Close Menu

Anatomy of a successful blog post design



Anatomy of a  successful blog post design | Spruce Rd.

Anatomy of a successful blog post design | Spruce Rd.

If you have been blogging a while, or are just starting a blog, you no doubt understand the importance of a quality designed blog post graphic. This blog post design, usually at the top of the page and the first image, provides a visual glimpse at what the blog post is about. Through my experience in blogging, I have found a few foundational elements that create a successful blog post design, to help you get noticed! I also provided a FREE cheat sheet at the bottom of this post, of my personal go-to for writing catchy copy, and brainstorming blog post ideas.

Here are a few essential elements:

Catchy title

Arguably the most important component of your blog post graphic is a catchy + informative title. What is your blog post about? Try to make it something enticing, that causes the viewer to want to learn more. Whether your audience views your recent post from Pinterest, Feedly, Bloglovin or any other social media, they typically see one image and decide within a few seconds if they want to read more. Spend a bit of time developing your blog post titles, to make them want to click through! I find that tutorials + tips are the way to my audience’s heart, am I right?

Hook / descriptor text

A lot of bloggers neglect a hook! The hook is the bit of descriptor text following the headline. Sometimes a blog post doesn’t necessarily lend itself to a hook (especially if it is graphic + illustrative in nature), but chances are you can utilize this copy to provide further insight into a future post. In the PDF, I will provide a few ideas to get your started!

Category

If you have a series on your blog, it might be a good idea to label each post with the category title. Some of my examples include “Lessons Learned”, “Blogging 101”, and “Branding Basics.” I haven’t seen too many other bloggers treating the graphic this way, but I thought it would be a good idea to visually connect each category so my readers immediately recognize the topic and build familiarity with it.

Categories are a great way to structure your blog, I highly recommend it! You can read more about this structure here.

Website

At the footer of each post, I always include my website. I do this not only to protect my images from being stolen + used by another person, but also to provide my website in case the image is somehow not linked. Say for example someone uploads the image to Pinterest, rather than pinning it from my site, and it doesn’t link to the blog post. It is an easy fix for the user to go to my site (listed on every image), and type in the title into my search bar.

The website also builds recognition. When designing my post graphics, I always think with Pinterest in mind. The Pinterest user does not see my post in context on my blog, they just see an image + caption copy from the original pinner. Once they see my site on the image, they will recognize the source and (hopefully) see that it is credible!

Branded elements

It is no secret that I am a fan of a strong + consistent brand! Blog post graphics are no exception. An essential component of a successful blog post graphic is to maintain consistent branding. Make sure to use the same color palette + typography treatment throughout all blog posts. Though you might be tempted to change your designs to follow a new trend or tip that you learned, I encourage you to hesitate before making that leap. Make sure you build a consistent image that is easily + instantly recognizable as uniquely you! If you want to take the leap to changing your branding, do so with intention and not a fleeting thought.

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Helena @ Grafitive

    Simple and perfect. Your blog posts are always on point! Also love the email opt-in, you’re going to see a huge spike from that, I’ve had a 430% spike in subscribers since offering freebies like that 😉

  2. Nakia Jones

    This post was very helpful. I’m preparing to launch my blog and this will help with the creating branded blog images. The one thing I do not have though is a branded element. I’m going to work on that because I think it makes posts more memorable like you stated. Thanks for this article, Jamie!!
    SN
    Your email opt-ins are so freaking helpful. Each post comes with an extra piece of awesome. And I didn’t know when I first signed up that’d I’d receive 3 part video series. It was very delightful. I hope to one day produce this type of great ad-ons.

  3. Designing Blog Post Templates | White Oak Creative

    […] and packages. Including this imagery in my graphics works out well. SpruceRd wrote a post on an anatomy of a blog post graphic which is useful, but it doesn’t apply to all types of templates. I’m trying to be more […]

  4. Caroline

    Awesome post! This was super helpful! I am always trying to make my blog graphics better, and think putting these tips into place will really be a game changer, thank you for sharing! 🙂
    xo Caroline
    http://www.calijaedesigns.com

    1. Jamie

      So glad it was helpful Caroline! Looking forward to seeing your updated blog post graphics 🙂

  5. Monica Galvan

    Beautiful graphic as always. Looking forward to the lunch + learn series! I’ll be there 🙂

    1. Jamie

      Thanks so much Monica! Looking forward to seeing you there!

  6. Christine

    Thank you, Jamie for these super helpful tips on design and content – and loved the bonus! Been wondering how to begin blogging – and these prompts provide a great start.

    1. Jamie

      So glad this was helpful for your Christine! First time doing a bonus on here, but I think it is helpful to have PDFs! I know I always appreciate them :).

  7. Shelby Johnson

    Hi Jamie! Found you through the lovely shelancers group, and I have been looking through your blog for hours! SO MUCH inspiring and helpful information, and I can’t thank you enough for sharing. I just signed up for tomorrow’s lunch and learn class, and I am really looking forward to it! So happy to have discovered you 🙂

    1. Jamie

      Hi Shelby! Isn’t the Shelancers group amazing? That community is so lovely. And thanks so much for the sweet comments about my blog! I try to provide helpful info, and a no-fluff approach :). Excited to see you tomorrow at the Lunch + Learn!

  8. Nora Conrad

    Simple and perfect. Your blog posts are always on point! Also love the email opt-in, you’re going to see a huge spike from that, I’ve had a 430% spike in subscribers since offering freebies like that 😉

    1. Jamie

      Thanks so much Nora! Good to hear about the opt-in… I am so slow to board that train, but hoping to make up for lost time! That is awesome… 430%! #impressed

  9. Holly

    Great post! I’m really trying extra hard with my blog post images, especially as I prepare to move my site over to Squarespace. These tips are awesome and I’ll be taking them all on board!
    P.S I love the yellow box 😉

    1. Jamie

      Haha that yellow box! Why didn’t I offer bonuses sooner?!? It totally makes sense 🙂 Can’t wait to see your fresh blog design Holly!

Free Training

Want zero-revisions with your design clients?

Snag our Zero-Revision Presentation Method to nail your next client project. In this quick 10-minute training you’ll see exactly what our client presentations look like, the scripts we use and more to cut down revisions!