Image courtesy of Family Guy

Think that headline is too strong? Maybe we haven’t been looking at the same blogs. While looks are not the most important aspect of a blog, there’s no denying that they’re important. It doesn’t matter how amazing your content is if people flee in terror before they can read it.

Unfortunately, just like some American Idol contestants have no idea they can’t sing, some bloggers have no idea they’re repulsing potential readers (or they don’t care). Some blogs I’ve subscribed to were just so ugly I was forced to read them only in my RSS reader, never clicking through. That meant I wasn’t reading comments, which meant a lower level of engagement with the blog. It also meant I wasn’t leaving comments and helping the blog grow, and I wasn’t clicking ads.

Unless you’re in certain niches like web design or celebrity gossip, you don’t necessarily need a super-flashy theme. I decided to go with one that was simple and understated, just Kubric with a face-lift (and later on, a custom banner). In fact, focusing too much on aesthetics can potentially make your blog less functional. But it’s not hard to strike a balance between your objectives.

What makes a blog pleasing to the eye? It’s not so much a matter of doing certain things right as it is avoiding major mistakes. Just look at your blog and temporarily lose your attachment to it. Look at it objectively, from the eyes of a new visitor, and think of whether it might disgust them.

Don’t use color combinations that strain the eyes, like white text on a black background. Don’t mix colors that clash, like pink and orange. Don’t slap on so many colors that your blog looks gaudier than Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Don’t use tiny fonts that make people wonder if they need glasses. Don’t use serif fonts that are illegible at typical screen resolutions. Don’t write monolithic paragraphs that readers get lost in.

There are rules that professional designers live by for making everything into a work of art. But for most people, it’s not necessary to be the Michelangelo of blogging. It’s really quite simple. Just put yourself in your readers’ shoes, and think of whether you’re doing anything that would be painful for them to see. With a little bit of effort, any blog can be redesigned in a way that lets readers keep their lunch down.

Hunter Nuttall writes about personal development at his blog Hunter Nuttall . com – Stop sucking and live a life of abundance. No, he doesn’t offer blog design services, he’s just a concerned citizen.

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