The Big Impact: The Wrap-Up

Welcome to our series on making small changes that are guaranteed to help level up your blog's look. Every other week we’ll debut a new post, profiling some great blogs for inspiration that employ Typepad's built-in features. We'll also offer up tips and tricks that can help improve your blog's appeal, gain new readers, and build a more engaged community. Check out our other posts in the series here!

Over the last several months we've been giving you information on how you can make on small changes to your blog that can have a big impact.  Let's recap what we've talked about to help make your blog really stand out!

To start, we highlighted two bloggers who take advantage of Typepad's built-in design features by using the Theme Builder, custom banners, and Sidebar elements in creative ways. 

Second Story Window is a brightly designed blog by Heidi and Emily that really showcases their love of teaching. Leigh-Ann is the blogger behind Freckled Nest, which is a clean, modern design.

Next up, we discussed how sidebar header images can really take your blog to the next level.  For example check out how Violet Short's blog Blythe Ponytail Parades makes stunning use of these images.

Navigation bars are often overlooked, but since they're at the top of your blog, they provide an immediate way of grabbing your readers' attention.  Imagine Childhood knocks this out of the park with their amazing welcome banner design.

Landing pages were the next topic we covered. If you choose to use one of these, this is the first thing that your readers will see, allowing you to give them important information like a special message for them, store hours, a way to contact you, and more. It can be an incredibly useful - and easy - way to get vital information out there first thing.

Triline Sports is a great example of how to create a bold, compelling landing page.

Finally, we covered Responsive design, specifically three designs using the Snap theme that we worked on through our Typepad Blog Services.  In case you're wondering what we mean by a Responsive design, this simply means that your blog will look good on all devices, whether this is a traditional computer or laptop or a mobile device like an iPhone or an iPad.

Just look how great Diane Sammat's site looks on the Responsive Snap theme:

If you've recently received an email from Google about their policies mobile-friendly designs, our responsive design offerings can have a huge impact on the look of your blog while meeting those mobile requirements at the same time. That's two birds with one stone!

As you can see, Typepad offers a large number of features that are simple to use but pay off hugely on your blog.  Have you implemented any of these suggestions?  We'd love to see what your blog looks like!  Leave your URL in the comments!