One of the books that I’ve been enjoying lately is Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads. It might surprise regular readers who know that I’m a self confessed web design dummy to know that I’ve been reading (and enjoying) a book about this topic – but I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of it in the mail a month or so back and it is a topic that I’ve enjoyed learning about.
This isn’t a book about designing sexy sites – it’s a book about designing profitable ones (although sexy can be good too and this book will help with that too). It’s not a book about designing blogs – but a lot of what you read in it will inform decisions that you make about your blog’s layout and design also. Whether you’re designing your own blog or hiring someone else to do it this book is a worthwhile read.
I won’t review the book here (to be honest I’m still only 70% of the way through it) but if there are some good review of it on it’s Amazon page if you’re interested.
What I am happy to announce though is that I’ve been given 5 copies of this book to give away to ProBlogger readers.
How to Enter
To enter this competition you need to do 2 things:
1. In comments below leave us a comment telling us what blog’s design you love the most and why. Feel free to leave a link to the blog but do include some thoughts on what you find attractive about the blog’s design and why you admire it.
2. Your comment needs to have the keyword ‘web design’ in it – this will help us make sure comments don’t get caught up in our spam filters.
On Saturday (at midnight my time) I’ll end this competition and choose 5 of my favorite comments (ie comments that stand out for their value) to win a copy of the book. I’m also keen to see what blog designs you love and hope it’ll help provide many of us with some inspiration on that front.
My favorite blog web design would have to be ZenHabits. It’s extremely simple, which makes it easy to follow and even easier to read. I love how he has really big buttons/icons and uses photos in each post.
His layout is brilliant and has given him a great return of investment, something I wouldn’t mind getting from my latest blog as well.
I really like the web design of Paul Stamatiou’s blog, it is clean and has a very useful sidebar. It doesn’t hurt that he has great content too.
web design
I like Yaro’s site, Entrepreneur’s Journey.
He has good placement for advertising, he has an easy to navigate interface, before he rethemed Small Business Branding he had a nice synergy for switching between the two sites, and I really like how he’s used audio buttons to explain and welcome his readers.
Well, of course I like my own blog’s web design. It’s been made by a pro web designer and he really did a great job. The layout is original, minimalistic and kind of cute.
I’m sorry for being such egoist but I couldn’t choose between all the great designs I’ve seen so I chose the easy way. Nonetheless, its one of my favourite web designs.
I have read this book and can also vouch for how valuable it is to everyone who wants to build there own ROI web design!
Not to be corny, but I like the ProBlogger web design. It’s generally simple to navigate and not overly “busy.”
As I imagine many people will say – I like my own site design (technogumption) I think the design is subtle and not obtrusive in any way.
John Cow’s web site has a great fun theme. He has managed to keep the cow theme throughout both his design and content which is great.
Tyler Cruz has his comic style avatar that makes the site unique and has a practical yet colourfull design.
One of the most aesthetically pleasing blogs that I have seen is http://www.skullcandy.com/blog. The vector art in the background really adds and graffiti-ish feel to it, and really reinforces the “candy” in the brand’s name.
The only criticism that I have is the content area. I is a bit cramped and seems like not much though was put into it. The font could be maybe a smaller size with a larger line spacing, and maybe even add a few little icons here and there. Other than that, I have to say that this is one of the best looking blogs in my opinion.
if you’re in the web design business, you must respect Veerle Pieters’s work, her blog is a combination of style, colors and great tutorials, one of the reasons it has that beautiful layout is it’s free of ads beside the deck adspace, clearly a winner in both design and content for me
web design
My favorite blog design is the one at http://www.seobook.com/blog
The reason I think it is so good is because it is very simple, and keeps the content king. It visually integrates into the rest of the site perfectly. And it doesn’t have those 6 horrid ads on the right side that seems to be on any blog of value now-a-days. I’m not saying advertising is a bad thing, but I greatly respect a blog that gives tremendous value while offering it’s own product for a price in order to make money.
The sites colors also mesh very well with their logo so that is great for branding.
Design really isn’t the thing that gets me hooked on a blog though, it is the content. I very rarely actually visit a blogs site unless a post pops up in my reader that I think I need to read a lot more closely, and I want to leave a comment on.
No blog’s design surpasses that of Smashing Magazine.
Good question, I really like the WP Remix Theme (http://www.wpremix.com/). It combines the design of a usual website with blog-functionallity. For me this is really the best theme, if you want to do both, website with a cool landing page and blog.
Web design at it`s best I think :)
I really like the web design of Jonathan Snook’s blog. Vivid colors, really well done and easy to read.
