Can you remember when you launched your very first blog?

It was a time of great excitement. A time when everything was so new and there were shiny objects everywhere and you wanted to come out like gangbusters.

I had a test blog back then that was overpopulated with widgets and ads, even an iPod at the bottom of one sidebar (as if someone was going to be around long enough to see it).

From a functionality stand-point, it was a nightmare. Too many distractions to even see the content.

I still see many blog designs that are kinda out there, and I’ve developed a serious eye for spotting all sorts of no-nos. Not to be critical of someone’s blog, but as part of how I’ve grown in the blogosphere. You learn what not to do, naturally.

It’s like growing up; you become very familiar with the area and know all the main hangouts and what you shouldn’t do.

Below I have listed 15 blog design mistakes to avoid and while there are plenty more, this is a good starting point.

Identity crisis

When your first visitor arrives they should be able to fully understand what your site is about within seconds. If this takes too long to figure out, it’s game over!

Keep the design relatively simple and don’t provide too much eye candy. You’re trying to get your articles read so keep the focus there.

Navigation

Remember when websites had top and side navigation systems. Pretty redundant and a waste of valuable space.  Besides, you don’t want to provide too much encouragement to start clicking around. I always thought two nav bars was confusing.

Text links

Keep all of your text links one color, don’t get fancy. Be certain that the clicked links become another color. These actually provide the reader with a reference in terms of where they’ve been.

Mystery links

Don’t you hate it when links don’t tell you where they’re going? People want to know their destination. Prefacing the link with a text description is the least you can do.

Spell check please

What can you say? It’s pretty embarrassing when you find one of those on your blog. Let’s hope it’s embedded in the content where it may pass the scanning eye of the reader.

With all of the tools available for handling text, you’d think this wouldn’t even be a problem. But we all know better, it happens. Read before and after posting.

The sound of music

Forget about it, nobody wants to hear what you’re listening to. Plus, it’s intrusive. Your visitor may be at work. Leave the music to videos and audio where it is expected.

The hidden RSS

There are still many blogs with RSS buttons hidden below the fold (that area that you have to scan down to see), or otherwise placed in hard to find locations. You want this seen early and it should be in plain sight.

Who’s there?

Man, there are a lot of blogs with no biographies leaving you to wonder who is behind them. “Who’s that man behind the curtain?” (or woman). As part of the online identity and branding process, people have to know something about you.

Calendar

Other than showing what days have posts, were they ever effective for navigation? Save the space for something else. You can set your post to display the publishing date if you choose. Let that calendar pass into history.

Too much color

Maintain some white space to keep a balance for the colors in your theme. There are themes without the color white, but be certain that they only have a couple of shades of a similar color. You don’t want to be LOUD.

Cluttered sidebars

This can be a major distraction and something to experiment with. Some blogs have quite a few ads located in the sidebar, and for some reason don’t overpower, while others just plain annoy. With numerous ads they must be perfectly aligned and uniform.

Tag clouds

Maybe they have a purpose somewhere; I’ve just never been a fan of them. Something bothers me about a ball of words floating around.

Large paragraphs

Text that runs on and on for many sentences is hard to read and will likely not to be read at all. Try to obtain some even spacing with your text so that the reader can scan through, which is all most really intend to do anyway.

Inconsistent posting

Unless you have a hobby blog, you need to post 3 to 6 times weekly. Whatever number you settle on, maintain that throughout the life of the blog.

No contact info

Sounds simple, but many blogs have no means to contact the owner other than leaving a comment. Provide some information like an email address you check regularly or a link leading to your social networking profile. You never know when someone will reach out to you.

These are only some of the many blog design mistakes that are made on a daily basis, with many more being discovered everyday.

Have I missed any that you would like to add to the listing?