Tip #4 Aim Your Look, Feel, and Content at Your Target Audience

The single greatest thing you can do is to keep your target audience in mind as you create content for your blog. When you write, use words and language that match up with the words and language your target audience uses. When citing examples or linking to other websites, select examples and sites that your target audience will also enjoy. While a smooth interface is nice, content is what keeps readers coming back.

Next, select a font that you believe will look appropriate to your audience. If your target demographic is a bit older, you might want to choose larger font sizes and easily readable fonts. If your target audience is more artistic that the average reader, choose nice cursive fonts or stylized colors to better capture their interest.

The last element you should work with is the graphical interface. This is the trickiest thing to get right and it might take months of small modifications and tweaks to get it just right. There are a couple basic things you should address in the beginning with great care and avoid changing at nearly all costs.

Your Avatar. An Avatar is a small, square graphic that will eventually become synonymous with your name and your blog. My avatar is a chromed letter T in a white background. As I surf the blogosphere and comment on blogs here and there, my T is left behind almost like a signature to tell people I was there. Just as a company uses a logo to create brand identity for their products, your avatar will create brand recognition for what your blog stands for.

Your Header. The top portion of most blogs consists of a header. The header is a piece of text or a graphic that lets the reader know they are in the right place. Your header can be as simple as a title and a tagline (the WordPress default) or as complex as a completely redesigned image. If possible, attempt to include your avatar in some way in your header. The header will be repeated on every page throughout your blog, so you definitely want this to look good and speak to your target audience.

Now that you have the look and feel of your blog encapsulated, it is time to look into adding some plugins to your CMS. Plugins are small bits of code that will modify the way your blog works in various ways. Plugins are great because you do not have to know anything about coding to install one and achieve a dramatic customization effect on your blog.

Next Tip – The 5 Plugins You MUST Have For your Blog!