How To Create Your Own Blog Header

Best Blog Tools is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read more about our disclosure police here.

Why are blog headers important?

Blog Headers are important because it's the very first thing visitors notice when they come to your website.

AND…first impressions are everything!

Many of the best websites have something in common, they have awesome blog headers.

I bet you also want a fabulously unique blog header to make your blog stand out, but you don't have Photoshop or money to hire a designer.

Don't worry, not only am I going to show you where you can find resources for FREE blog headers, but I am also going to share some free tools that you can use to create your own blog header.

Depending on your platform and theme, headers can be anywhere from 800-1200 pixels wide and 100-400 pixels tall. (A good reference is 1140 x 300px).

Sites for Free Blog Headers

Don't want to create your own header? That's okay. Below you'll find a great list of websites that offer absolutely free blog headers that you can use on your website.

Who doesn't love FREE stuff!

Clemintine Creative – Free Creative Blog Headers -A variety of cute blog headers to fit your style. These headers are all 1900×500 pixels and are editable in PicMonkey, Canva and Pixlr Editor
Inkstruck – Watercolor Blog Headers – Five free watercolor blog headers that you'll be able to download in a zip file. these charming headers are 1900 px by 500pxand can be edited in PSD or PicMonkey
Desygner – Browse Desygner's exclusive collection of Small Blog Header Templates. Use their blog header maker and you will always be able to complement your blog's content with the right header. Customize everything from text and colors to logos and images.
Angie Makes –FREE Website Header Backgrounds Download by Angie Makes. A Collection of Cute Gold + Pink Website Header Backgrounds. Complete your Blog Design by Adding a Little Bling.
Freepik – A nice collection of vector image blog headers. Attribution required.
Smashing Magazine – 45 blog header Designs you can download and use for free.
Free Web Headers – A fantastic site for free Website Headers, Blog Headers and Banner Images, and more!
Journey with Jess – 7 Free Blog headers. All images are free for personal use. This includes use on your blog, in your blog headers, and personal projects.
Free WordPress Headers – An excellent place on the net to download high-quality free WordPress header images for your WordPress blog and website.
The Cutest Blog on the Block – designs entire blogs and websites, but also offers countless different headers that can be used free of charge. Choose from illustrations, photos or scrapbook style headers that you can personalize with your own text and some images.
Theme Headershas a great archive of headers with a variety of themes, some of which feature beautiful photography. Visit the album labeled, "WordPress Headers" to get hundreds of designs specific to WordPress blogs.

blog headers

Design Your Own Header

The first thing you need to do before designing your own header is to find out the actual dimensions of the header space on your website. The dimensions can vary depending on the theme you choose.

There are a couple of ways to find out your header dimensions.

1. Enter into the admin area of your website .If you're using WordPress, go into your dashboard and select Appearance>Customize>Header

2. Google your website and try right-clicking on the current header image. Save the image to your computer. Right-click the image and choose "properties" (Windows) or "get info" (Mac). The dimensions should be listed.

3. Still struggling to find the dimensions? You can try using your browser's developer tool to grab the image dimensions in your browser. (shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + i)

Canva for Designing Blog Headers

Now that you know the dimensions of your blog header we can move on to the fun part…designing a blog header using the awesomely FREE tool Canva. This is easily my favorite design tool.

*I should note that I use the upgraded Canva Pro which gives me access to more images, fonts and templates, but you can get by easily with the free tool if you're not ready for an upgrade.

7 Steps to creating your blog header with canva

How to make a blog header in Canva

Sign up for an account.
Use custom dimensions.
Select afree photo or select a background
Add custom text.
Personalize your design.
Add a logo.
Download yourblog header.

1. Sign Up for Canva

Head on over to Canva.com and sign up for an account if you don't already have one. It's as simple as giving your name and email and creating a password. You can also sign up using Google or Facebook if you find that easier.

2. Use Custom Dimensions

blog header

Now that we're in Canva, we're going to select the Create a Design button.

Next, we are going to select the custom size option. Here you'll put in the header dimensions according to our website theme that we found earlier.

Once you've done that, you should have a blank canvas in front of you. Here's where the magic happens!

You'll notice on the left hand side of the screen is a menu of options. This menu allows you to add things such as text, images, backgrounds, shapes etc. to your canvas.

You should take some time to play around with the different options available. Simply open up a menu option and click on your selection and it will be added to your canvas. From there, you can resize it, adjust the color, etc.

Note: If you add something to your canvas that you don't like all you have to do is click on it and then click on the garbage can icon on the top right-hand corner of your screen to delete it.

blog header

3. Add a Photo or Background

For me, I'm going to go to the menu options and select a background for my blog header.

I prefer using the backgroung option over the photo menu option because the background selected will automatically fill your whole canvas

blog header

4. Add Custom Text

Next, you'll want to add your blog header title and subtitle. So, you'll want to select the text option from the menu.

Simply click on the add a heading and you'll see a text box appear on your canvas. Here you can add your blog title.

You'll also notice that there's a menu at the top of the main canvas screen where you can change the font style, the font size, the font color, the letter and line spacing, etc.

5. Personalize your design

blog header

After you have added your Title and subtitle (if you have one), you can add other elements such as shapes, clip art or illustrations. That's entirely up to you.

6. Add your logo

If you have a logo that you want to add to your blog header, simply select the upload option from the main menu board. This allows you to upload straight from your computer.

Don't have a logo? You can use Canva to create a logo that you can then add to your design.

7. Download your blog header

Once you're ready to save and download your blog header, just click the download button in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Choose the png option and click download. The blog header you created will be saved to your computer. Then simply upload it into your blog header section of your website.

blog header

Other Free Tools for Creating Blog Headers

Crello – Create a blog header that suits your style by customizing pre-made templates. You need to change colors and images, create new text, upload your own images or simply use one of the many design objects from Crello's impressive library. Personalize and stylize the way you want.

Picmonkey -another great design and editing tool. It's free to use, but you can go "premium" to access more icons, fonts, and backgrounds. While it doesn't have pre-made templates like Canva, but there is plenty of scope to create nice looking headers using the tool options and your imagination.

Resource Library

This list of resources will be your ultimate guide to the best blogging freebies! In fact, in this guide, you'll find HUNDREDS of absolutely FREE resources. Check it out!