Many new bloggers, having just installed a fresh blog, go about the difficult and time-consuming task of selecting a theme.  Many begin a simple search on Google, and quickly settle on a theme that is generally pleasing to the eye.  But is this the best way to choose a design? 

What many bloggers fail to realize is that design is a critical aspect of building a successful blog, and can make or break your efforts.  The right design can go a long way towards creating a stable and sustainable readership and greatly lend to your blog's potential as a source of income.  The wrong design will drive visitors away. 

Blog Design Factors to Consider  

• Credibility - How reliable you are and how much your readers trust you will be strongly influenced by your blog's design.  Bloggers who have poor design sense, or use too-saturated amateur themes, may turn off readers.  A good design communicates that you're serious about the subject matter. 

• Readability - Your blog's design also needs to take typography into consideration.  Poor typographical decisions, such as too-small text, the use of obscure, hard-to-make-out fonts, or overly colorful font colors can lead to reader eye fatigue.  

• Prestige - Should you select the free theme that everyone else is using?  Or should you spring for a professionally designed theme?  Believe it or not, your readers do notice when a theme is unique.  If you're using your blog to leverage the sale of a service or product, a free theme could call your commitment and professionalism into question.  

• Attracting Links - Other bloggers pay attention to how your site is designed.  A great design is easy to link to, because it's clear that you care about the image you set forth - after all, your blog impacts their credibility.  Your peers may be hesitant to send traffic to a site that looks like it came from the Dark Ages.  

• SEO - Poor design, page errors, and disregard for web standards can not only turn readers away, but search engine spiders too.  Having a well-designed blog makes it easier for search engine optimization, as web crawlers will have an easier time understand the content of your page.  Good design lends to improved search engine indexing.  

• Commenting - Readers are more likely to contribute to a discussion if your site is visually appealing, and they can also be put off if your commenting system is poorly laid out and hard to understand. 

• Branding & Recognizability - Again, if you're planning on monetizing your blog, your brand is very important.  A haphazardly crafted brand is not nearly as effective as one that is carefully planned.  Your blog's design is critical to your branding efforts.  

• Functionality - This one is simple: if your blog's design is mediocre enough to impact functionality, visitors will quickly click away.  Blog readers are notoriously fickle, and anything that turns them off is good enough reason to leave.  

• Control - A good design will give you a lot of control over how to display your blog's content.  This goes beyond typography.  Your blog's design will impact how media is added to posts, such as videos and pictures, which has definite repercussions if you're attempting to earn income from your blog. 

What are your blog's goals?

Hopefully you've set out to do more than look cooler than other bloggers.  What is the point of your blog?  Are you using it to demonstrate your expertise in a particular field?  Are you using your blog to generate income?  Is your blog meant to improve people's lives, or teach them new techniques or strategies for success? 

No matter what your goals, blog design is supremely important.  Your blog's success hinges on your ability to attract and maintain readers.  Keep in mind that the first thing most readers will see is not your interesting, engaging content, but rather the overall visual appeal of your site.  Visitors are constantly asking the question, "Is this what I'm looking for?  Is there anything good here?"  A good design will encourage readers to delve deeper into your blog's content.