Liveblogging from BlogWorld Conference!
I won a full-access pass to the Blogworld Conference in Vegas, so it was time for an impromptu trip! This post is for my fellow blogging brides (I know you’re out there!) I’m trying my paw at liveblogging, so bear with me! If you want more, follow me across the jump! If not, carry on….
I’m in a session right now called How To Design A Killer Blog, and its about WordPress design, which I’m thinking of switching my blog over to soonish, so this will hopefully help prep me a bit for that transition. hopefully it will help you, too!
Why blog design is important:
1. To stand out
2. To have control over your content
3. To personalize your brand.
Basically, getting great design can (re)freshen your online image
Killer blog design consists of….
1. readability – if they can’t read it, they wont.
2. usability – if they can’t navigate your content, they won’t.
3. findability – if they can’t find your content…..
Little choices make a big impact – widgets, pictures, badges, tweets – they all make a difference.
Tips!
-know your craft. your platform, and your code.
Use discretion: widgets distract from content, install ones that readers will use, if you want fun widgets, put them in a separate section, find widgets that style to your theme automatically.
Use good markup
(im)proper markup can make (or break) a sites SEO
Utilize H Tags (h1-h6) accordingly
1 h1 tag per site (main keywords)
Allow specific CSS editing.
Use color theory
1-3 colors work best (2 primary/secondary and 1 neutral black/grey/brown)
Font colors too – stick to a palette and be consistent.
Use Good images
a good image tells a story that accentuates the content. Good images should work with your design, but good designs also have styles built in for images. Learn how to edit the code to style your pictures consistently. you can pad around the picture, to add a border like a photograph.
Most overlooked polish points:
bulleted lists- did you know you can have custom images as bullters
hover colors- you can customize the color if someone hovers over a link
headlines – make them stand out using fonts and colors
post format and comment format (most use default) – you can do a lot to change the post format, and comment format, to encourage interaction.
Phew! That was fast, and unfortch didn’t teach me any great WP hints that I can use until I learn the platform and code. But it did help me realize how overdue I am to switch! Q and A time – let’s see what my fellow classmates want to know. Ugh, first question is hella boring…. next? Second question is about multiple images, but damned if I know how to communicate the techie garbeldygook he’s saying! This guy wants to see a good example of a well-handled wordpress site. We’re getting shown http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/ as this example. Our speaker says this site really showcases what’s important to this guy. The comment bubble feature is really cool! Ooooh, the category drop down is supah sexy, I want!
….aaaaand we’re done! I will edit this later to make it a bit clearer, but I hope it helps some of you blogging goddesses out there! Main takeaway? Switch to WordPress. 
