Blogging 101 {Pt. 4}
When I first started this series, my goal was to jump start new bloggers, help current bloggers re-think the atmosphere and content of their blog and possibly inspire some of my readers to start blogs. It has been such a dream to get the feedback I have from this series. Hearing how people have started blogs, revamped their blog goals and shared this series with others has been AMAZING.
If you missed the earlier posts, here’s the rundown and links of what I’ve covered so far.
It’s time to get started on Blogging 101 Pt. 4 and now that I have talked about most of the big things, I’ll be talking about some smaller, but still important, topics. Today I will be tackling blog aesthetics, developing a following, and blog comments.
Back in the Blogging 101 Pt. 1 post, one of the points was to make your blog a reflection of you. I’m going to piggyback on this just a little bit. I am ALL for making your blog your home and having it showcase your style and personality. As my personal style has changed and evolved over the years, my blog has gotten a few makeovers. As one who is constantly checking out blogs {both personally and professionally}, there are some things that are a big no-no in my opinion. Here are my top three pet peeves:
- Music playing in the background= a majority of people clicking out of your blog instantly. I will confess, back in the day I thought this was so cool and actually had it on my blog. *hides face in shame* If you have this on your blog, I would highly recommend disabling this immediately.
- Busy backgrounds can be over stimulating and distract from your content. If you’re unsure, white is always safe.
- Pictures that are too large {or too small} are never pleasant. Large pictures result in longer loading times and no one likes to wait around for pictures to load, especially when there are many in a post.
Whether it be on their blog or other social media sites, a blogger strives to develop a following. If you are new to blogging, or branding yourself, you will want it to be easy for your readers to follow you. Be sure to have your links easily visible {preferably near the top or sidebar of your blog} so your readers can just click and go straight to the other site. The biggest tip I suggest: keep all of your social media usernames the same. I go by “prettypinkposh” here on the blog and on all of my social media sites- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest….. If someone enjoys you and your blog, chances are they will want to follow you on your other sites and keeping your name consistent makes it easy for them to find you.
*There is nothing worse than wanting to follow someone on a social media site but their name isn’t consistent with their other sites. Chances are if they have to dig around to find you, they won’t follow.
If you are a blogger, it’s likely you know that comments don’t always come readily. I cannot tell you how many of my earlier posts have a big fat zero in the comments section. Does this mean that no one read the post? No, it doesn’t. I won’t give you a magical answer on how you can get more comments on your posts because honestly, there isn’t one. There are some blogs that gets hundreds and hundreds of comments, then there are some that get zero. Does it mean that one blog is more popular than the other? Not necessarily. Here’s a few insights, tips and thoughts on the subject:
- If you ARE a blogger, you know the feeling when you read a comment someone left you? Try to share that with others! While my time has become more limited as my responsibilities grow, I still try to make it a point to leave comments whenever I can. I start out by leaving them for some readers who visit my blog regularly, then I’ll go out from there. I know that I greatly appreciate whenever someone takes the time to share their heart and thoughts on a post and I love being able to do that for others. Also, you never know, you may develop REAL friendships because of comments! Over the years, what started out as blog friendships have turned into real-life friendships. Comments have a special way of bringing people together and bonding them.
- If you are NOT a blogger, you may not realize the power a comment can have for an author. It’s almost like validation or a pat on the back, in some ways. Do you remember how a teacher would write a note at the top of the paper if you did a great job on a report? A comment is a way you can do this on a post. Whether you felt challenged, inspired or even if you disagree of something, this is the perfect way to give the blogger your feedback and thoughts. I can’t tell you how many times a comment from a reader has inspired a post later on.
- One last thing on this topic- try not to get discouraged if you don’t receive any comments on your posts. I know from experience this is SUPER difficult at times. Remember: every blogger had to start somewhere and sometimes it can take months or years before a blog “takes off”. In the meantime, continue to be YOU {and pull from some of my previous points} and keep on being diligent about blogging.
That is going to wrap up this installment of Blogging 101. Have you been enjoying the series? Like I mentioned earlier, it’s been great to hear how this feature has inspired some of you. If you haven’t already, I’d love to hear what YOU have gleaned so far.
I am closing in on the last one or two installments of this series- we have covered so much this last month! If there is a topic you want me to cover regarding blogging, be sure to leave a comment and I’ll try to get that included before I wrap up this series. Thanks for stopping by!
great post, thank you for sharing! i’ve been trying to the physical appearance of my blog as simple as possible and I think it may be makeover time soon!
fabulously written!!!
Do you think bloggers need to respond to every comment they receive? I never expect one and I’m always surprised when I get them – but do appreciate it if the blogger has a response to my comment. I try to make specific comments when I comment on a blog – something I found helpful, etc. and I just wonder what other bloggers do — do you respond to every comment even if someone only says “Cool card” or something like that? I ask as a blog follower, not as a blogger — gave that up! :)
Hi Gina!
