Let’s Talk About … Blog Designs And The Influence They Can Have

~ Kelly | Another Book in the Wall

Header - Fiona.JPGAlthough I might not have the most extravagant design for my blog, I dedicate an unholy amount of time into perfecting – or at least, trying to – all the images I include in my posts. Perhaps it’s because I’m incredibly detail-oriented and refuse to incorporate images that aren’t pristine into my posts, but I believe it’s fair to assume that a decent number of bloggers pour their heart and soul into creating graphics as well. It’s astounding to realize how time consuming it is to construct images that are rather simple, in the grand scheme of things. My question is, how important are blog designs to readers, and can an alluring design truly attract more followers?

Section dividerWhy Do Blog Designs Matter?

If you’re similar to me, one of the reasons a blog design might matter, is because you want your blog to reflect who you are. A blog is ultimately an extension of one’s self, and it practically begs to be sculpted in millions of ways to capture your spirit. I’m sure many bloggers wish to unleash their creative juices and see what sort of picture unfolds. With that being said, I believe an elegant design is also a means through which a blogger’s dedication can be shown. I personally love following blogs where it’s clear that the author is passionate about what they write and truly care about updating their content. I’m not suggesting that blogs without intricate designs, have unenthusiastic writers, but simply that a charming design is evidence of a blogger’s zealousness.

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Are Appealing Designs & Layouts Essential For Your Blog?

Speaking strictly from personal experience, the design of a blog is the first thing I will notice when discovering a new site. If it’s eye catching, it will definitely influence me to engage in some minor or major stalking. Not unlike how you would dress for success when trying to impress an interviewer or professor, I believe it’s important to construct a neat and easily navigable website. If it’s challenging for a reader to find particular content on your blog, they might feel less inclined to follow. I personally love blogs that have categories and links that clearly indicate where to find everything.

Section dividerWhere Can You Begin?

My blog is powered by WordPress, and I adore how user-friendly and adjustable the free-to-use layouts are. In addition, it’s a wonderful website if you plan on engaging with the blogging community. Us, bloggers, are truly one big, happy family. The support we offer one another is absolutely beautiful, and there’s no way that my blog would be where it is today without the love I’ve received from so many amazing individuals. Now, if you’re looking for websites and programs where you can create gorgeous graphics for free, I would highly recommend the following:

Freepix. This is undoubtedly the best website I have stumbled across for graphic resources. I am no artist. I can hardly draw a sack of potatoes, let alone a cute decal. So this website is fantastic for providing a vast array of free images that can be used for all your blogging needs!

Gimp. For those of you who don’t have Photoshop, this free program is a wonderful alternative. It’s a bit confusing to understand at first, but is great for photo editing once you are familiar with its layout. You can layer images, scale, mask, crop, etc. – you name it!

Phonto. I have an unhealthy obsession with fonts. I have seriously downloaded 200 + on my laptop, and don’t use half of them. Oops. Nevertheless, this app is very convenient for creating simple logos or header images. You can import your own fonts, and the options are very straight-forward for curving your text, and adjusting the size and color of your text.

While these are nice programs that can help you start creating graphics, the design of your blog is ultimately up to you. It’s something you have to discover for yourself, and it’s important not to feel pressured or insecure if you don’t have an ideal look. In all honesty, I am still not completely content with the style of my blog, and always have a twitch at the back of my mind to completely alter it. Don’t be discouraged by comparing your blog to others! We’re all individuals with our own unique ideas in mind, and no two blogs are the same!

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A Few Of My Favorite Blog Designs.

You know I can’t resist sharing a few of the most eye-catching book blogs out there! I would highly recommend you check out some of the beautiful works of art! I promise it’ll be difficult to resist stalking them! Click the images below to be transported to the corresponding blogs! You won’t regret it!

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Section dividerThanks for reading, dolls! Do you think blog designs matter? What are some of your favorite blogs in terms of design and layout? Let me know in the comments!kelly (3).pngInstagram | Twitter | Goodreads | Bloglovin

71 thoughts on “Let’s Talk About … Blog Designs And The Influence They Can Have”

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  2. This is such an interesting post! I definitely think design is one of the most important elements of a blog – it’s what attracts people. And thank you SO much for including my blog design as a favourite of yours. That really means the world! ❤

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  4. This is very interesting Kelly! Personally, I’m always interested with pretty things so I think blog design do matter, but at the same time, if I enjoy the writing, I don’t really mind how does the blog look. What I noticed is how the design tend to reflect the content, for example, minimal design using muted/pastel color tends to have more “quiet” blogging voice, while the ones with tons of graphic and colors tend to have more lively voice, if that makes sense 😀

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  10. Hello Kelly! Love this discussion topic! I agree that while looks aren’t everything, the graphics and layout on a blog does make a difference. I rarely follow blogs based on appearance alone, however I have chosen to not follow a blog if it’s appearance/organization sticks out in a bad way! I mainly use canva to create my graphics however I want to give gimp a try 🙂 I love your blog graphics by the way!

