You’ve decided that you’re ready for your own blog design and you want to get to work. But should you try to do it yourself? Here’s a little self-quiz that will help you decide if you should do your own blog design.
Do you have experience with a graphics program?
Virtually all layouts feature custom graphics, at least in the header. Do you know how to make one?
Do you have an idea on how to convey your blog’s theme graphically?
Does the color scheme, graphics and layout you’re thinking of make sense for your blog and its topic? Do you know how to make that statement graphically?
Do you know how to make a blog layout and color scheme user-friendly?
A few things to remember here: light text on dark backgrounds are very hard on your readers’ eyes. Having music, flashing text or graphics and/or scrolling text or graphics is also tough on readers’ (and their browsers).
Do you need to make substantial changes to the layout of your blog?
Do you want to go from two columns to three? Unless you have some coding experience, this can be a lot tougher than it looks.
Do you have experience with coding CSS and/or HTML?
CSS is the more important of the two; you can change the entire look and feel of your blog without touching the HTML.
Will your blog software let you make the changes that you want?
Be sure to check whether your blog software will let you use a custom, graphics CSS or layout.
If you have the technical skills to accomplish a new blog design, it can still be helpful to consult a professional to get an outside idea about how to best convey your blog’s theme visually.
If you decide to do it yourself, be sure to come back next week for tips on creating your own blog design!