Time for a little reader discussion. This one is inspired by a question from Frederico from Tutorialstream.com who is considering starting a new blog and asks:
I was wondering if you think that starting with a standard/free/low quality template and after some time (when I have some kind of readership) upgrading to a good one would be a good idea in terms of branding, to increase traffic and to show the readers that “the blog is doing well”.
What advice would you give Frederico when it comes to the design of a new blog?
You can have a standard, free and good quality template from the very beginning. Free does not mean low quality! On the other side… you pretend to gain readership with “low quality stuff”? C’mon buddy! Wake Up!! You are what you show… If you show low quality, you are low quality and you will never gain anything out of it… Want to be the king? Dress like the king!
Entendido Federico? Mucha Suerte!
That’s good question and one I’m still trying to find the answer to.
I’d personally say that when you have the funds to get a professional to design the blog then do that – otherwise sit on it for a month or three.
It’d be good to hear what everyone else thinks?
I don’t think theres really any set standard for when to upgrade to a professional design, but as your website starts to build some solid traffic or earning a steady stream of income it’s always good to get something more unique.
It may not be a complete overhaul, but a simple professional logo can have a very solid effect even if you’re using a generic theme.
As soon as you can afford it!!!!!
Read my guest post on Darren’s blog as to why it’s rather important:
Is Your Blog Template Holding You Back?
I am a designer for a living and I am still considering hiring another professional for the job. It is so valuable to hand a project like that over to someone who can see everything with a fresh set of eyes and apply their trade.
At first, a high quality free template is a fine choice, but as soon as you’ve proven to yourself that you are in this blogging game for the long haul, it’s time to think about a custom solution.
We wanted a professionally designed blog from the start. We tried playing around with the free templates out there, but we just couldn’t get them to work for us.
It most likely has to do with the fact that we didn’t have the time to spend trying to figure out how to implement everything we wanted in our blog. We felt spending the money was a wiser investment of our time.
We also wanted something that is truly unique. We didn’t think we could do this on our own.
We are definitely happy with the result! Now, instead of worrying about designing our blog, we can concentrate on growing our business. :)
Free templates are one sure way to not stand out from the crowd. For the best first impression possible, you want your excellent content housed in a design that matches.
I wouldn’t spend any money on a theme to start with.
I’d stick with a free template to start with (you can always customise it to give it your own look and feel).
Blog for a few months, get a few readers under your belt. Then once you’re comfortable you want to keep the blog going long term, and you’re happy with the current topics you blog about, then consider paying for a theme that fits in well with your blog topics.
You might by then, if you’re generating revenue from your site such as AdSense, find that that it pays enough for you to buy a theme!
Not everybody can customize a theme or template. I know those of you suggesting that mean well, but it’s just not an option for many people. Custom means you pay.
I think it really depends on the nature of your blog. Is it a commercial enterprise or not? Do you need a new design to satisfy any goals other than being unique (ad space, etc)?
Let your goals and objectives for the site drive the design and its timeframe. A good rule of thumb is that you will probably be doing a bit of a redesign ever couple years anyway.
Also, just because the design is free doesn’t mean it is bad or not serving you well.
well guys, I am a webdesigner and I would produce my own blog templates so I would be able to do it from the beginning or later…
my question was purely about strategy, not something geared towards trying to save money…
I think it depends a lot on the sort of start you’re looking to make. If you’re getting into blogging fully prepared for the long-haul to success, then definitely start with a free theme. However, if you’re looking for a fast start, and you know that your content/niche/perspective are unique and could well be a hit, then a custom, professional design will be a huge kickstart to that success.
If you do use a free theme though, you still need to customize it enough to shake off the “template” feeling. With either route, paid or free, a little work will be required.
If you’re going to invest your time in blogging and growing your blog, you should start with something you’re happy with. Not because it’s free or “cheap”, you can invest as little as $10 – $50 for a great looking blog that can be customized with your logo and color scheme. Something you can tinker with if you want or if you have the time to invest.
You just have to do your homework, look around and really think about where you want your blog to go. It also depends on what platform you are planning on using. WordPress and Rapidweaver have some really great theme resources and pre-built templates.
Later when you can afford to have a cusom, branded blog designed for you then do so.
I think there are a few “in-between” options. First, a free template can be pretty high quality. Secondly, you can just get a custom logo or header to replace the graphic, or maybe mess with the CSS a bit to change colors. If well done, that can already look like a professionally done template from scratch.
