In business and life in general, first impressions are everything. A first impression defines how another party thinks of your and your business. Changing this impression is very difficult. Hence, it is easy to see why companies pay millions of dollars to make a great first impression. From glossy advertisements to modern office buildings, most companies spare little expense to showcase themselves to new clients and partners.

The same principles hold true in blogging. For a blog to succeed and build up a reader base, it must make a great first impression so that readers stick around. I recently made a guest post on this topic for Blogging Tips.

An excerpt from the article is below.

“Engaging Design

Design is a vital factor in determining how one perceives a blog. It is the first thing that new visitors see. There are thousands of amazing designs out there so take the time (or even spend the money) that it takes to get a great blog design.

Make the design unique if possible so it stands out in the blogosphere, but ensure that your design does not sacrifice functionality. Also, relate your blog’s design with your logo. This means similar colors, fonts, etc. This will come in handy with branding in your marketing efforts.

Avoid Advertising Overload

The last thing visitors want to see is a blog covered in advertisements. While advertising is a big part of the blogging industry, don’t clutter the look of your blog with ads. Try and keep the number of ad units you utilize to a minimum. I recommend no more than a header ad, an “in-post ad”, six 125×125 sidebar “box ads”, and a larger sidebar ad. Try to limit animation and avoid pop-ups, “game” ads, flashing “free iPod ads” and the likes at all times.”

You can read the full article at Blogging Tips.