yourself or your blog, choose tastefully placed ads that are easy to see, but easy to ignore if the reader chooses to do so. Ads themselves are not the turn offs - it's that your site has ceased to be a blog and become a advertising page. Thankfully our Chicago Marketing Company blog doesn't have a ton of ads since it's through blogspot, but if you're designing your own blog website - don't put a ton of ads on it.

2. Huge Blocks of Writing

Unfortunately, the masses of internet and blog readers have a very small attention span. Your blogs should be short and sweet without huge paragraphs. Keep them succinct and to the point. Large blocks of text are also difficult to read on a computer screen and therefore should be avoided. Break up your content into smaller paragraphs, make lists, and make sure to write headings if you feel they're necessary. It will keep your readers coming back and make your content much easier to enjoy.

3. A Seizure inducing Flash Intro

This is rarely seen these days, but I have come across them. If they don't have a 'skip intro' button, I'll usually click off the page. It's not worth the wait and I really don't care about their pretty flash. Research says that 25% of readers will click off of a Flash page even if there is a 'skip intro' button. Our website - chicago marketing company, doesn't have any sort of intro to it. Our information is on the first page, and it's easy to find.

4. Using White Text on a Dark Background

This is a huge no no! For one it looks dated, and two, it's incredible hard to read. If I wrote like this throughout my entire blog, would you read it? No. You would turn tail and run because not only is it UGLY, but dated and hard to read. Your blog will look more like a journal or some teenagers Myspace page than a blog with something wonderful to say.

5. RSS Feed button is not easily found

How are your readers supposed to follow you without an RSS feed? Some people simply do not have the patience to come back to your website (or remember your carefully chosen blog name) and will stop reading your posts unless you put an easy to find RSS button on your page. Don't bury it in the lower footer of your site. Put it right up at the top of the page, where most 'Facebook' 'Twitter' buttons can be found. That way, you'll retain readers through RSS even if they're not visiting your website.

This is one of the most important buttons on your site! Highlight it!

6. Choosing a Horrible Font

Every designer should know the top most hated font faces in existence. The top three for me are Papyrus, Comic Sans, and anything from DaFont. Most of them are ripoffs of more beautiful (and yes they cost money) fonts that have real design thought put behind them. Most of them look like WingDings anyway. Any marketing company worth their salt will NEVER use these fonts in their projects. If they have in the past, hopefully they have the common sense to hide it. How does this relate to your blog? Most people feel the same way as designers. They don't want to look at your font, they want to read your content. Your blog needs to be readable. Your font size is also an issue. Using Edwardian at point size 7 is going to say 'I don't want you to read my blog'.