I’m a designer, but my own blog was just a case of modifying an existing template. http://www.urbanmonk.net/
The last option would be to get a brand new one from scratch – probably most expensive but least cost-effective.
I have managed so far this year to spend minimally on my blog site only paying for the cost of the domain name and then registering it and using it with Google’s Blogger.
Though my readership goes up and down I have been very happy with the minimal $10 that I have put into it. And I think it is evolving nicely. That might be the answer does Frederico have a design idea already in mind and can he afford to implement it.
I think until your readership demands it be shear volume why stress over an overpriced and over-hyped website design?
I think I am going to agree with most people hear. Get a professional looking blog as soon as you can afford it.
I’d say that using a template and making a few basic changes (background image, etc.) is a good start when beginning. It also gives you the advantage of building up readership now, and then, when you can upgrade whenever you have the money to do so. You can also bring in some more readership by getting people excited about the new design.
I have started with multiple free templates, here is a recap
http://www.ianfernando.com/2007/the-many-facelifts-of-ian-fernando/
Using a free template or making one yourself is good to first establish yourself and gather that traffic. once you have your traffic and you know your traffic can easily replace for a professional template I would go a head and get one done.
if you have a design that is free but clean it will still be useful, but later you need to invest – give it an upgrade, start fresh and your audience and readers will be awed
Frederico,
I started 2 days ago live crunch blog, and let me tell you as long as you don’t put 2140501424 ads and keep the blog clean for a while you should be fine. Your blog design looks ok.
Let me know if you want to do link exchange that is what wee need right now.
Personally, I am more attracted to blogs that have a very attractive, professional and unique design.
Also, I find that if I have a nice design, it helps keep me motivated to write articles and keep my blog updated.
There are some nice free templates out there, but in my opinion, nothing beats a good unique design.
In my case I started with some premium template but was not able to modify the design for my needs and tried some more simple themes for a while.
I think a blogger will change his theme from time to time because you visit your own blog more often than a regular website (it’s the same like a car or your wife :))
I recently hired a professional to convert from MT to WordPress and design a custom template.
This was not something I wanted to tackle on my own, since I was not gifted with the “designing” gene.
I think it’s important to consider your blog’s purpose and readership when making the decision on going with a pro design.
If it is a business blog and you want to make a big impact from the beginning, then go pro (with someone who designs with SEO in mind). Otherwise, get a pro looking design as soon as you can afford it.
I think it depends on your content and what you’re offering. If you’re entering a popular space, you’re probably going to need either a very professional or ultra unique design just to help stand out (unless you’re really good at making the linkbait). If you have something rather unique to offer, however, you might be fine even using a default template! A great example of this is probably Hugh McLeod’s GapingVoid.com which looks horribly default, yet is one of the most well subscribed blogs out there.
Personally, I prefer to start with a clean and at least semi-professional looking design, one that is fairly plain, and add in a new feature, or change something smallish every month or so. Keep in mind that just because a design is ‘plain’ doesn’t mean it has to be boring.
This way you don’t rapidly jump from a theme your readers are used to seeing to something entirely new and shocking them. I recall reading somewhere about a study done that showed that when someone visited a site they were familiar with to find a whole new design something like half of them left and never went back. Change in large doses scares people.
Upgrading/modifying a little at a time also gives the advantage of not taking so much time or money all in one shot, and shows that you’re growing and expanding as a blogger/company. I think this is better overall than having a stagnant design that never changes.
On the other hand, if cost and time weren’t an issue, I think I’d probably go for a professional design after maybe 5-6 months, but try to keep some of the existing design elements present, so its not entirely unfamiliar.
Focus on content not design. I don’t read Problogger because of its design. Do you?
@Michael: I don’t typically read blogs because of their design (usually because I get all the content in Google Reader!) but I’ll admit there have been quite a few I’ve signed up to because their design was either striking or gave me the confidence the blogger was very focused on their blog. Design and branding are great tools to give an impression to actually get the subscriber.. not so much for keeping them.
I’ve been asking myself this very question. When I launched my blog, Writing for Writers, I picked a URL I already owned, and chose a free theme, which I customized myself. Luckily, I know how to do some basic customization of WordPress themes. I love how it turned out but now the site needs to grow.
