What is the first thing you notice on a website? It must be the design. The colours that you see, the animation that instantly catches your eye and the images that raise the curiosity. It is only after that you start to read the actual content on the page. These first few seconds, where the audience judges your page, could decide the course of the interaction. In this article we give you 6 Essentials of Successful Blog Design Retrieved from Real Cases.
Successful bloggers around us did not get on with mere luck; they had ideas and vision along every step of the way. It requires intricate planning and a commitment to get things done, especially since there is no boss to give one the deadlines.
There is an upside here, though – the creative freedom. Let us shift a little from the traditional points of planning and organizing.
In this article, you will find six essentials of blog design to keep in mind.
Table of Contents
The Unique Factor
Today, blogging is a vital part of every industry and every digital business. Regardless of whether it is your exclusive selling point or you are using it for marketing strategies, the design has to be appealing.
The content is certainly the key. However, with professional services such as EssayPro, outsourcing articles is not the issue. The question is how you make the overall website unique.
Every webpage follows certain design principles. So how do you make yours stand out? Let’s take an example – the blog of Help Scout. This customer-centric business has taken a very different approach on its blog compared to the other landing pages.
The obvious focus here is on the bold colours and the artistic images, which instantly makes it more uncommon. Blog articles with images get 94% more views.
With the majority of content featuring stock images, taking more effort into finding the right ones could make a lot of difference.
User-Focused Presentation
Want to catch your readers’ interest in no time? The answer might be hidden in readability.
43% of people admit that they skim through blog posts. The only way to hold their interest would be to make their surfing easier and encourage them to halt in the middle when something catches their eye.
With bold, minimal highlights, Drift adjusts the readability factor best into their content. You will get the gist of composing articles with powerful headings and can decide whether or not to proceed.
The single-column route prevents readers from getting distracted and keeps one focused both with great content and careful design tactics.
Engage the Audience With Lead Magnets
There are some elements that make the blog more interesting. In most cases, these are also the essentials, such as the title, the author’s name, featured image, and an excerpt. But you can also add more, without cluttering the webpage.
There is one particular element that would work in favour of marketing as well as break the pattern of the content. Considering that the ultimate aim of a blog is lead generation, including a lead magnet is only fair.
An aesthetically pleasing lead magnet, well integrated into the design, is more subtle than pop-ups. It can be perceived as a constant bait for the audience to try out what the service offers.
In the bottom right corner better put the subscription box. And the bottom left corner is a good place for another pop-up. This way you will ensure the accessibility and readability of the page.
Offer Effective Categories
If you are a user landing on a web page, you would like to know the main point right away, such as the field in which a blogger is an expert.
For blogs that have been in the market for years, organizing the accumulated content should take priority. Nobody will go past the first one or two pages to see whether there is an intriguing content. One of the best examples of a seasoned blog known globally is Tim Urban’s Wait But Why.
As a blogger, you need to think over the kind of organization that categorizes the content. Identify the different topics and divide the materials accordingly.
The learning centre of Aquila Commercial creates the effect of expert blogs, wherein a user can find answers for different questions. Be it an article, a podcast, or video, users could find them under the respective topics.
Throw in Some Interactive Elements
Blogs are meant to be read, but what if you could make a page more interactive as well? More and more authors take their time to include more engaging features on their pages. These can be quizzes, calculators, embedded videos, and animation.
Another example from the USA – the timeline from PBS NewsHour is interactive. The users can zoom in and out to see the different incidents happening over periods of time.
With 93% of marketers agreeing that interactive content is more yielding than static, you might not want to miss out on this. Amidst the abundance of available materials, these interactive elements will make you stand out.
Bring in Social Shareability
Social media integration has become one of the essential features of every website. If you need people to share your content, then you have to make it easy for them to do so. Adding social sharing buttons works best for this purpose.
The trick is not to overdo it. FC Barcelona has blended the social media sharing buttons well into the design of their website, making those a part of the page and colour scheme.
Another way to make it interesting is to add “click-to-tweets” in your blog posts. This is already a popular approach. However, many blogs are still not caught up to this feature.
What’s Next?
If you try out the above-mentioned design features in your blog, it won’t be long before you notice increased traffic and conversions. Work with your team or hire a website designer, who could help you implement these changes.
Keeping up with the trends is all about the way your audience perceives what you do. Focus on SEO, design, and above all, great content not to fall behind in line. We hope you have enjoyed these 6 Essentials of Successful Blog Design Retrieved from Real Cases, and be sure to leave a comment we love hearing from our readers.
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