So you pump quality blog content, but do you inject some creativity into your blog posts and articles? Well, don’t overlook the importance of post design as it plays a highly supportive role to engage people’s attention when they visit your site. We’re putting this list to show how you can style your blog content to encourage readers to spend more time on your blog and come for more. Though being quite generic in style, these web designs do break the mold of the blogosphere with creative approach towards blog post styling, being themed specifically to the content. The question comes then, what can you do to make your blog more attractive?
What keeps hooked on the blog post content is a cleverly design arrangement of posts – readers can spot grid style layouts with posts being placed throughout, neat column styles, scattered designs, themed post styles or ones that have a latest post being prominently shown whereas previous posts are being visually shortened.
As for the lead images, they often go with borders or shadowing (that helps the image stand out from the page) and are placed at the top of the post content to break up text heavy pages and provide visual relief. Left sidebar layout with the text framing the image or just going side by side with it is also popular when the task is to enhance the appeal of a blog. Thus, the image doesn’t fight with the post for attention, but reinforces the message.
When it comes to the post titles, to make them stand out from the standard post content blog owners use larger fonts, often with some unique font styles being applied to them. Plus, we can see post images with overlapping titles, often done to communicate more than a plain title could do on its own. In this case, the post title and image work together with the goal of enticing the visitor to read the first line of the post. Sometimes blog posts can even come equipped with a drop cap style when the first letter of the paragraph is being dropped cap to immediately draw readers’ attention to the start of the post.
Right after the post title usually goes some meta data – date & time, author attribution (to establish a human connection), and a comment count, which are worked into the design so they don’t stick out. However the layout solution for a date might be truly creative. Overlapping the post image, showing from behind of the content area, being distinguished with colors, unusual light/shadow effects, textures, or forms, they do their best to attract attention. Besides, a nicely designed comments count can as well go a long way towards encouraging the visitor to proceed with a post reading and even leave a comment, so it also needs serious consideration.
At the end of each blog post, many blogs are including things like buttons and links for social media voting and promotion, categories and tags, and clickable calls-to-actions (often a prominent ‘read more’ or ‘continue reading’ permalink at the end of the excerpt – short text snippets of posts on the blog’s home page) that will encourage readers to go and read the post entry. By the way, the text snippet length and formatting should be carefully calculated not to overload the page.
So break free of the usual blog posts design mindset, still try implementing these aspects as they can definitely increase and retain traffic on your blog.
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Blog.ismaelburciaga.com
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Colorcubic.com
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Want to get some free bucks which you can spend on advertising your website? We will give you $100 in free Google advertising* under this new little promo that we’re launching. Just follow these simple steps and you can get Google AdWords promotional coupon for $100.
TemplateMonster now offers a 15% discount code for any VirtueMart, Magento, PrestaShop, osCommerce or Zen Cart purchase (active for 4 days – until Sunday, October 23rd). Those of you using this code in the shopping cart automatically enter the lottery, which will give you a chance to win one of five $100 Google AdWords Coupons that we have. So basically the conditions of entering are (1) buying one of the eCommerce templates from TemplateMonster from October 20th through October 23rd 2011 and (2) using the “100adwords” promocode during that eCommerce template purchase. So don’t forget to use the promocode if you want to enter, that’s important. That’s how we know if you want to enter the lottery or not. Then on Monday, October 24th we’ll take the list of all those who enter the lottery and will randomly pick the 5 lucky ones who’ll get the coupons.
Imagine what a great surprise it would be when one morning you’ll check your inbox and see that TemplateMonster has sent you $100 AdWords Coupon. You definitely better not let this opportunity pass you by and make sure to use a chance to save up to $30 on eCommerce template purchase and get a $100 Google AdWords Coupon.
Well, you may already be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for various advertising media. With Google AdWords you gain competitive advantage as Google will display your ads right next to keyword search results, bringing more customers to you. It is for sure a fastest way to bring a quality target traffic to a new online store.
Now you have less than four days to enter the lottery. Google Adwords coupons will be active until October 31st of this year. But note that these coupons can only be used by customers who have a billing address within North America. That is a strict rule of Google and we should follow it, there’s nothing we can do about it.
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So if you are ready to give it a try and win a free $100 Google AdWords Coupon, go ahead and buy the eCommerce template.
