Blog Design
A blog is the new website and the heart of your online marketing plan. There are three key ways that a blog can enhance your online presence: (1) Blogs are search engine friendly (2) Blogs increase communication with your customers and potential customers (3) Provide an easy to update and traffic getting machine. Blogs are alive! (rather than the old static website sitting there gathering nothing more than dust)
Does Your Blog Design Really Matter?
One of the first aspects of your blog that you want to consider is how it looks. Online, you have to be able to quickly gain people’s attention. Before people actually read your content, their eyes will decide whether or not to hang around. A blog that has long scrolling text obviously is going to become tiresome and uninteresting. However, a blog that is attractive, makes good use of themes and background, and that provides great information that is current will garner many more repeat visitors. To that end, you don’t want to go overboard on your design. Regardless of your great content, if your blog has loads of ads (blinking no less), you are going to lose some people. And the word will get around quick that your blog is not a good place to go for information.
Let me give you three important questions to ask yourself about your blog.
Is It Easy to Navigate?
When many people think of blog design, they think of words like “attractive,” “fun,” and “interesting.” While it is positive to hear someone use words such as these to refer to your blog, how attractive it is, is not the most important aspect of design.
Visitors to your blog need to be able to easily navigate through the different areas without having to put much thought into it. How many times have you visited a blog and left after a short time because you couldn’t figure out how to navigate through the blog?
Navigation becomes even more important if you are posting a significant amount of content on a regular basis. Having a calendar as your only navigational tool is probably not a good idea. A great tip is to categorize your posts so that your visitors can easily locate the content they want.
Is It Functional?
If you associate the word “functional” with “boring,” you should change your frame of thinking; at least when discussing blogs. A blog that is functional is designed to enhance the user’s experience. Trying to accommodate the needs of everyone typically results in a blog that resembles chaos. You should direct your blog design to the needs and desires of your target market. Will they benefit from “how-to” videos? Post videos on your blog. Are there events that would interest them? Post a calendar of events on your blog. Are there topics they want to discuss? Provide a forum on your blog. These are just a few examples of ways you can make your blog design functional.
Is It Interactive?
You have great content, you have applied basic navigation principles, and your blog is functional. This is good, but it is only the beginning. Your ultimate goal is to get your visitors to react. You want them to feel compelled by your blog that they sign-up for updates, add comments, and click links on your blog. This type of interactivity can translate to significant traffic and boost your rankings in the search engines.
Ready to Improve Your Blog Design?
There are many companies available that offer exceptional blog design. Do you need to make such a costly investment? You don’t have to with Local SEO Edge. Our Blog Management package includes options for developing a blog design to position your product or service in a positive light, increase traffic to your website, and enhance your search engine ranking.
Out of the box- Basic Blog Design- SEO Ready, keywords selection included + one hour consultation on how to use your blog 199.00
with original page content for up to 4 pages- 399.00
Out of the box is strictly as an SEO tool and to get a presence online and pave the way for getting traffic. Only recommended for the most budget conscience.
Premium Blog- Get the look and feel you want. SEO ready with keywords selection included + one hour consultation on how to use your blog 399.00
with original page content for up to 4 pages 599.00
This blog can replace your current website. It has your business personality in mind. you choose colors, styles, unique header graphic, implement your logo plus all of the SEO functionality
