Your Questions Answered: My Secret to a Nice Looking Blog
One thing I have promised MorganDayCecil.com to be is helpful in a very practical way, not just inspirational. I always encourage readers to email me question they have and in the past I’ve answered them personally. I’ve noticed, though, lots of folks have the same questions, so I’ve decided to go ahead and start a Your Questions Answered series on this blog. (If you have one of your own, email me, DM me on Twitter or share it in the comments below).
Today we are answering Ginny’s question. It’s a question I get a lot, so hopefully this post will make many of you bloggers and bloggers-to-be happy.
Ginny’s Email:
Hi Morgan,
Congratulations on the launch of your new blog! I’m so looking forward to travelling this journey with you.
I just have a quick question – your blogs and photography website are gorgeous – did you do the design? Can you tell me the theme you have used – perhaps this could be a post? getting a reasonable looking and effective site is a stumbling block for me.
Many thanks and again, congratulations!
Best regards,
Ginny
Okay, so Ginny, the first thing you need to know is that I did not got to school for graphic design or even web design. I’m far from a professional here, but I do have a few blogs under my belt so I’ve learned a lot a long the way.
Couple of things you need to know before I begin: I use WordPress. There are other blog platforms out there, and I’ve played around with a few of them, but all in all I like the functionality and design options of WordPress best. I love how easy it is to get going on a wordpress blog- I’ve helped more than one friend get set up in less than 5 minutes. MorganDayCecil.com uses the WordPress platform, but I pay a web host company to host it. If you are curious about the differences between wordpress hosted blogs (which are free) and self hosted blogs using the wordpress platform, this post will answer your questions.
Without further aduei, here are my 5 “Secrets” to an Nice Looking Blog (That You Can Do Yourself):
1. White backgrounds
My blogs (BluegrassRomance , MorganDayCecil, and MorganDayPhotography) all use simple white backgrounds. Why? Because white backgrounds help me think better. I prefer the simplicity.
2. Great Fonts
I rely heavily on fonts for my logos. Like I already told ya, I’m not a graphic designer and even though I’m pretty good at Adobe Photoshop, I have no idea how to use Adobe Illustrator. So, instead of trying to create a clever cartoon, or geometric logo, I let my font choice reflect my style and just have my name in combination with that font choice be my “logo.”
Here is what I mean:
See how there is really nothing special to either of these except for a couple of nice looking fonts? For a bit of flair I combine script fonts with my basic fonts. You can do this too. There is plenty of awesome free fonts for download on the web. Here are three of my favorites: Dafont, 1001 Free Fonts, and Abstract Fonts.
3. Compelling Photographs
Personally, I think photographs can dramatically change the appeal of a blog. A lot of the times its not even the blog design we fall in love with, but the photographs that are showcased on it. If you have a camera and like to use it, get good at taking your own pictures. Review this post on sparking creativity in your photography to get some ideas. If you aren’t photographically inclined, you still have a lot of options. Check out Flickr. If you find a photo you love, email the photographer and ask if they wouldn’t mind if you featuring it on your blog or in a post. Most of them will happily let you as long as you properly credit their work. Another option is to check out Creative Commons database, which allows you to find copyright free images you can use any way you’d like.
4. Minimal Distractions
Sidebars can very easily end up jammed back with doo-dads. Everything from twitter feeds to recent posts and recent comments to advertisements. If they are done well, they help a reader navigate and explore on your site and also learn more about you. If they are done poorly, they can overwhelm your reader and make them feel anxious. Too many animated gif images on a page makes me feel anxious. You? To see an amazing minimal blog with no side bars check out :mnmlist. I’m not sure how well I’m working the sidebars on my blogs, so I’m open to hearing suggestions/comments from you. 
5. Premium Theme
This is, perhaps, the most important secret, if you are a non-professional web designer like me. Last year I bit the bullet and started paying for premium themes. All my blogs now use one of Woo Themes premium themes. This blog and the Bluegrass Romance both use the Life Stream theme and MorganDayPhotography uses the Daily Edition theme.
There are tons of free themes you can find online just by googling “free wordpress themes.” And I used to do that. I designed a couple blogs (now defunct) using free themes but I don’t anymore for two big reasons: 1). You don’t get support with a free theme (which I tend to need because I like to tinker with the CSS) and 2). A lot of times free themes have some funkiness to them that makes certain elements go whacky. This might just be my unfortunate luck with free themes, but whatever the case I don’t mess with them anymore.
If you still want to look for free themes, start with these then you can think about going the premium route later.
A premium wordpress theme costs around $100-$150, which is mighty cheap compared to hiring a professional web designer. It’s all relative though. You got to know where you are at with your blogging. For me personally, I got to the point where I was happy to pay $125 bucks for a theme I liked and trusted would be reliable, if I knew I would be using it for a good while.
All of the WooThemes I’ve bought come “ready to go” with different color options. My advice is to choose a theme that looks nearly perfect in your eyes so you don’t have to spend a lot or any time tweeking with the CSS. (And if you don’t know what CSS is, trust me, you do not want to be tweeking with it). My blogs are customized versions of the WooThemes I purchased. I went in and did some “tweeking” but it came at a 12 hour day because everything I know about CSS I’ve learned by the “trial and error” approach. If you are interested in getting your feet wet in CSS, defintely download this free web development tool called Firebug. It made my life so much easier once I did– the “trial and error” process went a lot faster.
So now you know my biggest “Nice Looking Blog” secret: I use premium themes. (Nope, I can’t take all the credit myself- except I do try to stand by the other 4 principles above.
If you are just starting out blogging and/or are still exploring the blogosphere, chances are you are going to change your mind a lot on what you like and what you want your own blog to look like. So just sit back and learn as much as you can from others out there. If you’ve been blogging for awhile and want an affordable way to spruce things up a bit, see if any of these themes catch your eye. And check out the links below for more resources and tools.
Web Design and Related Resources:
- Smashing Magazine - great for free web. 2.o icons, etc.
- Webby Awards – inspiration from the finest websites on the web
- WordPress - start your free blog here
So was this post helpful? Did I answer your question Ginny? Would love to hear what you think…And let me know the next question you want answered.