* Terms and Conditions Apply: Promotional credit must be applied to a new AdWords account within 15 days of creating the AdWords account and is valid only for new Google AdWords customers. Advertisers will be charged for all advertising that exceeds the promotional credit. Advertisers will need to suspend their ads at the time the promotional credit amount is met, if they do not wish to receive additional advertising charges. Offer subject to ad approval, valid registration, and acceptance of the Google AdWords Program standard terms and conditions. The promotional credit is non-transferable and may not be sold or bartered. Offer may be revoked at any time for any reason by Google Inc. One promotional credit per customer. Advertisers who choose prepay billing are subject to a $10 (CAD20) minimum prepayment fee before their account is activated. Any such prepay amount will be credited to Advertiser’s account once account is activated. Offer valid only for customers with billing address in the US or Canada. Offer void where prohibited by law.
Today’s big event is a new TemplateMonster’s discount promo that gives you a chance to save up to $1000 on any AfterEffects Logo Reveal buyout/unique order.
Simply use ‘aelogos50off’ promocode to get an awesome 50% discount on any AfterEffects Logo Reveal buyout/unique price
AfterEffect products hardly ever go on sale, so if you want some designs to jazz up your e-space with a fabulous motion graphics – be sure to take advantage of a new 50% OFF price for buyout/unique purchases and stock up prior than anyone else will do it. The AfterEffects Logo Reveals would be extremely useful for creating intros, magically animated website headers or the whole site backdrops. And now it’s all going to cost you far less!
The promo discount is however time-sensitive and will be valid starting today and until October 31st 2011 for any AfterEffects Logo Reveal (buyout/unique purchase only). Right now you can pick a template for yourself for a huge 50% discount over. But you’d better get in quick to choose the design that will add a touch of Hollywood to your site! Because once your AfterEffects Logo Reveal template is bought by someone else it will be forever removed from our collection. Go and shop first with the best selection of AfterEffects Logo Reveals!
Do you know about the trick that people often use on Facebook to hold back content for fans only? Well, this is a little ruse when you hide some content from people who are not your Facebook page fans, and once they click the ‘Like’ button and become your fans, they can view exclusive fans-only content.
The pull behind this trick is that Facebook profile owners give visitors a really hard to skip incentive to like their page and become a fan. Today’s good news is that TemplateMonster has added some renewed Facebook Reveal Tab Templates that are full HTML5 animated designs that you may set to display in case a visitor is not a fan of your Facebook page. You can find these extended new designs in addition to what is already available in Facebook Reveal Tab product category (all the previously released templates have been also renewed to come into line with the new ones). Now see what exact benefits you will receive upon getting this product.
Every single Facebook Reveal Template download package will now additionally include a userpic custom design in PSD format and a nice little template of a welcome page for ‘fan-only’ content. This page can be further adapted to suit your Facebook project needs. What we mean saying userpic design is actually a profile picture that is designed in accordance with the template style and incorporates some elements of brand identity, including company name, logo, custom images etc. Each Facebook Reveal Tab Template also integrates the sections that lead to other social streams – to show that your company has a broad social media reach and is up to serve customers elsewhere.
Now let us show you some examples of these renewed Facebook Reveal products. Click through to the demo pages to see the templates in full size and quality:
E-Shop Facebook Reveal Template
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Spare Parts Facebook Reveal Template
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Nice to meet you again, our dear readers! We hope that you have been looking for the very theme that we are about to share with you today. Let’s see how good it is and how it can be used for your online project that deals with maintenance business. So, here it is – Free Website Template with Slideshow for Maintenance Business.
If used as the starting point of your web presence, it can be perfect for the future successful progress of your project. Being used for redesign of the existing site, it will bring it the new attractive look. What is special about this theme? The stylish design created in thought-out two-color scheme makes it visually appealing for the viewers. The correct way of presenting layout will make the navigation through your site easy and intuitive. Of course, we have implemented a slideshow in this theme – the main feature of the October free website templates. Using this place in the header, you are able to present the whole range of your services in the most effective way. Now, you have enough time to check out its free template live demo and see all its characteristics. Feel free to use it for your online projects and create your great designs on its base!
Free Website Template with Slideshow for Maintenance Business:
As you remember, you can get this free website template in two ways: with PSD source files included and without them. If you need only HTML source files, download them from this post using the link below. To get the full package with PSD source files included visit the TemplateMonster Free Website Template with Slideshow for Maintenance Business download page and type an email address that you want the free template package to be delivered to (make sure to uncheck the newsletter subscription checkbox in case you’re already subscribed). Feel free to use this template for your business, but you are not allowed to resell it as a template.
