A beautiful design and a stunning brand will give your blog a professional look that gets noticed! Luckily there’s a [free] tool to help you design your blog and create a brand that won’t be overlooked! Canva is a graphic design website that allows you to create amazing graphics and take your blog to the next level!
6 Ways to Use Canva as a Blogger
First a quick overview of Canva. This free program allows you to create graphics with endless possibilities. On the main design page you can choose from premade template sizes such as a Pinterest Graphic, Instagram Post, US Letter, Business Card, and more. You can also create designs using custom dimensions up in the top right corner.
Once you’ve created a design you can use the options on the left side to insert different elements such as text, images, icons, shapes, and more. You can upload your own images or use some of their free stock images (they also have stock images available for $1 each).
Canva is free, but there is a paid Canva for Work option that is worth the cost if you do a lot of design work. This paid option allows you to upload your own fonts, have access to a larger free library of elements, and gives you the ability to search and organize you designs.
All done? Just download your work! They have options for PNG, JPG, PDF, and even animated GIF saving options.
Now lets talk about the 6 ways to use Canva as a blogger…
Use Canva to Create Amazing Pinterest Graphics
All bloggers know that Pinterest is the place to be to grow your traffic and get noticed. But no matter what strategy you use to pin on Pinterest, if your images don’t make the cut you won’t get noticed. That’s where Canva comes in.
With Canva you can create amazing long pins, with bright images and text that pops. You can choose the Pinterest Image Template which is 735 x 1102 or you can use the custom dimensions option. I choose to make all of my Pinterest graphics 700 x 1500.
Here are just some of the different pin images I’ve made in Canva.
The options are endless. But don’t forget to make sure each image you create contains each of the 5 Elements of a Powerful Pin!
Related Reading: How to Track Pin Performance with Google Analytics!
Create Optins and Printables with Canva
Now once you have created your powerful Pinterest graphics and attracted millions of new pageviews, you are going to need a way to convert those pageviews into subscribers and dedicated readers. You do that by creating lead magnets or optin offers. You need to offer something valuable to your new readers to begin building a trusting relationship. And Canva can help with this!
You can use the US Letter design template to create PDFs to give your readers as an optin offer. You can create: charts, planners, checklists, workbooks, ebooks, printables, and more. Whatever it is that your audience craves and needs help with .
Here are a few of the PDFs I have created with Canva for my websites:
Once you have your PDF created simply download it from Canva, upload it to your site, and create an autoresponder series with your email marketing service to send out your free product every time someone subscribes to your list!
Design Header Image with Canva
Nothing says professional blogger like a professional looking header! Now headers can come in a variety of sizes- usually due to the theme you are using- and can be anything from a custom designed image to just a nice paring of fonts for your site name and tag line.
To make a header in Canva you should first find out what header dimensions are supported by your theme. Then all you have to do is pick your fonts and design elements and start playing!
Create a Custom Logo in Canva
A logo is a design that symbolizes your business. When it comes to branding having a custom logo is an easy way to watermark and brand every thing you do. Having a small logo that you can put on every image, every email, every product, etc creates a cohesive brand that can be easily recognized.
You can create a logo easily in Canva by combining shapes, design elements, and text. If you need inspiration, try searching for logo designs on google or Pinterest. You can also search logos on stock photography sites to get your creative juices flowing.
If you use Canva for work you can download your logo with a transparent background- which makes it so easy to reupload and put your logo on all of your images!
Create Custom Images
Canva is my go-to for all the images I create for my websites. Just like using it for your long, large, image for Pinterest you can use Canva to create all the images for your website.
You can create featured images that will be pulled for other social media platforms, custom collages to show the steps to a DIY project or to show off a collection of ideas and links.
Or design infographics for your blog posts- which are super shareable!
You can make your own banners and sidebar ads for your lead magnets, products, or affiliates.
Basically, you can create any image you need!
Design Your Own Products to Sell with Canva
And finally you can use Canva to create your own products! While I don’t recommend using Canva if you are writing a long ebook, if your product is a workbook, planner, or other product that includes a lot of design elements, then using Canva can really make your products pop!
Even if you are creating your e-book using a word processing program you can still use Canva to design your covers and then combine the PDF files.
When using Canva for commercial products, be sure to only use the free elements or upload your own designs and images. If you use the paid elements you need to read the terms of use before using in a paid product.
I have used Canva for each of the products I created for my homesteading website and for the Powerful Pin Design Bundle that is available here on Powerful Pinning.
Canva makes designing simple- even if you have no graphic design experience or you are not an artist in any sense of the word! How will you use Canva as a blogger? I’d love to see what you design!
Loved this post! I love Canva, too. Don’t know how I made it so long without it. Graphic design has never been my strong point, so it makes my life 10x easier. Always good to see how others use it.