January 22nd, 2009
by Amber Wallace
Okay, maybe pimp isn’t quite the right word, but you know what I mean. As part of this great team of wild web women I’m often talking to clients about the importance of blogs. We talk about blogging as a great communication platform, as a way to stay connected, provide easy tips, and create an authentic voice online. It’s one of many tools available to us as web marketing specialists.
But we don’t always talk about the look of the blog. You know, the design and layout… that same template we’ve all seen a billion times. We can fix that! Often blogs are ignored in favor of usability concerns for the main site, and of course I would never steal resources from a larger site for the blog. But updating a blog doesn’t have to be time intensive or expensive. If you like the look of your current site, chances are that your blog can be easily adapted to match. If you’re using a free tool like Blogger, you can make easy adjustments in the layout section, and if you’re comfortable working with code, you can do almost anything in code view.
Don’t get me wrong — I don’t think templates are bad. If you want to get a blog going it’s a great way to start. In fact the popular minima template has a clean, easy-to-navigate style (as the name implies!). My only pet peeve is when someone uses a header image that doesn’t quite fit in the top section, and partially covers up the little gray borders (but not all the way!). It’s easily fixed, either by resizing the header image (less than 600 pixels, if you’re using the standard format) or by setting the border style to 0px in the code. See how easy that was?!
Think about how well your blog communicates your style and brand, and plan any changes now or with your next site redesign. Most importantly, keep up the blogging, and have fun!
Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:
- Web Marketing Trust Issues – Save your Blog Template
- Bring Fresh & Relevant Content to Your Neglected Business Blog
- Pimp your Firefox
- Hump Day Marketing Motivation and One Big Blog Tip
Emilia Doerr
(January 23rd, 2009 at 5:14 pm)
“Pimp” is definitely the right word! Remember that old MTV show “Pimp My Ride”? The post-pimp cars always reflected the driver’s personality, interests and style waaaaay more than their pre-pimp jalopies! I like minima blogs too as a clean, easy-to-use template – but they definitely send out a certain message: Big Pimpin’ has left the building.
Web Marketing Therapy » Blog Archive » What is RSS?
(January 29th, 2009 at 8:39 pm)
[...] you’ve pimped your blog, you’re ready to go… and now what? We know that content is King (I prefer Queen, [...]
Amber Wallace
(January 29th, 2009 at 8:50 pm)
I totally remember that show! It’s exactly what I was thinking… where the old, slightly rusty, beat up car comes in, and then leaves with custom paint, and a great interior set just to that person’s liking! Everything from SUVs to sedans, and I remember a jeep with a snorkel on it… wow! Now if we could just get them to change cars to hybrids — think MTV could do a “Pimp my Prius?”
Web Marketing Therapy » Blog Archive » Small Business: SPRING to Life on the Web!
(April 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pm)
[...] * Pimp Your Blog [...]