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  11. YAAAS BLOG DESIGNS ARE SO IMPORTANT! Not only do they reflect who you are and what your blogging voice is probably going to be like, but they also pretty much affect the reader’s reading experience. I mean, I’m going to want to forget about a blog if I found their text to be unreadable, or if they had so much going on that my eyes hurt! I also used GIMP before I had Photoshop, and it was super easy to navigate, plus most of the important features are there. 🙂

    Thanks so much for mentioning my blog, lovely! I also love the others you mentioned, and yours as well. 💕

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  12. I’m always looking for ways to improve the blog. Mine has gone through so many changes. When I started out, one of my main inspirations for blog design was Ashley’s blog Nosegraze. I don’t use many graphics in my posts, but for the ones I use and for social media and stuff I like to use Canva (their templates are lifesavers) and also iPiccy, which was my replacement for Picmonkey when they made it paid.

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  13. This is something I really have no clue about. I tried using free sites to create graphics but then you had to pay to actually export them to use on your blog, and I just can’t afford that. I have no photoshop skills at all but I feel like my blog is too bare without graphics 😦 I will have to try the websites you mentioned!

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  15. I always find that I gravitate towards blogs that have a clean and crisp design, with neutral colours.
    I really struggle to stay on a blog that has loads of competing colours or is too dark because it physically hurts my eyes.

    I’m currently redesigning my blog so it flows and has a more consistent style.
    I’ve always used Canva but I’ll have to check out the places you suggested to see if I can’t find something better there!

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    1. I’ve just realized we use the same theme! I was wondering if you could tell me how to change the colour of linked text? Mine still has the standard one for the theme and I’ve noticed yours is blue and I have been trying to figure out how to change it since I switched to it and can’t seem to figure it out! If you could help me it would be super appreciated!

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        1. Ahhh thank you so much!!!! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into that and just picked the one with the lighter background not realising that the other colour matches the link colour! Now that you’ve told me I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection sooner ahah.

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  19. Such a great discussion post — and so on point. I believe that blog aesthetics add to the readability of a post (images can break up blocks of text, entice readers to keep going or start in the first place, etc) and show why YOUR blog is unique to allll the other book blogs.

    I’ll echo some of the earlier comments that WordPress is very easy to use but limiting in a few ways. If you’re not using a paid version, you miss out on a lot of aspects that could enhance your blog (for one). Just from the blogs you mentioned, the majority have a .com and not .wordpress.com, so they’re probably paying. (Not to take away from how amazing their content is, or how hard they must work!) If you’re not on a blog’s home page, you can’t see the blog background. On the reader, a lot of the images are resized.

    None of this is going to make or break a blog post, but it’s all certainly worth considering. Thanks for opening up this conversation!

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  20. OKAY I JUST ABOUT MELTED WHEN I SAW MY BLOG LISTED HERE. I AM SQUEALING RIGHT NOW. Thank you so, so, SO much for mentioning me here! It really means the WORLD to me! I think we’ve previously talked about how crazy perfectionists we are when it comes to our blogs, and I think that this post really does a good job articulating why. Our blogs are parts of us, like our little babies. Plus, it’s just FUN to make everything look good. It’s like a quest to get everything just right. And isn’t Freepik the best thing since milk and cookies? That’s where I get pretty much all of my stuff! Anyways, thanks again for the mention! It made my day 🙂

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  22. Great post Kelly! Thanks for the tips. I too am attracted (or not) by a blog design. I tend to flee dark or black blogs. I found it stiffling but that’s my personal taste.

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  24. Awwww Kelly thank you so, so much for mentioning my blog, this means the world to me, especially knowing that I am not that graphic savy and just doing my best, this means the world ❤ ❤ ❤
    I agree with you that design matters a lot – it's obviously the first thing I see when I arrive in a new blog and I will pay attention to it a little and it will influence my experience on the blog, too. I also love categories, menus, a search bar and an about page especially, I like to see the blogger and get to know him/her/them a little bit already when I am on the blog, it makes me feel welcome, in a way, and it feels friendly, too 🙂
    Wonderful post! 😀

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  25. This was a fantastic post, Kelly! And I’m definitely on the side of appreciating a well thought out and appealing blog design! It is the first thing you see when you visit a blog and if it’s not pleasing to the eye, chances are people are going to exit out of your blog quicker. Blog design can be an evolution too and grow with you as you go – I know mine looked nothing like the way it does right now when I first started or even a couple of months ago. But I did always make sure the colors worked nicely together and just easy things like that.

    And as far favorites, I have to agree with you on Marie and Aimee, they have such beautiful themes! Yours is really pretty too and I LOVE your feature images!

    Thank you for the shoutout for my theme too, I really appreciate the support! ❤

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  26. Another great discussion topic! When I started blogging again at the end of last year I kind of hastily revamped my site with the intentions of a complete redesign. Then I got busy reading and blogging. I still want to do a redesign but think I will do it around my 1 year mark. I definitely agree that design matters. You have to make it easy for people to navigate and find your content.

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  27. I definitely think that blog design matters – it reflects on your personality and how much care you put into it. I definitely want to improve mine and add a few more graphics/flourishes. Slowly getting there.

