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This post continues where I left off a few weeks ago with my blog design series and how to deal with geeks and techies in plain English so they understand exactly what you mean and you get exactly what you want.
If you missed the beginning of this series, before reading this post you should take a look at...
- Blog Design 101 intro and basics
- Blog Design: things you should know before spending any $$$ good & bad news about free themes
- Blog Design: the next step overview of free themes from respected blog designers
- Blog Design: premium themes a look at premium themes in various price ranges
As I said in Blog Design 101, the biggest problem most people have in dealing with techies and geeks is that sometimes we don't speak the same language. What one person might call "the links on the right" we might call a sidebar.
So before I get into how much a blog can be pimped, rearranged or customized, I thought it would be a good idea to go over the anatomy of a blog so the next time you're speaking with a geek, a techie or a blog designer, you'll both be talking about the same thing in the same language.
Kubrick is the default theme that comes with Wordpress, When Wordpress in installed on a web host, this is the theme you'll see. I know it looks kind of plain and simple but when customized, Kubrick can be a hot, butt kicking, rock solid theme. It's the basis for many other popular Wordpress themes and in the coming weeks, I'll show you some of the very cool things that can be done with it.
The first and most basic step in getting what you want from a blog designer is to know what parts of the blog can be changed or customized and what these parts are called. The reality is that pretty much anything and everything you see can be pimped with color, graphics, etc...
The blog itself is like a skeleton that includes the general layout and the underlying code that manages the content (posts).
The theme is like clothing, it sits on top of the blog skeleton and gives a blog it's unique look. Here are the major parts...
The Body
The body... includes everything you see on the screen, the background, the links, the posts/content, the images, etc... EVERYTHING!
The Page
Within the body of the blog are a variety of elements. The largest element is the page. The page contains or includes various smaller elements called the header, the post, the sidebar and the footer.
The Header
The header is the section at the top of the blog which can contain either an image, text or both. This is probably the simplest, quickest and most affordable way to give your blog (even a free theme) a totally unique look.
It's usually the largest graphic in the blog and can be used as a logo, a background for the header text or you can have the text designed into the graphic itself and keep the Wordpress text invisible to your readers but visible to search engines. More about that in a future post.
The Post
The post... this is your content. You can add text, graphics and links. It's the meat of your blog. No matter how good your blog looks, without great content written for a targeted readership, all the customizing in the world won't help.
The first thing I ask my clients before I design or customize anything is... what is your blog about and who will you be talking to. This is the most important question you can ask yourself before getting a blog designed. I'm surprised at how many people can't answer that question in simple, specific terms.
Saying that the blog will be about real estate or marketing is much too general. If you want to attract a readership and keep them coming back, you have to be targeted, specific, unique, interesting, interactive and focused. There is too much competition for attention on the web to be just another blog. More about this in a future post as well.
The Sidebar
The sidebar is basically the navigation for your blog. It can include everything from categories and pages like "about me" and "contact info" to blogrolls with links to your other sites, blogs or even to other bloggers.
The Footer
The footer usually appears at the bottom of the blog, it's like a "credits" section that can include your copyright notice, the name and a link to the blog designer and whatever else you'd like to include.
These are the basic elements of a blog. There are many more but for now I want to stick to the basics so we're all using the same terminology that will get us through upcoming posts about customizing a blog.
I'll use some real world examples and might also take apart a generic blog like Kubrick to show you how dramatically a blog can be changed to look like a high priced custom design, without the high price.
Speaking of customizing blogs... if you missed it, a few days ago I added 9 new header graphics for Active Rain's outside blogs. Here's the link... Active Rain blog headers series 2
- Localism Introduction by Cheryl Johnson
- What Constitutes 'Approved' Content for Localism? by Rich Jacobson
- "LOCALISM FEATURED" and "MARKET REPORT FEATURED" by Rich Jacobson
- The Official ActiveRain Gathering at RE Connect - San Francisco by Brad Andersohn
- Featured in RE/MAX Times Online and congratulations to Steve Scheer
I know how difficult it is to get a new group off the ground so I thought I'd point out 3 interesting new groups started by William Johnson, Debra Brooks and Beth Patnode.
- Announcing the Internet Empowered Consumer Group Launch by William Johnson
- and Questions about the new Internet Empowered Consumer Group by William Johnson
- Diary of a Realtor an interesting new group/concept by Debra Brooks
- Facebook - the new AR Home Stager hang out a new staging group launched by Beth Patnode
Bryant Tutas
In his post SEO(Stuff Everyone Oughtaknow) made easy Bryant Tutas gives an excellent explanation of SEO from his point of view along with several examples of his site and blogs that show a solid, well thought out web presence.
If you're still having trouble getting your head around the concept of SEO(search engine optimization) for your real estate sites and blogs, this is an easy to follow, easy to understand overview with real life examples that will point you in the right direction.
Again this week there were several brave Rainers giving great examples of how to use video in blog posts. Here they are...
Brian Block
"You've Got Too Much To Juggle!" or Why You Need to Hire an Experienced REALTOR
Jeannette Neerpat
Trying to sell your home? My Declaration of Value
Midori Miller
Looking For A Daytona Beach Real Estate Agent? Midori Is Your Girl!
In no particular order, here are some of the best Active Rain marketing posts from this past week...
- Leaving No Blogger Behind in the Rain by Margaret Rome
- Your Newspaper Advertising is as useful as Screens on a Submarine by Jeremy Blanton
- You Spend WHAT On Marketing??? by Linda Scanlan
- Vehicle Marketing - tips and suggestions by Julie Dana
- I SOLD a House on Twitter! by Tina Merritt
- Spagetti Meatballs and Sauce - Getting Your Message Across by Kathy Clulow
- 12 'gotta have's' for Open House Tool Kit by Charlene Hammontree
- How to pick the right "Crop" for your Farm area by Desiree Daniels
- Omnipresent... Social Networking by Lane Bailey
- Understanding the Importance of Professional Attitudes Online by Sally Cheeseman
- No one cares about your business more than you do! by Loreena Yeo
- Assisting Clients With Uniques Needs and Requests by Cynthia Tilghman
- Get a WiKi - With Just One Clicky by Brad Andersohn
- Google Reader - Are You Using It? by Leesa Finley
- FREE TOOL ALERT: All -In -One Video Converting Tool by Laura Monroe
- What is Social Bookmarking and Why Do You Need It? by William Johnson
- iPhone: New Applications may help Realtors, Buyers & Sellers by Angie Goerski
- Creating Your Own Videos? Awesome Free Online Teleprompter by Chuck Willman
- Create Your Own Glossy Magazine- New low cost service by Chuck Willman
- Zillow Launches Free Co-Branding Tool - Sharing The Link Love! by Sara Bonert
- MORE Forrest Gump??? By popular Request... More Realtor Metaphors by Liz Moras
- IT'S A MORTGAGE MESS, NOT A REAL ESTATE MESS by Lenn Harley
- Tuesday Truths: Self Marketing or Brainwashing....your truth isn't my truth by Kathy McGraw
- Attitude in Today's Market by Pam Winterbauer
If you would like to participate in any of our upcoming marketing projects, branding partnerships or tutorials on creative ways to use new medias and technologies like widgets, etc... please subscribe to our blog using the button below...
For more info about how we can help you stand out from the crowd, contact GiselleStCyr@garaughty.com
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hi marti, as always a wealth of valuable information I'll be spending more hours pouring over. Thank you for taking the time to put it out for us all.