Having a professional blog design is a must for every blogger trying to turn their blogging into a full-time job. I can’t tell you how many times I ignored blog’s content if the layout was not user-friendly & text was hard to read.

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Don’t risk on losing potential readers and make sure your blog layout has these 5 must-haves:

SHARE BUTTONS

Make sure your layout lets your readers to easily share your blog content. This can highly improve your blog traffic. People love to share good content they find online, so make it easy for them. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or colourful, simple social media icons can go a long way. Take a look at these cute icons from my Umea Blogger Template:

As you can see their pretty classy, but easy to find, all you have to do is click on one of the items and your content will be spread online! You never know when a social media start will stop by your blog, your content can get viral instantly, so make sure you allow for it to happen!

EASY TO READ FONT

You might think that handwritten font looks funky & matches your brand well, but keeping it as your post’s font is the worst idea, trust me. You should seek for your main content font to be as easy to read as possible, so make sure you pick clean, sans-serif fonts and keep the appropriate sizing.

RESPONSIVENESS

Not only responsive blog layout helps your readers to read your blog easier while on mobile devices, it also means a big deal when it comes to search engines. The new Google algorithm will scan each page on the site, checking for load times, responsive design elements, and mobile best practice. If your blog doesn’t pass the test- it won’t be displayed in Google’s search even if your keywords match perfectly & your have the best-written content out there. Make sure your theme has appropriate settings for every device. Here is the graphic of how our Take That Picture WordPress Theme changes with every size:

You see how it matches every size of the screen perfectly? Trust me, this is a must for every professional blog layout out there!

FEATURED CONTENT AREA

If you’re trying to promote a particular post or social media account, you should consider inserting a Featured Area into your blog’s layout. It’s a great way to show off your paid services also! See this option I added into our Blogger Template Marseille:
It allows you to feature 3 of your chosen pages. On my own blog here, I’m promoting my About page, my Instagram profile & my design shop. I believe these are 3 of my most important pages that can help new readers to get to know me better & find my services instantly. I’m tracking the use of these links constantly and trust me, this works!

IMAGE SIZE

I love seeing great quality, large images in blogs. As well as I love reading the content of the post, I also believe that visuals are just as much important. Make sure your post’s area is big enough for you to display your images in the best possible way. I’d say it should be at least 750px wide in order to work best.

Hope you found this post useful, folks! Let me know if you’re thinking of improving your blog & need an advice.

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