How to Sex Up Your Blog

9 Ways to Give Your Blog Sex Appeal

Does your blog have sex appeal? Does your blog reach out and grab your readers to make them want more? Or do your prospective readers think, it’s just another WordPress weblog, why bother. To make your blog stand out, you need to dress your blog up.

So where do you start to sex up your blog? To dress up your blog in the appropriate attire, you must consider what you want to accomplish and who you want to attract. this means starting with your blog goals and understanding your blog audience. Bear in mind that the objective is to make your blog stand out, not change your blog branding.

9 Elements to sex up your blog

To make your blog appear hot to your readers, here are nine factors to help sex up your blog.

1. Color scheme. While color is integrated into your branding and blog design, you can modify the color in one highly visible area to make your blog stand out. The idea is that you’re not changing your overall look and feel. Think of it in the same way that the Empire State Building changes its colored lights at night based on holidays and events. This weekend, it’s red, white and blue for President’s Day Weekend.
2. Background patterns, colors and shades. These styling elements are great to add drama to your blog especially if used sparingly or for special occasions. Check that your design elements don’t detract from your content. I’ve visited blogs where what I remember is the color background or photo – not what the blogger was trying to communicate.
3. Photographs. Photos are important since they attract readers and draw them in. Changing the way photographs are presented can sex up your blog. Try varying the image size. Use a mix of small thumbnail and larger images. How do you frame images in terms of borders and drop-shadows? How does this reflect on your brand? Consider photograph type – do you use color, black and white or antique looking images? And subject – are your photographs of people, places, products or a mix? Bear in mind that images of people get  the most attention. Try incorporating a slideshow to show off more of your best images.
4. Post layout. How does your overall post appear to readers? Just as a woman’s full ensemble can help draw attention to her best parts, the presentation of post content in harmony with other page elements will attract prospective readers. The idea is to find a total look, consistent with your brand, that’s accessible and interesting in ways that will get readers to want more.
5. Other content formats. While many blogs just deliver text, offering readers alternative forms of content such as video, audio, PowerPoints, and e-books changes things up  and can lure new readers in, especially if you have information they want when they want it.
6. Widgets including social sharing buttons. Widgets refer to the various forms of content that appear in your sidebar column that help link your blog to other platforms and other areas of your website. For example the use of a top posts widget will deliver the best content on your website showing off your best stuff.
7. Spiff up your blog for the holidays. Take your cue from Google and Yahoo, sites that modify their header graphics for a wide variety of holidays. What can you do for your blog that’s in-line with your brand and lets readers see a fun side to your blog or website. Like the wink an attractive co-worker gives you as you pass each other in the hall.
8. Advertising. Assess how you’re planning to use advertising and when. Then think about where. There are a variety of options, including banners, sidebars and the footer, and means such as a tip jar for contributions to a not-for-profit or sponsor.  How do they reflect on your brand?
9. Author presentation. Don’t forget to show off your hard working writers and contributors. Determine whether you’re going to spotlight their photographs, their bio and/or other information. This can be very appealing to your readers since it gives them a peek behind the curtains.

When assessing how to sex up your blog, focus on what you want to accomplish and how you want to stand out from the crowd. Then look across the array of options and determine what works best for you.

What would you add to this list and why?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

P.S. Since love is in the air, please join us for #BloggerLove Month. Enter our We ♥ Bloggers Contest with a chance to win Chris Brogan and Julian Smith’s Trust Agents.  Just write a blog post using one of these 125 Free Blog Titles. Also, give your favorite blogger some recognition on Twitter using #BloggerLove.

To help you improve your blog, here are some related articles.

• How to make your blog popular
• 29 Reasons you’re not getting blog traffic
• How to increase blog traffic
• Do business blogs chase the wrong metrics?

Photo credit: Public Domain Photos via Flickr