Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category
published by Dan in Blogging | Website Design
Since I have previously stressed the importance of a professional looking blog design already discussed ways in which to address usability through navigation features I will focus on weblog’s looks or appearance. The way a blog looks reflects the professionalism of the blog and thus the blogger. This is the area where you will most benefit from the service of a professional web designer.
Most bloggers simply make do with their Wordpress or Blogger templates. While there is really nothing wrong with these templates and many of them are pretty enough if yours is a business blog you are better off with a customised look. Templates are the mark of a low budget blog and while it makes sense to hire cheap web designers you don’t want it to be obvious that you aren’t really putting any resources on your business’ blog. Web designers might give you templates too but the important thing is that their templates are the bare bones and that the end look is customised enough for your business’ needs. By hiring web design specialists to fix your blog design you can expect…
- better branding for your blog;
- a blog that looks and feels more like your own website or product and service does;
- a cleaner and professional look;
- better blog in terms of usability; and
- a stress-free time while having the blog design fixed.
published by Dan in Blogging | Usability | Website Design
Aside from the navigation features I mentioned in the last post such as the search box and use of categories there are other subtle but very useful ways to increase the searchability of blog posts. One of this ways is present right here on Doublespark’s blog.
If you notice, at the end of each blog entry you will find a short list of Similar Posts. The choice of similar posts are based on the category under which the entry is filed and also on the entry title. Displaying a list of similar posts are very useful for blog readers because they can simply click on the posts they are interested in. As an example, on the post entitled “Web Design Priorities” the list similar posts includes:
As you can see the similar posts are indeed useful helping the reader find entries on everything from code compluiance to blog design.
Aside from similar posts one other thing that helps blog navigation is the presence of popular/best posts on the sidebar. If you want to showcase your best posts for readers to see by putting them on the sidebar they will always be on display even though they might be really old posts. In the end ask your web designer how important these navigation elements are and if they are applicable to your blog.
published by Dan in Blogging | Usability | Website Design
Since I’ve stressed the importance of a professional weblog design let me give a few examples of web design aspects that often goes unnoticed in weblogs and so reduces its usability or at the least makes it look unprofessional.
Because blogs are updated very often and so has lots of content one of the biggest web design factors that should be addressed is the searchability of previous posts. One of the biggest blunders bloggers commit is that many do not offer ways to search for specific topics in blogs. Many offer no other way to navigate their blog other than through the next/previous posts found on the bottom of the page and through a calendar. Although a calendar is useful most readers wouldn’t really know when you wrote a specific post, especially if a new reader and would need to scan too many posts to find what they need. No one likes to do that. Instead make sure that your blog posts are categorised and that the categories are listed on the sidebar. This makes for easier topical search. Aside from this it is also a good idea to add a search box on the top of the blog so that readers can simply enter a specific search term to find posts about it. This is useful if your categories are really broad because readers might be trying to find more specific information.
Implementation of such design elements to improve navigation is easy and could be done even in a personal blog. On my next post I will be discussing more weblog design factors that should be present in your business blog.
published by Dan in Blogging | Website Design
More and more businesses are realising the potential of blogs to help promote their own websites and thus their products and services. Blogs are very useful for different reasons. In terms of SEO it helps provide fresh content for your website on a regular basis. In terms of reaching potential customers it’s a good way to showcase knowledge about your niche as well as great for getting feedback (through comments) about stuff related to your business. Blogs are also very helpful in building your reputation, and we know how much reputation matters when it comes to businesses.
Since blogs are an important part of the marketing strategy of many businesses it is surpising that there are many business blogs out there that do not have professional web designs. People tend to dismiss the importance of web design when it comes to blogs due to the usually more laid back feel of blogs. This is a mistake since the appearance and over all usability of your blog reflects on your business. Your blog should be treated as an extension of your website. Everyone knows the importance of a good website design and when you hire someone to do your website design for you insist that they fix your weblog’s design as well. By making your weblog professional looking it will add to your credibility and hopefully (if you provide good content) to your subscribers as well.
published by Dan in Blogging | Website Design
There’s no doubt about the popularity of weblogs. Blogging is popular for many reasons including it’s laid back feel. The problem with many weblogs nowadays though is that people tend to dismiss the fact that it IS still a form of a website and that most website design principles do apply to blogs. Aside from this, because of the blogs’ special characteristics they also pose special web design challenges that are also sometimes not addressed. Because of this blogs are often loaded with design issues that if addressed would make visiting the blog a whole lot better experience for its readers.
Personally, I believe that bloggers shouldn’t have to bother with the nitty gritty of web design. After all, one of the things that makes it so popular is that with all the blogging tools nowadays all you really need to do is write your entry, click a button, and publish the post. However, I also believe that this shouldn’t be an excuse to litter the internet with unsightly and unuseable blogs. Personal blogs might be excused but business blogs cannot. Since my two views seem opposing then the solution is simply to leave the design part of your business blog with a professional web designer. By hiring a web design service to design your blog for you, you can be free from nice but not unique templates. On my next post I will expound on the importance of having a professional weblog design for your business.
published by Gary in Accessibility | Blogging | Tools & Resources | Usability | Web 2.0 | Website Design
I often wonder where the web designing is heading. Web 1.0 or the first phase of web designing, or you may call it even the pre-bubble era, is almost gone. At least in the mainstream arena you don’t see those ugly websites with obtrusive popups, ugly banner ads and cryptic navigation schemas. We’re now amidst the mature phase of Web 2.0. Design is not the main obsession now, usability is.
As more and more people all over the world turn to the Internet for reference, entertainment and e-commerce, the focus of stress is continuously shifting towards the user, the person who is going to visit the website, use its content and transact business with the website’s owner. Design — in its much improved form — is still important, but usability and functionality precedes it. This trend is going to continue. With the arrival of Ajax we’ll see faster online applications with greater interactivity. Major websites like Gmail and Yahoo have already implemented Ajax and have made great strides towards improving their interfaces and considerably reducing server calls.
Most of the major browsers, including the notorious Internet Explorer, are eventually embracing web standards in rendering web pages. This is going to make life a lot easier for web designers who often pull their hair trying to make their web pages look the same in all browsers. While designing new websites the designers will have to keep in mind various devices people may use to access their websites. This entails developing websites that can be easily accessible through hand-held devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and pocket media viewers.
This brings me to the accessibility issue. With governments and search engines putting more and more emphasis on how accessible your website is, it is no longer going to be an option. In the hierarchy of web development and design aspects, accessibility is certainly going to manifest before the layout.
There is going to be a marked improvement in the markup as more and more developers and designers are eventually realizing the benefit of adhering to the W3C coding standards. Creating highly interactive websites is going to be a lot easier with the arrival of API’s (application programming interfaces) and SOAP. JavaScript libraries like Prototype, jQuery, script.aculo.us and JASON are going to make it possible for the web applications to behave more and more like desktop applications.
Bandwidth is improving but it is not conducive enough for high-end rich media websites. With faster access and lowering connectivity costs websites are going to be a lot more than web pages. Every web link will be an experience in itself.
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