What does your site design say about you?
Have you put up a theme that everyone else has or has been downloaded 80,000 times? Or is it a theme that you’ve taken the time to customize so that it doesn’t look like your run of the mill theme that’s on display at the blog next door?
If you’ve decided to carve out your own design, that’s the best option for those of us that know a little about theme design. Otherwise, if you’re looking to get a spiffy design and don’t have the PHP/HTML knowledge, then you may want to look into hiring a professional designer.
If you are more content focused and have no grudges against going with a design that’s been used a lot by other bloggers, then you can find a free theme that will suit your needs just fine. A lot of themes are good to go right out of the box and need little or no help from you. Except maybe to upload the theme, just activate it and you’re good to go.
People will be more apt to stick around on your site, either way, if the content is compelling. Be sure to write in detail about the subjects that you know best. If your content is that wonderful, people will read it and they will most assuredly come back to see what you have to say the next day.
What makes your site sticky?
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I agree that site-design is significant. But I think the main turn off is when a blog or website looks amateurish. Many of the big names in the blogosphere uses the same templates, but they choose templates that looks professional.
In my experience, good site design won’t make you stay on a site longer, but bad design will definitely drive you away quicker!
I like to think I have a combination of good design and content.
I don’t mind when I see sites with default themes – I just have issues with K2 lol!
I saw your “rockin girl blogger” badge (http://www.robertaferguson.com/2007/06/18/why-not-start-something/) I just wanted to say that’s so cool! I love it. There are so many fabulous female bloggers out there that we definitely deserve recognition. Great idea! =)
I took a WP theme and used it for a week. I saw 5 other people with it. So, I decided to change the header and a few other details.
I think as long as it doesn’t look “exactly” like someone else’s you are okay.
I have just been nominated as a Rocking Girl Blogger and wanted to find out more and here I am! When it comes to site design, I think clean and simple with an element of distictiveness is the best. Overcluttered blogs that take an age to load really irritate me and I avoid them almost as much as I avoid blogs with uninteresting content.