Blogging tip #6: Visual elements

bysmartketeer

6.8K followers

Updated 6 years ago

OK. Let's say that you have found the right niche, you have defined your goals, you already have a reliable hosting provider and a cool domain name. What’s next?

The next logical step is to define a successful content strategy!

There are 4 very important factors that will shape your content strategy and the content creation process itself:.

In the next 4 blogging tips I'm going to cover each factor. Let's start with the ...

Visual elements

When it comes to design, it’s all about creating a unique visual identity. An online selfhood and “personality” that carries a characteristic, easily identifiable message. And every single visual component of your business website or niche blog is an important element that will influence your message. Evidently, the very first step is to create a well-defined, strong visual identity, but that’s only the beginning! Why? Because your visual identity should be present in every single piece of content you are going to create!

First of all, let’s revisit the two basic scenarios:

1. you are planning to launch a business blog

In this case you already have a well-defined visual style, and the question is quite simple: how to make the blog to fit in with the overall and online visual identity of your company and website. In other words, you already have your own clear “guidelines”: color scheme, branding elements, tone, etc.

Your goal is to create a blog which relies on that very same visual identity. When a visitor lands on your blog, he/she should easily and instantly recognize it as part of and belonging to your company. A well-crafted business blog looks and feels exactly like the company website.

But, creating a seamlessly integrated business blog sometimes can be quite challenging! Why? Because, using the very same layouts, logos, colors, fonts, etc usually isn’t enough. Why? Because, the nature and the structure of a blog is very different from regular business website, and you’ll have to re-design certain visual components. More than that, you’ll have to define and design a bunch of new blog elements that don’t exist in your business website. If you were smart enough to create a style guide for your company, that will be the basis of your blog design, otherwise you’ll have to follow your instincts and the good, old common sense to ensure that the visual identity is carried over to each and every newly defined visual component of your blog.

2. you are planning to launch a niche blog

In this case you’ll have to build your blog from the ground up. You’ll have to define and create a brand new visual identity that will perfectly reflect your personality, your mentality and of course, your goals. Here are the 3 most important factors:

• colors; color presents a powerful opportunity for self-expression; color is an important part of your branding equation, so use it wisely to build a powerful brand identity; be creative, but, make sure that you piece together a coherent style, and don’t forget, that each color needs to complement your persona, tone, etc; and this is why it’s important to know your niche colors! I am pretty sure that you have already heard the term “color psychology”, so you already know, that different colors will create different psychological impacts; take your time to find out which colors could perfectly reflect your message? cheerful greens? serious and reliable blues? warm and comforting browns? energetic reds? optimistic oranges?

• layouts; the blogs are set up in one-, two- or three-column structures; which one is better? depends! the one-column layout could be a good choice if you want the blog to stand alone and not link out to different other areas; this structure is less distracting and can help you to generate instant interest to the content itself, so if you have a lot of content that requires immediate attention, probably this is the best solution for you; if you need some advertising space, and/or you are planning to use an extensive link-roll, than you should probably choose a two-column layout; and if you plan on linking out to various partner sites and using a blogroll in the sidebar, you are going to need a three-column structure; the point: choose the perfect – mobile-friendly! – layout that suits your blog’s purpose

• typography; we are talking about blogs, and that means that you are going to use a template; unless you are using a customized template, there are only a few standard font styles to choose from, but do your best to choose an easy-to-read font face that complements your website and personality

OK. Now, let’s go back to the main idea: your visual identity should be present in every single piece of content you are going to create! What does it mean? It’s simple … Every single piece of content you are going to create, and I mean EVERY SINGLE PIECE – regardless of format or communication channel -, including blog posts, videos, downloadable ebooks, landing pages, emails, social messages, etc must be perfectly aligned with the very same visual identity. Every single characteristic visual component – layout, colors, branding elements, font face, font size, kerning, line spacing, buttons, social icons, links, etc – should serve one, and only one purpose: to create a coherent visual style which can be immediately recognized as your “trademark”. And don’t forget, first impression matters, and if you really want to earn money with a blog or to make a living with blogging, you’ll have to pay attention to these factors because according to Research Gate first impressions are 94% design-related.