The decision to change my blog from a traditional layout to magazine style was probably the most thoughtful decision I have made for this blog. My design is something that I weigh a lot of importance on, probably more than I should and for that, I had to ensure that with the idea of having a logo, I was going to find that “it” design for this blog.

In reality, I wanted to set something into concrete so that as I build my reputation and readers, my design is steady and the content continues to flow.

This thought made me hit the nail on the head.

In all prior designs it was my design that took center stage on my blog, not my content. And while a blogger has to believe that their own content is good, I was inadvertently putting more weight on my design than the content.

It was this realization that made me not only change my design but change to magazine style as well. So, with the research that I did in making this choice, I present to you my pros and cons list of using magazine style layout for your blog.

Pros

Feature More Posts

Hands down, number 1 on the list of pros. Instead of showing just my 3 most recent blog posts on the index page, it now displays 6 blog posts, an area about me, brief overview of advertising here, and information about my archives. Additionally, I’m able to feature my race for rank series.

Style

Each area also contains a corresponding image that represents the excerpt that’s shown for a particular area. From using web 2.0 icons to the images used in the post, there’s images related to each area.

Content Separation

Away from information about the most recent blog post, each area featured on the index page has its own area. For this the front page makes the blog feel more as though it’s a traditional website and not just a blog.

Custom

While everyone who has a custom blog design has a custom design, there’s something greatly more appealing and custom about the use of the magazine style layout. To me it shows thought, organization, and makes the blog slightly more unique.

Challenge

Because my most recent post is front and center on the index page, my post titles need to grab your attention to click through. This presented a challenge in how I present myself on a blogger and I liked the idea of this. Time will tell how I progress at capturing your attention with my post titles.

Cons

Navigation

This is probably the biggest issue I had and the number one reason why I hesitated in switching. When magazine WordPress themes first started coming out and being used I’d feel discouraged when I hit the blog and couldn’t find my way around.

Sidebar Space

Presuming that the index page is summed up with excerpts and minimal content, there wouldn’t be a lot of sidebar space. As a blogger with advertisements, it was vital that I create enough room to have my advertisements and my normal blogging information.

This issue was cleared up by changing which sidebar is shown based on what page you’re on within the site. If you’ll notice, the sidebar on the index page is not the same sidebar that is throughout the rest of the blog. By making this simple change, I was able to include some of the everyday things I enjoyed in my sidebar like the Top Commentator, Recent Articles, and Entrecard. All of which I did not feel the need to display on my index page.

Unique

Is magazine style still fresh, hip and unique or is it being over done? I wasn’t sure and with the growing popularity in magazine style themes, especially Revolution, I wondered if the concept was still unique. Ultimately, I decided that it was and that the content on the front page is what gave the blog the unique distinct style and not necessarily the actual formatting and layout of the template itself.

Questions

Once I decided that the magazine style layout was for me, I asked myself a few questions to get the most out of the new layout.

1. What did I want to display on the index page?
2. What was vital to have in my sidebar both on the index and on the rest of the site?
3. How would my visitors navigate around the site the best?
4. Did any additions need to be made for better functionality?
5. What are my visitors interested in based on my statistical data?
6. How will my layout be memorable and unique?

Final Thoughts

After answering these questions and working through my pros and cons list, I’m Blogging That landed with this new design. As you see, I put more thought into this layout than I ever have any other layout that came before. And while it doesn’t have as much ‘me’ in the design as the last one did, it’s still something I like very much and appeals to me.

Have you thought about switching the style of your blog or discovering something that works for you?