    That being said, I know lots of blogs that have a great aesthetic design but the writing is just not up to scratch so I never end up reading the blog posts or engaging with the content. And blogs that overdo the graphics or have really noisy backgrounds/colours/pages actually put me off so much because it hurts to look at them.

    I moved from blogger to wordpress a little while ago and while the basic blogger gives you a lot more freedom to change things, I personally feel like blogger blogs are not as nice as a basic wordpress blog (sometimes less is more!).

    Great post Kelly! 🙂

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  28. I am definitely attracted to a pretty blog! While it isn’t completely indicative of content, I find it kind of like covers. If you put in the work for your appearance, you probably put in work for content too! (I know not everyone can afford a designer, so thank you for the cheap and helpful resources!)

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  30. Design is really important! Sometimes a bad design doesn’t help me to follow the blog. It just put me off. I need to say that I also found many blogs in which the lack of cure about design, also had quite a number of post that relly weren’t my things. Like tons of tags only, waiting on wednesday, review only….

    Sometimes I think a bit about mine. I like but I wonder if it’s not a bit too much?
    Anyway, I think that WordPress is really user friendly, so you someone manage to create a blog that is not easy to navigate, while using basic WordPress… well, jeez.

    The only thing I don’t like that much about basic wordpress is that the blog looks incapsulated in a zone, not the whole site area. I was used to blogger, being much more bigger (at least looking from my screen). Maybe, if I’ll switch to a self hosted version, I’ll try that design

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    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Camilla! ❤️

      A bad design can put me off sometimes too! Many times, I’ll try to look past a design, but if the posts don’t appear to be my thing either, I’ll likely refrain from following.

      I also think that WP is pretty user friendly, but agree that it’s a bit annoying how most of the blog looks are limited to only a certain zone!

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  33. What a lovely post! I agree, the blog design can really show off someone’s personality or dedication! Your blog is a wonderful example of this 🙂 I don’t really love the design of my blog right now, but I’m a little scared to change anything because I’ve been blogging for a few months already 😂
    Your posts always read my mind – I love your blog! ❤

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    1. Aww, thank you so much, Sarah! ❤️

      When I began my first blog, I changed the theme at least 6-7 times in the first for months! Haha! You can always try it and if it doesn’t work out, revert back to what you previously had or try something else! 😉

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  34. I think everyone pretty much agrees on how a decent blog design is important when it comes to gaining interest in your blog. There are some blogs out there that use bright colors – as a full background – that simply hurt my eyes and make me not even bother to check out their content. The blogger might be the best in writing things but if my eyes hurt trying to read.. I just.. no..

    On the other hand, I don’t think it’s easy for everyone to figure out blog designs and graphics. I, for one, am a full-out FAIL when it comes to creating graphics. Some people disagree when I tell them that because they do like the look of my blog but.. seriously.. I don’t even want to know how many hours I put in to get things a bit the way I want them to be? [Sometimes I also wish I could rope strangers into criticizing the whole thing and tell me straight-out what’s not working on my blog but hey.]

    Blog design simply isn’t easy. I like to compare it a bit with finding your blogging voice – which also is a hard thing to do because you keep comparing yourself to others and have this pressure of wanting to sound like certain bloggers you absolutely love while it should be fine to just be yourself. It’s hard being happy about it because you’re always confronted with things you like better or wish you had thought of, haha. :’)

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Kathy! ❤️

      I have the same struggle with blogs that are super bright and hurt my eyes. When that’s the case, I might still follow he blog, but will only read their posts through the WP “Reader”.

      I am always trying to change and update the graphics for my blog as well, so I absolutely relate! It’s so difficult at times to make a simple graphic! And I love what you said about how creating a certain blog look is similar to finding your blogging voice. Both take a lot of time to discover and neither is easy. With so many amazing blogs out there, it’s challenging to feel comfortable with your own when you’re constantly comparing to others. I for one, struggle with this pressure a lot, but hope to improve it in the future! ❤️

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  35. Lovely post, and i agree! Even though the blog design is not the most important thing, it’s still pretty important.

    I shows the personality of the blogger for one, and also makes the blog recognizable. I usually have 10 tabs open at the same time and i switch between blogs. Most of my favourites i recognize right away.

    Sometimes blogs look alike and i get confused what/whom I’m reading 😀

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    1. Thanks for reading, Norrie! ❤️

      I definitely agree that it’s great for showing the personality of the blogger and for making it recognizable. I also think a catchy blog name is pretty important for that matter as well!

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  36. I definitely love a good blog design and although sometimes blogs can be off putting when they’re hard to navigate and read from, at the end of that day the content matters more to me. I love Phonto and Freepix! I love adding images to my blog posts and graphics are so fun! I use them tonnes. Another great post Kelly!

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  37. Absolutely love this post. I”m always changing my blog graphics and looking for new ways to make them more aesthetically appealing. Very similar to Instagram, great aesthetics draws more people in. Thanks for the recommendations. I will definitely try Freepix because I’m in the middle of revamping my header and have been struggling to find images I like on Canva.

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