Blogging

How Important is Color on Your Website?

Colors are so important in your website design. Color can make all the difference. Colors can change the tone of your site, emotional effect your readers, and colors can make your site unique and stand out!

Find your colors!

When looking at color for your site you should think about creating a color palette. In design and branding you always want to try to make sure you are using only 3-5 main colors. When you start getting over 5 colors things start to become too busy. You also want to make sure that at least one or two of your colors are neutral.

Now if you want to create your own unique palette but don’t know where to start, look around you. Look at some of your favorite clothes, look through your favorite magazines, or look at some of your favorite websites. You may be surprised where you can find inspiration.

If you hire a designer to create your layout make sure to ask for the hex codes for the colors in your site.

If you do not have the colors that are used on your site you can use some different tools to find the colors. If you have a header that has all your colors or take a screen shot of your site ( fullscreen). You can visit PhotoCopa and find your color palette by uploading these images to this great tool.

Use your colors!

Use your colors in everything you possibly can. Change the colors on your google friends widget, on your blogfrog community, and if their is an option of editing on an item you are putting on your site use it.

Make sure all your buttons match your palette. Use these colors on your twitter page, facebook page and other external social sites. As an example, when your readers go to your twitter page if you are using the same colors they are going to instantly know this is you! This is where they want to be!

Examples

My personal favorite tool is Colour Lovers. This is a great community. You can create your own palettes or you can use pre-made palettes. If you have a color that you know you want to use, you can search for a palette with that color. Another great thing is that people can vote for color palettes, so you are able to see what palettes are popular.

Just while writing this post I found these five great color palettes:

Colors by COLOURlovers

More Resources

Are you ready to go find new colors for your site or for your next design? Trying to find the colors on your current site? Just love color? Here are some great resources:

Color Combos
Color Scheme Designer
Color Schemer

I could keep going but you can see a comprehensive list at Aviva Directory.

[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Originally posted on my blog at Uniquehorn Designs, but that blog will be closing and moving to PepperScraps.[/box]

5 Firsts at Bloggy Boot Camp Seattle

7 Elements of a Blog Blogging

5 Ways to Visually Improve your Blog Posts

Have you ever come across a blog you loved what they were saying but just trying to read it exhausted you?

You have 3 seconds to impress your readers. Even if you have caught them by your web design and your headlines if you haven’t take these 5 simple steps in improving your blog posts your readers are going to leave.

1. White Space
In art and design there is a term called white space. This does not mean literally the color white. But just empty space, with nothing in it. This gives the eye a place to rest.Make sure that your blog design has space between each line (aka line-height). You also want to have a good amount of space between your paragraphs. Putting space around even your images will make a difference fo your readers when looking at your blog.

2. Short Paragraphs, Short Sentences.
When someone looks at your blog and see a wall of words, they become overwhelmed and tired just thinking about reading your blog post. Most readers only skim posts but if they see the wall of words they may just skip it all together. Use short sentences.

Make your paragraphs are short. They should only be a few sentences each. You cannot overdo paragraph breaks!

You can even make a paragraph just one sentence.

3. Edit, Edit, Edit
Make sure and edit your posts. Read your posts out loud and really listen to what you are saying. Can you write your sentences shorter? Can you use less words to make the same point? Less is always more and in blogging this is even more true.

4. Use Your Tools!
Use the edit tools in your blogging control panel. Make the key point in a paragraph bold. If you want to emphasize a point put it in italics. Most readers only skim text on websites. These emphasized points may catch their eye and encourage them to read more.

5. Lists
Use lists whenever you can. If you are joining in on the 31 days to Build a Better Blog then you have just learned that lists are great blog posts. But make sure even your lists are easy to follow. Try using bullet points or number your list. Make sure each item has its own line! Even when making a list and then expanding on each point your list item should have it’s own line.

Your Turn

Try out some of these tips on your next blog post and take a look at the difference. Does it look nicer to you? Did more people stop and comment on your post? Did you notice people even commented about something in the middle of your post vs the beginning and the ending?

I would love to see your posts showing off your editing skills, please comment and share your experience with me.

7 Elements of a Blog Blogging

7 Elements of a Blog Design

Have you really looked at your blog lately? Is it time to start freshening it up but you are not sure where to start?

Start by taking a look at the 7 major elements of your blog.

Logo

When someone is visiting your blog you have 3 seconds to give them their first impression (this is one reason you want your blog to load fast). A logo should tell your visitors in 3 seconds what to expect from your site. What’s the name of the blog and what is the style of the blog (ie. bold and bright, simple and clean, fun and crazy, crafty, etc.). You can say a lot in a logo.

You also want to make sure your logo is timeless and can be used for multiple kinds of media. Your logo should be able to be used for your blog, twitter background, facebook page, business cards, magazine articles, your pr package, an ebook, and more.

