Thought the very familiar three-column layout that typifies was only for blogs or bloggy things?  Think again, the “blog style layout” is excellent for any information-rich website, just ask AOL News:

The new design lays out news in an blog-like fashion, with excerpts of all the day’s main stories laid out chronologically from top to bottom. Source: AOL launches new blog-like news site - Download Squad

I talked about one facet of the Download Squad’s point, which is, does the blog-style layout work, on my own blog, here I’m going to look at another facet; using blog templates for “general” websites.

As blog engines, Wordpress especially, have matured, they are becoming very real options for companies to run their whole web presence on top of.  Of course a blog engine tends to use a blog template, not just the technology of templates, but the whole blog-style.  Columns, excerpts, sidebars.  All of these features are what we recognize blogs as having, but think about how you can use these things on your own site.  Highlight a new promotion on a sidebar.  Have a quote displayed from an asides category.  Powerful and easier to implement than even a couple of years ago.

Think you are limited in design options?  Think again.  There are thousands of free templates available for Wordpress alone.  Take one of those templates, modify it to suit your tastes, needs, even colour scheme, and viola! You have an amazing, easy to read, powerful website.

Again, if you don’t believe me, ask AOL.