Upcoming changes start with the design, which will involve a major overhaul. I’m still not earning enough revenue to warrant purchasing a fancy theme like Revolution or to pay someone for customization, so I’m going to do what I can with my own design skills and/or find a designer who would be willing to trade for my writing services (know anyone who might be interested?).
However, once I am making a reasonable profit, I definitely plan on paying for a streamlined content management system for my site. I’m looking forward to that day!
One of the great things about the Internet is that you can do a whole lot at a very low cost and continue improving your web presence as your financial resources grow.
-Melissa Donovan
Writing for Writers
Hey Christina, your idea is really interesting
@Michael: nor do I, but I like this design
Since you are a web designer I would go for customizing a free template to start out with as it won’t cost you any money. I wouldn’t leave the free template unaltered, seeing a blog design which you have seen elsewhere is confusing and makes a visitor think the blog might be one of those automatic spam blogs too. Customizing the graphics (header, background) make a huge difference to the design and a few CSS tweaks change the type and/or layout. Then later on you can add more to it or hire someone to do more drastic changes.
I suggest start with a free one and build up some readerership because in the blogging world, the majority of us are not serious about blogging and quit after a couple weeks, or even after a couple days. If you find yourself enjoying the blogging gig, then its a sign that you’re going to be in it for the long haul, and switching over to a professional template would be a good idea. You don’t want to fork over a couple hundred bucks for a sweet design if you dont’ have the drive and ambition to blog! So prove to yourself first that you can handle the rigors of blogging before you shell out the cash.
Why not start with a free one and heavily optimize it? When you start off a blog, you might not have much money but you definitely have the passion and time for it! Spend tons of time tinkering with free templates and eventually some colors will match!! (it helps if you have a little bit of HTML background but it is not necessary).
Mine was from a free template but I have made so many changes to it and merged so many themes together that it is pretty unique now.
G’day!
Some of the most famous blogs around have very “basic” templates, in some cases this enhances the viewing experience.
You should concentrate on adding quality content to your site, once you have some loyal readers involve them in the re-design process.
i’m just about to go through a rebranding of my blog. 2 weeks ago i posted a ad on a designer jobs website and i got some responses.
i was looking not only for somebody to redesign my wordpress theme, but to create a few flash(y) banners, a good logo and to help me install the theme and fix all the little things that will make my readers enjoy their experience.
when i saw your post it was like you read my mind. (by the way, i sent all the applicants to problogger for those posts related to your logo re-design).
i was thinking not only to re-brand my blog but also to change my blog name from boioglu (that’s my last name) to boio. it’s easier to remember, shorter url etc.
besides that i wanna have some good old contests o my blog in the next 2 months to lure more readers and to make them love the new brand.
i don’t know for sure what should be the right steps for all of these and how much should i pay for everything. i don’t wanna be “robbed” by a designer, but i wanna have a worry free blog. (i don’t wanna spend my time fixing all the issues with different themes and trying to personalize it).
darren, could you let me know your thoughts on this?
keep up the good work!
and one more thing: should i go for a flashy web 2.0 theme or a simple one with ight colors?
hi darren, i’m not sure if my first comment got there. so i’m posting it again. if it’s a duplicate, please delete it. thank you.
i’m just about to go through a rebranding of my blog. 2 weeks ago i posted a ad on a designer jobs website and i got some responses.
i was looking not only for somebody to redesign my wordpress theme, but to create a few flash(y) banners, a good logo and to help me install the theme and fix all the little things that will make my readers enjoy their experience.
when i saw your post it was like you read my mind. (by the way, i sent all the applicants to problogger for those posts related to your logo re-design).
i was thinking not only to re-brand my blog but also to change my blog name from boioglu (that’s my last name) to boio. it’s easier to remember, shorter url etc.
besides that i wanna have some good old contests o my blog in the next 2 months to lure more readers and to make them love the new brand.
i don’t know for sure what should be the right steps for all of these and how much should i pay for everything. i don’t wanna be “robbed” by a designer, but i wanna have a worry free blog. (i don’t wanna spend my time fixing all the issues with different themes and trying to personalize it).
darren, could you let me know your thoughts on this?
keep up the good work!
I love all the comments, it really gets me thinking.
I don’t think I’m ready just yet as this is an experiment to me at this early point.
If the traffic continues to increase, and I still want to participate, then pro to me is the only way to go.
