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I’m Considering Redesigning My Blog – Opinions Please!

Keller Hawthorne | August 19, 2009 | Comments
Keller's Thoughts
I’m Considering Redesigning My Blog – Opinions Please!

I designed my blog back in April 09 and I’ve received a lot of great feedback from people about it. However, I am in the mood for a change. This is one of my weaknesses – designing and redesigning.

As your Internet business grows, you learn more about how people navigate your site and where road blocks may be appearing. It’s a great idea to take a look at your web design at least once a year and determine how you can improve it.

Now, I’m not exactly “due” for a redesign yet as my blog has only been live for 3 months. But, I’ve been thinking about this for a little while and I can’t get it out of my head. Plus, now that our Best WordPress Design Contest has launched, I get to see all of your amazing designs and I’m getting lots of great ideas!

What Do I Want?

My current design is really cheery, but it’s almost too cheery. I would like to go a little darker with the colors and make it look more modern.

The more content I add to my blog, the more cluttered it seems to be getting. As many of you know, I can’t stand messy web sites! I would like the new design to add more white space to the layout.

Combining my two navigation bars into one will help keep things organized and save on space.

I want the colors to be gender neutral (not too girly or too masculine).

I want to know if you have opinions on my layout and navigation. Is it easy to get around my blog?

I’ve added the first redesign I like so far to this post. I would like to get your opinion on it as well as my current design. If I make changes to the mockup or create a different design, I will add it to this post. Please let me know your thoughts and thanks!

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  • I actually love the design of your blog, however coming from a design perspective there's one thing I would change. The header with your logo is fine, and I even like the addition of your e-Book. But after that, your eye gets lost since the blog and your sidebar are equally weighted. You should use a splash of color to separate your blog from the sidebar and visually draw your readers attention to what's important. For instance, if it's important that your readers subscribe, consider moving that widget up and creating a background color for it. So after a visitor finds your blog, then reads the header, it will be the second thing they look at. Just my 2 cents :-)
  • Fantastic points Arsha! I thought by removing the blue background from the sidebar headlines, it would help visitors see the blog content more and clean things up a bit. I've been toying with the idea of moving my RSS subscription up, but I also want my visitors to see me as soon as they hit the site. I will definitely consider all of your great points!
  • I like it! Much cleaner and less confusing! Great job!
  • Thanks Jill! That was the goal, so I'm so happy you said that.
  • Hi Keller,

    Wow, you've been busy. It's a nice new design & personally I much prefer the navigation ( even though I miss what - for me - was a more positive choice of colours ... )

    Best wishes from me - in a hurry - in Hamburg

    Will
  • Thanks Will! I know - it definitely has a different vibe, but I'm hoping the new vibe is more professional and content focused.
  • I love your blog layout, and even the colors you are using, I think you should keep it that way!

    BUT.. I like the idea of getting a new theme and change your modes and the atmosphere around!

    I like the header and the sidebar, So maybe you need some darker colors for the main background of your blog!
  • You know, it was tough going a little darker and less cutesy with the design, but I really want my content to be the focus of my blog. Hopefully my new design helps support that focus.
  • Hallo Keller,

    I actually like your design a lot, especially the choice of colours & the general "energetic" feel of the site. The only things I find negative are (i) the width ( I much prefer full screen - unusable space at the sides somehow irritates me!) & (ii) the navigation set up maybe makes it slightly hard to find all your great info/resources ( but only slightly)

    Having said the above - I'd actually stick with what you have ( if I were you!). Anyway, look forward to visiting here a lot in the future whatever the design ( as long as the great resources/ideas remain!!)

    Cheers

    Will
  • Thanks Will! I actually prefer fixed width (makes a website look like a piece of paper). But, I agree about the navigation. What do you think about my new one?
  • Go ahead!

    Robert
  • Hey Keller,

    I really do like your current design, but I must say - there are a few things that have irritated me about it. Those two things are your cluttered nav bar... much better in the picture. I love it! The second is your offer box at the bottom of each post with the FreshEVenture Report. It has always showed up way misaligned on my Firefox, safari, cruz, and opera installs. I can give you a screen shot of it's misalignment if it's not showing up on your system.

    Other than that, I really like your design. I do agree that darkening up a bit would give you a more modern feel.

    Enjoy your re-designing.

    I have the same problem by the way... I've been through three designs already... and I'm still not entirely satisfied... but that's cause I don't really know what I want. :)
  • Thanks so much for the heads up Richard! I had no clue about that misalignment.

    I'm hoping my new design will work better. Just combining my two navigations into one seems to have made a big difference to the overall look.

    I know what you mean about not quite knowing what it is you want. I've actually been working on a new design for a couple of months, but I wasn't sure of anything yet, so I would work on it a little and then leave it.

    One thing that definitely helps is getting ideas from other websites. BUT, always true to the theme of your site. Just because something looks and fits one blog perfectly doesn't mean it will be the right match for yours.

    Simple always seems to work.
  • You're new design is awesome! I totally love it.

    I've been looking at lots of other well designed sites... but I'm not a designer myself so i don't really know how to take what I like and make it happen on my site.

    I know I need to figure out how to get my offer above the fold...

    I'll keep working on it.
  • Thanks Richard!

    I've found one of the best ways to keep your call to action in the first fold is to place it in the header. Next would be to place it at the top of your sidebar.
  • You're site is great--the honest feedback I have is that there's a lot of stuff going on.

    I'm very happy with it now. I like strong and simple; no clutter; and the design is consistent with the message of the site. Started with Studiopress CSS files and customized.
  • Thanks for the feedback Kaushik! I completely agree - the old design had too much going on. I plan to write a follow up post to this post regarding the changes I made and why I made them.
  • I meant to type: I'm happy with my site now.
  • Hello Keller,

    I like the layout of your blog! I am always looking for feedback on my personal website. I am happy to get opinions and suggestions from people. I guess I am open to that kind of thing. You can't make it better if you don't ask, right?

    I do feel that you offer a lot of good resources and how to get to those places. I do feel that it has become too cluttered (with good stuff). The navigation bar, for me, is overwhelming. I would see if you could condense some of it down.

    I also agree that you should darken it up some too! Not a whole lot. Just a little :-).

    I also took a look at the design from the frugal theme you did! I can't say the same for my website, but I think you have a good talent for making a website layout functional and eye appealing!
  • Thanks Josh - I really appreciate the feedback! I completely agree - my navigation is weak and the site is becoming too cluttered. I think I'm sold on the idea of change. Yay - a new design to work on!!! Now I just need to find the time...
  • I can't believe I'm saying this but I do like the cleaner design! I'm very impressed that you're even considering this so soon, Keller, but you're always up for a challenge. Thanks again for all the great info.
  • Hey Jill! I know - it's a little soon huh? But, I've already seen some roadblocks on my blog, so it's worth the trouble.
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