If you have a WordPress blog and you feel like it is time to really tighten up the look and function of your plug try navigating through through some of the thousands of plugins or even themes out there to help you really spruce things up. WordPress has made it so easy for non code writing individuals to have a real savvy looking blog to be able maximize their potential.

Writing lots of content on a blog is very important but user experience when a visitor gets to that blog is also very important./ You want to keep that user engaged and navigating through various pages and looking around and reading other posts. One plugin that every WordPress blog should have is the All In One SEO plugin. This allows you to customize all your meta information on every page and even posts as well. In my opinion this should be one of the very first plugins downloaded. If your blog consists of many different pages or even a few different pages you will want to have custom written meta tags and descriptions to go along with those pages so people can find you. If you plan on depending on your blog for income at some point you will have to get really serious with it and really promote it through all the various social networks. Not only is this important from generating traffic but when people come to your blog it is important for them to see that you are active on other areas. This will build brand for your blog and others will find you. There is an abundance of social networking profiles from Flickr RSS to Twitter updates and also Facebook connections. Keeping your blog connected with all communities will help you build traffic and also a following. If you someday plan on selling ad space or trying to monetize your blog these steps will be important.

There is more to blogging than just getting a free blog on blogspot or wordpress, it takes some time, effort and patience to really get your blog visible. You know the old saying don’t judge a book by it’s cover? Well people do and they will.

If your writing is great but your design is sloppy you won’t get people to stick around for very long. The design aspect is a very important factor for your blog’s success. Website visitors want to see great design. if sections are disconnected and out of order you bounce rate will increase drastically. Great blog design keeps your web traffic wondering and looking for more. It will entice people to scroll and visit other pages. Before you build loyal readers you need to grab the trust of your web traffic as soon as they land on your website. A blog should have its own identity established. You want your web traffic to have something to remember you by when they are not searching around online. The tighter your blog design the wider of an audience that will appeal. Chances are your blog will have competition in the search engines so it is important to compete with them visually so that you can attract some of that audience. Once a blog has loyalty and readership it will take a great deal of effort to pull that loyal reader away from that blog to have them read yours.

The recent release of Google’s own version of a browser, Google Chrome, appears to have issues with CSS when it comes to some blogs. If the browser takes off then many blogs will need to have their blog design checked.

In the past, it was always advisable to check you web pages out on both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Now it may be necessary to check them out on Chrome.

Websites, your blog included, are representative of you and your business. If a visitor arrives they expect to see a properly formatted page. There are times when a page will look good in Firefox and look terrible in IE6 - or vice-versa. Since these two browsers make up 75-90% of all traffic, it makes sense to ensure your pages render well in each browser.

With a third browser coming on line, it has the potential make live even harder. Microsoft through Internet Explorer has tried to re-invent internet standards. Internet Explorer doesn’t recognize many of the current standards which can cause problems.

The question that many have asked is whether or not Google Chrome will be written in the future to a standard that forces publishers to choose. Render your sites IE compatible or Chrome compatible - you won’t be able to have both since the code required for both will be different.

Time will tell. First, the general public has to take up Chrome and use it. Until then, it is only a browser puppy. Even puppies grow however.

SEO friendly themes, particularly free versions, have become extremely popular over the last 12 months. The problem is, whilst they claim to be SEO friendly, is that they are not truly SEO friendly. So what makes a theme SEO friendly? To avoid confusion, the term ‘theme’ and ‘template’ are basically the same so I will stick to the term ‘theme’.

This question is debatable since many SEO friendly themes are relying on plugins that every theme can use to improve their blogs SEO outcomes.

If you ignore the plugins which assist with keywords, tags, descriptions and titles, and the content that is generated by the blog owner, there is only a few areas remaining that can help with a blogs SEO.

Page loading sequence can certainly help. Having the header load followed by the content before the sidebars is an import issue. If the pages code is going to break it is generally caused by a widget in the sidebar. If the content has already been spidered, then this does not become a big issue. Many SEO friendly themes still load the sidebars before the content. This is one area that is quick and easy to check yourself.

Another area of your blogs design that can help with SEO is in the categories and archives sections. If these only produce snippets of each post them you will avoid any issues with duplicate content. You can use a plugin, however the fewer plugins you use the better. Again, many SEO friendly themes do not use snippets. They use the full posts.

The final area that needs close inspection is in the footer. Because some of these themes are free, the links to the theme creator can be sold resulting in a link to sites that you may not want to be associated with. Check each link the footer carefully to ensure it does lead to the themes creator’s pages.

Before jumping on an SEO friendly theme, make sure it is ‘friendly’ first.