I suppose saying that the web design(s) on display through CommandShift3 or Design Shack is a cheeky way of saying everything hey?
Freelance Switch is a very strong design. The muted colour palette is easy on the eyes and has great typography. The line-height, use of color and font sizes all lead the eye to an inherent understanding of what the relative importance of certain pieces of information is based on their size, spacing, etc.
What sets FSW apart in my mind is the subtle use of “shine” for effect in just the right areas, without being overwhelming. When compared to other good sites, The Geniant Blog for example, those little touches make their design stand out above the competition. They had a tutorial post that documented how they put those finishing touches on their site, but I cannot seem to locate it currently.
I think the web design on my site, mgroves.com is pretty darn good, though I have to credit that to Jon Plante, the designer, because I sure as heck can’t design worth a crap.
web design
I like the gridfocus theme used on anywired. It’s a simple layout ustilising white and shades of grey, but is very appealing to the eye.
also like my own site on Puerto Rico – here I’ve used the Puerto RicoElegantBlue theme by Nathen Rice
there are also some great Magazine Style wp themes starting to appear.
I hate to do it, but I love the web design of my own blog. I don’t say that just for self-promotion, really. I say it because, when I was in the process of launching it last week, I spent days looking through WordPress themes looking for one that really did it for me. I, too, am somewhat of a web design/CSS dummy, even though, by day, I work in the IT industry. When I came across this theme it hit me. I needed it. So I plunked down the $50 for it and I’ve never been happier with a theme.
It has all the necessary elements to set it apart from a typical blog. Plenty of room for ads and customization, a prominently displayed RSS feed and email subscription field (I added the one in the header field), and included plugins that allow me to feature my photos prominently (It is a photography blog, after all). It also displays excerpts from other posts without taking up too much space. Best of all, though, is the “Featured Post” header. It displays a large image (important for a photo blog) and makes the Featured article so featured that you can’t miss, but it’s not obnoxious. It’s still a new site, but a few of the first comments on it specifically mentioned how much they liked the layout.
I love it!
I forget how I came across it, but I love the web design of http://cameron.io/ The site has an extremely simple yet refined layout with a definite style. that site gets my nod.
I have to agree with the post above about liking the web design of Smashing Magazine
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Of course I like it because that are design centric so they better have a good design and they do make good use of fonts and white space.
and of course I do like the design and layout of your web site. I’m not saying that to flatter you either but it works.
Of course I try to design my own site in such a way others will like to visit and stick around.
http://www.spinningsilkmultimedia.com/blog/
and try to conform to respect standards in layout and design.
The web design/blog design I just love is GigaOm. Extremely clean, easy to look at and the ads don’t seem to get in the way, even though there are quite a few of them.
My favourite blog from a web design viewpoint at the moment is zen habits.
I love the way he has got it setup, from the way his RSS icon bridges across the header/nav/main sections to connect them together, to the typeface he uses (one of the most easy to read blogs around), to his use of images and even the way the two columns backgrounds expand on larger screens.
My only criticism of his site is that, while I am a fan of the ‘fat footer’, his is a little jumbled (maybe too much there?), but overall that’s a pretty minor gripe – it’s a beautiful design and I’m sure Leo is quite proud of it.
I like the web design of Martial Development, because they (I) took a free WordPress theme, made a few changes to give it a totally unique look, and gave away the resulting product to anyone who wants it.
You can download the free “NInja Scroll” theme and apply it to your own WordPress blog.
Good question, I really like WP Remix, a theme for WordPress best. It combines a website-like landing page with blog-functionallity and for me is web design at it`s best.
Kind regards
Andreas
Web Design
I like http://www.lifeloveandlearning.com/blog/ it is simple and straight forward clean lines.
A Web Design book would help in my research of the new blog I want to do.
Thanks Darren
I’ve only been using WordPress for less than a week, but I’ve come across some great designs. I’d obviously like to vote for my own, but I won’t.
So, the other site I really like is this dude’s Jim Kukral. It’s simple and easy on the eyes. I know he’s using Revolution Themes (cause after seeing his I HAD to have that for my own).
Web Design
I like a bunch of them but I like the layout of this one with the widgets under the headers showing the most viewed content.
http://theblogentrepreneur.com
Answering this question from the perspective of a blog reader, and not a blog owner (which I am too), I thoroughly enjoy the web design of http://www.freelanceswitch.com . Overall, the design is very professional, sharp and clean. The navigation is clear, and the articles are obviously separated from one another with easy to read text. The sidebar contains helpful information, and while it also contains advertisements, they’re not intrusive or overwhelming. I particularly like that the site’s design is unique , but also done in a style that can quickly be associated with related sites such as psdtuts, flashden, and eden.cc . I think this branding is important, and plays a certain role in the success of each of these blogs. A reader who regularly visits one site will instantly feel comfortable when they come upon another site with that familiar look and feel.
