Obviously your amazing pictures and cute words are enough to make your readers stick around, but there are some other things you could do to make them love your blog even more. I’m talking about adding some design a.k.a. eye candy. Here are 5 ways to spice up your blog posts!
Have an awesome first image
Make sure your first image is the best image of the whole post. It’s cute when you save the best image for last, but that’s not how it works. The first image is what pops up on Bloglovin and it’s what people see on your homepage too. So edit that image just a little more; more saturation, more contrast, just a little lighter and brighter… the whole nine yards. And if you want to add something extra to your post, like typography, your first image is a good way to start with.
Typography
Sometimes images aren’t enough and you want to say a bit more. Why not add the message you want to share to your image? This makes your post much more fun and can add an element of surprise. People may start to wonder what you will come up with next, you little creative genius! Make sure the font you choose fits the style of your blog. Minimal theme? Go with a sans-serif, like this one. Or maybe you’re more into cutesy things? Then this font is probably more for you. Be careful not to use too many fonts on your blog or it will look messy. It’s actually a lot of fun to play around with typography! I use Photoshop or Indesign (they have a free 30 day trial available) for this and find most of my (free!) fonts on DaFont, Font Squirrel or MyFonts.
Collages
Some posts call for a lot of images. Or they don’t necessarily call for it, but you’re so proud of all your pictures that you want to show them all at once. Don’t just place them like you usually do, scrolling endlessly in a post is pretty annoying and your readers will eventually click away. In this case it’s much better to create a fun collage. It’s pretty easy to paste images in Photoshop or Indesign. You can go with a rectangular, triangular or circular collage or try something completely new. Just keep in mind that you either align everything perfectly or don’t align at all for a playful effect. Something in between will look sloppy.
Fun borders
You don’t always need to put hours of work into something. Keeping it simple can be enough. A border might just be what you need to spice up your blog images. You can add a complimentary colour, some dots, or maybe add an image to the background. There’s loads of stock images you could use too. Or maybe you want to go for something quirky, like adding a picture frame? The possibilities really are endless. Just play around with it and you’ll find out what you like.
Create templates
So you’ve tried something new and you absolutely love it. Save your Photoshop file as a PSD file (don’t flatten it!), so you can use it again. This will be your template for future use. If you’re working on a new segment you can use that template again in a new post. Just change a colour or two. Re-using your design might not feel natural or even a bit lazy, but it’s nice for your readers if you’re consistent. That way they will recognize an item that fits the same segment.
P.S. Don’t forget to have fun!
