November
20
2007
With my new custom blog design due to be launched in the next couple of days, I thought I woul discuss the 5 things that made me decide it was time to make the switch.
- To Stand Out
If you started an offline business would you want your store to look like 100 others stores? For me it is the same with blogging - I treat it as a business which means I want to create a way for people to remember me. With so many bloggers - especially in my niche, it is important to me that I stand out.
- To Create Buzz
Have you ever noticed that whenever someone gets a new design (and it is good) there is always a lot of attention given to it?It happened with:
* Tyler Cruz
* John Cow
* ProBlogger
I can vividly remember when each of these blogs launched their new theme and they were the talk of the town.
- To Brand Myself
Think of all the big name bloggers, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of them?Here is what I think:
John Chow - Fast Car, and That Massive Header
ProBlogger - His logo, and then his nice clean layout
Zac Johnson - His cartoon of himself
John Cow - The guy and his cap, pretty much his whole header
What I realised was that the way I remember each blogger was by their layout, or part of it. So what have I done to brand myself with my new layout? You will have to wait and see, but I will say that I do have a ‘cartoon’ of myself - just a fair bit different to everyone else!What I want is for people to hear my name and automatically associate with who I am - and this is always done by visualisation.
- Customised To My Needs
My current design has served me well for the short while that I have had it, but it just didn’t have the features that I was looking for. With a custom blog design I knew that I could pick and choose the features that I did and didn’t want.Some Features I Have Included In My New Layout:
* Featured Post - Great for Annoucements
* Most Popular & Most Recent Post - Excellent for new visitors
* Got Banners Plugin - Allows me to rotate the positions of my ads
* Live Comment Preview
* Two Column Layout - Keeps it clutter free leaving heaps of room for content.You will have to wait until I launch it to find out the rest
- Shows I Am Serious
I have thrown a fair bit of money into, not only the layout but also the coding because I wanted to make sure it was the best, and I think that visitors will see that is my way of saying that I am here to stay.
Do you see the benefit of a custom blog design? Why do you have one, or why are you considering getting one?
Thanks for the mention. Branding and creativeness is key to marketing, especially in these tough days when anyone can start a blog and a new one is being created every second!
Great post, I know that Tyler created a lot of buzz off of his design and even got it made at no cost to him aside from the custom header. I considered all of these when I chose to get a custom design and cannot complain about the investment.
@ Zac - No problem. Yes we need to make sure we stand out from the crowd.
@ Derek - I am looking forward to the buzz I hopefully receive from my new layout!
I’d never think of getting a custom design, waste of time
Seriously though, saw yours- looked ace
Probably the best one there is #5 because people STILL and will always do - judge a book by its cover.
I think #4 is the best. If it suits your needs, then it is worth it. If it has quality content, people will keep coming back whether they like the appearance or not. So if it is best for you functionally, then it makes sense to customize.
Great post, I definitely agree that uniqueness is the key to being successful online. Although I do have a “pre-made” theme right now, I’m in the process of creating one myself if I can just get me a good design.
Yup! because you’re not just limited to some kind of “click here and add here” scenario.
Yeah, I may opt for a custom template soon.