A plain blog, content over appearance?

Plain is not the same as bland...you can at least come up with a color theme if you don't want to have to worry about image designs and the like.

Leaving it as the way it is now will just make people want to leave the moment they get there.

I think if you can have both an appealing appearance and good content, that's the ideal combination....for now I would just focus on the content, you can always fancy the site up later....

Well, you want people to think you're professional, right?

There too many conspiracy theory websites that have absolute junk websites, wouldn't it be better to break away from that norm?

You don't need a super fancy theme but at least one with a header, sidebar, and navigation bar would be more useful.

Presentation is an important aspect of presenting information so I would go somewhere in between.

Getting the balance right is the key. There is no point in having a fancy looking blog if the content is poor but on the other hand people do look at the 'packaging' in order to determine if something is of value to them.

They make snap decisions based on a quick scan of a page.

So personally I do not think that a very plain blog is a good idea.

BernardR

It's more "valuable", yes. But both are important.

Their relative importance depends (and probably in this order) on your traffic demographics, on what sort of business model you have, and on the niche itself.

From everything I've seen, over the years, the single commonest mistake that aspiring affiliate marketers make, in terms of website design, is "looking too salesy", and the second commonest is "looking too professional" (affiliate marketing sales depend on credibility, trust and respect: one needs to look like an enthusiast, not like a salesperson!).

It's very good.

In that sort of niche (and I speak from two perspectives, really, marketer and customer myself!), anything other than "plain and simple" would be pretty bad news.

The plainer and simpler, the better, and it would be a big mistake, in my opinion, to be "overdesigned", given your intended traffic demographics. You've done the right thing, and for the right reasons, I think.

Whoa ...

I saw "meditation" and was commenting only on that.

Nutrition, fitness and mind health are not "niches" at all. They're markets, and absolutely huge markets, each containing hundreds of niches!

I suspect that you may be stacking the deck hugely against yourself, there. I hope you won't end up with a site which is trying to be all things to all people and ends up not being enough of a specifically targeted draw to any specific demographic at all!

For myself, I'd avoid all that like the plague, not because it's a "bad niche" (it isn't, at all), but because I'd expect it to drive away most of the people interested in meditation, fitness, nutrition, etc.

Why not just choose one niche, keep it simple and monetize well? That puts the odds much more in your favor.

Given your multi-market plan, I suspect it will make little difference, honestly - sorry.

For "meditation", it's very good.

For a huge, complex, multi-market site it will make no difference, because your success-chances are so very low with that kind of site, anyway. Apologies for not saying what you wanted to hear, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Not in my opinion, no. But that has nothing to do with the site design. It's the overall plan that's ill-conceived.


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I like it.

Nothing wrong with simple looking sites if the design is good....

I go for a very similar style myself.

I think the key for your site is to make the graphics for each article stand out. Perhaps consider outsourcing the design of those.

Content is king. The website should lead you through the content in a pleasing way that doesn't disctract.

Content is always the utmost importance. I applaud your efforts, and wish you success. A few things you need to consider:

1- Don't post the same content in many places, set it up that whenever you post something on your "money site", it is tweeted about and linked in your social accounts. there are many ways to do this, with plugins and scripts, etc.

2- Sure, have a nice theme, it is not hard to find a free one! Get a basic clean looking theme, preferably a bootstrap based one or at least a html5 and css3 based one. It should be fully responsive, and light (meaning scripting and features, not color), and it should have a well laid out UI. However, remember that the theme is not as important as your marketing strategy.

3- The real thing you need to worry about is keywords and building up your content around a specific niche market of keywords. If you are constantly writing in the blog, doing social media, and building external links, your site will rank and things will be good. If you are fixated on what people think after getting to the site, you are putting the proverbial cart before the horse...

So to sum it up, worry most about your UNIQUE content (don't repeat, reuse or recycle!), and you will have success with the website. Making it look pretty to attract those that think with their eyes instead of their minds, is something that comes later, when you have the money to waste on such people. Build your base of actual readers and search engine respect now, worry about the frills later.