I love this post!

I’m still unsure about my blog. I like the way it looks, but I think I could improve it quite a lot. The issue of “above the fold” is still a problem for me. There’s no real content above the fold. I still need to figure this one out.

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That’s a really good question. I spent a lot of time on my site (about three weeks) before I went live. I changed templates four times in that period. Nothing felt right. When I found the theme I am now using, it was instant love. I loved the amount of white space and the flexibility. It felt confident and quiet at the same time. I love the skeleton. I bring it up several times a day. Each time, I smile to myself as I look at what I made. My posts are the most important thing to me, and I barely have time for those M-F, but on the weekend, is when I think about what I want to add or subtract, what worked and what didn’t, and if it looks like an accurate reflection of me.

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Hi Vered,

I understand what you’re saying, but I’m so familiar with your blog, as a reader, I don’t notice it.

Hi Scott,

Those are all great points. I like hearing what irks a non-blogger. Looking at other blogs definitely helps us to re-evaluate ours and take off that which would distract us if we were the reader.

Hi Writer Dad,

Isn’t that amazing how that works? We can look at hundreds of themes/templates and say, “Yeah, that’s nice, but it’s not me”. Then when we find the right one, we know it. It does deserve a smile, doesn’t it?

Hi Ricardo,

You’re right! New bloggers are often stressed about getting it right from the get-go. I tried to, but couldn’t. Fortunately my readership was very LOW, so I just kept changing it.

Like you, I know mine will change again. I have a new theme waiting for me (I have to learn more about CSS), but unfortunately life is happening and the change is on the back burner.

I actually love watching new bloggers change their themes. It reflects their growth and direction. As long as the content stays good, I’ll keep following them no matter what.

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Hi Barbara - interesting questions! I’m happy with mine, for now - I’ll keep tweaking it along the way as new ideas come along (which I may well get from you!) I think a simple header like yours is good if you are going to have images in your posts, so the images aren’t overshadowed by the header. My header doesn’t really go with the post images, but I can live with it for now.

I tried to put the little avatars on my recent comments, but that plugin didn’t work on my blog, for some reason.

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I am continuously evolving my theme to make sure that the prime area (above the fold) is useful for the users (especially first time readers). I am also working on a plugin to do some further optimization on the same…

Barbara, I guess BWAB is just awesome when it comes to its simplicity of appearance and comphrehensive natuer underneath! Good for beginners as well as advanced readers!!

(I even talked about your assignement style in my last post)

Cheers,
Ajith

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Barbara,
Are you telepathic? Before you gave us “today’s assignment,” I blogged about one of the very things you asked!

It’s so good to have you back after the weekend. Knowing that you use your blog to promote other bloggers, new bloggers and allow us all to share about ourselves without feeling threatened, shows how confident you are in your “blogdom.”

Your site is clean, easy to navigate, and so full of information without being crowded. I, and I am sure, others, learn so much about blogging from your ease of prose.

Welcome back!

Rita
(and please note that I did NOTask you if you were telekenetic, like Carrie - the new post will be coming up shorrtly!)

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Some blogs have too much. I just want to be able to navigate through old posts easily. I want to get an idea of who the author is and enjoy the blog.

I think my blog does just that. I’ve kept it fairly simple and it’s not overcrowed with things.

I think your blog is a bit overcrowded. I hardly ever look at the side columns Barbara. But I do like some of those features, don’t get me wrong.

I think I’m just more of a plain and simple kind of guy.

Chase March’s last blog post..4 Things to Keep in Your Wallet

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Great question, Barbara! I’d also like to add that the question should also be kept in mind as to who the target audience is. I’m an active user of StumbleUpon and I try to make sure good stuff is “above the fold.”

I’m in the midst of a redesign so I’m glad you’re asking us this fundamental question. Thank you!

Al at 7P’s last blog post..The Hero with a Thousand Jobs

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Great timing! I’m dying for a redesign, since I love my theme but it’s too common to be distinctive. However, nothing seems to “fit.” I want it to be attractive and functional, but it simply has to be simple and clean.

So far, no luck finding that balance. In the meantime, I’ll stick with clean and unfussy over anything else!

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Hi Barbara: I had a drive-by-shooting by the Men with Pens this Sunday and they pointed out a lot of ways in which I could improve the design of my blog. I already applied quite a few of their suggestions and my blog looks a lot better (if I do say so myself). One of their suggestions was to put my two ad banners above the fold, which I did. I hope it doesn’t turn people off. They also said I need more “bling” on my header, so that’s my next project.

