customizing your blog

I am ready to help you customize your blog to fit your company’s graphic branding.

Let’s assume that you have bought my blog hosting package and hired me to set it up for you. I have installed wordpress and uploaded some great plugins for marketing and social media. I will also have installed the thesis theme on your blog, because this is a theme which is highly customizable and is also very search engine friendly. Now we are ready to customize your blog so that it reflects your graphic branding.

Here are some things for you to think about.

1. Colors and logo: Does your company already have a website? Does it have a logo and a graphic brand already? If so, please supply me with that information. If you are starting from scratch, please check out these resource pages that I have on color, because they will give you a head start choosing a color combination that you like. Make sure to use my color tester page, where you can input color codes and compare them as large blocks of color. It is easier to see what they are really going to look like. When you’ve found colors that you like, write down the hexadecimal code for them. (It starts with a pound sign and usually has 6 characters following). If you have a logo or graphic images that you want to incorporate into the graphic design of the blog, please gather those for me. Myfonts.com is a great place to test out your business name in different fonts – if you’re having a custom banner graphic created.
2. Number of columns: With the Thesis theme, your blog can be two column, three column or one column. You can have the main content on the left with two side bars to the right of it, the main content on the right with two side bars on the left of it, the main content in the middle with a side bar on each side, etc.. You have lots of options, so think about the type of content you want on the blog and what you might want to use the side columns for. If you are thinking of having ads on your site, like google ads, then you might want a three column layout, so that one column can be devoted to ads and sponsors.
3. Navigation: Thesis is very customizable. You can have the blog navigation above or below your banner, or we can create a separate navigation or html block above the banner or below it, or above your side bar (similar to this blog where I’ve set up a navigation at the top that is the same as my website navigation). Think about if you want all the links in the blog navigation to be interior links to pages in the blog, or if you want that navigation to link to a/your website outside the blog.
4. Blog or mini website?: Your blog’s home page doesn’t have to be your latest blog posts, you can treat a blog like a website and have the home page and top navigation link to static pages on your blog, with a blog tab at the top that opens to your posts, similar to the way the Chilmark Church is using their blog. I would only recommend this if the blog is going to be your main website. If you are advertising your blog as a blog, then people are expecting to land on a blog when they get to it.

I hope to be posting examples and video in the next few days, so please check back.

Click here to sign up for my RS3-blog hosting*, just 19.50/month (exclusive for goffgrafix.com clients)

Already have an RS3 hosting account with me? click here to upgrade to RS3-blog hosting*, just an additional 3.50/month.

*Please note, my blog hosting includes the installation of your word press blog with the thesis theme for just $40 (an $89 value) and some great plugins. It includes any updates to wordpress  that occur. It does not include customization of the blog or lessons on how to use it. Customization and email/phone support are billed separately.