Personally I don’t think a blogger needs to respond to every comment. Each person will have a different response, but I get so many emails in a day that a “thank you for leaving a comment” email isn’t something I need and/or want.
If a person leaves a comment on my blog asking a specific question, I try to go out of my way to respond either via email or leave a comment in response to what they asked. Occasionally I’ll miss one, but I do make an effort in this department. :)
Thanks so much for the question!
Great series! I can’t believe I missed the previous 3 parts :O Your blog has been a big inspiration for my blog for sure!! Thanks for all the advice and inspiration :)
YES!!! Everyone in the blogosphere need to read this post, Paulina. Wish you’d included a bit about fonts, but I think that’s covered under “clean and simple”. I think people get carried away with what THEY think is cute, fun, etc., without realizing that not everyone will find the same thing pleasing to the eye.
Extremely well written!!
GREAT tips, Paulina!! I am really enjoying this series! With each post I take away very useful bits and pieces of information! Thanks for all of the effort you put into this!!
Thanks for this series, I enjoyed reading through all of them! I’d like to comment on the second point of this post – I agree with it wholeheartedly, but I wish it was all that easy to keep the names the same. I didn’t want to go with the name of my website in majority of cases, since it’s too long and it would make it just as hard on people, to have to type it in every time. Then, one time I did want to use it for my FB page identification, the name was taken already. With a gazillion of of social media users, someone setting up a coherent platform for themselves is up for a hard task :/ I can all but count on the power of the buttons on my blog – that’s how most of my new followers sign up. :)
Hey sweetie! Oh, I hope you didn’t think I was being harsh for those who don’t/ can’t keep their names consistent on the different social media sites. When I came up with that particular point, it was with new bloggers (or those wanting to “brand” themselves) in mind. I agree, some are not able to keep them all the same name…. thanks for leaving your feedback, I appreciate it! :)
Oh no, didn’t even cross my mind! I only wanted to throw in my few cents, to help cover the subject more :) Plus, it’s always nice chatting to you! lol
HUGS
Hi Paulina! I really enjoyed reading this blog post! Your tips are so helpful! Thanks for sharing! :)
Thank you for these posts! I’m a relatively new blogger, as I pretty much only started my blog to enter craft challenges and such. But I want more. Thank you for posting these helpful tips. I need to apply them now.
Hi Paulina,
I read through all your posts on Blogging, and I found them informative and helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Regards,
Vithya
thanks for posting all this information – very informative :)
awesome series! i wanted to be able to have a good chunk of time to read through them :) i love your opinions and approach!
I popped over from Chaitali’s blog and saw your lovely strawberry card. I enjoyed reading this post, and plan to start reading the series. Thank you for sharing your insight.
Again, Paulina, very informative and insightful. It is so generous of you to take your time to write the series and share your experiences. As I said earlier, I wish I’d seen a series like this when I started. For me, this time, I perked up reading about the size of the photos. As my first year came to a close, I was really loving the blogs I saw with very large photos of their cards. I love CAS and it made all that white space even more scrummy. At the same time, however, even using mostly medium photo sizes (no xl) on Blogger, I ran out of “space.” What? That’s a whole nother topic! I started paying a small monthly fee so I didn’t have to spend any time or energy worrying about space issues and, with no space issues, I started sizing my photos, of my card only, to extra-large. None of my readers has commented about loading difficulties, but since my style is to always to include challenge photos and information, I know the posts get big. The last thing I want to do is inconvenience or frustrate my followers, so I will limit my photos to large from now on. That’s not the only useful tip in this post, but it is the one most enlightening for me! Thank you so much!!
Hi Paulina,
Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experience. I stumbled across these posts on the day I was planning to start my own blog to support my etsy business. I will try to bear in mind all that you have said.
Thank you.
Lots of great into! Thankfully, I had heard lots of great blogging advice before I started my blog, but it’s always good to be reminded and even to learn new tips! Thanks, again!
Hi Paulina! You’ve heard the phrase “a day late, and a dollar short”, right? Today I’m feeling more like a “year late!” Your Blogging 101 has been very helpful and still seems relevant today.
I’m currently posting cards to challenges from my Flickr page but find myself wanting a “voice” so maybe a blog would be good. I have found a wonderful friend in Debby Hughes whose blog is my favorite.
I love the cool and calm design you’ve used as well!! So pretty. Thanks again =] M
Wonderful series, Paulina. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences. It’s been so helpful for a new blogger like me!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve been blogging for a long time, but never seem to get many comments. It was good to hear that it doesn’t necessarily mean others haven’t tuned in without leaving a comment.
Thanks so much for blogging this. I too wanting to start blogging and I had no idea where to start. Then I found your page on Instagram and I’m glad I did. I find it hard to have a name and my mind goes blank. I would love to blog about craft, kids, and life not to gain followers or promote my business but I enjoy doing these stuff.