How to Create Visually Appealing Blog Posts?
‘Bread and circuses’ has been the dogma of popularity with the people since the time of the Roman Empire. In the age of rapidly evolving information technology, users have developed unprecedently short attention spans that require significant efforts from businesses to keep their clients engaged at all times. For this reason, when building websites and blogs, competitive business models can no longer safely ignore aesthetics as just an additional perk.
In modern realities, a visually appealing blog means the engagement of the clients and sometimes translates into the success of the brand and customer loyalty. In order to appeal to larger audiences, businesses create blogs with posts that are visually appealing and catch the eye of the visitors.
Let’s take a look at a fine example of visually appealing technical blog by https://www.progressivedesk.com/ (yes, it would be interesting). Article’s preview is not of the less importance as a post page itself. The clear structure and easy navigation are the checkpoints to care about while creating a blog:
The hero image is the first thing except of the heading that plays one of the major parts in making the decision to read the post or not. The times when you could use images from Shutterstock without any edits are gone.
A good hero images are created by designers. It’s a wrong way if content writers are responsible also for creating visual materials for the article. One more mistake, is to place the heading on the image, there should be a separate block for article’s title:
Of course, content is a king but it’s important to create a proper text structure and to highlight the main points using lists and proper font styles:
The catchier subheadings you use, the easier it is to navigate the text and find information the user is interested in. The font size and color are important too. It’s recommended to use sans-serif fonts from 16px and more for better readability. Responsive layout design should be used with no doubt. Even if most of users review your blog using desktops, you should check and optimize the content appearance for multiple devices.
Perfect Blog Post’s Recipe
Let’s break down several important suggestions for creating a visually appealing blog posts page:
1. Long swaths of text with paragraphs that exceed ‘biteable’ size will scare away the modern reader. The rule of thumb is to keep sentences succinct and have about 2-4 per paragraph. The first sentence should contain the most important piece of information: usually, it’s the only sentence people read.
2. You cannot have a good blog with text only. Visual representation is key. Even if people don’t want to read the text, they will if they find the supporting image interesting and appealing. Just make sure the image matches the text if you don’t want to leave your readers furious.
3. Found some good pictures? Don’t stop there! Make sure you have a good page layout. There are hundreds of templates that help to lead the eye of the viewer to the most important bits of information on the page. The templates for blogs can be linear, tabular, chess. Usually, any blogpost layout incorporates a relevant image or photo below the header and several visual elements spread through the text.
4. Add some videos. Don’t forget that videos are even more engaging than photos – not to mention how lightweight and simple to incorporate they’ve become in recent years. They are great because they can contain instructions, as well as entertain the viewer. If you have a relevant video, don’t hesitate to use it.
5. Consider your color scheme. It should be appealing and harmonic. Think carefully: nobody can read pink on purple. Moreover, make sure it reinforces your brand image. This is important as it can distance you from your competitors and help the clients distinguish your brand.
6. Employ interactive elements. Keep in mind that blog readers don’t only want to get the information. They also want to be entertained. Everything that moves, or can be pushed, or interacted with in any way will help to make your blog posts stand out. Buttons, links, animated elements, etc. all engage and captivate our monkey brains.
Naturally, the high-quality text is a must for any modern blog. However, having a substantial website is not enough in the current day and age. It also needs to look good if you want to stay competitive. Aesthetics of the blog post page will help to entertain and appeal to your audience. While creating a visually engaging blog, keep these elements in mind: succinct and high-quality text, interesting reinforcing images and videos, simple and stylish layout, harmonic colors, and animated/interactive elements. With these elements considered, you will create an interesting and beautiful blog. Your clients will be delighted!
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