JackBook.Com

Once I’m finished reading my RSS feed, I like to browse blogs using Stumble Upon. I click and click and sometimes, somehow, something catches me eyes… you. Your blog. Congratulation, you got yourself a new reader!

But what catches our eyes? The answer seems obvious: the look, the template, the theme, whatever we call it. We all need an incentive to dig into posts and start reading after all!

To care about your blog’s look is primordial. There are in my opinion three things to consider:

• Readability
• Accessibility
• Personality

Readability would be the first thing to look for. A blog is a great tool for you to showcase your art, your pictures, your stories or your latest news and observations on the world. An header, sidebar(s) and a main content area are your playground.
Now, what do you want your readers to see first? An big bunch of ads or your blog’s title? Broken widgets and awards/ buttons packed in the sidebar or a nice “about me” section, as well as archived posts? More ads or your main content?
You got me. You can of course put ads on your blog and use widgets etc. but don’t forget why you’re here today on the web. Giving advice, commenting the world, providing a service or showcasing some art is probably why you started a blog. Not to collect buttons or ads.

Accessibility is also something to consider. Not all readers have a fast internet connexion and the latest 17” screen. Packing videos, pictures and widgets all on your main page could disturb their visitor experience. A theme or template that loads very slowly or appears broken never looks good. And if you want readers to keep on reading, use proper font: the text shouldn’t be too small nor too fancy (using different fonts in the same post can make it hard to read). Also consider your color scheme: white letters on a dark background are sometimes hard to focus on for a long time.

And finally, a blog should reflect you. It’s all about personality. Default Blogger or WordPress templates/ themes have been seen over and over again, and you would need a very interesting content to attract readers. But a nice original and maybe unique template can catch the eye and set you aside. Coding geniuses (i.e Jack, not me!) allow you to get some great templates for free. You can also use a basic template and customize it. All you need is a little bit of patience and plenty of people are here to help on forums, or provide tweaking advices on their blogs.

So, will you catch my eye? Is your theme or template original? I’d love to see that!

Familiar with a name of Zhu from Canada? this great post was sent by that beautiful woman who proud to call her self a world citizen and an avid traveler. visit her blog and see how beautiful and unique design her blog is.