Blogger vs WordPress Blog

Words, words, words. You get tired of seeing blogs that are nothing but words. Maybe you're even tired of writing that kind of blog. But what can you do to make your blog more visually appealing, especially if you're new to the blogging world and lack photography skills?

First and foremost, the font colour and typeface you use goes a long way in creating a visually appealing site. Give a thought to readability. Type that's reversed out (white on a colored background) may be trendy, but it's hard on the eyes. Dark grey type on a light grey background presents a problem with contrast that, say, dark blue type on the same background doesn't.

And don't be too quick to dismiss good old black on white. It's a perennial classic for a reason. Consider these two options -- which one has better readability?

Then there's the "look and feel" that comes from your chosen theme. The same post can present differently depending upon the theme you use.

I work in WordPress, and I give both my blogs a new theme from time to time. WordPress has a range of blog "themes," some free and others not. The themes offer different features, such as the ability to add your own photo to the header, placement of menus, varying color palettes, and more. Other blogging software, such as Blogger, also allow you to change the theme.

Try out a couple before you decide, thinking about the tone of your blog. Is it humorous or serious? Confessional or professional? Homey or formal? For instance, while the theme below works with a whimsical site, it isn't the best option for a serious topic.

On the other hand, there are plenty of simple themes that work with a wide range of topics.

Make sure the theme you choose works with the overall tone you're trying to convey. My general-purpose blog used to have a large photo of a skull with a hamster wheel inside it, but I realized that it was distractingly large and undercut my occasional serious posts about education and other issues.

Whereas my blog about living with bipolar disorder needed something abstract rather than literal, and not dark and depressing. I chose a theme with a swirl of colors as the header.

The best way to add visual appeal to a blog, though, is with images – photos or illustrations. I was inspired to explore this option when I wrote a guest post for a friend's blog. He added a photo – two brains wearing boxing gloves – that complemented the title ("Brain vs. Brain") and the content.

"Where did you find that?" I asked. He told me about stock photo and illustration services. I had worked with these during my magazine publishing days, but had never thought of them for my blogs!

Stock photos and illustrations are created by photographers and artists and basically offered to consumers to dress up their publications. It's like having a photographer or illustrator's work for rent. I explored several options and settled on Fotolia, a service that offers monthly (and other) subscriptions. For less than two dollars apiece I can get ten visuals per month – enough for my two once-a-week blogs at a bargain price.

But there are plenty of free options for bloggers. First and foremost, take your own pictures. They don't need to be art -- they just need to illustrate the words in your post. So grab your phone and snap a picture.

If you have a photographer or illustrator among your friends and family, you may be able to use their creations instead. My husband is a talented amateur photographer, and I have used his photos several times – for example, a still life of books, toys, and dolls for a piece about the wonder of imaginative children's literature, and a photo of a disintegrating dandelion for a post on failing schools.

You can also search for photos and illustrations offered on Flickr under a Creative Commons license, or search the Creative Commons site. Just put in your keywords and the results will show images that you can use on your site with proper attribution.

Images are important because they can break up text-heavy posts into manageable bites. Consider the examples below and tell me which one looks more inviting to read?

So what are you waiting for? Go look at your blog with a critical eye and think about ways you can make it more visually-appealing, inviting more people to read.

Janet Coburn is a freelance writer, editor, and blogger at bipolarjan.wordpress.com and janetcobur.wordpress.com.

At its most basic core, the inspiration behind WordPress is, put simply, to make designing and building one's own website a much more efficient and generally easier process. To a very large extent, WordPress has succeeded in this aim with flying colors. Now, more than ever, it's fairly simple to use a template to build one's own website.

With this phenomenon of widespread access and buildability, though, comes a small caveat. By using a WordPress theme or framework, you run the risk of your website looking very similar to another WordPress site built off the same model. This is true even on the most structural level, where one can generally categorize a design template into one of a small handful of general WordPress themes.