Think about the logos you see large companies using. When you see the Nike logo you recognize it instantly. When your readers and advertisers see your logo they should instantly know this is you!

The first thing when you come to the design of your blog is to invest in a professional logo.

Learn more about the 4 Options for Creating a Logo

Header

After your logo the next major element to look at in your design is your header. Current trends are slowly changing from large headers to just logos. One reason for this change is because big headers are taking up important space on your blog with very little information. The second reason is that designs are becoming more simple and clean.

If you are a believer in above the fold theory, which usually I am not, you are loosing prime realty on your website with a large header. You could be loosing space that you could sell to your advertisers.

I believe that if you make your header interesting enough you can make it any size you want. But I also believe in keeping it simple and that is hard to do with a large header.

Learn more about 7 Trends in Header Design

Slider

Sliders can show off three or more of your best posts quickly and dynamically. You can find lots of themes with sliders built in or you can find a WordPress plugin that will add it for you. A slider can cause your homepage to load slower so you do need to consider this when considering adding it to your blog.

Navigation

Once you have gotten your visitors hooked into staying at your site longer than 3 seconds now you want them to take action and visit the other parts of your site.

For your navigation keeping it simple really is the key. You want your readers to instantly be able to tell that your menu is a menu. Make the buttons and links easy to read and easy to click.

Keep the menu items short and try to avoid being too cute. Use real words that a reader who has never been to your site will instantly recognize. Three items I recommend for every blog are About, Categories, and Contact.

But the most important thing of all is to make sure there is a home button or your header is linked to take them home. You don’t want your visitors to get lost on your site.

Posts

Posts should be easy to follow and easy to read. Make sure that you don’t overwhelm your readers with too many posts on the front page. If they are not going to connect to your blog within 10 posts then they just are not the right audience for you.

When you look at your posts they can be broken down to 5 basic elements:

Headlines – Headlines (or post titles) should be bold and easy to read. Most readers will scan through your headlines and pick out the articles that they want to read. Learn how to use a magazine to improve your headlines.
Content – The post itself should be easy to read and have lots of white space. Learn more about 5 Ways to Visually Improve your Blog Posts.
Post Footer – This is the place to put your meta data. Make sure that your tags and categories are listed so that when your reader finds an article they connected with they can find more to read.
Comments – Make sure your comment link is easy to find. Most readers expect to find the comment links at the bottom of the post. Plus it’s easier to click a link right after reading something you enjoyed then scrolling right back to the top.
Social Share Buttons – Make it easy for your readers to share your posts. Use a plugin that gives you each of the social media sites that you want people to connect with your posts. Try and make sure all the share buttons are all in one place. Also do not over do the options. You don’t want to overwhelm your readers with options and buttons.

Sidebar

A sidebar is a place to share more additional information about you, your blog, and your advertisers. Sidebars are one of the biggest struggles for bloggers, they are fighting the constant battle of clutter.

Your sidebar should contain five basic elements:

Social Media (learn how to add social media icons)
Newsletter Sign Up
Advertisers (less is better)
Quick Introduction
Popular Posts

More than this can start making your site look busy or cluttered. Again white space is very important in your sidebar. I have written a post about sidebars in my post How Much is Too Much? Let’s talk sidebars.

Footer

If you have an editable footer then this is a great place to put items like your tags, categories, and extra buttons. I would not put more than four sections in your footer and only place one large item in each section.

The Next Step

Now that we have reviewed the 7 elements of a blog it’s now your time to take a look at your blog and see what needs updating and cleaning.

If I’ve talked about a section in your blog that your just not sure what to do with subscribe to my blog. I will be breaking out each of these elements into their own posts and you can learn more how to improve your blog or website.

If you have any questions you want to ask right away please post them in my comments.

Blogging How to Start a Blog

How to Slowly Invest in your Website

Investing in your website can be costly. But if you want your readers and advertisers to invest in you, you need to make an investment.

After making the decision to start redesigning you may find that the cost is outside of your current budget. This may make you feel that you need to put off your redesign or not do it at all. But before you put off your new look consider this:

Consider slowly investing in your design. When you look into breaking the design down piece by piece you will find that you can slowly afford an amazing design.

Before you Start

Just as Leo Babauta talks about branding your blog’s personality as a whole in Branding 101, you need to think about how your new look represents you also. Really draw a picture in your head of what you want and what really represents you and your blog.

You want to look at your design from the start as a whole, not as each element as you invest, because in the end you want it all to fit together seemlessly. You will also want to make sure you use the same designer throughout your design.

Picking your Designer

That brings us to our next step which is to find a designer that fits you and your style. You can do this by interviewing them, checking out their previous work and asking for a mock up.

One of things to ask while interviewing them is if they would be willing to spread your project out and how they would recommend going about this.

