Discover how to design your blog effectively. Get tips on choosing a theme, creating a header, and brainstorming topics.
In the first post, I talked about choosing hosting and a blogging platform.
In this post, I’ll discuss choosing a theme, creating a header, and brainstorming the topics you want to write about.
Choosing a Theme
There are many free themes to choose from, and you can always switch it out later (though a fair amount of work will be involved, so just prepare yourself for that). Take your time now and choose carefully. Premium themes are themes you pay for, but you can do this perfectly fine with a free theme.
Color schemes are fun so if you want to spend a little time creating one, you can do that here. You don’t have to use the colors offered with the theme. Typically they are customizable.
Keep it Simple and Clean
When people read digitally, they need something easy on the eyes. Lots of “white” space. When you design your blog, don’t fill every blank space with something. Keep your main color soft and only use bold colors as highlights. Additionally, keep your fonts simple and easy to read. A script font is fine as long as it’s used only as a header in your design or a signature. Don’t use it in your blog titles or as your text. Too much clutter and color and people just scroll or click off. Stick to just a couple of fonts so everything looks seamless.
Make Sure It’s Mobile Friendly
This is super important since so many people read from their phones today. I just switched out my theme recently because my previous one wasn’t mobile friendly and I didn’t realize it until it was done. Before settling on and digging into the edits, use your phone to see how it’s viewed from there. If it looks like a mess and is hard to read, skip that theme and try another one.
Consider Your Niche
If your main purpose is to feature your writing, choose a theme that highlights words over phots. However, if you’re main focus is photography, cooking/baking, or your art, consider a theme that’s heavy on photos. You want to draw out your best skills immediately.
The beauty of blogging today is there is much more flexibility. You can be as detailed as you want in creating your space—or not. If you’re not super technical, you can keep it simple. If you like learning as you go, don’t be afraid to use Google or YouTube to look up “how to’s” if you get stuck on something. That’s how I learned.
SEO Friendliness
If you don’t know what SEO is don’t panic. It stands for Search Engine Optimization. We will get more into that later. The only reason you need to know of it now, is because you’ll want to choose a theme that is SEO Friendly. The themes will list their features for you.
Creating Your Header
A header is best kept simple. You can create a header on Canva using their free subscription.
Some themes you can just type your blog name into the header section and that becomes your header. It may even have different fonts you can choose from. Each theme will be different in how much you can customize it without using code.
When people come across your blog, you want your header to be easy on the eyes. Too much clutter or color can feel chaotic and turn people away. (Are you sensing a theme here?!) Canva has some pre-made headers you can swap out with your own info and choose a text that fits your brand. It’s super easy.
You don’t want the header to be too large, taking up the whole screen. Be sure to test it out on your phone to see how it fits in and make adjustments as necessary.
Here’s a quick example of a pre-made banner and how I edited it.
Brainstorm Your Topics
Chances are you already have an idea of what you want to write about. If not, that’s ok, too.
Consider the things you are passionate about and ways you want to help and/or encourage other people in. Start there.
For example, one topic I love to write about is the Bible. I’m always hungry for it and I want to help other women who are hungry for it find ways to dive in and read, study, hear from God and live out His words. So some topics I could write about are:
- How a Busy Mom Finds Time to Spend With God
- 5 Amazing Bible Study Tools to Deepen Your Understanding of the Bible
- Various Devotions to Help Moms Connect With God
- Choosing Faith Over Fear In Your Parenting Journey
- The Power of Memorizing Scripture in Everyday Life
Make a list of 5 posts you would write.
Consider all this your homework until the next installment of this blogging series comes out.
This part of the setting up can get tedious, so be patient with yourself and DON’T GIVE UP!
If you have ANY questions, please leave me a comment! I am here to help!!
Love you lots!
Christin
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