Podcast: Darren Rowse and Yaro Starak Talk Blog Design
Download the MP3 [ 41 Minutes - 9 MB]
It’s time for podcast episode #40. It’s hard to believe I started podcasting more than two years ago now!
This episode features myself and Darren Rowse and our topic of discussion is blog design. Darren talked about his recent Problogger redesign and how he worked with his designer, Ben Bleikamp. Then we talked about the different professional blog designers currently available (listed below) and how you should work with a designer to minimize the risk of problems.
We went on to discuss how bloggers who have limited financial budgets can go about sourcing a unique blog look, including modifying free themes and why you would want to have a custom design for your blog. We also talked about what a new design can do for you in terms of blog traffic, demonstrating your professionalism and infusing yourself with new energy if you are feeling blogger burn out.
Here’s a list of the resources mentioned in the podcast.
Blog Designers
- The Blog Studio
- Chris Pearson [ pearsonified ]
- Ben Bleikamp
- Nate Whitehill [ Unique Blog Designs ]
- Michael Pollock [ Solostream ]
- Phil Hartle
Freelance Sites
Darren’s Logo Designer
- Mike Rohde [ Makalumedia.com ]
Free WordPress Themes
Does Your Website Make Sense?
The more I use the Internet the more amazed (and frustrated) I am at how so many people are putting online websites that are built to make it difficult for viewers to actually do what the website is designed to do.
Here’s a quick checklist for anyone working online, especially those in Internet business who want their websites to sell - try and avoid these issues.
- State what the website is aiming to achieve in the space “above the fold”. Above the fold is the area that a person sees without scrolling down. In this space it should be obvious why your website exists. Is it to educate? To sell? To have someone enter a sales funnel? What is the niche you are targeting? All this should be clear in one very quick glance. You can’t solve someone’s problem if they can’t even figure out what it is you do.
- Use large fonts with lots of white space. This is a no brainer. You want your website to be read by as many people as possible so don’t use tiny fonts, don’t use clever fonts, just keep it simple, double spaced and big. You wouldn’t whisper your sales pitch to a potential customer in real life, so don’t do it online.
- Don’t get fancy. Graphics are secondary to text. The words on the page are primary. Graphics should only be used to enhance the presentation of text and never hinder or distract the visitor from what they are supposed to do at your website - read it!
- Use headings and bolds and lists, etc. This is something that must be drummed in over and over again - break up long towers of words into nice manageable blocks with headings and highlights. Combine this with the aforementioned large font and your website will be an efficient read and effective at getting your message across to as many people as possible. You want as many people as possible reading your website right?
- If you are limited in skills and resources, just use one nice text-based page. You can have tremendous success online by using a webpage that is just a simple letter format. Follow the rules above and tell your story using just words. If you can’t do website design yourself or can’t afford it, you can keep things simple and still have a very effective message. It won’t be pretty, but like I said, pretty doesn’t sell - the words do.
Yaro Starak
Simpleton
