Blog Software

How Do I Get A Unique Design For My Blog?

Question: How do I get a unique design for my blog without paying a lot of money?

Many people start off writing a blog because of “easy money” and the allure of making money online and avoiding the day-to-day struggles in the corporate world. But make no mistake, deciding to make a living from a blog is just as intense as starting a traditional business. The good news is you don’t have to jump in all at once, you can ease into it and grow.

For a traditional franchise, you would look at a franchise fee and then a start-up fee, many times in excess of $250,000 and up. By thinking of a blog as a business, you will soon realize that having a good-looking, professional blog is definitely worth $500-$5,000 for a unique design.

But if you are just getting started, and want a unique look without the unique price, there are templates available for wordpress and other popular blogging platforms that are pre-made, and available to purchase.

These templates usually come “out of the box” ready to upload to your site, but you can also customize them to meet your needs. In fact, the templates featured here on asktheblogger.com over the years were purchased and modified. Paying a designer or company to customized a WordPress template is most of the time a lot cheaper than commissioning one from scratch.

The following are some of the most popular template sites:

Templatic

Templatic hosts a wealth of Premium WordPress themes, including the popular Consultant theme popular with many bloggers and speakers. You can purchase themes either one-by-one or the entire suite of themes for $299.
Templatic Premium WordPress Themes

Studiopress

Studiopress templates are not only premium WordPress themes, but an entire framework as well. Their templates are built on the framework called Genesis and are easily customizable. You can purchase themes one by one, as well as an entire developer package with an unlimited license for $249.
Get Genesis with StudioPress

Template Monster

Template Monster is one of the oldest and largest HTML and WordPress theme galleries around. They also have themes for just about every web application/CMS you can think of. You can spend hours going through the themes. Their themes are available for download and use, and you can pay a premium to remove it from the sale to the general public and make it exclusively yours. (except for the ones that have already been downloaded of course.)
View Template Monster Themes

Be sure to read the terms and conditions of themes and templates before you buy. Template right vary to one-time installations to developer (multiple) installations.

Check back soon for a guide to custom WordPress developers.

How Often Should I Change My Blog Layout?

By Christian

Visitors to your blog decide to stay or leave within seconds of arriving at your blog. Your blog’s layout is one of your biggest and most visible decisions you will ever make, so be sure to make the decision wisely when it comes time to decide whether to change it or not.

The most basic of questions you should ask yourself is: Does it really need to change? Just because your favorite theme developer comes out with a new theme, does not mean your blog needs to switch to it. Nor do you have to change the look and feel of your blog just because it has been 6 months since you have changed it. Some of the best websites and blogs haven’t changed their look in years.

Your blog is about the content.

So when do you change the look and feel of your blog? There is no hard and fast answer, unfortunately. One answer is whenever you add something “major” to your blog such as a new service or feature you want to heavily promote. Even then, you might decide to only create pages for that new section rather than redesign your site.

I admit, I used to try new themes every few months. Now, I have a different approach. First, I find a theme I think will fit the site for the next year or two, install it, and make the necessary modifications to it so it comes as close to my current “ideal” as possible. Later, once the blog is established and is generating content, I do a complete analysis of top pages and readjust that theme, making tweaks here and there. Once the site is becoming more and more active, with more visitors, then and only then, do I look to see if there is a better theme that would help my visitors, or I commission a custom theme.

Changing your theme, even if to a better one will be a definite change for your readers, and some people simply do not like change. Grow your site, grow your content and change the look and feel of your site only when necessary.

How Can I Blog On My iPad?

By Christian

Blogging on your iPad can be done in several different ways. The three basic ways to blog from your iPad include using Safari to open up your blog through the web browser, using the WordPress app (if you are on a hosted or standalone wordpress app) or using your blogs email features to write a blog post through email.

The most common way to write a blog post is to use Safari to simply open up your blog’s control panel like you normally would do on a computer with Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer or any other browser. You can access all the functions of your blogging platform through the web browser like normal.

If you have a hosted WordPress (wordpress.com) or a standalone WordPress installation, you can download and install the WordPress App from the iTunes store. While there are some bugs in the app (one that keeps popping up for me is a scrolling issue), it is an efficient editor. If you are writing blog posts to post later, be sure to set the post status to “Draft” instead of “Local Draft” or you won’t be able to access it on your blog later – it will only be on the iPad.

The third way is to use an email->blog function of WordPress or your blogging software. By configuring the settings, you can set WordPress to check a POP mailbox for blog posts, so you can simply send an email on your iPad, phone, or anywhere and it will automatically post to your blog. We’ll cover setting this up in another Q&A this coming week.

Using these three methods, your iPad can become a powerful blogging tool. You can also use any text application to edit your post before publishing, to do spell check and other fine tuning. I took only my iPad to BlogWorld Expo and it was light and easy to post updates with.

Happy blogging!

How do I move my blog from Blogger.com to WordPress?

By Christian

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Question: I’m tired of using Blogger.com, how do I move it to WordPress?

Blogger is somewhat like a beginner’s stepping stone for most bloggers. Usually the next step is moving on over to WordPress. Moving your Blogger blog to WordPress only takes just a few simple steps. Your new blog can be on WordPress in just about 10-15 minutes.

Steps:

1. Log into your WordPress account. If you do not already have a WordPress account, you will need to create one by registering.

2. Once you have logged in or created an account, click on the dashboard option.

3. Then click on “tools.” Choose “import.”

4. Select the blog from your Blogger account that you want to import and then click “import.”

5. After your blog has imported all of the posts and comments, click on the “my blog” tab to view your new blog at WordPress. You should now see your old Blogger blog now being displayed in WordPress.