Can you honestly believe it’s the middle of July?  This Summer is really flying by.  I’m trying to allow myself to have some time off and not be completely over scheduled as always.  Since blogland slows down a little bit during the Summer, I’m really trying to focus on my other favorite social media outlets Instagram and Snapchat.  Have you been working on my Summer blogging checklist?  If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out this post.  One of the checkmarks on that list is updating your blog.  Well I am here to tell you it can be done pretty easily and shouldn’t cost you a fortune.

How to Budget Friendly Update Your Blog Design

Update Your Design

Is your template too busy?  Is it the original one that you started with?  You will be surprised how much of a creative spark you will get with a new blog facelift.  You don’t need to pay big bucks to a designer to make that happen.  If you are on Blogger find a new design on Etsy here.  If you are on WordPress, my favorite site is Creative Market.  I personally love this theme and this one.  What I love about my theme is that it is completely customizable and I can do it myself.  There are sliders to make my post width wider, I can update the colors or fonts.  My previous post widget slider at the top can be more of a collage layout.  There is a lot I can do on my own without having pay a designer/coder.

Add a Footer

Make your footer work for you.  I outlined this in an old post here.  Add your instagram feed to your footer.  It will give your blog a nice update and add some color/interest to the bottom of your blog.  I personally just updated my footer to my LIKEtoKNOWit feed.  That way you can shop any of my latest looks at any time.  I also added it to the end of all my blog posts.  If you are part of Rewardstyle it is really easy to do.  It is under the APPS tab.  Click the LIKEtoKNOWit widget.  You can customize the widths, rows, and columns.  Then drop the widget wherever you want it on your blog.  You could even add it to your header if you wanted it at the top of your blog design.

Update Your Header

Are your drop down header tabs the same interest now then when you started?  I have updated my drop downs to include my favorite shopping picks, LIKEtoKNOWit, and my favorite tab which is my Blogging Freebies.  When I started, I didn’t have the knowledge to give any advice to my fellow bloggers.  However, now I love sharing my insight and I have a devoted tab to free blogging freebies.  If someone stumbles on your site and really is digging it…..make it hard for them to leave.  They will immediately start clicking open your tabs to learn more about you.  Put up there what you are proud of and what represents your space.  If you have a knack for travel, add a tab for it.  If you are a makeup guru and you have the best drugstore dupes tutorials, make a tab for it.  Keep people on your site, get them to fall in love with your posts and voice.

Change to WordPress

The switchover to WordPress is way more affordable than it has ever been.  Did you read my post on why I switched to WordPress and my top plugins?  Now is the time over the Summer if you have been contemplating it.  If you are ready to take your blog to the next level, I highly encourage you to make the switch.  I have a great contact for you if you are interested, drop me an email.

Clean Up Your Sidebar

You know all those random websites you signed up for back in the day and they required you to put one of their logo badges on your sidebar?  Now you have grown up and never go back to that website but they are taking up precious space on your blog.  Plus, most of those logos are all weird sizes and aesthetically not pleasing anymore.  Take the time to clean up your sidebar and eliminate any clutter or excess.

Work on That Photography

Romper find it here and here ||| Wedges find here and here ||| Bucket bag find on mega sale here ||| Sunnies on sale find here

Since the Summer slows down for blogland, it doesn’t mean that the opportunities should come to a halt too.  I have been getting TONS of inquiries from my instagram from brands and companies wanting to work with me.  I 100% can say why and it’s because of my photography.  If you have a DSLR camera, learn how to shoot out of automatic mode.  Make a pledge to stop using your iPhone.  If you need help, check out all my blogger specific photography lessons here.  Any questions about blogging photography, I am open for it, fire away.

[bctt tweet=”How to Budget Friendly Update Your Blog Design. Must read for Bloggers!” username=”meetatthebarre”]

So what do you think?  Are you fired up to refresh and update your blog design?  Did I give you any ideas you haven’t thought of yet?  If you like this post make sure to check out more of my blogging tutorials here and share to Pinterest or Like on Facebook.  My favorite way to share my content is with Sumome!  I hope everyone is having a great week!

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