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Since my blog is so new, I am satisfied with how it looks . . . for now. I spent over six months reading blogs and seeing what design elements I liked or didn’t, and creating what I wanted my blog to look like in my mind. Just as in clothing & furniture, I found my blog design preference is clean and simple — not too fussy.

Barbara, I like how you “cleaned up” your sidebars recently. I think they’re much easier to read and use now.

@ Marelisa — I happened to read the Drive-by late last night and wondered how you would react to it. I’ll have to go see what you’ve changed. btw, I think you were brave to do that publicly! I think MWP have a great idea going with those type of posts, and I love their writing style!

Linda Abbit’s last blog post..TV Watching and Our Aging Parents - Part 2

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I feel confident with my blog and its portrayal.

More than anything, I want my content to represent me and the blog itself.

The only immediate changes I see that need to be made at this current point are that I need some functional additions such as a category section.

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Hi Barbara,

I am very proud of my blog because I designed it all myself. Well, not the template, I don’t do CSS yet. But I already told you all that, didn’t I? But sometimes I just stare and admire it. That sounds very vain doesn’t it?

I spend a great deal of time writing and choosing my photos because I want to show my very best. Of course, this is impossible, you can’t always have “the best.” And a lot of what the best is is very subjective.

I’m having fun now watching my ads. I get a kick out of Adsense even though I don’t make any money off of it.

I really don’t know what kind of blog template I’ll use next. I’m always doing a bit of housecleaning here and there. Some of it is for funtion, or what I think looks better, but some is also for little quirks that have appeared. Like for instance my sidebar wasn’t loading all the way and I put my link list away and now it appears that it works fine. Weird.

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Hi Dr. Cason,

Thank you for your kind words.

You’re right. Your “Medicine Mondays” are helping others. By sharing what you know, your readers will become more educated and informed.

Hi Robin,

You do bring up a great point. Our header can often conflict with photos we include in our blog posts. If it gets too busy, we can easily distract our readers.

Hi Lance,

Thank you. I do try to make my blog easy to navigate. (Stay tuned for more on that subject).

Yes, as bloggers, we change, as does our audience. It’s who is reading our blogs we must think about.

Hi Tom,

You’re welcome.

I’m happy this post inspired you to look at your blog with fresh eyes. Often we get so busy creating our blog posts, we forget to review what our readers “see”.

Hi Rita,

Thank you!

No, I don’t think I’m telepathic. I share what I find holds true for me, what I observe, and want all of my readers to be informed bloggers.

You’re right. I don’t feel threatened. Even if all of my readers left (by following links to other blogs), I would know they had found great writers to follow. It’s my way of paying it forward.

HaHa! You know I’ll be over later to read your latest post.

Hi Karl,

Who’s counting hey? It’s never ending, and like you, my blog will change many times, too.

I’m looking forward to your new design as I know you’ve been putting lots of work into it. How soon before the unveiling?

Hi Chase,

Yes, my blog is still crowded. With my new design, I hope to alleviate part of that problem. ***crossing fingers***.

Simple is ideal as long as we can give our readers what they’re looking for.

Hi John Hunter,

It’s great to see you here again.

Very true! It can be hard to judge our own work, or get someone to give us an honest, unbiased opinion. Sometimes the truth hurts and we need to be a little thick skinned.

Hi Al,

You’re welcome.

You’re right. We cannot forget about our audience.

StumbleUpon users are often quick to judge. If they don’t see what they’re looking for above the fold, they’re off to the next blog post.

Hi SpaceAgeSage,

Blogs are almost always “a work in progress”. As we change (as bloggers) so does our site.

And you’re right. The overall image will have an impact.

Hi Sara,

Hunting for a theme that suits us can be time consuming. Unfortunately, even if we get a theme professionally designed, it may not suit us six months from now. Good luck on your search.

Hi Linda,

You bring up a great point. We need to find a balance on what works. If we run ads, are they working? Should we wait longer or just take them off? As in real life, housekeeping (of blogs) is never ending.

Hi Marelisa,

Drive by shooting? How exciting. Putting ads above the fold may get you more activity on those. I’ll come by later and take a closer look.

I’ll be looking forward to see what kind of “bling” you add to your header.

Hi Annie,

You’re way ahead of me. I would love to learn how to design my own theme, but like you said, it takes time. I’ve found a theme I’m trying to modify, and that’s taking me into CSS, of which I still have tons to learn.

Balance is key. We want our blogs to be a reflection of us, but yet we need to consider our readers.

Hi Linda Abbit,

Thank you! I’m liking it better, too.

Clean and simple does provide for an easy read.

