While I was setting up my NaBloPoMo-page for this year (new design, new links, … blabla), I saw the link for the “randomizer” in the toolbar.
You know, the randomizer was a pretty neat feature last year, because it would randomly (ah! see the connection?!) take you to blogs of that year’s NaBloPoMo-participants. It’s always nice to check out new blogs and meet new people! For some reason, the randomizer is kind of broken… but I am hoping it’ll get fixed.
One thing I realized was that the first impression of a blog really makes it or breaks it for me. If the font is too small or too big, the layout to messy or the color/design is not easy on the eye, I instantly move on to the next one. I know that is totally unfair to the particular blogger, because I might miss out on meeting and reading about a really neat person, but – as always in life – the first impression really matters.
I am constantly looking for new blog themes, because I get bored fairly quickly by my own layout, but I seem to stick with the same style overall. I do not like very bright colors, I absolutely prefer “Verdana” as a font and I am not a big fan of “very busy backgrounds”. They distract me.
Do you want to know what I also find really annoying? If the layout doesn’t have a fixed width and the blog post goes across the whole screen. Maybe I am just really picky (and that could totally be the case), but please tell me it is not just me.
Do you feel the same way about blog layouts? What makes you “click on” or stay on a website?
Viviane
November 2, 2008 at 11:09 amYeah, I must admit, I do also ‘judge’ blogs quickly like that, particularly if I find them randomly like with the randomizer.
Cathy
November 2, 2008 at 3:54 pmNot a huge blogger but easy to read is important – like the ones with dark coloured backgrounds and black writing just hurts my eyes and I cant be bothered…. I always love your layout thou sis :-) miss ya
Maribeth
November 2, 2008 at 4:34 pmYes, I hate it when I cannot read blogs because the fonts are too small or I click on one and get assaulted with music not to my taste. Then I tend not to go back.
christina ina
November 2, 2008 at 9:18 pmI don’t really care for blogs that play music… reminds me too much of MySpace. And I don’t really care for ones that have a buttload of ads or too many sidebar items.
Marianne
November 3, 2008 at 2:03 amI don’t really care about the layout – mostly because I read all my blogs in rss-reader.
If I enter and I find the blogs posts interesting,I’ll just add it to bloglines and I’m never entering the blog again unless I want to leave a comment.
:-)