Every blog starts with an interface, i.e. a blog theme or layout and you will agree with me that it is very important to get your blog layout and theme right. Why? Because this is the first thing people notice when they visit your blog. The colours you use, the way it’s laid out are the first things people notice about your blog. Believe it or not, these elements can either make people stay on your blog or close the web tab. However, what’s good and what’s not is subjective and defers from person to person. So it was only right to bring this topic to the table and we discussed…
WHAT MAKES A BLOG THEME GOOD?
… on last week’s HTT. As always, we had quite a number of you turn up to the discussion and the exchange of information was amazing! We established a few ground rules on choosing a blog theme such as
- Have a responsive theme. That is a blog theme that loads quickly and is adaptable to multiple devices. I don’t think that needs any explanation on why this is important but just in case, a responsive theme will not frustrate your readers. How many times have you tried loading a website and logged out purely because it takes too long to load? You see what I mean?
- Use a layout that’s easy to follow and has good navigation. This can be something as simple as making sure your menu bar is visible. Including your top posts on your sidebar. Having your most recent posts or related posts at the bottom of each post. Why is this important? It makes it easy for readers. to click on to the next content or visit a category of posts that they are interested in.
- Use appealing colours on your blog. Avoid using bright and harsh colours as your blog background. If you’re struggling with choosing a good colour, then just stick with White! It is the unofficial safe colour for bloggers. You can then highlight with other colours of your choice.
Other things that came up during the discussion where things like using a theme with a good home page option; Including widgets that are useful and beneficial to your readers; Using only necessary widgets; Categorizing your posts but not in so many categories and you can read the complete conversation here to find out the other tips everyone had to give.
So in a nutshell, it is very important to have a good blog theme and hopefully you now have an idea of what a good blog theme looks like.
Until next time!
Demi x