Don’t skimp on your choice of designer just because of their prices. A true professional designer is going to have a high prices due to their skill level, their education, their investment in computers and programs, and their demand. But you will see something different in a designer that is charging a premium price. They are going to spend the time to get to know you and your product and your vision. They are going to give you a premium product that will amaze you and your readers.

Breaking up the Cost

So how do you break up a new design?

You can break each element out and spread them apart to help you make your slow invest. You can get the prices for each element from your designer and how they would prefer to break it up.

A good example of how you can break up your design is to first invest in a professional logo, then a blog header, maybe a twitter background and a facebook page, and then finally a customized theme.

Logo Design – Your logo is going to be used on everything from your site to your business cards and it will nail down the feel of the rest of your design.

Header Design – You may actually find that you don’t need a header design when you are planning your overall design. Some magazine themes and professional sites are now mainly using their logos as a header and leaving more room for content on their site. This is one reason it is a good idea to have a plan before you start.

Twitter Background and/or Facebook Page – When planning out your overall look think about the different elements you will need for your site and each piece that you will need. I highly recommend you have all your social media match the design and feel of your site.

A Customized Theme – You have lots of different options when it comes to your theme for you blog. Learn about the different levels of investment you can make in your theme design in my previous article, Beauty vs Budget.

As you purchase each piece of the design make sure you are saving up for the theme design, because this will be the largest investment. But this way you will be able to slowly make the changes to your site, your readers will see your investment and start recognizing your new brand!

Payment Plans

Another option to consider is payment plans. Ask the designer that you are interested in if they would be willing to take your project on with a payment plan.

They may do this in a few different ways. They may wait to start the design until you have paid in full or half down. They may be willing to design while you make your payments but will not release the files until everything has been paid.

Make the Plunge

When you are ready to take your site to the next level make sure that you choose a professional designer and don’t be afraid of their prices. Because you will be surprised at your return on your investment if you make the plunge. A truly well designed site will drive in the readers and investors as you would never have imagined.

If you feel that a professional designer that you love is out of reach think again and consider your options and consider slowly investing into you new design.

How 5 Words Can Help You Build Your Brand

I have been participating in a great series over at SITSgirls: Think Like a Marketer. Last week we started by focusing on the branding of our blogs. I loved this article because when I work with my graphic design clients I have to explain to them that branding is visual and conceptual. When I’m helping someone build a blog I explain how color and logo will work building their visual brand, but that they need to build their conceptual brand also. I loved that Melissa (@momcommblog) really got this point across so well in her article. The homework for this week was very revealing and a great growing experience. I will be going through the steps to share my experience as I worked on my homework. I hope this shows you how this can really help you to improve your brand and blog.

Your 5 Words

The first part of the homework was to write down five words that you want people to think of when they first see your blog. This was a little hard at first but once I started the words just kept coming. My five words:

Interesting
Inspirational
Informational
Stylish
Clean

Their 5 Words

Now I did not share these words with anyone and I started doing part two of the homework. I jumped on twitter and started asking others what five words they thought of when they saw my blog. Here are some of the responses I got:

subdued, organized, simple, straightforward, great logo! by @stephmommybrain

Clean, Modern, Fresh, Diverse, fun by @MamaofAllTrades

Sylish, Clean, Narrow, Engaging, Personal by @PhotoLynda

organized, pink, uncluttered, variety, interesting layout by @Modern_Gypsy

simple, organized (i love each post has its own box), clean, colorful (but not too much) and easy (to navigate) by @OurTypicalLife

organized … creative … variety … honest … feminine by LifeLovesLeah

girly … organized … honest … plain … mom by ThoughtsFromHer

These are just some of the few that I received, but you can see that specific words started repeating: clean and organized. That’s great I’m really happy to find that my blog gets described as this! My style for my graphic design business is exactly this: clean & organized, so this is branding my blog for my business. Perfect!

Growing and Learning

Now, time for me to take this information and start learning and growing. One of the words that I’m missing is: Informational. I need to start working on growing this concept on my blog. One of the things I think I need to work on is my post titles. I need to work on communicating more about the benefits my readers will get from reading my blog. If I had awesome post titles this should communicate to visitors that Pepper Scraps is informational and educational.

Now Your Turn

Did you participate last week? What did you learn from your words? Do you need more words? Feel free and ask me in my comments and I will be honest with you.

Photo by Cappellmeister

Hi I am Pepper, yep that’s my real name, it’s on my birth certificate. I’m an old school blogger going back to her roots. In 1999 I wrote out my feelings and shared my silly random thoughts.

Well I’m back! This is me sharing the real me, hoping that it shows you that hey you aren’t alone in those weird, funny, hard moments in life. I’m putting the pieces of life back together after divorce, emotional abuse and starting out on a new adventure. Want to join me?

More about Pepper >>

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