By Scott Stiffler

As a blogger, you will have an opinion and a forum by default – but will you have an audience? Without readers, a blog is little more than an electronic diary. If your readers aren't finding you among the throng of other bloggers, it might be time to teach your old blog some new tricks. But you don't need to adorn your blog with a garish new template or unnecessary multimedia elements. As with lips and tits, so with blog design: less is almost always more. The best way to give your blog a makeover is to concentrate on the basics of layout, typography, and content. Here are some simple ways to add that extra edge of polish and readability that will keep readers coming back for more.
   
First and foremost, eliminate visual clutter. In design, there's often a tendency to focus on the arrangement of all your visual elements. But just as important to any design is the negative space (the blank or empty area) that frames your content and leads the readers. From cereal boxes and magazine covers to website home pages, consumer interest is determined largely by first-glance appeal. Before web surfers can appreciate your brilliant observations, you've got to seduce their eyes. Simply employing provocative headlines for blog entries (and selecting compelling images) can make all the difference.
   
For a crash course in creating shameless but undeniably pithy headlines, MAGBAG pays tribute to the late, great Weekly World News with its fictional headlines. This is followed by actual headlines from both the WWN and venerable British tabloid The Sun.
   
Once you've got someone reading, you'll want to keep them engaged with header graphics and font sizes that are easy on the eyes. They won't linger if your blog requires squinting and leaning over the keyboard. Use a high contrast combination of font color and background color. If you don't have a good eye, pick up a cheap color wheel and choose colors that fall on opposite sides. Also be conscious of clutter. When every square inch of a page is filled, claustrophobia sets in. Resist the temptation to use too many colors and stick to your basic palette. And always steer clear of flashy, seizure-inducing graphics.
   
Investing some time to familiarize yourself with your blogging program and its tools may open your eyes to capabilities you weren’t even aware of. Once you know what's available, don't be afraid to customize your basic template with plug-in content modules or style sheet changes. Always create a backup (in case you break something) and then it's safe to experiment. Above all, always keep your site clean-looking, fast-loading, and compliant with all browsers.
   
One of the best ways to get ideas for layout and design is to look at lots of good sites and at magazines or books. But once you've finally got the look of your blog down, you'll want to hone your technical skills by paying a visit to Blog Solid. There, you'll find an ever-growing library of treatises on better blogging divided into categories such as Ideas for Better Blogging, Taking Your Blogging to a New Level, and Fresh Ideas for Seasoned Bloggers. Highlights include information on RSS Feeds, audio players, and coping strategies for Blogger's Regret (when an ill-considered post has been spotted before you could remove or edit it). Blog Solid also lays out the five essential steps to a Blog Legibility Makeover (contrast, color, size, font, format).
   
Drawing on the experience of dozens of bloggers, the technical communication blog I'd Rather be Writing has compiled Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog. For beginners, it's a great source of essential, common sense strategies. Chief among them are: Encourage Comments, Post Often, and Pick a Topic For Your Blog (staying focused on one subject matter positions you as an expert in your field of choice). Tip number eight, Link Abundantly, is a revelation. Blogs are, as stated here, “collaborative, linked conversations.” By encouraging your readership to go elsewhere, they're actually more likely to come back. Links also “boost your Google ranking… increase readership, and let others know you're writing about them.” The Resources section provides links to twenty-one articles, half of which are handy Top Ten lists that document common mistakes and ways to avoid them.
   
Makeovers are on the mind of Kashif Blog. Here, you'll get access to a list of free templates, funky widgets, and useful add-ons.
   
Before you reveal your new look to the world, get some feedback from blog-savvy friends and colleagues. Gather together a focus group of those who share your interests (and whose insights you value). Serve food (and alcohol!) and then ask for their unvarnished opinions. Is it easy to navigate? Does the content hold their interest? Do the graphics, images and visuals add or detract? What would they change? No matter what the verdict is, be gracious – or you may wake up the next day to find that you're the topic of someone else's new blog posting!
   
Contact Scott Stiffler at: freelance@cybersocket.com

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