designing blog posts that people read

Designing Blog Posts That People Read

Brian Chappell

Overview

• Important Statistics and Research to consider

• Tactical Design Improvements

• Blogs Doing It Right

900,000 Blog Posts Created On A Daily Basis

Src. 2010 Technorati State of The Blogosphere

“On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely” - Jakob

Nielsen

Src: useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

Most Visitors Are Using a Screen Resolution Higher Than 1024 x 768 Pixels

Src. W3Schools

Check your analytics to see how your audience is consuming your content

The average page visit lasts a little less than a minute.

Src: Jakob Nielsen Useit.com Sept. 2011

What Do All These Stats Mean?

Initial Perception Is Very Important

Blog Post Perception = Content + Look and Feel

• Test Perception with Fivesecondtest.com

Less Is More

• Minimize clutter and utilize just a few call to actions

Clearly communicate your value proposition within 10 seconds.

Play To Peoples Emotions With Blog Post Titles

Don’t Be Ugly By Accident! > What Makes A Great Photo > 4 Ways To Take Great Pictures Of Yourself

Craft a Great First paragraph

• First paragraph should explain what the reader will get out of the post

Pro Tip: Utilize Right Aligned Images in Intro

• Usability standards shows 60-70 characters is optimal

• Hard to do because you dont want the width of your blog to be less than 500 pixels

Make It Easy To Scan

• Headings and Subheadings• Bullets• Images• Quotes• Color• Bold Important Words

Whitespace is Your Friend

Whitespace in Design: Before

Whitespace In Design: After

Line It Up!

Stick To Standards To Alleviate Confusion

Grid: After

High Quality Images Can Set Your Blog Apart

Utilize Paid Stock Photo Sites

See Full Chart: http://bit.ly/qn0YQ1Src: SmashingMagazine.com

Typography Considerations

• Choose fonts that are easy on the eyes.

• Bad fonts can take away from the quality of your content

• Read More here: http://bit.ly/nVOYDQ

Avoid YAWS • Yet Another

Wordpress Site

• Creates User Blindness

• Be creative with WP design while applying standard usability practices

Length Of Blogposts Matters Right?

No right answer, but always try to incorporate variety.

What Does Success Look Like?

Summary• Create consistency to set user expectations

• Make it easy to read by following standard usability practices

• Keep It Simple

Thank You

Find me on Twitter @brianchappell

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