How NOT to Brand Your Blog

By Blog Bloke on May 27th, 2008 | 10 Comments

Are You a Theme-A-Holic? Be Honest Now…

Confession is good for the soul — or so they say. A reader recently confided to me that he is a “Wordpress theme addict”. Because there are so many free themes available he is constantly changing his template almost as often as his underwear. (I’m just kidding of course but you get the point).

I suspect that there are a great many of us who do the same so I thought I would write a short post explaining why this is not a good idea.

Of course making minor repairs or tweaks are a necessary part of a blogger’s life, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m referring to making frequent changes to your blog design that could render your online home unrecognizable.

I cautioned him that by changing his theme too often it is self-defeating and diluting his brand.

Or in other words your blog design is what defines your online presence and should reflect you or your niche topic.

So if you are constantly changing your blog design it will be confusing to your readers.This is just as important for personal bloggers who want to develop an online following as it is for business.

For example, if you wanted to try on different clothing you wouldn’t do that in your front yard now would you? Of course not, or at least I hope you wouldn’t.

Just as you would change your clothing in the privacy of your own bedroom, why not make another blog and change your online clothing in private? There you can experiment to our heart’s delight.

Here’s another way of looking at it. If you were constantly re-painting your house and building new additions your friends might no longer recognize it. They will think they’ve visited the wrong address and pass you bye.

Keep changing your hairstyle, wardrobe or your overall image often enough and pretty soon your friends might even think you’re a little flaky.

So what makes your online home any different?

My advice is don’t keep changing your blog design too drastically too often. Experiment on another blog away from the public eye and when you make your decision on a design stick with it.

Remember, building your blog brand is all about image and consistency, and consistency instills credibility. Make sense?

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10 Responses so far to “How NOT to Brand Your Blog”

Dennis Edell on May 28th, 2008 at 2:33 pm said...

I was an addict without a prayer. Finally I just dissected multiple themes with what i liked and had ONE created for me.

Now I can use the same theme on all blogs, with a simple color change.

Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Under Promise - Over Deliver For Greater Success

[Reply to this]

Hi Dennis. They say confession is good for the soul. I’m willing to bet that we are all probably addicts at one time or another in our blogging career, including myself. From a branding point of view if you don’t have a recognizable logo or name then making all of your templates similar with just a color change might also be a smart idea. Consistency…

[Reply to this]

Blog Bloke reply on May 28th, 2008 3:01 pm:
Dennis Edell on May 28th, 2008 at 4:27 pm said...

Exactly right. That’s what I’m hoping’ for
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Under Promise - Over Deliver For Greater Success

[Reply to this]
FREE One-Way Back-Links on May 29th, 2008 at 1:05 pm said...

I agree. It’s best to find 1 theme you love and stick with it.

Try to brand yourself.

[Reply to this]
Curtis on May 29th, 2008 at 7:00 pm said...

Must admit I have been guilty of this one so many times over. I have gotten better now that I switched over to WP but I have tried a few themes and found a new one which I do and don’t like.

If you get a chance would you mind giving me your opinion on it.

Curtis’s last blog post..Little Tomatoes 2

[Reply to this]

First tell me what you don’t like.

[Reply to this]

I don’t like the text in with the picture and I don’t like the date at the bottom instead at the top. I do like the less cluttered look though.

Curtis’s last blog post..Little Tomatoes 2

[Reply to this]

I see your point. You need to put some padding around your images in your style.css file. You can find more information about it here:

http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_padding.asp

Regarding the date I would just copy the code from the bottom of the post and experiment by pasting it where you think you want it until you got it the way you like.

[Reply to this]

Blog Bloke reply on May 30th, 2008 8:45 am:

Curtis reply on May 29th, 2008 9:16 pm:

Blog Bloke reply on May 29th, 2008 8:57 pm:
Jaffer on May 30th, 2008 at 6:00 pm said...

Ofcourse you have seen how drastic my changes are when I change a theme. I still have the urge to experiment and change things around because I’m afraid I’ll end up with an entirely new theme !

Jaffer’s last blog post..Lister Block

[Reply to this]

Just remember to close the window blind when you’re changing

[Reply to this]

Blog Bloke reply on May 30th, 2008 7:10 pm: