Content is king, but being the ‘King of Ugly‘ is nothing to get all regal about! Let me sell you on this cheap way for you to make your site look great and stand out.

In my quest to make money online, I spend a lot of time reviewing and visiting new sites and it never ceases to amaze me at just how ugly some of them look. As visitors will be assessing your site within the first second of visiting it, it’s essential that you make a brilliant first impression!

It’s a fact: Sites with great content are visually more attractive than those with crap content.

Why? My theory is that those who take the time to write great content also have enough pride in their work to make it look good too. Those who don’t give a damn about the crap they write, also don’t really care how it looks. Hence, I’m not a big fan of any sites that I consider to be ugly.

How the pros do it

Problogger recently changed to a new logo and it was quite interesting to read the design process behind it. A lot of work and thought went into designing the logo with questionnaires being filled out, a team of advisers providing feedback and multiple revisions being conducted. I have no doubt that Darren spent quite a bit of time and money to get the logo designed!

I quite like the new Problogger logo - but some don’t. When you’ve got Problogger’s salary, it was a smart idea to invest a lot of time and money into the branding. But no matter how many thousands you spend, there will always be some that just don’t like change.

You don’t need to spend a fortune

Despite the costs involved in creating a new logo, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get something that is memorable and lasting. Consider the thoughts of marketing guru Seth Godin in his post, Logos:

“About thirty years ago, three companies dreamed up logos that have become so powerful, I don’t even have to show you the images to get them to pop up in your head. A sneaker company paid a few hundred dollars for an abstract, upside down wave, a coffee company picked a half-naked mermaid (is there any other kind) that cost them nothing, and a computer company picked [hired a PR firm that picked] a piece of fruit with a bite out of it….A great logo doesn’t mean anything until the brand makes it worth something….That’s why spending $800,000 for a logo is ridiculous.”

Seth Godin goes on to write that if you’re given the task of creating a logo, you should find someone else to do it. If you can’t do that, just pick a clean and simple abstract image and use your brand to give it meaning.

Here’s someone to do it for you

The CashQuests.com logo that you see on the site was not found by spending a fortune on a design team or spending weeks tweaking multiple revisions.

It was bought for just $10. And I received it in under 24 hours.

The designer was found via this thread in Digital Point forums and was chosen based on the massive amount of positive feedback and numerous examples of work that are displayed. Here’s a few examples that convinced me to purchase a logo:

After contacting the designer with my requirements and paying the $10, I received a mock screenshot of CashQuests.com with the new logo in the header. I liked what I saw and told the designer that I liked it. I was then promptly sent an Adobe Photoshop file with the raw logo graphics included, the fonts used in it’s creation and hi-resolution jpegs of the logo. Having the Adobe Photoshop file sent was fantastic as it enabled me to make a few personal tweaks and get it fitting just right on the site.

The whole process from payment to posting was completed in under 24 hours.

I’m not going to lie to you and say that I think it’s the most brilliant logo in the world, but it is effective and contributes to the site’s unique branding which has been the cornerstone of it’s success. I like how the simple image of an upward arrow represents an increasing online income!

Start looking good

At just $10, there’s really no excuse not to have a great looking, unique logo for your site. Without one, your site is guaranteed to fade into the background and never become remarkable or memorable.

If you don’t want to spend the time or money getting one the Problogger way, I highly recommend heading over to Digital Point Forums to get your $10 logo.

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