There is more to running a blog than just content and blog SEO. The blog design needs to be right as well and by that I mean it needs to fit the niche you are writing in. Many bloggers just grab a free theme they like, install it and away they go.

I don’t have anything against free themes per, especially if you are first starting out and are don’t have many readers or visitors. However as you start to build a name and reputation of your blog online you need to think about a theme that is unique for your blog. Your theme becomes a part of your branding - a part of your image.

Free themes come with several problems, the first and obvious being that many others share it. While this may not be a big problem, it can be for your image and branding - remember, you need to be unique - to stand out in the crowd of the millions of blogs active on the web.

Other problem associated with free blog themes includes hidden links in the footer that may go to sites that may hurt your SEO efforts. This can be a serious problem you can lose visitors as well.

Your blog theme is the first thing that visitors see, well before the content. It has to be attractive and inviting while selling you and your brand and image. It needs to convey a feeling of authority, even if your site is just full of jokes; it still needs to sell that feeling.

Free themes won’t cut it in the long run. They won’t support your image and they won’t help to sell you. Getting your own theme designed is not always that expensive, it can however make a huge difference.

Blogs have become one of the major sources communication with the advent of Web 2.0. There are a few different blogging platforms around, most of which rely on PHP to control the behind the scenes action. Trouble is, PHP is quite slow and needs to be interpreted before your page can load to the screen. These blog design tips may help to speed things up just a little.

Blog Design Tip 1: Convert your Header to HTML.
Whenever anyone accesses your website, their browser will call the main file - normally index.php. This file is written in PHP which is nothing more than a set of instructions. It loads all the information required to produce to page to the screen; translates it to HTML and sends it back to the browser.

The browser takes the HTML code and renders the page to the visitors screen. Some of the information doesn’t require converting, or rather, doesn’t need to be in PHP to begin with.

If you access your page source code you will see that it is all in HTML. A lot of the information in the Header section can be copied and pasted into your index.html file to replace the PHP file. Meta information, keywords, site name, these can all be copied and pasted over the relevant PHP code.

Generally speaking, you can also copy the header graphics information. If you have page menus at the top of the screen then you may need to take care. Always make a backup of the files before starting.

Blog Design Tip 2: Convert your Footer to HTML.
I could just say ditto here of course. The same applies to your footer. Most of the information there is stable and never changes yet it is generated in PHP. Remove the php and replace it with the HTML code from view screen file.

These two blog design modifications can actually save several seconds in generating  pages. If you have a lot of graphics or videos then time is going to be important. Optimize the blog deisng of your header and footer and gain a couple of seconds load time.

What is it that determines whether a blog design is good or bad, friendly or unfriendly? We all have our own opinions and no one will ever completely agree on every factor. When it comes to the basics, the following seven factors effect everyones views on a blog’s design.

Appearance
The first thing that any visitors sees is the overall appearance of a blog. The design of the blog should complement the blog’s content, not overpower it. The blog design should also match stylistically with the message and the purpose of the site.

Usability
For a blog to be successful, people need to be able to use it. A blog generally has lots of text so it will need to provide excellent readability and  good navigation between articles.

Purpose
You need to blog for a purpose and that purpose needs to be clearly defined and easily understood by the reader.  Your blog’s purpose also helps you  to concentrate on the future direction of the blog.

Clarity
If your blog does have a  ‘purpose’ how clear is it to your readers.  Can your readers easily see ‘what is in it for them’?

User Focused
Does your blog focus on the reader and the readers needs or is it more focused on your needs - for example, income. Focus on your reader and the rest will follow.

Accessibility
Does your blog work in every browser and for different screen resolutions? Having a blog that renders well in one browser but breaks out in another robs you of  a good portion of reader.

Navigation
Finally, navigation. Can  readers easily find their way through to other articles on your blog? Clear menu’s with straightforward categories helps your readers to find what they are looking for.

First impressions count. You need to remember that the moment your blog appears on screen, you are being judged. That is human nature. Before a visitor even gets to the content - they have made up their mind as to their like or dislike of your blog - how well does yours stand up.

With the speed of the internet came blogs and we all know that it is important to have a blog for your company but it is also as important to have good design on your blog. New blogs are springing up every day and the competition is only getting tougher to get noticed and stand out.

Quote Catcher can help you find that web design firm to help you with your blog and give it that wow factor. It takes more than just putting a template and writing a few posts here and there. To fully take advantage of a blog it is a must to have a custom professionally designed unique platform with daily posting. With so many design firms offering the latest and greatest it can get very frustrating trying to find the right design firm to work with. By submitting your information Quote Catcher can offer you up to 5 design quotes all catered to your specific budget and project details. Quote Catcher takes the time to isolate 5 design firms that best fit your needs and allow them to bid on your project in confidence. Your information will never be sold off to third parties and you can feel safe with submitting your project details to Quote Catcher. Don’t waste anymore of your time aimlessly looking for a web designer and let Quote Catcher help you.