Download Free Website Template with Slideshow for Maintenance Business with PSD files (10,4MB)
Download Free Website Template with Slideshow for Maintenance Business without PSD (925KB)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: TemplateMonster does not provide support services on free templates – including this one. We only provide support for the products that are being purchased from TemplateMonster. Our free templates are produced according to the latest web standards and we’ve been trying to make the process of working with them as easy as possible, so for people with minimum web development experience it should be easy to work with them. However, if you don’t have any experience, we recommend you to refer to the tutorials or community forums on how to work with platforms that each respective template is made with, or to hire someone to do the job for you.
TemplateMonster’s best-selling Joomla 1.7 Templates list ranks the 5 top selling designs based on analyzes of sales from the website. Over the past months there have been many nice templates created for the Joomla platform version 1.7, but the really striking ones are featured here. Guys, you all know that the competition is tougher than ever. What does it take to make your Joomla website stand out from the rest? And how is anybody going to actually spot your site? Use one of these templates. Now we’ll show you why they are so popular with webmasters and web users alike.
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Grafix Joomla 1.7 Template
This one is really elegant sophisticated template that appeals to the web design or business sector and those web developers looking for something that is easy to setup and configure. The design incorporates attractive slider solution that is being displayed with a shadow to add some depth to it. The layout feels incredibly neat and clean letting the images and content shine enough to be clearly seen and feel comforting to the eye. Here the main content is placed on the overlay that’s on the top of the page, whereas gray & black contrast divides the template to accent the footer. Plus, this template combines content in a grid structure with the front page being laid out into three columns. Professional clean quality design for a variety of functions.
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Semioli Joomla 1.7 Template
What is great about this particular Joomla 1.7 Template is its bluish style with a gradient effect applied. This design can appear to be a real helping hand in the process of new Joomla-powered corporate website establishment. The beautiful fusion of reflective icons, seamlessly integrated text blocks, framed thumbnails, neat fonts and huge typography elements make the current Joomla design a favorite. For the navigation bars the design uses a slick pointer that is center aligned with the text link to give users a clear visual feedback in the navigation. In addition, a huge typography used here is playing the role of an eye-catchy design element to promote key ideas of the company.
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A minute of video is worth 1.8 million words according to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research.
What is meant by this statement is that eCommerce video brings products to life in a way that text and static images can’t. From the comfort of the couch, shoppers can fully experience the product through videos.
Note that 33% of online retailers planned to add video to their sites in 2010, making it a higher priority than any other advanced feature [source]. If you run an eCommerce website and underutilize or completely ignore this potentially valuable medium, it’s time to act. 2011 is the year when eCommerce video has become a mainstream and even a key component on retail websites. The race is on – your task now is to get into the game, because if you are slower to adopt eCommerce video today, you’ll soon face the problem of having to catch up very quickly. The one that uses every tactical step available for effective eCommerce video is first in line, remember that.
Why You Need eCommerce Video Now
Online videos can support multiple business objectives. You can put them on the eCommerce product pages, category pages, in dedicated video galleries, and in email campaigns (video in email marketing has been shown to increase click-through rates by over 96% and also drove a 51% increase in subscriber-to-lead conversion [source]). Connecting with your customers through video allows a much more real experience when shopping online. You create company recognition, build trust, and humanize your brand.
Benefits You Can Derive from eCommerce Video
Giving more visual info on the product, eCommerce video is an incredibly effective way to appeal to a buyer’s senses. You give fine detailing, show extra features and functions, demonstrate product in action – that gives a final push to convince shoppers when they are looking for a reason to buy the product. Plus, a good product video can bring in positive attention and additional traffic, powerful SEO juice, higher sales, and also a significant drop in calls/questions asking how the product works. Report showed that retail sites with video increase conversion by 30% and boost average shopping cart by 13% [source].
Tips for Effective eCommerce Video
The idea of providing videos for your customers may not sound a new one, but there are many online merchants who are not taking advantage of the benefits videos can offer. The stats show that visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than the visitors who do not [source], still very few online merchants integrate eCommerce videos. Talking about the principles for effective product video, here are a couple of things you can learn:
With all that hysteria that abounded concerning online shopping, a well-designed category page is absolutely critical in the success of an eCommerce online business. Here the ergonomic design means everything. If you have any intention of making profit, you have to have a category page designed to minimize user’s physical effort and discomfort, and hence maximize efficiency of browsing. Today we’re going to give you an update on the part 1 of the list of usability standards for eCommerce category pages that sell. After several hours of work put into trying to find and analyze additional five examples of effective category pages, our blog team shares this showcase, critique and optimization discussion. Check out and then look at your category page from the point of view of these good examples and improve accordingly, avoiding the denoted pitfalls.
