I write for Blogussion.com where we talk about blogging better. This week we have had a number of articles about how the user experience changes when we have the right perspective. From what our perception of quality content is to understanding traffic our posts discussed the deeper elements of blogging.
You see the user or reader is the most important part of the blog experience. Yes you write the blog posts, perhaps you design the theme, and also manage the comments but without the user all of that does not matter. To get the most out of your blog make sure you are designing to reach your goals.
In the Blogussion article about what our perception of quality content is the discussion in the comments section quickly led to the understanding that quality content is in the eye of the beholder. Its different based on the user. When we talked about understanding traffic we discussed how business is personal and traffic is really just people. As designers and bloggers we need to remember to design with the user in mind.
The key in both conversations was customizing your blog to your goals. If your goal is to share a message with all of your users then your content is extremely important and should be the focus of your blog. If you are trying to sell a product then your product should be the blog’s focus. Each goal should directly effect your blog’s design.
Designing for Advertisements
No two bloggers are a like. Their designs shouldn’t be either. Especially if there goals are very different.
If you are designing for advertising revenue as your primary income then your blog should be designed to facilitate that without sacrificing the user to hideous blogs covered in advertising. Advertising does not have to be spam or ugly. Advertising can compliment the blog.
Here are a few simple examples of blogs that use advertisements:
Daily Blog Tips
I want to start out with a very simple blog, Daily Blog Tips, who gets lots of visitors and does a good job making the advertisements easy to click on (good for advertisers) and out of the way for readers (good for users).
Like I said the blog is not very pretty, but it is so easy for a user to find what they are looking for. Even better for Daniel, the owner, its also very easy to find great content you are not looking for 
Web Designer Depot
A fantastic resource for all web designers – Web Designer Depot. Their ads take the place of most of their sidebar and some are big and do not fit in with their design as well as others, but I want to focus on the ads right below their search bar.
The ads are both easily seen and natural looking to click on. The ads also contain relevant links to sites users actually would want to check out (more clicks = more money). So for the ads under the search bar I give an A+.
We Blog Better
A relatively new blog designed and written by Brandon Cox, We Blog Better has a unique advertising position that I adore. Every time I go to Brandon’s blog I want to click on it.. and I know better
Brandon has strategically placed the ad to get maximum hits on his custom and relevant links without making you feel like you just got hit with a spam site and a 400 px Google Adsense block. 
When it comes to design your blog around advertisements the key is to make your users feel you are both sincere and helpful. Your ad placement should be both natural and unobstructed to the users experience as well as your ads being relevant.
Designing for Services
Dennison + Wolfe is a simple blog designed on Thesis Theme that is both functional and focused. The design focuses the user on the services provided by the blog owners. Isn’t that the point! The horizontal list of services and professional header demonstrate the kind of work you will get from their services.. professional. What does your design say about your services?
Designing for Products
One of my favorite blogging sites is IncomeDiary.com. In my opinion is can teach us all some very valuable lessons about designing your blog to get what you want for and from your users. Not only is the user experience very smooth and easy but from a blog owners stand point it maximizes the opportunity to sell products. The best example is Income Diary’s home page.
On the home page the first thing you see is a large box publicizing a free ecourse. The e-course plays a vital role in Income Diary’s future product sales and thus is the funnel to get users to eventually buy products.
The sign-up box is graphically attractive and functional. Take a look for yourself
Designing for Membership Sites
Membership sites are great ways to make an income online if you have either the premium content or the authority to make it work. Preferably you should have both.
A good premium content or membership site is Tutsplus. They have awesome sites like PsdTuts and Nettuts which offer some of the best tutorials online. The key is that they pay great money for writers to post excellent content on their site. The design then is extremely important not only to highlight this expensive content but also to focus users on signing up users.
For a membership site, keeping the user in mind means making it easy to become a member and then even easier to access the premium content they paid for. The tutsplus network is probably one of the best examples of using simple design to funnel visitors into becoming members and then easily accessing their content.
Designing for Content
Reading a recent article on Smashing Magazine threw me for a complete blogging loop. The Death of the Blog Post changed the way I view designing for content. Read it and I am sure you will too. The concept focuses on designing your post with its own stylesheet and formatting based on the content and its topic. If you have not seen an example of this then be sure to check out Jason’s Blog.. it is excellent.
Another great blog, my favorite, is Blogussion. It was designed by my blogging partner Alex Fraiser. One of the best features of the design is the subscription box. This focuses the getting the user to your content over and over again. The color scheme draws attention and makes subscribing easy.
For a wonderful tutorial on how to make a subscription box just like this check out Recreating the Stylish RSS Box. Its a great tutorial which will help you make your blog’s content more important. The idea is the more subscribers you have the more people will read your content. So make sure you have a subscription box if your emphasis is on content.
Conclusion
Designing specifically with your user in mind will not only increase the user’s experience but also convert more visitors into the goals you are trying to reach. Web design is about the user. Design for the User.
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Great! Awesome! Fantablous!
I love the way you simply explained all the important aspects. Cool
Well done for setting up your very own business and creating a blog to promote it. I know what it’s like – you’ve only just set up and probably have all kinds of plans afoot but here are my thoughts on the biz & site:
1. Prices seem good. Good, you can always raise them later when you’re rushed off your feet:)
2. Form home page buttons to Buy Standard – maybe you should explain what they are first before taking people to the pay now page. Some may not have checked out the hire me page with all the info yet.
3. What do you get for the Problogger package?
4. I’m thinking of upgrading to thesis next year. Can you spell out the main advantages for people like me?
5. You need a kick ass about section and smiley photo!
6. When you get a client don’t forget to recommend me for the copywriting:)
Ha, bet you’re working on all this already! I should be a bit more patient:) Go Seth, Go. I’m sure you’ll do brilliantly.
Hi Seth – Thanks for including Dennison+Wolfe in your post. Don’t suppose you would mind including a link as well? (dennisonwolfe.com)
Thanks much from fellow Thesis fans…