Design uniformity is not, by any means, a trend specific only to WordPress. On the contrary, this notion extends to just about the entire realm of web design, in which there is currently a general consensus on which web design principles are accepted as best practice. Some will say this aesthetic uniformity is a result of the growing influence of Web 2.0, which cites simplicity, unobtrusiveness, and ease of use over high customization as the ideal guiding principles of good web design.

Others will say that it's simply a matter of human psychology. There are certain colors and schemes and designs that simply look better to the human eye and will elicit positive responses which thus drive traffic up. Whatever the reason, the result is the same. A whole lot of websites out there look very similar, which makes it tough for yours to stand out from the crowd.

Luckily, for you, there are plenty of WordPress platforms with customization as the number one goal in their offerings. For example, Elegant's recently-announced Extra theme offers a number of customizations for your website, be it a magazine or a simple personal blog. The builder is also coupled with the standard CSS plugin feature if you want to customize it even further with your own coding.

As the world of WordPress continues to grow, so do the number of WordPress developers looking to push the envelope of what's possible in a uniform design world. For example, Codrops has an entire "Playground" section to provide a space for WordPress developers experimenting with cool customization options.

Want to mix up the pricing table on your website? There's a new innovation for that. Maybe you're looking for inspiration for an interactive mapping feature on your site? There's an experiment for that, too.

With so many new options for customization being cooked up every day for WordPress sites, it's pretty easy to go very quickly from being bored of the uniformity to being overwhelmed by the endless possibilities of WordPress design. This is especially true as the market for start-from-scratch WordPress sites continues to grow. Indeed, more and more WordPress developers are opting out of the pre-built frameworks and themes and building their whole site from the ground up, citing true customization as the impetus.

WordPress playground sites like CodePen are growing at a rapid pace due to this trend, which allows for flexibility in WordPress development. And this is only a small portion of the development world. Many developers go one step further and still utilize their coding skills to build a site from the ground up, without the aid of any particular engine.

After all, what better way to stand out from the crowd than to build the whole site from scratch yourself?

There is one thing you should keep in mind though, especially if you are looking to hire a WordPress developer for a new project built from scratch. And that is – the previously mentioned design principles still apply.

Yes, the uniformity can be taken to an extreme. Ever notice how most social media platforms have a predominantly blue-oriented color scheme?. But it doesn't mean that the underlying principles of these trends aren't still viable. Simply put, the human brain processes information in a certain way. And the order in which information is given and in what format it's presented are of paramount importance.

Basically, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. There is a visual hierarchy implicit in the way content is organized and presented to viewers. And if things are done out of whack, it can very seriously turn viewers off to the content. No matter how good it may be.

This means that the old adage is still true. You have to learn the rules first in order to break them. When you're hiring a WordPress designer or sharpening your own WordPress skills, keep this idea in mind.

A truly good designer will understand the best practice principles and be able to innovate within the acceptable framework. With so many new ways to customize your WordPress site, the ball is in your court. Whether you're building from scratch or using a template, there are no more excuses. You can make your site truly stand out.

WordPress Photo via Shutterstock

Starting a blog isn't the easiest thing to do, it requires a lot of time and effort which some may find surprising. To a lot, the idea of being a blogger is merely a shrug off the shoulder as many think bloggers have it easy, they take pretty pictures, write reviews and get invited to neat things. Well, there's a lot more to that and I can speak off of experience, as I've been blogging for five years now. Blogging is like having another job - sometimes, it even feels like a full time job. Anyone can set up a domain, slab on a theme, take a photo on their iPhone and write a minuscule review... but in order to make it into the blogging industry, a little more time and effort is going to have to be put forward.

Step one is finding the right platform and host for your website. Once you figure out whether you want to go with Wordpress or Blogger (or another choice), you're going to want to take a look at your hosting options. How much are you willing to spend? Do you want your own personal email address? How much storage do you need? Hosts such as Bluehost and Namecheap are commonly used amongst Blogger, however if you continue searching, you'll find the perfect one that delivers exactly what you need.

Once your main platform is all set up, then the real fun begins! If you're serious about your blog and want to know more about beauty blogging, I've broken down a few important things that ever beginner should know.

