10 Best Blog Design Ideas + Rules of Good Blog Design

There are over 1.9 billion websites out there, and about 600 million of them are blogs. So, if you want to make sure your content reaches the right audience, writing skills aren’t enough. Discover how to create a visually appealing blog design and how this affects your blogging efforts.

From interior design blogs, to creative literary blogs, there’s a blog out there for just about any interest or niche.

We’ve scoured the Internet for some of the best designed blog sites.

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1. Notion

If you’re a fan of minimalist design, Notion’s blog is the one to check out. 

It has a crisp layout, with lots of white space providing for a pleasant reading experience. They also stay on brand by using black and white illustrations for certain covers, as well as author avatars.

A simple side navigation menu allows you to find a topic you’re interested in. If blogging is not your main area of work, it’s good to keep topics limited and stick to those closest to your target audience. 

2. Hubspot

If you work in marketing, there’s a good chance you’ve already skimmed through one of Hubspot’s informative blog posts today. 

Of course the main reason why this site is the go-to for all marketers is thanks to the quality of information. Still, having stellar blog design also helps.

From beautiful custom covers to the layout of the blog homepage - this site does everything right. Although they cover a lot of diverse topics, the content is neatly organized by type (blogs, videos, podcasts) and topics (marketing, sales, website, AI), helping users find what they’re looking for.

If we zoom in on a specific blog post, you’ll also notice this site is optimized for a great reader experience. The text is centrally aligned, which allows for faster reading and easier navigation (your eyes don’t have to travel from one end of the screen to the next).

They also break the text regularly with videos, infographics, and sometimes quotes that highlight the key points. Of course, everything is designed to fit their recognizable brand identity!

3. Pinch of Yum

With diverse and colorful food photos, it’s very easy to make a cooking blog design seem cluttered. One website that manages to avoid this is Pinch of Yum. With carefully curated photography, excellent font pairings (serif, sans, and script), as well as excellent navigation this blog site is a dream come true for any foodie. 

Social media integrations are very important for any blog, as this encourages social media sharing. With cooking and fashion blogs, a Pinterest button is a must, as many people will use this to save recipes and ideas for later.

4. Good On You

‍Good On You is a website and an app that helps you discover how sustainable fashion and beauty brands are, as well as find better alternatives.As you’d expect their blog design isn’t quite everyday either. They opt for simple photos, meant to showcase brands and products in the most honest light. The light gray background is a great choice for this brand, as it’s a lot more “organic” looking than plain white.

5. The Verge

Dark mode is one of the biggest web design trends currently. And The Verge is one of many examples of what a powerful design decision this can be. Dark mode helps to strain eyes a bit less, so it makes for a great blog design choice. It’s also 

On top of that, they amp up the user experience by using different color schemes for each blog page. It’s a simple detail, but one that really helps to encourage users to browse through your blog content, which helps to lower bounce rates.

6. The Great Discontent

A blog landing page with virtually no words at all?This creative idea makes the Great Discontent one of the best blog site designs out there.As you land on their site, you’ll see a gallery of striking photographs of people interviewed for this online publication. By hovering over each photo, you’ll get a quick snippet of what the piece is about. The images are also different sizes, which makes the site experience all the more dramatic.

7. Booooooom

As you might expect from a visual arts blog, Booooooom feels like stepping inside a trendy gallery. It has a fairly simple blog layout, with a featured piece at the top and all the other stories in neat rows below. However, the design of the thumbnails really helps to make this a memorable experience.

Lots of white space is a must for a visually dense blog site design like this, and Booooooom  nails it too. 

8. Smashing Magazine

Here’s another great example of a blog designed to succeed online. Aside from SEO best practices, such as using keywords for blog content filters, it also uses design to excel its online presence.Highlighted quotes are a great way to help Google crawl your website better and show your content at the top of the results. Using diverse media, such as images and embedded videos helps to give your site credibility and provide readers with information fast.

