Ugly Blog Design

Not so much a factor now, but dozens of blogs that have great content dont deserve the awful aesthetics that they are encased in. I read dozens of blogs a day and when I visit some of it makes me want to click right back out again. Its a pity because with the amount of skilled designers out there creating amazing pieces of XHTML art, it doesn’t have to be like this. There are free themes to cater for anyone, for any platform, and to fit any type of content.

Too often do I look at a blog and after a glance say to myself that I wont return primarily due to the horrid design before me. Some may call it shallow, others may feel the same. And I’m not saying mine is better than anyone else’s or saying mine is good. But there is a limit to how much crap I can take.

4 Things That Piss Me Off About Ugly Blogs

Overcrowding (widgetastic)

You see this happen too much. Because platforms like WordPress have such a great community people thing more is better. Often it just gets crowded and messy, and therefore unusable to the visitor. And it is all about the visitor. They are the people coming to your blog, reading your posts, shouldn’t you try to please them even a little bit.

Big Fonts

Yes they grab attention but if you use them too often, or if they’re abnormally big, you’re sacrificing (sometimes precious) screen space at the cost of your other content. Be smart about it.

Default/Ugly Themes

Personal choice yes, but whats the harm in getting a second opinion first. And take the criticism that is included, because that’s the only way things will improve.

Non-hosted/public blogs

This one is a favourite pet hate of mine.. They are (deep breath) : boring, common, limited in customisation , mostly ugly,  and often portrays you as an inexperienced blogger or an on/off blogger. Surely the 7 dollars a year for the domain wont break the bank and most web hosting services allow for easy installations of WordPress or any other blogging platform.

In General

Mots blogs I visit are nice, but the very few are the ones that annoy me beyond anything else. I’m not mad because someone can’t design, its because they think that any theme will suffice in what theyre trying to achieve by writing on a blog.

Have a thing you hate about common blog designs, leave a comment below?