Thanks for great info, I’m not interested in wining this book, I’ll be buying it, if you know any other books, let me know :-)
One of the cool blog designs I found recently is the design of Carsonified.
I love designs that have front pages that display lots of information, and not only the recent posts (but also include recent posts in a smaller area), like you do, Darren, at ProBlogger. Carsonified does the same thing, and I love it.
Also, if you’re into blogs with front pages full of recent posts (and look like all the other pages like single post pages, etc), I’d recommend airfrost.
River’s design of airfrost is beautiful, and based on Symphony.
My favorite web design has to be at the http://www.ndesign-studio.com/ I love the organized tabs, the icons and how the background pops. Not many people can make a background that busy work and look professional.
I love the graphics in the posts and the layout is so nice. Hopefully one day they will offer it up to others!
I love Veerle’s blog design. Perhaps it seems obvious to choose a designer’s blog design, but I appreciate how creative yet clear her web design is, even with everything that’s going on in her sidebars, etc.
By the way, seems only one result on eBay (ships to USA only), Amazon doesn’t ship to my country as well. If you are interested, I can send you $ for this book + shipping so you could send me it, if interested, use contact for in my web site :) otherwise, will have to wait for more sellers on ebay :-)
I’ve always been a fan of http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ web design because it is one of the cleaner designs around. The ads are tasteful and well-placed, and the obvious focus of Trent’s blog is his content. Besides, it’s hard to argue with someone that has 25k subscribers!
Recently I’ve come to enjoy the web design of Put Things Off. It’s a slight modification of the Premium News WordPress Theme. The illustrations suit the site well and give it a bit of uniqueness. This blog is a good example of knowing what it wanted to do from the beginning, instead of a blog that slowly morphed into being by cramming new content into sidebars. Most all the things I want to find on the site are easily located with no clutter.
I love, love, love how Derek Allard’s blog is designed. It’s fun (there are robots!) but it’s also very content driven. I especially like how the side navigation doesn’t scroll off the screen, so it’s easy to get to other areas of the site.
I found Derek’s site through the CodeIgniter community.
And the user guide for CodeIgniter is an excellent example of a site that is really well thought out.
It may be simple and unglamorous, but I think it’s a stellar example of good web design that thinks about how the page will be used by it’s audience, rather than how to make it cool. When I was shopping around for a PHP framework, the Code Igniter docs sold me on the framework.
Why? Because, in my mind, if they put that much thought into the content and presentation of their docs, then they much have put the same care and attention to detail into their product.
My vote for favourite web design would also be Freelance Switch because it’s:
Distinctive
Clear
Uncluttered
Easy to navigate
Welcoming
Packed with resources
Branded (with the repeat graphic)
Writing style & design go together
Design reinforces blog purpose
There’s no other blog that looks remotely like it
Joanna
As far as visually stunning web design for a blog goes, I’m a big fan of Design Sponge – http://www.designspongeonline.com/ . It almost feels like I am reading one of those expensive glossy design magazines as I scroll through the articles. The advertising and monetisation is bold, yet not overpowering. It almost adds to the feel of the blog.
Without wanting to seem like a kiss ass, problogger is a good design as well, in that it adapts well (and maintains the brand) across a number of different purposes, including shop and jobs board. I think it is a great idea when planning a blog design, that you try to plan for all future possibilities.
I love Chrispian’s web design, it’s nice to see a dark theme that’s still entirely readable.
There’s so many well designed websites out there and these days blogs are leading the way!
My favourite resources to find some of the best website designs are CSS Tux and Fave Up.
A few people have mentioned Freelance Switch among their favs, I’d have to agree as it’s such a clean and simple design that just seems to be fresh.
Other blogs / website designs I’d suggest people take a look at are;
– CSS Rockstars
– Slash Chris
– Tim Lahan
– JareDigital
– Jeremy Cowart
– ISO 50
– Gala Darling
There’s such a massive universe of blogs around, hopefully people will have a little stray outside the usual array of similarly designed ‘make money online’ websites..
Take it easy.
Matt
I love the design of the anticlown sites, The Superficial especially. Good navigation, cross-promoting within his sites, and great advertiser placement.
I guess I should have added this to my first comment but I was to excited to talk about the prize!
Anyhow…
The webdesign or blog design rather that I like the best through the whole net would have to be http://www.tylercruz.com
Tyler cruz brings a sweet avatar of himself to the mix where as sites like johncow are just a general person not the blogger himself.
