ProBlogger Darren Rowse recently invited Dave from PSP Culture to guestblog about what bloggers are trying to achieve with their blog design. You can read the post here. Dave summarized 3 common points that most bloggers would like to achieve with their designs.

1. Income from Advertising Streams
2. Reader Loyalty
3. Personal Satisfaction

From an amateur blogger’s perspective, I have to say that adverstising income streams would rank as the lowest priority for most AmBloggers. AmBlogs seek to build a voice and carve a Blog personality for themselves; wishing to differentiate themselves amongst the many blogs out there. Some of the most beautiful and functional blog designs have been done by amateur bloggers. Honestly, there’s only so many Chitika eMiniMalls ad that a reader can tolerate.

One of the best quality that I’ve seen Amateur Bloggers make excellent use of whitespace or blank space. Many AmBlogs have advertisting that blend visually into the Blog design. Let’s take a look at a few examples!

Personal Satisfaction
AmBlogs are not afraid to be unconventional with their column layouts. Their blogs are often an extension of the blogger’s own personality. Too many Blogs out there follow the same old 2-column, 3-column format that it becomes boring to surf the net anymore. I wish more people would consider experimenting with different designs, especially if they have numerous Blogs.

Example: I love Jared Christensen’s wild columns on Jaredigital but they would not serve a ProBlogger well to use such a layout. Monetization would be a nightmare if a ProBlogger were to use that template. And yet, I’m sure it is something that Jared is truly proud and sastisfied with.

Revenue Streams
Sites such as Robot Johnny can generate revenue without sacrificing his design integrity through the use of affiliate programs rather than advertising programs. It is a lot more work, but often times, the ads can be more relevant and useful if you Blog about a specific topic. Many AmBlogs observe the advertising creedo that “less can be more”! I personally don’t know how much Robot Johny makes, but I see this type of advertising more often than I see plain, mundane text link advertisings among the AmBlogs that I like.

Reader Loyalty
I theorize that reader loyalty really has to do more with content than blog design. The design of a blog captures the reader’s intrigue and helps to turn first-time visitors into readers. But most ProBloggers are more than willing to simply turn first-time visitors into short-term ad clickers. They realize that the archives are where the real money are at, and Blog design is not the dominating topic for people who know what they are looking for.

My Point
You may have noticed that I pointed a couple of Blogs from the 9Rules Network. I hope many will agree that 9Rules really sport some of the most beautiful Blogs out there. From a monetization goal, most critics should agree with me that these Blogs are not the most effective earners.

Ironically, I would like to point out that Dave’s own site - PSP Culture, in my humble opinion, is obviously geared towards monetization. There are simply too many Chitika ads to the point that it borders on annoyance. I do understand that a website bringing money can certainly bring personal satisfaction to the designer. However, I think its about time to start a revolution against these unsightly ads. I hope the year 2006 will be the start of this revolution!

For myself, I used to have a Blog that did not make use of whitespace, had too much irrelevant affiliate and text advertising and was really not that exciting to read. I ended up choosing Squible for the recent makeover of my personal Blog VinceChan.net because I felt that it was time to really maintain a website I really like to view myself daily, and feel proud of! The results are day and night. The site now has more visitors that stay longer and view more pages, this actually resulted in more advertising clicks! Interesting!