Two Cents Tuesday: Blog Design is a Woman's Prerogative

Two Cents Tuesday: Blog Design is a Woman’s Prerogative

Notice something new?

Hint for the guys: I did NOT get a new hair cut.

Ah, yes. Yet another blog design change. Chalk it up to growing pains. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a blog and the blogger was using the same exact avatar I had been using in her blog design. It was a little awkward – my friend John Paul (@johnaguiar) said I had a blog twin. Indeed.

So I felt the need to make some big changes. Twitter and Facebook have yet to be dealt with, but this blog has had a few changes of clothes over the past couple weeks. Sorry for the craziness.

What do you think: Two Columns or Three?

What do you think about that? I tried my hardest to stick with the two column thing as its been a rule of mine for quite some time. Unfortunately, though, I just could not do everything that I wanted with two columns. So the middle column got a trim, and the big wide right sidebar got split into two sidebars on either side. The left is for global things like the best of (where it says start here), links to the subscription page, the Ask Me page, the Thesis theme affiliate banner, Twitter birdies, Facebook like box, and the category list.

The right sidebar is my sandbox and will probably change over time. I followed copyblogger’s layout here, because I like it the best (how’s that for uncomplicated?). So in it I threw the popular posts and a search box. I added to what they have by putting in the top commenters list, more social media widgets, and some blogrolls.

Switch from Canvas to Thesis

The biggest switch was the theme change from my previous beloved theme, WooThemes Canvas, to Thesis (affiliate link). Why? Although I love WooThemes dearly and am a loyal developer club member, Canvas just was not as flexible as I needed it to be. And since I have been using Thesis for awhile on other blogs, I knew exactly what to customize and it took just a couple of hours to have it looking the way that I wanted.

O Woman, Where Art Thou?

I had an epiphany while I was changing BizChickBlogs’ clothes. It occured to me that my tagline, ‘behind every good woman is a good blog,’ is being left out to dry. Many of my readers are men, but this blog was intended to focus on women. Is that an impossible feat? As the blog has grown, I find myself attracted to universal topics, but my primary interest is still in helping women, specifically, succeed at blogging. So off with the tagline for now, as I figure out how that is really going to work. But while the tagline went away, purple came into the picture. It’s just girlie enough to keep the chick in bizchickblogs from looking out of place, and subtle enough to not make men gag (hopefully).

Is it annoying to keep changing design?

It probably is annoying to you, I’m thinking. But I promise that I will stick with this for awhile. I’m always open to suggestions (for example, I am not sold on the charcoal background but am not ready to go back to white), so please feel free to leave them!

NOTE: Don’t use the Re-Tweet button below…

If you want to re-tweet this, just click here. Apparently, when you are in maintenance mode and you schedule a post, TweetMeme will put something funky in the Re-tweet box and you’ll end up re-tweeting that the site is in maintenance mode.

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seospidy@Internet marketing

very interesting post. :)

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Kathy@Kathy Blogger

I am a fan of the two sidebars with the main content in between them. I think it will help get things in your left sidebar noticed more often.

One other thing - I don't see a subscribe via email option on your website which is my preferred way to subscribe to blogs. I would like to subscribe, but I don't want to use an RSS reader to do it.

Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online

Blog designs are quite common amongst most bloggers who use free themes. I use a free theme as well but I've hacked into it so many times that it looks quite different from the original theme and most folks seem to love it menos the ads of course ;-)

Three columns work fine on some blogs and doesn't on others. For me it looks okay here.

Mack @ used golf carts

Change is good. I think your page looks great. I hope that it will work out evern better for you.

Tia Peterson

Thanks. I hope so, too. :)

Jill @ Used Golf Carts

I like the new design. The subtle pink background is nice. If it was bright pink it would just be too much. I know you will be making other changes, but do it alittle at a time.

Nice Job!

Thanks, Jill! Yes, bright pink would be disastrous. :)

Michelle @ Italian Mama Chef

Goodness I thought I was losing my mind because I had seen your twin in the blogosphere and was getting confused. I like the change and I like the purple. I really think the whole set up is great and I envy your mad blogging skills to get this changed and going again in a few hours. Maybe you did it in all that spare time you have since you work from home! ;-)

Spare time, LOL!! I think I lost it. If you find it, send it back to me! :)

Thanks for the kudos.

Kok Siong @ Cancer Research

I would like to change the blog design frequently too. However, I'm not good in designing. Therefore, i need a lot of time to redesign my blog. Sometimes, i feel lazy to do it. :(
However, changing the design will give a fresh look to the readers. I love your new design! :)

Thanks, Kok!! I really appreciate that. And I'm happy you're part of the crowd who thinks that giving a fresh look to the readers is cool. Some people feel differently. Here's to new beginnings!

Evelyn

Hi Tia,
I like your new look. It is neat and clean. I also like the 3 columns too. There is not a lot clutter in the sidebars which makes it very easy to focus on your post.

I don't visit often to know how often to change your blog design, because I usually read your posts in my reader. But I must say that I like this design the best. :)

You have to find what works for you and a design that you like. I totally understand that!

I'm thinking about doing some changes myself.

Looking good!

Hey Evelyn - Thanks very much. And I'm one of those people who reads posts in a reader, too. Do let me know if you see anything bizarre come through the reader! :) I don't read my own posts that way but I suppose that I should.

I like the changes you've made over time since we started connecting a few months ago. Thesis is definitely neat in that way.

Eve @ Designing WIth Eve

I feel for you, lol, I want to redesign my blogs again (all of them) but haven't had time yet, lol, it is a weakness of mine- I get tired of a design almost as soon as I finish it and want to try something new! lol

it looks good so far- very clean!

Thanks! I'm glad you think that. I always strive for that. This is about as cluttered as I can possibly stand, so it makes me happy to know that other people still consider this clean!

Kristi@Blogging Tips

I don't think it's annoying to change designs regularly, so long as your goal is to find something that really resonates with your readers to settle into. Your design was great before, but I think I like it even more now!

Thanks, Kristi. I like where it’s headed but I think there will be some subtle changes along the way! I’m going to be analyzing navigation patterns over the next couple of months and then make adjustments as needed.