For a free web design quote please visit Quote Catcher and submit your information today.

How many categories do you have in your blog design? Too many I bet! Sometime we give our readers too many choices and our selves to much in the way of hard work - at the same time we could be damaging our blogs SEO.

Categories can be a great way to file information. However there are times when people simply overdo it. I have come across sites that 30 plus categories with every post being tagged into three, four or more of those categories. It is not a sensible blog design strategy.

Take blog SEO for an example. For every category you tag a post into, it is potentially another copy of the post - duplicate content. Although duplicate content is not as harshly dealt with as once thought of, you want your link juice going to the post’s page, not spread throughout the categories. You can use a plugin which can help noindex the categories, but you still have the ‘follow’ issue for links.

By having such a wide variety of categories, you can often be left wondering which category to place your post in. The trap in the finish is to tick as many relevant and near relevant as possible. This can frustrate your readers when trying to find specific information. Your blog design should be there to help your readers, not frustrate them.

I recently came across an oldish (Feb 08) post on Pearsonified titled What Every Blogger Needs to Know About Categories which had a novel but sensible twist on categories. Rather than divide categories into the normal type, he has divided them into ‘Must Read’, ‘Worth A Look’ type categories.

It is an interesting concept although as a reader, if I am looking for specific information, that type of filing system would frustrate me even more. Without being too critical, his blog didn’t have a search option either.

The concept itself is interesting and I am sure it could be modified to cover both in contextual categories and the more inviting ‘Must Read’ style of category. Blog design needs to concentrate on the user as well as the search engines. Make the experience easier on your readers and they will happily return. Categories are one area that can be tightened up to improve both the search engine needs and your readers ability to find what they want.

Sometimes you discover thing by trial and error, at other times you read someone else’s tip and think - so simple. While writing an article elsewhere I wanted a particular effect in blog design that would enable a bullet point yet follow on with the associated text. Here is what normally happens:

• Blog Design Tip Here: either the follow on text appears here:

or the follow on text appears here.If you press enter after the first line of text you get another bullet. Turn the bullet of and you get the blank line. The effect I wanted was as follows:

• Blog Design Tip Here:
  with the associated text here which can wrap around for as many lines of text as you need to complete the associated text.
• Next Blog Design Tip Here:
  1 - more associated text here
  2 - and here (these are manual numbers rather than auto)

To achieve this simple but effective blog design effect in WordPress, at the end of the bulleted line of text, use the MS Word trick of holding Shift whilst pressing Enter. It enters a soft return rather than a hard return.

This tip works well for numbered points as well:

1. WordPress Tip
   associated text
2. Another WordPress Tip Here
   a) with more text here
   b) and here

This is simply a case of taking a function from one software package and using it on another. A neat effect for you blog design and a way of providing bullets or numbers that stand out whilst including explanatory text.

What comes first, blog SEO or Blog design? An argument that has done the rounds for a long time so I am not going to enter into it - at least not in this post.

Where blogs SEO and blog design do clash is where the design defeats the SEO processes. A good example is where poor code prevents the search engine spiders from reading your complete site.

When a spider comes to visit it reads your site page by page following all the links that they are allowed to follow. As it comes across content, it reads and indexes that content so that it can be found by a searcher. The page also starts to develop a ranking that will determine its place in the search engine results pages.  Your blog design needs to facilitate the work done by the spiders. Your blog SEO provides the links and keywords that you want the spider to concentrate.

If your blog design has any code problems then it is possible that your content will not get read and consequently not get indexed.  Not only that, the spider will probably not continue on to any of the other pages so they will not get indexed either.

There are two solutions to this problem. The first is to check to see if your site is W3C compliant. This checks the code of the page to see if there are any problems with the blog design. The second option is to use a spider simulator. This is a software program that displays a copy of your web page as the spider sees it. You can see whether or not the spider can read the whole page or if it, and where, it  breaks down.

Part of your blog SEO strategy should be to run regular checks on your pages for both compliance and spider readability. If your blog design is good, your site will pass both checks.

Two old saying contradict each other - First impressions count and Never judge a book by its cover. When it comes to blog design, your landing page is not just the cover, it essentially a snapshot of the whole blog so First Impressions Will Count. Avoid these six blog design mistakes and you may keep your visitor long enough for them to read the content.

Avoid the overuse of Flash: in fact, if possible don’t use it at all. Flash graphics can look great in a blog design but they can also be turnoffs as well. If you need to use flash graphics, place them below the fold so the visitor at least gets a feel for your blog before the flash scares them away.

