Good Blog Design Equals Direct Advertising
If you’re going to win the hearts and mind of advertisers it helps to have the right blog design. Here are some ideas and thoughts to cogitate on:
1. Credit where credit is due. Darren Rowse the Problogger.net genius has hit on an excellent layout with his 3 blocks of key posts and categories at the top of his blog. It works for him and I think it works here.
What’s so good about this configuration? Simple - it’s time efficient. Landing on Problogger for the first time you would very quickly see above the fold just about everything you need to know about blogging. It’s a neat feature, that helps illuminate your best work and highlights the fact that you hopefully know what your talking about!
Two helpful selling points if you’re trying to attract direct advertising.
2. De-clutter: Blogs as they get older tend to become hoarders! It’s easily done. An affiliate scheme here, a widget there and you quickly find your homepage choked with bits and pieces. Personally, I find this a little off putting when I land on a blog. It’s almost as if my brain can’t take it all in. The simple remedy is to have a spring clean. Remove all the bits and pieces that are barely used and or the affiliate link that generates $1 a year! A clean blog is a far better user experience and a far more attractive proposition for a direct advertiser. Plus you should draw more attention to the things that matter i.e your content and the moneymaking ads on your page.
3. Regularly check your blog in different browsers: I expect you’ve turned up on a blog only to be met by text splurged in strange ways across the screen, images not where their supposed to be etc. This can often be down to coding errors or new widgets not doing what their supposed to do - we’ve all been there! However, the principal cause in my experience is a change in browser coding. This can result in a change in the way css, html or coding hacks are dealt with. But if this is in a browser you don’t use regularly you could be completely unaware for a long while, unless some kind soul puts you out of your misery! Nonetheless, it’s important that your potential advertisers aren’t put off by a misfiring blog. Make sure your design is ship shape in the key browsers and you’ll increase your chances of securing that deal.
4. Simple layout with good navigation: Jacob Nielsen the useability guru has recently been making noises about blogs neglecting the principals of good navigational design. He’s got a point. There’s room for improvement here and everywhere. Good useability, equals another reason for an advertiser to consider your blog.
5. Make sure your blog design can accommodate standard ad placements and sizes i.e banners, skycrapers, squares etc. Use the AdSense unit sizes as a guide. It’s not to clever if you get a direct advertiser on board only to discover that you have to move heaven and earth to accommodate their requirements.
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