Comments on: DOS and DON’TS – Blog Branding

By: Signature Colours » Inspiration Bit

Signature Colours » Inspiration Bit — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:36:24 +0000

[...] it stand out, be unique, instantly recognizable, build a fan base? One of the answers to that is building a successful brand. However achieving that success is not such an easy [...]

By: Ashfame

Ashfame — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:57:46 +0000

Hi. You got a good write up. I enjoyed it. I would like you to take a look at my post regarding promotion of brand name in college. http://blog.ashfame.com/2008/0.....lus1-ways/

By: A Bit Of Literature - Quality » Inspiration Bit

A Bit Of Literature - Quality » Inspiration Bit — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:35:35 +0000

[...] week’s post on DOs and DON’Ts of Branding has triggered a discussion about the content’s quality being more important than branding if [...]

By: Vivien

Vivien — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:00:19 +0000

ok, guys, I’ve updated the look of the Share This link, made it more visible. What do you think of it now?
Thanks Lauren and Johno.
I haven’t yet decided on what I’ll use for social networking, I think I’ll stick to Share this plugin, just style it to suit the new design.

you’re welcome, John. It is interesting to read about bloggers’ past, and find out how they got hooked on blogging.

By: johno

johno — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:55:36 +0000

Thanks for the Darren Rowse Minister link–a very interesting read. I hadn’t noticed the ’share this’ link either. I was also worried that when I clicked it, I’d be taken to another page. Anyway, I know now:)

By: LaurenMarie - Creative Curio

LaurenMarie - Creative Curio — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:59:39 +0000

Haha, yes I think you should make the Share This more visible! I think it’s because your blog is green and grey and the button and link are also green that it get skipped right over! Now that I’ve been noticing the way other blogs have social media links on their sites, I think the Share This plugin is good, but I find myself also looking for the del.icio.us and SU logos. With my redesign I’m planning to have a handful of the popular sites’ logos and then the Share This plugin to get the rest.

You said some great stuff in your response to David above. You expanded on what I was thinking and didn’t quite say.

I think one redesign every couple years is appropriate, but some people do it ever other month! It’s confusing to come back to their blog because I wonder if I’m where I wanted to be. A logo (like your bIt) would greatly help with this; it’s important for visitors to see something familiar so they know they’re in the right place.

By: Vivien

Vivien — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:12:40 +0000

oh, almost forgot – Lauren, I do have Share This plugin installed and the link is right below the article. But I guess I have to make it more visible, eh? ;-)

By: Vivien

Vivien — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:56:39 +0000

Thanks, David.
I think that the minute we make our blogs accessible to public, we inadvertently start the branding process. We can’t escape from it. The only difference is that some are really great at branding, others are not so much, and with this article I tried to see a bigger picture of what are the components of a successful brand, so we can all learn from it and polish our brand image.

Lauren, you’re spot on the inconsistencies in the brand image with your example of sites that are going through too many re-designs.
In my case, I’ll be drastically changing the visual image of this blog’s design – different colours, fonts, layout, logo, but after I’m done with the re-design that I’ll be happy with, I won’t be re-designing the site any time soon, and I’ll definitely be carrying one or two elements of the new design over to the next stage.

Peter, your blog case is special indeed. Like you said – it’s more of a repository of useful tips than a blog. But then, you too have already built a small brand for yourself – don’t expect regular posting from me, whenever I have some useful tips for you, I’ll post them. You do have quite a big traffic coming to your blog, but the audience who visit your site is different all the time.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:01:30 +0000

“Do you really think that all it takes is to have a high quality product and the customers will flock to it?”

The answer in some cases might actually be yes. I don’t really worry much about attracting regular readers on my blog. I think they might be frustrated to see the randomness of my topics.

Over 90% of my total traffic comes from Google searches due to the nature of my posts. The main focus in my case is to make that one random visit worth someone’s time. But maybe my blog isn’t really a blog since it’s more of a repository of hopefully useful tips.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:27:32 +0000

I’m with you there, Lauren.

I see quite a few blogs redesign over and over, and it makes me wonder if it’s the same place when I return.