BLOG DESIGN TIPS AND TRICKS. PART 1 - THE BASICS.

I came across so many great and free resources when designing this blog that I thought I should share them with you all. I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to blog design, I'm much more of an enthusiastic beginner but here are some of the tips and tricks that helped me along the way and might help you too.

Getting Started. Don't Fear the Internet. If you're totally new to html and css (like I was) then these videos are a must watch. They explain all the basics in such a way that even non-web designers like me can understand. I can't recommend this site enough.

Pugly Pixel is another great resource. In fact if you haven't already you should probably go and bookmark this site now, I'm going to be referencing it a lot. Everything on Katrina's site is brilliant including these videos on html and css. They're well worth watching.

Whether you're starting from scratch or tweaking your already existing blog you should go and read Simple Tricks to Redesign Your Blog on The House That Lars Built. And when you're finished with that they have a whole series called

15 Minutes to a Better Blog to keep you busy.

Another one from Pugly Pixel, this time guest posting over on A Beautiful Mess with 10 Simple Blog Layout Tips. This is a great one to refer back to, I'm still working on number five.

And finally a tip from me and the most important thing I've learnt by far. Always, always, always back up your blog before your make any changes. Trust me, you'll never be sorry you took the extra time to do this.

You can find Part 2 - How to make your blogger blog not look like a blogger blog here.