There are some fantastic blogs out there on the internet. As blogging becomes more spread, we are seeing more content about a wide variety of topics. It's hard to create a good blog today; the medium is so widespread that it can be difficult to make your blog stand out against others and make people want to read your content over someone else's.
A great way to make your blog stand out is... well first of all to create good content. But once you've got that sorted, the best way to make your blog unique is to have a great blog design. Blogs that are reader friendly and beautifully designed are bound to keep readers on your blog and have them coming back for more.
One of my favourite blogs out there at the moment is ohdeardrea. Not only does this blogger create great content on a regular basis (think weekly), but her blog is very aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.
Her blog style is simple. Everything is laid out in front of you, right on the top of the blog. The title of the blog is obvious and creatively designed, and the navigation is quirky, arty, interesting and helpful. Through the navigation links, that feature relevant images, users can click through the main themes of the blog: 'home', 'food', 'make' and 'living', as well as read the 'about' page, 'advertise' with the blog (which can be seen along the far right side of the page), and visit the 'shop'. Users can either navigate by clicking through these links or simply by scrolling down to view the most recent blog entries. Personally, I prefer this style of blog navigation for it's simplicity and the ability to stay on one page, rather than clicking through to different sections of a blog and getting completely lost.
Another blog I really love for this reason is the appropriately named minimal student.
This blog is even more simple than the previous, which suits the theme of the blog which is (obviously) minimalism. I think that having a blog design that suits the theme is an important aspect of a blog. Professional blogs should look simple and professional, arty blogs should be quirky and creative and so on.
Again, the blog layout for minimal student is simple and easy to navigate. On the right hand side of the blog (further down than shown in the above image), readers can navigate through the most popular posts or click through the key topics of the blog including 'minimalism', 'health', 'travel' and more. Readers can also choose to simply scroll through the most recent posts from the first page of the blog; simply and easy to use.
There are tons of different styles of blog out there. Some are more visually driven, with flashy links and modern navigation techniques that allow readers to leap from one section to another. However, I prefer the simple blog layout. I find traditional navigation more pleasant to use, and blogs that don't have too many links or colours prevent me from getting distracted from the most important part: the content.
I think the right use of colour, a simple yet beautiful design, good use of images and easy navigation are the most important aspects of great blog. Design your blog well and you're sure to stand out against the others!
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