Buzz Marketing with Blogs: A Design is Worth a Thousand Words

A Design is Worth a Thousand Words

Yesterday I found a post on the Work Boxers blog titled ”The Prelaunch Success Plan” that had some interesting observations about the importance of designing an attractive blog:

...if you have a design blog and it is well-designed and looks “pretty” then this instantly builds credibility for yourself. On the other hand if you launch a design like my own with very little use of images and color then the initial impression of the first-time visitor is that my credibility isn’t as high as the next guy who has a better looking design. Notice how all of this occurs even before they read the content?

(There is a lot of good stuff in this post about preparing to launch a blog, so be sure to go read it.)

Bloggers talk a lot about words. How long should posts be? How frequently should you post? How do you write well for the Web? What posts get users to comment? Words are key, and of course they are mostly the point. (I’m not talking about photo, audio and video blogs, of course.) But given all that, an blog that is unreadable because it uses dark grey text on a black background is just as unreadable as one that uses poor grammar and spelling.

Design sends a message to your readers, literally unspoken, about your attitude, seriousness, reputation, and credibility. Design makes a statement you don’t have to spell out in words, and everything about the way the page looks influences how it is read.

I’ve been thinking a lot about blog design these days—not a big surprise given my job, of course—and looking at a lot of blogs. I’ll share some of that thinking with you in the near future.

Until then, think about the idea of design and how it applies to what you have to say:

What is the tone of your Web site? What impression do you want to give your visitors?
What kind of imagery is appropriate to your topic(s)?
What are others doing on their blogs with design?

Posted by Susannah Gardner on 05/19 at 10:04 AM • A Little Design -- Blogs

Comments

Susannah,
Seems clear that design is important for a successful blog. Also clear that blogs can be used to create buzz. I am trying to help a friend use blogs to create buzz for an online retailer that specializes in funny t-shirts, do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Posted by Aristotle on 05/20 at 09:43 AM