I’m actually in the process of getting a custom logo (thanks for the coupon last week Darren!) and my “focus group” of friends have been impressed with the designs they’ve done. I’ve not finished the design iterations yet, but I suspect I’ll be going for a custom template next.
I’ve decided to try to establish my site brand in the next few months, so some logo is needed. I’ll have to see what happens once I get everything designed and up and running!
The simple answer I would put forth is this.
When your content warrants it.
It’s easy to get caught up and put a new template up or even get so focused on ads that your content suffers. I made an observation similar to this on my own blog yesterday when it hit me that I was more concerned with the looks of my sidebar than I was with the content.
Now, I’ve went back to basics with my template (even took down a lot of the ads that were cluttering my sidebar) and suddenly that invigorating spark of just writing is coming back for me.
I think I cant
As everytime i upgrade or change a theme, i got some problem. Even try to back up before doing thing, but still.
Some plugin also, I have to reinstall I think that’s problem, That’s why I just maintain old template about 2-3 months, then redesign
Free theme is fine when you`re just staring out but add a little customisation to make it your own right away … when the traffic comes you can look t getting something custom made to suit your needs. If you`re still keen and the blog is running after a few months get a little creative and spend some bucks.
I think I will go along with the advise from Urbanmonk.net
get a nice free theme and mod it to your satisfaction.
I’m with UrbanMonk on this one. My advice is to start with a free template and then to move to a customised version of a free template :)
Unless you’re attracting thousands of visitors to your blog (like proBlogger, John Chow, ShoeMoney etc) you’re unlikely to find limitations with a customised free theme.
Case in point, Im moving my site designs to customised free themes before new year; working on them now in fact!
I’ve been tinkering with the idea of getting custom blog design as well. However, I don’t think my current traffic (and earnings) warrants an investment on my template (my blog is only a month old).
However, I did what Christina did as well – designed a really nice looking banner, aligned elements in my page for a good Line Of Eye strategy, and highlighted the column with recent posts and comments in a strong color to get it noticed, so users won’t just pop out after reading the front page article.
I have even posted entries on how to brand your blog using a simple free template by making some very simple changes to it. So I am happy with what I have for now until I get some serious, consistent traffic. I’ll definitely consider getting a pro template then.
I always start with a free template but make sure to knock up a custom header. Once the blog starts to really pay for itself then I’d go for a pro custom template, then again I’m pretty conservative in everything I do online.
Free or customize, it really should not matter. Find a design that you like and keep it clean looking and readable. Nothing easier than that and your readers will never know if your design is free or professional.
I’m certainly not an expert. But I stuck with a standard template to start, and now that I have it established I’m paying someone for a new design. It should be implemented in a few weeks.
That being said, if you use a standard template, you need to at least customize the header.
It also depends what niche you’re in. If your tech, I’d say you’d better have some bells and whistles to start with.
This brings up the old question, “What’s more important, content or design?”
I think in depends on whether you have the time and the interest in adapting a free one. Someone will have put a lot of thought into designing a free one. Their work will have mattered to them and so free does not automatically equate to poor quality.
I hope you don’t mind me giving a little feedback on your site. I find the dark background hard going. It would not encourage me to linger long. I think the jumping jack on the hostgator does not enhance the experience. Having said all that I will be back as I am interested in the content.
@Michael I think ProBloggers recent revamp was a terrific improvement with the main posting area now over to the left.
Content and design go hand in hand these days. As a designer, I have to admit, if a blog is unattractive I won’t stay too long, but once in a while I’ll come across a blog that has interesting content and I end up staying. After all, the information is what people are looking for to begin with.
I agree with Sarah that if you do go with a free or purchased template, you should do something to customize it to make it your own. The banner is the easiest way to add your own sense of style to any given template.
Another important point to remember is to talk to your designer before you purchase the template. I’ve run into many instances where a client has purchased a template and then wanted changes made that cost more in my time to do than the template cost originally. Realize that not every designer is a coder and there are limitations to what kind of modifications your designer will be able to make. In some cases you’re better off finding someone who understands coding to custom make your template from scratch.
Ben was right when he said it shouldn’t matter whether your template is free or customized. Find one you like, make sure it’s readable, pleasing to the eye, and suits the overall tone of your blog.
I think that to be attractive the blog has to work like most other blogs. If you get too fancy, the visitor might not feel invited to post. One major irritation to new programs is that they change the conventional interface and I have to look around for how to do the old tasks.
Keep your new design as similar to the most popular designs.
Dave