After careful consideration, I decided to change my blog header. Several of my fellow bloggers were making recommendations to change my header for numerous reasons.

1. Too many other blogs use cars to look like John Chow.
2. Your header needs to coincide with the image you are going for.
3. I need to make my blog look as professional as possible.
4. Increase reader base and traffic.

My roommate/business partner/best friend Nate Whitehill just wrote an article explaining in detail the importance of picking the most appropriate header. The article, “What Does Your Header Image Say About You?” explains in detail why you should take choosing your header image seriously. I choose my first header image, a white 997 gt3, mostly because I liked the car and how the imaged looked on my page. As Nate and another fellow blogger Roger Anderson from modernmagellans.com brought to my attention, the picture of the car may not give my readers the right impression.

I want to express professionalism and motivation in my image. I think the picture of downtown Hong Kong does that, as well as gives a sneak peak into our latest venture that we will be writing about in the months to come.

Nate gives a great site to find images to use on your blog. I recommend going to stock exchange in order to get a good idea of some possibilities.

Here are some helpful tips on choosing the right header image brought to you courtesy of Nate Whitehill…

Tips on Choosing a Header

1. I would advise you to stop using stock header images. Thousands of people use the same header image. Do you want your blog to be confused with other, similar-looking blogs? I know that when I go to a blog that looks unmodified, my first reaction is that the blogger has nothing unique to say because s/he didn’t take the time to change its look.
If you don’t know how to change your header photo, then ask someone to help you. (I would be happy to offer assistance here.) It is actually VERY easy and can be done in as little as five minutes.

2. Use an eye-catching photo to get people’s attention. Remember, this is usually the first image people see when they get to your site. If it is not eye-catching, people may not even read your content because your site did not catch their attention. Don’t settle - choose a GREAT photo!

3. Select your image for reasons other than you just like the photo. Photos communicate information on many levels. It is important to put serious thought into what your photo says about you.

4. Consider using a photo of yourself in your blog. I think there is a lot of power in putting a “face” to your blog. One key way of improving your blog stickiness is to make yourself more familiar. If readers see your face and read your writing more than twice, they will start to feel as if they know you. That is key when trying to build strong readership.

Choosing the right header image is critical in developing your site, creating legitimacy, and increase viewer-ship. Let me know what you guys think of my new image.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2007 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.