How’s your head? Mine’s fine, thank you! A little bed-hairish, but not too scary, considering the early hour!
Now, how’s your blog’s head? The header is often the first element that readers see when they pop over to your blog. It’s pretty much the front door… or even the front garden to your spot on the internet, so you want to make sure it’s reflecting who you are and not looking a bit shabby around the edges.
Often our own graphic design skills (or lack thereof) can mean that we don’t really put our best foot forward in the header department. That’s a shame because headers really do matter. They can help convey your style and a little bit about the tone and relevance of your blog.
Not sure what constitutes a great header? Have a pop about and visit your favourite bloggers, to see how they do this header thing…
Not sure what you want in a header? Consult our previous lessons: your blog’s moodboard, fonts and colour scheme and see if they give you any clues. You can design your own header in Canva or Photoshop – or you can hire a designer via Etsy to shake things up for you (at a reasonable price) instead.
Remember if you are going to use a designer, it’s a great idea to brief them on your blog’s ideal feel and identity. Our lessons here so far will help with that! You also need to have the header created in a few sizes (a standard size, in case you switch themes at some point – I recommend 800px x 300px) and your blog’s actual current header size – both in high resolution.
In my opinion, good headers embody: simplicity, space for the eye to breathe, simple and legible fonts, a hint of what the blog’s all about. If you look at the headers below, I think you’d agree that most of them match their blog’s purpose and author really well.
Is your blog’s header doing that for you? Or do you want to tweak it? And do you need help?!
Which is your fave, amongst the headers below?