Content: When it comes to creating and writing your content, my motto is that honesty is the best policy. Keep it real with your readers and don't lie because I can guarantee you that your readers will be able to detect it. There is no rule to writing on your own blog, just do whatever works for you because at the end of the day, that is what's going to get your far.

Photos: A lot of individuals think that in order to start a blog, you need to have a professional camera. While having a professional camera does help as it allows you to take clear, concise and crisp photos - you can easily use your smart phone. The key to photos is having great lighting and I can't stress this enough. You can take the nicest photos if your lighting is great. I personally tend to use natural light when it comes to my blog, however on days where it's gloomy outside I miss out on a day of taking photos. Investing in a light box or some proper studio lights will also do you well if you have the funds for it.

Opportunities: Bloggers work very hard to create a clientele list with PR firms and personnels. For some, it takes several years and hundreds of reviews and for others; it takes less time as it all depends on your statistics and social media presence. However, if you've just recently started a blog and are keen on getting in on opportunities, my suggestion would be to wait and just simply focus on your website. Opportunities will come to you once the time is right and driving yourself up the wall isn't going to help you or your blog get anywhere. Also, emailing other bloggers and asking them if they could help you get in on mailing lists isn't the best idea either. I've been on the other side of the end receiving an email from a stranger asking to get in on everything and I know for a fact that other bloggers have been in this position as well. While we love helping each other out, leaking sources just isn't the line you want to cross. Let me put it this way, if you were in a blog gers position where you've been working extremely hard on your blog, posting as much as 4-5 times a week, putting time aside specifically for taking photos and reviewing products and then out of no where you were asked to give out your sources, how would you feel? It's really not the greatest feeling, at all.

Network: I think this was a given as everyone knows how important social media is in our lives. Be active on all social networks, comment on other blogs, join blogger groups on Facebook and take part in websites that work with bloggers such as Bloglovin'. The more you put yourself out there, the better it'll be for your blog.

Last but not least, the most important thing to remember while blogging is to never compare yourself to others. I know it's a difficult thing and it's something that everyone struggles with. However, paying attention to another person and how they are doing their work will only have you becoming obsessed with their work ethic rather than building yours.

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As we start this new month, website developers have an opportunity just being offered to them. Millionaire blogger publishes Bluehost promo code and step-by-step setup instructions to get up and blogging in just a few minutes. If you need a new WordPress blog or website and want to host with the best for less, now's the time to act.

​"I just went live with a blog post that'll save my readers a significant amount of money on cheap web hosting," reports Brad Campbell, head honcho at The WordPress Millionaire.

"I've secured a deal with who I believe is the best inexpensive web host provider out there, inBluehost hosting.  Plus, I added a fast start video and walked everyone through the setup process, A to Z," he adds.

To use this April 2016 Bluehost discount code as well as Campbell's quick launch instructions, visit his blog here.

"What's better than saving money on Bluehost hosting and having an experienced pro take you by the hand and help you get up and running in just a few minutes?" asks Campbell.

Newswire

You can see Campbell's neatly organized list of web hosting coupons here:

http://thewpmillionaire.com/hosting-coupons/

"I've tried to make it quick and easy for my readers to find the perfect web host for their needs, then save some coin when signing up," he adds.

"I'm pretty blunt in my reviews of these web hosting companies because people deserve the truth," warns Campbell.

"For example, if I buy a cheap shared hosting plan, install a WordPress blog, and the pages take forever to load?  I'll say so.  And I won't even publish a discount for that particular host—they don't deserve new business," he explains.

"Web hosting is such a competitive space, and that's a great thing for us.  You've got nearly unlimited options… so you should be picky.  Why settle for so-so when you could have the best, for the same money?  Or maybe less, thanks to these hosting promotions," says Campbell.

About The WordPressMillionaire

From pushing pills to publishing pages, this ex-pharmacist helps you build affordable websites that look great and get gobs of traffic, leads and sales.  Follow his blog for the latest promo codes, step-by-step guides and raw advice from a guy who generates millions of dollars a year from simple little websites.

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SOURCE The WordPress Millionaire

http://thewpmillionaire.com