New year, new (virtual) you. Why not give your personal blog or business website a makeover? Here are five quick tips to freshen up your online home.
Set the tone with a new header
Your site’s header is probably the first thing a visitor sees. Here, at the top of the page, you can introduce yourself, your brand, or your business immediately and establish the look and feel of your site. Luckily, it’s also one of the simplest design elements to update. Take a peek at the author site of Julian Stockwin, who we featured two years ago. Can you see how he changed his header image to promote a specific book series?
Update your header image in My Site → Customize → Header Image. Ideal dimensions are suggested based on your current theme. (Don’t see this option in your Customizer? Your theme may not support this feature.)
Clean out the cobwebs and remove your background
Another way to freshen things up? Tweak your site’s background. Many people display solid colors, patterns, or images behind their site text. Want to go minimal instead? Remove your background for a plain white palette, which looks clean and sophisticated.
Find your background settings in My Site → Customize → Colors & Backgrounds. (Don’t see this option? Your current theme may not support this feature.)
Get stylish with a fresh font
The typography we come upon in real life, on storefronts and signs, makes a statement. Likewise, the fonts we display on our own websites reflect who we are. Every site on WordPress.com comes with a selection of free Google fonts. If you’ve never changed your font, now is the perfect time to experiment.
Tinker with your fonts in My Site → Customize → Fonts and preview different fonts in the Headings and Base Font fields.
Build your site’s visual identity with a custom logo
A personalized logo is essential to make a strong first impression on new visitors and to establish your brand or business on the web. Your site logo may be small but bold (like some of these letter-based logos) or full-width and banner-sized (like some of these examples). If you don’t have one yet, dive into this step-by-step logo tutorial and create one from scratch.
Add or update your site logo in My Site → Customize → Site Identity.
Up your photography game with high-quality images
The most beautiful and engaging sites out there use professional, high-resolution photographs to draw readers in. But what if you’re not a whiz with your camera? You have access to thousands of free-to-use stock images right in your Media Library. Use these photographs for your posts’ featured images, your site’s header, and more. We’re also working with Pexels and other partners to include a more diverse collection of images that represent a wider range of experiences.
To browse these images when creating a post or page, click Add and select Free photo library to open the gallery.
Start 2019 off with a boost! Power your site with custom WordPress plugins and themes, real‑time concierge support, Google Analytics, unlimited storage, and more with WordPress.com Business.
Amazing!!!
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Superbbbb Idea😊
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Thank you for this post. Getting right on it.
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Excellent👌
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great!
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Very nice! Thanks! 🥳
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I need to work on mine. Can’t find a theme that I like. Need more time to play around. 😊
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Very informative
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We have been using the same layout for about 3 years now. May have to make some adjustments this year.
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Awesome thanks for sharing!
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Me ha parecido una idea fantástica. He cambiado la apriencia de mi Blog. Año nuevo. Blog nuevo. Gracias
Fantastic idea. I have done it. I have changed the appearance of my blog and great. New year. New Blog. Thanks
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Thanks for this! Definitely going to make a few design tweaks 🙂
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Helpful!! Happy 2019 discover community
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Thanks, Cheri. Good tips and time for a change!
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Thanks… verrryyy helpful.
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Logo prompt….gotta be on my must do list for January, thx
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Great ideas!
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Love this. I am getting to change and perhaps create a unique logo for my brand. Thanks for the tips Cheri.
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Good suggestions!
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Thanks! I didn’t even realise I could connect directly to my collection of Google images.
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I just redid my blog a bit recently. I kept the header the same though. I tried to change it but it felt strange to. 😂
http://Www.themomsomnia.com
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Thank youuuuu so much for this post
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Good ideas in this article. I came into 2019 running but I didn’t think to “freshen” up the look of my website.
Thanks for the ideas!
Matt – reinvestwise.com
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Thanks for the recommendations! xxx
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Thanks for posting this, I am inspired.
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Yes! I love this post! I designed a new header and I’m so happy with it. It definitely helps to give a website a fresh look.
Kelle – http://www.itskellesspace.com
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This was a wonderful and beautifully written article. So informative too, I’m definitely saving this blog, it is very timely.
I have been blogging almost four months now and have not customized my site as of yet, but passionately writing.
Thanks so much for sharing
InHisCare 😊🙏💜
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Wow
Thanks for the ideas. 🌹
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Wow I’m truly inspired
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Thank you
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highly informative post with valuable information. the more one views certain posts on wordpress.com every day, the more one finds out that there’s still a lot to learn.
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Loved this, made a few tweaks especially the adding my podcast logo as my header! https://anchor.fm/ryan-stag-oconnor
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Thanks for the tips!
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Thanks for the tips Cheri! I happened to give my website a facelift two days ago and had a hard time finding the right images. If only I knew then that WordPress actually proposes a free media library 😉
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Thanks so much for your advice.
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I changed my theme yesterday and changed my fonts and my header 😊 love your ideas! Thanks!
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That’s really smart.
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Thank you all, I wish you a happy new year.
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Hey, this is amazing.
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This was great! Hope mine looks good!
-https://lifewithc.home.blog
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This is awesome!!!!
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Thank you. As of today I decided that I was going to start blogging. Your post is helpful thank you again as I’m winging it 🙂
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