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.

Image: the eyes have it

Blogs are powerful tools for anyone who wants to share their products, build their brand, and reach their goals.  I have been blogging for almost 3 years now and have seen the web change.  Blogs are more important then they have ever been before and every site needs to have a blog to drive traffic and increase profitability.

Teaching people how to promote their blogs has been a passion of mine for the last year.  I have worked hard to provide excellent resources and consultation for bloggers who need more traffic.  I blog full time at Blogussion which is a unique blog with an excellent design.

Blogussion focuses on building a community of bloggers and blogging tips.  I write at least twice a week there and consult on the side.  After working with the Thesis Theme from DIYThemes I decided it was time to help the thousands of Thesis Theme users to get more from their themes.

Thus Thesis Web Design was born…

As a place to:

• Show off my thesis web design skills and experience
• List resources for other designers and do-it-yourself thesis theme users
• Give examples of great thesis design work and why its so great!
• Get new clients who are interested in getting excellent custom design work for Thesis Theme
• Encourage users to learn how to promote their blogs by visiting Blogussion or hiring me for consultation

If you have suggestions, questions or comments you can either leave them in the comments area below or contact me directly through email.  If you would like to contact me directly please use the appointments tab on the left of the screen.

Thank you for visiting Thesis Web Design and I hope you find everything you are looking for.