There’s nothing worse than going to a blog/website and finding a ‘cluttered’ layout. Personally speaking, the whole point of a website is to engage your readers on your content, not over sized banners, flashy adverts and the most annoying of all animated gifs that is enough to blind any unexpecting reader.
I admit it, I have fallen for the curse of the animated blinkies, if you have followed me from the very beginning you probably would have noticed a dancing banana here and there and a ‘I’m a proud mom’ banner on my sidebar.
But over the years I have been learning design and psychological aspect of web design. What content goes with what, colour schemes, images, layout and most of all content. A personal blog, should be just that ‘Personal’, I don’t agree with sponsored posts on a blog that you use to share thoughts with like minded readers. Over the years a handful of companies have offered me to place a ‘sponsored ad’ on my blog for a fee, but I’ve always refused. Apart from a couple which I thought was relevant to my content and my lifestyle. This site is about ME, MY THOUGHTS, DILEMMAS and other things that I wish to share with my readers.
I don’t want to talk about funeral insurance, property investment or How to earn money from blogging in 5 easy steps. Don’t get me wrong, if you are one of these people who are willing to earn a little bit of money through the [www], then it’s obviously a personal choice, but I would do it on a separate site, away from your personal blog. But hey, that’s just me.
If you wish to start a blog and get your thoughts and ideas in the blogging world, my advice is to keep it simple and to the point. Start with a clean and uncluttered template. It’s also advisable to learn basic HTML, so that you can edit your blog to your taste. Here are some basic tips that I have learnt over the years on how to improve your blogging:-
- Try to keep your post between 400 to 1000 words.
- Highlight the important points. This way your reader can easily grasp the topic and have a better understanding of your post.
- Make sure that you link to any sites that you mention and also don’t forget to credit image sources on the bottom of your post.
- Write blog posts in advance, having 3 kids it’s not always easy to write a daily blog post. So when I get the time, I tend to write a few, maybe 2-3 and schedule it to publish at a certain date and time.This way, your blog is always up to date and will keep your readers coming back.
- Promote- use blogging promotion like Blog Catalog, Blog Explosion, Blog Linker and Network Blogs and Facebook Notes.
A few friends have asked me in the past on how to make a site/blog, and I’ve always told them to start with Blogger. Blogger is a blog publishing tool with an easy UI, you can customise templates as well as get a blogger.com domain name and most of all it’s FREE! If you don’t know anything about web development or just want an easy straight forward site then Blogger is a great platform to start your blog.
So being as nice as I am, I have compiled 10 Blogger Themes (that don’t suck) to get you started. Enjoy!
It’s never been easy to find a WordPresss or Blogger themes that you exactly want. Personally, I like the simple themes, the cleaner the better, after all, your readers are there to read your content, not your flashing images.
I also find it hard to find feminine styles, that’s not laced in pink, I get pretty frustrated when some designers assume just because it’s a feminine or girly theme that it should be pink or lilac. Personally, I think a small hint is fine, but a site over loaded with pink is a total no no.
With that thought in mind, I decided to compile a list of some feminine themes that I admire.
Mini Romantic (WordPress)
Mini Romantic is a slim type of theme with two columns. It has a foliage background graphic from the top to the mid.
Go check Bengs themes at Kauderwelsch.
THOUGHTLOG (WordPress)
A three column theme, which features a Spring-themed header in shades of purple and beige.
Check Teresa’s lovely work at Scribble Scratch.
Sweet Blog (WordPress)
A cute one column template.
Check it out at Gisele Jaquenod.
Mae Mulher (Blogger)
A lovely 2 column fixed width Blogger theme, which has four feminine images on the banner.
Check it out at Emporium Digital
Wuk Etwa (Blogger)
A lovely black and white theme with vector graphics. Simple but yet feminine
Check it out at Free-Themes
Chocolate Candy – (Blogger)
A tasty Blogger template, for all you chocolate lovers out there. I love the way the designer combined all the warm colors but also not too over powering with the brown.
Go get it at Jack Book