Avoid auto play video and audio files. These slow down the load speed of your blog and can often be a huge turn off for your visitors. Give them the option of playing the file if they wish.

Avoid placing badges and banners everywhere. A nice clean look to a blog is the ultimate aim. You can still have banners and badges, the key is to balance how many and where they are place. Having too many can be counter productive as the visitor can be confused as to which button the need to press when the time arises.

Avoid fancy fonts and/or fonts that are too big or too small. This is a simple equation. If I cannot read your site, I am gone. Be sensible with font colors and sizes.

Avoid the use of ‘click here’ links. When providing a link, use anchor text that makes sense to the user. you should also avoid simple home page links. If you are discussing someone else’s article, link using good keywords and using the articles URL.

Finally, tell me where I am! I don’t know how many times I have clicked on a couple of links only to find the page I have landed on has no indication as to who they are.

If you can avoid those six blog design mistakes you may find your traffic staying a little longer and your conversions, if you have them, increasing. Your blog design is selling you and your brand.

One mistake that businesses make when starting a blog is to use a free theme rather than getting a customized blog design. Some times, when you use a free theme you are getting what you paid for.

Free themes are often written by amateur writers and while they often look good, that is all they are good for. When using a free theme you need to run several checks. The first and most important check is via any of the tools that let you look at your site as the search engine spider sees it. Many themes have code errors in the blog design which prevent your pages from being fully read and indexed correctly.

Other free themes may have links to dubious sites, or at the very least, sites that you may not wish to link to. These links often appear in the footer, one area that some search engines treat with suspicion. You can easily check for these by using your browsers view code option. Scroll through to the footer to see whether or not there are any strange links. If there are then ditch the theme and find another blog design.

Free themes are just that, free. Create a blog using a theme custom designed by a reputable designer and they will do their best to ensure the code flows smoothly and the blog design delivers everything that you need from it. After all, they are professionals and their income relies on delivering quality products - there name is on the blog design.

If you do decide to go with an off the shelf theme, pay the few extra dollars to have it customized to your needs. Run the two checks I have suggested to ensure that everything flows and can be read by the search engines and that no strange links are included. Your blog design delivers the first impression to your visitors, and first impressions count.

But your visitors do. Let’s face it. When it comes to blog design, the search engines couldn’t care less what it looks like. In fact, apart from black text on black backgrounds, search engines like Google are only interested in a text versions of web site.

What about graphics, video and audio I hear someone say? Again, search engines are only interested in text versions (that is why your alt tags are so important). Search engines don’t listen to an audio file (yet - just wait - it wont be long), nor do they watch a video (ditto), the contents of these files could be garbage, the search engine doesn’t care. They do want the alt tags in your blog design though.

Getting a little more serious, search engines are not interested in blog design - your visitors most definitely are. It is pointless undertaking a strong SEO campaign that brings in plenty of visitors only to have them run just as quickly because they have been confronted by an eye-sore. There is no need for it either.

You can very easily incorporate user friendly features along with visually appealing looks into your blog design whilst still implementing strong SEO strategies. The two need not infringe on each other, in fact serving two masters can help to keep you sharper and more on the ball.

Blog design may not be important to search engines, but they are highly important to me along with every other visitor to your site. Don’t sacrifice good design in the name of SEO - they can both live harmoniously together.

We have written many articles dedicated to blog design including a previous post on keeping it simple. With the release of WordPress 2.5 I thought it was timely to look at the basic features of your blog design when it comes to user friendliness.

For whatever reason you publish a blog, the design should focus on the reader and what they need to successfully navigate through your blog. Rather than tell you how to do something, which I will do in a later post, I am going to ask you to review your blog using the following questions:

1. Overall Blog Design: Is your design easy on the eyes - some blogs are either far to soft or far to harsh - where would classify yours?
2. Navigation: Does you blog have clearly labeled navigation links particularly Home; Previous Posts through either Categories, Archives or Most Popular; and dedicated pages such as About?
3. Font Size and Color: Is the font size easy to read and are the colors of the text and links appropriate both in respect of readability and overall color scheme?
4. Subscription: If you are offering subscription feeds - are the icons clearly visible, the appropriate size and above the fold?
5. Comments: are the comments easy to access with clearly defined icons or text links?

If your blog design does not address these five basic design features then you may find that your readers are frustrated, uncomfortable reading your content and unlikely to return again. Your blog should be a friendly easy to access and easy to use site that not only welcomes the visitors, it encourages them to return again and again.

Get your blog design right and you can spend more time working on the content. Design offers friendship - content earns respect - interaction delivers loyalty. Get your blog design right and you have made the first step towards developing a loyal reader base.