How to Choose Blog Template Features

6 of 8 in Series: The Essentials of Setting Up a Google Blogger Blog

A template is the skeleton, or map, of a blog, and you can find a great selection on Blogger. The template you choose provides the basic look and feel of your blog through colors, fonts, and each element's basic layout. Consider these factors when you choose a template for your blog on Blogger:

Personality: Choose a template that complements your blog's content. In other words, visitors should quickly understand, based on your template, what to expect from your blog's content because your template should consistently communicate your blog's overall personality.
Color: The colors you select for your blog affect not just your blog's personality, but also its readability.

The following blog elements in the template you choose should use appropriate coloring:
- Background: Make sure that the color isn't too bright and doesn't hurt visitors' eyes.
- Fonts: Don't make the color too pale or too bright, which can make the text difficult to read.
- Topic: Make sure the colors are appropriate for your blog's topic.
- The complete picture: Ensure that all of the colors used in the template complement each other and create an appealing and inviting look overall.
When you select the colors for your blog template, consider how those colors will look on different computer monitors. Monitors can offer variations in resolution, as well as in the way colors are displayed.
Font: The key component to consider when you select the fonts to use in your blog's template is readability.

Keep the following factors in mind when you select fonts for your blog:
- Online readability: Choose fonts that are easy to read online, such as Verdana or Georgia.
- Availability: Choose fonts that most people have loaded on their computers already. If you use an uncommon font, the font automatically defaults to one that might be unappealing or ugly for people who don't have your font.
- Number of fonts used: Stick with two or three fonts. Mixing too many fonts can be confusing and make pages difficult to read.
- Styling: Save overly stylized fonts for your blog's header graphic and blog title.
Columns and layout: Most blogs are set up using a two- or three-column layout. Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order in the widest column, and one or two smaller columns may appear on the left or right side of the blog post column or flanking both sides of the blog post column. Here's a look at a one -column blog layout:
If you prefer a two-column layout for your blog, here's how it could appear:
Sidebar capacity and placement: After you determine the purpose of your sidebars (to display ads or include links, for example), select the blog template layout that best helps you achieve those goals.
Future blogging goals: One of the best parts about blogging is that you can grow and change your blog, as necessary — although drastic changes might confuse your audience. Choose your blog layout and template with your pie-in-the-sky aspirations for it in mind.

You can find a wide variety of free templates available through the Templates tab on your Blogger dashboard. You also can find Web sites that offer unique templates that are compatible with Blogger.