Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That’s why Designing Your Website for Your Audience is something you must consider. Your website’s layout is not supposed to be whatever is convenient for you or whatever looks logical to you. You have to make sure that your layout makes sense to your audience. You have to make it easy for your customers to view the content in your audience.
You do not need a graphic designer to work on your layout for you, especially if you are working on a limited budget. The general rule is to keep it simple. But keeping it simple does not mean sticking to a boring layout with content flowing from the top of the page to the bottom. There are easy business layouts that you can use for your blog to make it easier for your audience to get the information that they need or the information you want them to get.
Use Ready-made templates
Most blogging platforms have ready-made templates that you can apply to your blog. In choosing your layout, you have to think about what the purpose of your blog is, or what your niche is. Your layout should highlight what you want your audience to see. If it is a private blog about your latest travels, you should have pictures and posts about your latest travels on the first page or on the landing page of your blog.
If it is a business blog, you want your latest offers to be the one that your audience sees when they visit your website. People tend to leave when there’s so much going on on your landing page and when it’s not clear what they’re looking at.
All your other supporting content should appear sequentially in the order that your audience wants to view them. In Amazon, for example, the pages are laid out such that the featured item and the price are highlighted at the top of the page complete with the “buy now” or “add to cart” button. Detailed product descriptions as well as suggestions on other related products are added below it. At the bottom part of the page are the comments and reviews from those who bought the item.
I personally like the themes of 17th Avenue, they’re very easy to customize and looks so elegant too. The support people are also very nice to deal with even with small things related to my tinkering with the theme.
Keep it Clutter-free
Another good layout tip is to keep it clutter-free. Don’t crowd everything on the page of your website. Generally, you want the upper part of your page to contain your “headline” or “featured item.” Limit the content that appears on the bottom half of your page so that your audience does not get confused or overwhelmed with all the information that you are presenting. You can perhaps have clickable thumbnails of related posts or products. This is also a good SEO practice – linking your posts to a related content makes it easier for google and users to find the gist of your business and website.
More information about your product or service offering can also be placed on another page that your audience can navigate to by clicking a link on the main page. Your main page should catch your audience’s attention and give a quick rundown of what benefits they can get from what you are offering on your business blog. Create a compelling message and let that message be the focal point of your business blog’s layout.
|
|
|
Leave a Reply