According to Blog Search Engine Technorati, there are nearly 27 million established blogs on net with about 75,000 new blogs launched every day. In such a grave competition, one way to stand out from the crowd is through a good design. I don’t aim to give complete credit of a successful blog to a good design. Certainly, you need to back it up with quality content, images and many other things but the first look of your blog plays the most important role in captivating the visitors.

However, my friends, achieving a nice blog design once is not enough…a time comes when you need to redesign your blog according to the latest market trends and requirements. Redesigning is not simply about giving a new face to your blog. It requires proper planning and arrangement of the factors, which can make or break the demand of your blog.

1. Why are you redesigning?

Firstly, you need to be very clear that why you need a new outfit for your blog. It is important to have a focused list of your reasons and motivations, as they have important upshots on your readership.

While redesigning your blog ask yourself:

• To add some positive changes to make it look updated
• Either you want to correct mistakes you made with your previous design.

2. What is your blog about?

While working on a redesign, never forget what your blog aims to bring for the readers. The color scheme, page structure and other options should be designed according to the field your blog is dedicated to. If you want to have ads on the blog, keep it in mind before choosing the final design.

3. Who are the targeted readers/visitors?

During the design process, never loose your focus over the readers and visitors coming to your blog. Their requirements and suggestions will surely help you come up with something special and effective.

4. Which were successful aspects of the current design?

Most likely there are some things about the current design that work very well…don’t miss them. Incorporate these aspects into the new design, they will definitely add to the personality of your blog.

5. Which were useless features of the current design?

Study the characteristics of the design that do not accurately portray your business to new visitors. If they haven’t proved to be of any use uptil now…get rid of them.

6. Color scheme will continue or changed?

Sometimes we don’t want to make any major changes in our design but want to add a refreshing feel. At such times, changing the color scheme can help you accomplish your plan.

7. Does you blog logo need tweaking?

Most likely your blog must be having a logo of its own. See if you are well recognized through that symbol or a little bit of changes in it can make your presence felt more strongly. And if you never had a logo for your blog, this is the hightime to introduce one along with a new design.

8. How to make the blog more user-friendly?

Improving the functionality and usability of a website is always a good thing. It’s pointless to spend time and money on a redesign that looks great but simply isn’t user-friendly.

I must say, a redesign can be anything from a minor facelift to an entirely different look, but the questions I mentioned above should be considered in any case.

Recently, when I decided to get my blog redesign, these were the guidelines I followed and thinking of sharing with you all. I am not certain if I have been successful enough to come up with a good redesign but your suggestions and ideas will surely help me improve my design.

Do keep adding to the list, as there are lots more things need to be pondered before a blog redesign.

Wish you all the luck for your venture!!