Another thing you can learn from Smashing Magazine is to keep close to your target audience. This blog is aimed at website designers and developers. So, instead of artsy graphics, it’s packed with real-life examples and information these experts would want to see.It also doesn’t shy away from longform content and lengthy chunks of text. A hobbyist might not bother to read, but experts looking for real information and guidance will surely spend a decent amount of time on this blog site.  

9. Shillington Education

The number one site to learn about graphic design (with our own design blog at a close second😉) is Shillington Education. High-quality images, animations, bold fonts, and striking contrasts - there are so many design elements on this blog site that draw attention. Still, the site doesn’t feel too busy or overwhelming.

This blog design example also highlights the importance of hiring a web designer, as they’ll be able to implement any creative idea you might have. 

10. Mailchimp

Mailchimp definitely has one of my all-time favorite visual identity designs. Incidentally, they also have one of the best blog designs out there.

The secret? A strong sense of brand identity. Using their signature serif fonts and cute illustrations makes the brand instantly recognizable. A crisp layout, simple menu with a search bar, will encourage anyone to browse through this cute and informative blog.

7 Rules of good blog design

We hope these 10 best blog designs gave you some good ideas on what your own blog site should look like. If you’re planning to use a blog maker to create it, here are 10 must-follow design rules. 

1. Include a search bar

A search bar is one of the most vital elements of good blog design. If you’re lucky enough to get people even a little bit interested in what you’re writing about, they’ll probably use the search bar to find a specific topic. 

You’ll need the help of a web developer to ensure a search function works properly (e.g. it recognizes certain sets of keywords not just the exact search query).

2. Organize content

Similarly, if your content is all over the place, few people will bother wading through it to find what they’re looking for.

Use subtopics and filters to help people navigate through your website easily. 

3. Use high-quality images

I’m sure the above best blog design examples have convinced you just how important the visual aspect is. If your blog is closely related to photography (e.g. fashion, food, interior design), opt for original photos created by a professional photographer.

Otherwise, custom graphics are the best. Not only are they more interesting, they can also help you strengthen a sense of brand identity, by using similar colors, styles, and design elements across the board.

4. Include a call to action

At the end of the day, most blogs don’t exist merely to entertain. Lots of businesses use them for lead generation, so a newsletter sign up button is always advisable.

You can also use different calls to action, e.g. something directly promoting your products or services. However, you should avoid coming across as too promotional -  if your blog is doing 

5. Focus on readability

As a general rule of thumb, you should avoid serif fonts for body text, and opt for more legible sans serifs. There are exceptions to this rule. Still, you should always strive to make the reading experience as effortless as possible. 

Keep text centered, use lots of white space, and use a comfortable font size with generous spacing between paragraphs. Breaking the text up with images, videos, or quotes also helps with readability and allows users to skim read for vital information.

6. Use consistent branding

If you’re versed in SEO and skilled in creating informative content your blog could show up at the top of the SERP results. As a result, your blog is often the first point of contact for potential clients.

Make a powerful first impression and help them remember your brand by using consistent design (color scheme, fonts, images, illustrations, etc.)

7. Don’t neglect SEO

Speaking of SERP results - search engine optimization (SEO) plays a vital role here. Make sure your content is using the right keywords (but beware of keyword stuffing). Use the right meta data for each blog post and alt text for your images.

SEO is also closely related to design, so you should ensure all your images and media are optimized for web use and fast loading. 

Final remarks

So now you’re ready to find a blog design template and set yourself up for success. 

There are undoubtedly many awesome blog design templates, available from popular website builder sites. And yet, creating a high-quality blog design this way is harder than it looks.

It might take you hours or even days to find the right template. On top of that, be prepared to work tirelessly to fully customize it. If you have zero design skills or experience, this might prove to be an impossible task.

For a fast, cost-effective solution, be sure to check out our unlimited web design services. Get a custom blog design, and all the other elements and graphics you could possibly need. 

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Don’t slow down your blogging efforts every time you need a cover or blog graphic. Get started today with unlimited design services for as low as $549 a month!