I personally have talked with tyler on various occasions and he even reviewed my webmaster forum.
He shows what a true good blogger is and thats why I think his blog design is the best.
My favourite site design at the moment is Andy Rutledge’s site. It is so simple, but beautiful because of it. I’m really into minimalist designs at the moment and am about to redesign my own blog so I’ve been on the look out for inspiration!
(and, for the purposes of key words in comments, web design!)
I’ve been playing around with a theme for a new blog of mine for Knowledge Advantage and it is the first one I’ve see that has widgets you can actually move around. Yup, just grab ’em and move them where you would like. It’s always refreshing to see someone having fun with their templates – sure, it’s absolutely useless, but it’s a great start for something bigger that IS useful! (oh and the blog is super new and not ready for release yet – just wanted to point out the template becuase I haven’t seen it anywhere else).
As for designs (web design), I am partial to blogs where you can distinguish between each blog post (ie. each one doesn’t start and end with an advertisement), and significant screen percentages are devoted to CONTENT and not advertising.
I appreciate the fact that people insist on monetizing their blogs, yet why are you hiding that which we actually came for?
My actual suggestion would be Yanko Design simply because there is advertising on the left, blog stuff on the right, and content down the middle with only one advertisement in the centre column. Very clean.
My favorite blog in terms of web design is the blog at the Forgotten Ways. It just looks cool. I really like the shade of red that makes background and the archival paper that the actual blog text is on. It is just easy to look at, and more importantly, easy to read. The other reason I like it is that it has tons of information, but the layout almost hides that. It isn’t overwhelming, but you can get a load of info without navigating away from the site.
Currently, my favourite web design is my own: http://www.rockstarpoet.ca. I am not trying to be arrogant or an egotistical jerk. I just finished it. The fact of the matter is that I am not really a designer and when I do design something it takes me a really long time to see it. So that’s why it currently rates as my favourite. Though I realize that there are fair better designs than my own.
I recognize that there is an offensive amount of green on my blog, but it’s better than what I had imagined and so I really love it.
I recently came across http://www.firstwivesworld.com/ from my google alerts keywords. I found one particular post of interest but as I explored the site a bit I found that I really love the web design.
It has an extremely simple navigation bar along the top and the best part is that each page or section of the site has a completely different style sheet or color scheme. This is really nice. The front page also has an amazing summary of each section (again all color coordinated) like a magazine style design.
The site also has a great style for each post where a single bar at the bottom of each post summarizes the comments and sharing options. Its nice and clean and VERY friendly to read. If you hover over the “more posts about” item in this bar, it expands to show the related posts. A great design for showing when there is interest, yet keeping it clean otherwise for general viewing.
Also, the site has a great mix of content and images which highly add to the visual appeal of the site. The getting started page is a great implementation as well to attract and guide new users. Overall, I was quite impressed with the overall web design.
They have a saying in my part of the World – “Proudly South African”. This saying is used to encompass almost everything that comes out of our country. Us South African’s are very proud of our country and where we have come in such a short space of time. Ideate, is one of those blogs that is about fresh new ideas. It’s about small business. It’s about South Africa. It’s also about money, innovation, progress, and gob-smackingly brilliant concepts. Oh, its also about web design. ;-)
This is exactly what is portrayed in their blog design. It makes heavy use of the SA flag, although its not made to look like a feature of the site. They also have images of local products that have been exported world wide, namely Castle Beer and Mrs Balls Chutney.
Along with the clean text and large headings, the most interesting is the use of a kid wearing a cape as if he was flying. This is exactly what South Africa is – we are young (in terms of being a free and fair nation), yet we are flying with regards to progress, technology and innovation.
The overall design of the blog definitely beams the saying “Proudly South African!”
I really like the Web Desing from http://www.stylomovil.com , very clean and easy to use.
They need to find a logo for them, but it´s very simple and i like it.
At the moment, I’m completely in love with the web design over at skelliewag.org. It’s pure, clean and functional but uses graphics in a powerful way. Consistently.
Web-design
I’d chose the design I’m using at Ian’s Messy Desk. I can’t call it mine; it’s the Deep Blue WordPress from DailyBlogTips. Three reasons spring to mind:
1) I like the look. It has something of a Web 2.0 style, which is trendy at the moment. And it is not a cluttered theme. (Not including the ways I have modified it. ;)
2) It has easy AdSense integration and is SE optimized. I have seen significant improvement to all my stats since switching to the theme, January 1/08.
3) DailyBlogTips has generously made this theme available at no cost; actually, three versions of the theme. They could sell a theme like this, but have chosen to share it with the blogging community.