First of all, don’t box us out. Just because we don’t mainly ‘blog’ per se doesn’t mean we don’t have anything significant to say. Actually, we can tell you more interesting (and sometimes ever more brutal) insights about your blog and how to best develop it. Here’s how that’ll happen.
RULE NO. 1: We don’t really care about how you blog. And yes, that’s a good thing.
If you’re a new blogger (or maybe just getting the hang of things), chances are you’re in dire need of attracting every bit of first time visitor that you possible can convert into a regular reader. And how do you exactly do that? Focusing on traffic generation? On writing really long value-laden posts? On being more interactive? Maybe. Possibly. But I doubt all this things individually would make such an impact
Designers however, believe in one powerful thing –impression.
Does it sound shallow to you? Well maybe it is. But in truth, every visitor, every human being, is instinctively ruled by their visual perception. The mind sees before it starts to process and understand. And because of that fact, we’ll look closely at the overall impact of your blog. Is it eye-friendly? Does it make it easy to do a quick scan of contents? Are the colors inviting? You get the gist.
RULE NO. 2: We look at your blog’s brand. You should be smart enough to develop one.
It’s quite odd that most bloggers don’t really think this is of any concern. Or even if it is, they don’t really pay much attention to it. Two words for that. Very wrong.
So everyone’s on the same page, let’s hear the basic concept. What’s a brand?
By definition a brand is “An identifying symbol , words, or mark that distinguishes a product or company from its competitors.” Source: InvestorWords
If you’re serious enough with your blogging and one of your aims (if not the main one) is to generate profits, then you have every responsibility to treat it like a business. And what does every business have? That’s right. A brand.
This is where we designers come in. We’re quite capable of identifying and creating one, and truth be told, it’s such a shame to see blogs have merely names in plain texts as their logos, or to see a design that is very poorly made and without much thought or conceptualization. It’s not that we’re bound to judge you because we’re inclined to do so, I guess it’s just that we know how big of a deal it really is not for our sake, but for yours.
RULE NO. 2:: The ability of recall. Wait, what???
Okay. This concept really is a little vague and subjective at the same time. Though of course, that doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Quite the opposite actually. I bet you’ve heard about this before –recall simply means the ability of the blog to be remembered and revisited back. It goes hand in hand with impression and branding.
Okay. Since this really is hard to explain without becoming too confusing, how about a case study. For example, let’s look at a blog name, specifically, between blogs that have say a one word name versus a blog that has three. You might think this isn’t important, but actually, much depends on this. You have to realize that the ability of a blog to strike a recall to its first time viewers would be based on
- How well the name can be remembered and;
- The impression of the whole blog to connect to the name
This is where your logo (for example) would come in. Ever wondered why the logo color would always be the basis for the blog theme color? Most people just accept that it’s a rule or that’s how it’s supposed to look good. But the truth is you are actually trying to connect the two things together (the brand and the blog) to make a good recall. Does it make sense now?
THE CONCLUSION
I agree. We’re not really holistic on how we’ll see your blog. But the point is when it comes to blog improvement, there’s no one ultimate guru. SEO analysts would be the best go-to guys if you want to improve your traffic and SEO structure. Internet marketers would be the ones who can give you the most tips in improving your profit. Social media experts are the ones to be consulted when you want more online interaction with your readers.
As for us web and graphic designers, we’re your source if you want to maximize your first level of appeal to your readers. How they see you and better remember for future visits is an important thing in building your following. And that’s what we’re kinda good at 😉
Let me know what you think!
If there are more web and graphic designers around, I’d love to hear your insights and experiences on this issue. Would also like to hear if you’ve had consultation experiences with us designers. How was it? Comment below! Thanks!