How to make your blog design appealing
Even when they are pressed for time, the most successful entrepreneurs are voracious readers. Bill Gates is said to read 50 books per year.
That works out to be one book per week. Entrepreneurs are not in it to have fun; they are in it to learn more.
The average reading speed is one book every three months. This pace is too slow in fast times, such as the one we are currently experiencing.
Furthermore, reading can be intimidating for some people, particularly those who would rather spend their time designing a website than reading.
Blogs are an excellent way to find useful information in a short period of time. If a business owner does not have time to read a book, they should at least subscribe to a blog in their industry.
HubSpot surveyed blog readers and found out the common reasons why they consume blog content:
“To learn how to do something new,”
“To be entertained,”
“To learn more about products or brands,” and
“To learn about news and trends in my job industry.”
Does your service or product offer solutions to a specific industry? You can use blogs to get the word out.
Business owners who read blogs benefit from the fresh and current information that can help them make decisions when they are pressed for time and extremely busy.
Despite a blog being a vital component of any business’s content marketing strategy, 30% of digital agencies don’t have one. And of the agencies that do have blogs, only 7% post once a week. 36% only post a few times a year.
Adding a blog to your existing website, on the other hand, can increase traffic by up to 434 per cent. The world is missing out on information, and you are losing opportunities to increase traffic to your website! The benefits are obvious. Your competitors are blogging, are you?
I’m a web agency owner, not a writer
Who said anything about writing a novel? Writing is sharing your thoughts on paper, transcribing what you said on a client phone call, or even scribbling a flowchart for your latest web design project.
You are a writer without even realizing it. You have content and all you need to do is organise it into words and paragraphs, add an infographic or two, and hit the publish button. Voila! You’ve got a blog post up!
Of course, you shouldn’t expect 434% more traffic to your website overnight; blogging is a long-term marketing strategy. If you provide value and are consistent in your publishing, you will reap the benefits in the form of organic web traffic.
Make it (look) good
Humans have a higher retention rate for visuals. According to blog statistics for 2022, 65% retain more information with visual aid than we do for text (10%-20%) on its own. Including relevant images alongside your content can help your readers understand your blog posts better.
Here’s how you do it right:
Stop. Using. Stock. Photos.
Your blog topic is already complex due to your background in technology. Using a stock photo is adding a nail in the coffin for those who dislike reading.
Stock imagery is easily identified and gives the impression that your website or company is rigid and uncreative.
One of the first things you should know when designing a blog is that you need to appeal to your visitors. After all, you don’t just want to make a design that will get the job done; you also want to create something that people will enjoy looking at.
Take a look at the two websites below. Judging them just by what you quickly see, which one do you think offers a more premium, quality service? Left or right?
Consider the blog layout
Your blog is not a diary, but rather an invitation to the world to pick apart your thoughts. Because it will be read by others, it must be visually appealing.
How to make your blog design appealing to your readers is one of the more important layout considerations.
Appealing doesn’t necessarily mean “pretty”, because a design can be pretty while still being unreadable. Check that your blog’s design includes:
- A balance between positive and negative space
- Readable copy
- Images that break walls of words
What will your blog look like if it represents your brain? The one on the left? Or perhaps the one on the right?
Include infographics
The pillar or core content of web agency owners must be infographics. I say this because you probably create flow charts on a daily basis, fix and follow processes, and plan for your projects. All of these, when translated into a design, can result in eye-catching infographics.
To create an infographic, your design team can add colour and illustrations to your content. You then have content that can be shared not only on your blog but also on social media, which can be a huge help in increasing website traffic.
Make your content easy to retrieve
On the other hand, if you’re a zealous writer, you can get carried away and almost write a book about a single topic. This is perfectly fine! Make use of this content by segmenting it into separate blog posts or converting it into a lead magnet.
Technical content is hard to digest, but dumbing it down for the sake of it is a disservice to your industry. The solution is to make it downloadable so that the reader can come back to it after a break and even bookmark it for future reference.
You CAN write a blog
In a blog, you document your own experiences in order to provide value to others.
This is why you should not be alarmed at the thought of starting your own. Leave the images and layout to us. Simply describe the infographics or illustrations you need, and we will take care of the rest.
Although content is king, design is queen. It may be difficult for your readers to focus on the content you provide if your blog is not well-designed.
A blog design should also be simple to use and allow readers to easily access the information you provide.