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H&M
![Making Category Pages that Sell – Examples, Critical Review, and Enhancements [Part 2]](http://blog.tmimgcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/hm.com_.jpg?9d7bd4 "hm.com")
What’s good
- Quick look and ‘try on’ options: On H&M website, quick look appears as a pop-up window, displays color varieties, available sizes, and even gives a range of alternate views. What makes this particular quick look remarkable is a ‘try on’ option. Basically, the H&M store integrates of dressing room functionality on their website. This section allows customers to try on different styles, including clothes, accessories, shoes, and other products to see how all that items match together. Chalk it up to use in your store!
- Product image change on hover: when the user is mousing over the product’s thumbnail, alternative image is displayed to show either a whole outfit or simply a product item (it actually depends on what was primarily shown). That is done for users’ convenience, they just hover over the picture for each product alternative views without having to click.
- Adding shadow to product image: at H&M store, they wrap the product images with shadow effect. This gives a depth and kind-of push the image towards the viewer. The shadow is translucent and takes on a bit lighter color than the image that cast it, so the page feels neat and clean. Plus, there is just enough white space to let images hold this shadow attractively.
Things to Change
If you want to get more Extended Package designs beyond the first Toplist Extended Package Templates Showcase, here’s a part 2 for you all. We welcome you to browse through another top 20 Extended Package pre-designs that include a whole set of useful elements in addition to what you normally receive within the download package (you get bonus pages, additional scripts, interactive elements, and much more all in a bundle). So the only thing left to do after you buy the template is to only change the lorem ipsum stuff with your own content and you’re ready to kick start your own website. So, if you’re looking for something quick and simple, these templates will keep the cost down. Plus we don’t charge any additional cost for the extra features included in these templates. Extended Package designs are priced just about the price of an average TemplateMonster’s template. Now see our picks for the best continuing Extended Package series and find a website design here that will work well for your company and will also speak best to your customers.
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Sparks JS Animated Full Site Template
![Top 20 Extended Package Templates List [Continued]](http://blog.tmimgcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sparks-JS-Animated-Full-Site-Template.jpg?9d7bd4 "Sparks JS Animated Full Site Template")
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Elevation JS Animated Full Site Template
![Top 20 Extended Package Templates List [Continued]](http://blog.tmimgcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Elevation-JS-Animated-Full-Site-Template.jpg?9d7bd4 "Elevation JS Animated Full Site Template")
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Architex CSS Full Site Flash CS3 Template
![Top 20 Extended Package Templates List [Continued]](http://blog.tmimgcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Architex-CSS-Full-Site-Flash-CS3-Template.jpg?9d7bd4 "Architex CSS Full Site Flash CS3 Template")
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For all of you who were waiting for new portion of cool goodies, we are glad to announce that here they are. The October month will bring you 4 freebies with effective slideshows integrated in them – the feature of the coming month. The first of them is Free Website Template with Slideshow for Real Estate Project – the ready-made solution for your online project that you want to become successful.
It is worked out according to the specific needs of real estate projects. Here you will find the slideshow in the header of the front page – a good place for displaying the featured items from the list of real estate that you propose to your clients. The design of this theme is aimed at organizing all your business information in effective and comprehensive way. Using this free website template as the basis of your project, you can clearly bring your business idea to your clients and make them interested in it. Don’t forget to try this free template live demo before you start!
Free Website Template with Slideshow for Real Estate Project:
Feel free to get this free website template in two ways: with PSD source files included and without them. Follow the link below and download HTML source files. To download this theme with PSD source files, visit the Free Website Template with Slideshow for Real Estate Project download page at TemplateMonster and type an email address that you want the free template package to be delivered to (don’t forget to uncheck the newsletter subscription checkbox in case you’re already subscribed, otherwise you may not be able to download the zip file). Feel free to use this template for your business, but you cannot resell it as a template.
Download Free Website Template with Slideshow for Real Estate Project with PSD files (9,23 MB)
Download Free Website Template with Slideshow for Real Estate Project without PSD (2,16 MB)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: TemplateMonster does not provide support services on free templates – including this one. We only provide support for the products that are being purchased from TemplateMonster. Our free templates are produced according to the latest web standards and we’ve been trying to make the process of working with them as easy as possible, so for people with minimum web development experience it should be easy to work with them. However, if you don’t have any experience, we recommend you to refer to the tutorials or community forums on how to work with platforms that each respective template is made with, or to hire someone to do the job for you
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