Hi Davina,

Thank you!. Yes, I’ve removed all ads. No sense having something cluttering up my site if they’re not working.

For new bloggers, it’s often best to give yourself time before making major changes. Waiting until you go to a hosted site is a good idea.

Hi Bamboo,

Adding a category section would be helpful to your readers.

Hi Ellen,

You just reminded me of something. When we do make changes, we need to remember to test them in more than one browser. Often Firefox will work great, but IE may show problems.

I like how you said you site and admire your site. It’s an awesome feeling knowing “this is me”, live on the internet, isn’t it?

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Barbara - funny you mentioned this today because today I’m writing about the continuity of my blog since someone recently discontinued their email subscription because “Content No Longer Relevant.”

I see where the confusion is because I write about being an entrepreneur and web development - how do they mix?

I’ve got an answer and I’m fired up to explain it. I need to show people how all my articles work together.

@ Vered - Looks like you have quite a large header taking up a lot of above the fold real estate on your blog. It can be changed, but you’d probably either want to shrink your current logo or better yet, get a new one designed. Then in the code, probably your css, you’d have to change the dimensions of your header.

Easy if you know html and a little css, hard if you don’t.

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Ah, good post!!

I’m fairly happy with mine, and like Ellen Wilson, I’m proud of the fact that I designed it with the techie help of my Other Half. I even photoshopped the background design from a photograph that I took myself.

Personally, I’ll always go for the plain and uncluttered look. I hate pop-ups, I hate music, I hate things that flash and move, and if there are too many ads, I’ll move on. I also hate white on black writing, but that’s because of vision and migraine problems. I find them nigh on impossible to read.

What I would like to know is if mine is too plain for some people? Do they get turned off by that in the same way I’m turned off by ‘too busy’? Do they find it lacking in interest and features?

It’s an odd concept to me that a blog can have too much text, because I thought that’s what blogging was all about!

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Hi John,

Yes, when we write about more than one topic (or niche), it’s important to explain to our readers how they tie in together. Without continuity, we often confuse our readers.

That email was a great learning experience for you. Thank you for sharing it with the readers of BWAB.

Hi MizFit,

You’ll have to come back and share after you ponder.

Hi Jay,

You gals sure are talented.

I agree, those black backgrounds are difficult for me to read, too. I just clicked over to your blog. I like the simplicity of it, plus I like the lavender color in the sidebar. That’s a color that’s not used too often, and it’s easy on the eye.

Can a blog be TOO simple? Good question.

Hi Natural,

Although I don’t know you in real life, from all you’ve written, I think your blog is a good reflection of you, as well.

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Hi Ajith,

Again, your comment ended up in my spam folder. Hopefully before too long, Akismet will learn your comment is valuable.

I just checked out your post. You nailed it on why our readers are often passive. Thank you for saying BWAB is awesome. It will forever be a work in progress, but I do hope to help others along the way.

Hi Urban Panther,

It must be exciting to know you and the Lion may end up with a different “look”. Change is good, not only in life, but on our blogs, as well.

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It took me a while to figure out what ‘above the fold’ exactly meant. Glad I did. And glad you mentioned. There are some changes that are still pending on my blog. Because they lie in the above-the-fold section I guess they have become more important.

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I prefer my blog to be simple so that I can add pictures to every post. It creates color balance; and prevents it from looking too gaudy. I also prefer to customise mine on my own as I can do anything I want with it.

I certainly agree that at the heart of it all, is the content. The content must reflect who you are and the message that you intend to share.

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Hi Evelyn,

That’s right! Without content, what’s a blog?

Hi Shilpan,

Some of those AdSense ads can cheapen a blog. Since they use keywords to generate the ads, one never knows what they will publish.

Simplicity affects blogging, too, doesn’t it?

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Hi J.D.

It’s great to see you again.

Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be following you. I love your nuggets. I noticed earlier I have some catching up to do. See you soon.

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Hi Catherine,

I did notice you’re making some adjustments to your blog. That is time consuming, isn’t it?

BTW: Welcome back from vacation. I hope you had a great time.

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Hi Patricia,

You’re welcome. I’m looking at your blog right now and I don’t see any sign of previous posts on your post page. If someone comes to you through a link or search engine, that is the only post they will see, unless they hit “home” or the arrows (at the top of the post).

I noticed your “Table of Contents” (on your home page) which is divided up by category. Ask your web person if they can add “recent posts” and “related posts” to your blog. Links to these plugins can me found on my blog under “Categories”, “Pligins and Widgets”.

If you have any problems or more questions, please let me know.

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