content is more important than layout
People before you start equivocating that both are equally important,I must clarify that I speak from the viewpoint of someone who has just a layman's acquaintance with technical wizardary.I speak on behalf of all those who even though tech-naive, blog to find their voice and to get their voice heard.
Should we be drubbed for our readymade templates where no gizmos shine and blink below posts?I strongly feel that writing style and content matter.Style may attract and all of shd learn it.But blogs above all are about thoughts clothed in words.Rest is ornamentation.
@ Varsha
"par kabhi kabhi yeh khayal aata hai ki, shayad mind-candy bhee itni buri cheez to nahin!"
Unless and untill we are stuck in a "get rid of some thing" type situation, we seldom stop at an ordinary site. Content is important, but without a good layout, readers are not staying for sure.
Sorry, Edit: My laptop's buttery keypad made me slip a few words in previous msg. so here's the complete one again.
@Varsha and Lazy Pineapple
A lot of visitors like me, we are just so fooled by appearance that we do not mind surfing a good looking site with ordinary content for hours.
But on the contrary will leave a site with some good written content and poor apearance at the first looks. SO remember the eycandy theory. And you will be good.
@NRI
Presentation is the key to let visitors remain on our site or make them run away screaming for help, to rescue them from a poor looks site.
You are on very top of the list when we talk about presentation and the content is also damn good. Keep it up.
I have myself seen an increase in my readers in past couple of days just by luring my readers with a delicious eye-candy, a complete new template which is based on magazine design.
Abhinav!
Maan rahi hoon, Zamana eye-candy ka hai 
par kabhi kabhi yeh khayal aata hai ki, shayad mind-candy bhee itni buri cheez to nahin!
To each his own!
@Varsha and Lazy Pineapple
A lot of visitors like me, we are just so fooled by appearance that we do not mind surfing a good looking site with ordinary content for hours.
But on the contrary will leave a site with some good written content and poor apearance at the first looks. SO remember the eycandy theory. And you will be good.
@NRI
Presentation is the key to let visitors remain on our site or make them run away screaming for help, to rescue them from a poor looks site.
he content is also damn good. Keep it up.
I have myself seen an increase in my readers in past couple of days just by luring my readers with a delicious eye-candy, a complete new template which is based on magazine design.
Varsha: I fully agree with you. After all, can layout have meaning without content to boot? I would rather have a blog that is difficult to navigate, but carries meaning and holds interest, than one which easy-navigation, quality templates and excellent layout but poor writing.
I think the choice is abundantly clear, at least to me!
but you know for the times that we live in, where unsolicited self-promotion is the norm, and in case of blogs where voice (whether holding any substance or not) is a given; I understand some of the opinions expressed here.
Also, I think that the whole idea behind blogging was to de-skill writing and democratise publishing. So that everybody can, write and blog and publish. Impeding authorship and audience-ship by obfuscating matters relating to technology, layout and design defeats the purpose of blogging. Atleast that's how I think!
Cryptic jee
I am all for self promotion because who else will promote you if you don't?Lekin issue yeh hai kee -zamana eye candy ka hai, aur Katrina will always score over Konkona no matter how good the latter is
But we must choose what gives us lasting satisfaction-although everyone may not agree.
I will agree with lazy pineapple when she says that clean and uncluttered blog is the best. While a website could have scored in terms of design (there are several pages and a good navigation structure has to be present to properly knit them together), a blog is basically a chronological entry of posts. Lead your readers quickly to where they can read and assess you, or there's a danger of their leaving the page. Yes, you can use some creativity in choosing images that go along with your posts. I think that much of creativity is enough to seduce your readers. What do you say?
Vidya jee
Main aapke or annanas jee ke vicharon se poori tarah se sahmat hoon.Look at LP-her layout is unfussy and uncluttered.And so is yours.
With google at our fingertips there is no dearth of information-yet what makes blogs unique is the personal perspective-you talk of Bihar,my friend Geetali touches on Simla's beauty-so a blog content which talks to the reader and brings forth a unique personal perspective sticks-theek kah rahin hoon na?
NRI jee!
I think it is like this- we like to shop at malls for all the conveniences and pleasant diversions rather than go to a kirana shop.And yet to get my organic veggies and unrefined honey I would not mind a trek to a farmer's market.For everything wrapped in cellophane and plastic is not necessarily better.
SO all of us need to be considerate enough to make our sites reader friendly.But content should always be the first priority as you rightfully mention.
now I will go and add value to my virtual real estate
@ aalasi annanas- a kindered soul!
@NRI- my dilemma is do I write for a market or just to get some things jumping inside me out of my system?
Although I would certainly like someone to read me and drub me or praise me-even when they don't I can not stop writing .And for full time office going moms there seems to be so little time to do the window dressing.
Yet,the<the talented blogger's work may never be discovered if the shop window is not attractively dressed>point is taken!
My instigation was blog reveiwers judging blogs solely on the layout and gizmos!
Varsha..I completely agree with you...I feel content is what draws people to your blog again and again...the template might just attract them once and most times people just concentrate on what you have written. As long as you have a clean and uncluttered blog..that is what works.
Hi varsha, content is sure more important.
But template is like an eyecandy, so we need it to be better tan even content in some cases.
Varsha and Lazy Pineapple
A lot of visitors like me, we are just so fooled by appearance that we do not mind surfing a good looking site with ordinary content for hours.
But on the contrary will leave a site with some good written content and poor apearance at the first looks. SO remember the eycandy theory. And you will be good.
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