It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this crazy thing called blogging for over two years now! In that time, I have learned things that I would never have imagined myself capable of. Just in the technical world alone, my knowledge has increased by leaps and bounds over what it was before I began to blog. I depended heavily upon the writings of Amy Lynn Andrews, who herself began blogging knowing next to nothing about the process and how it works. Amy is a pro, and still loves to help people learn how to start a blog!
There are some very basic points that, once you are past the setting-up phase of blogging, are very useful in growing your site. If you a seasoned blogger, you probably already know these things. But I still see them all the time, often from blogs which I assumed would already be practicing these tips, so I thought it worthwhile to share them again.
So, without much fanfare, here is my original post from 15 months ago, with updates noted:
9 Things Bloggers Should Do
9 things… 9 months. That’s how old my grandson is. My blog is 9 months old, too… just about 3 weeks older than our sweet boy!
In those 9 months I’ve learned much! I’ve learned that you have to be really quick when you change a baby boy’s diaper (I had girls…) and I’ve learned that blogging is work, HARD work!
So hard, in fact, that if you don’t keep up with the learning curve, writing and editing posts for your blog can be a slow, slow process. It has to be something that you absolutely love to do and want to take the time to do well!
While I’m by no means an expert, there are a number of things I’ve learned that make my life much easier, and I suspect, might improve my reader’s experience as well.
{The first few points have to do with photos. Not that it’s the most important, but people are visual… and visual content can make or break your blog.}
1. Edit Photos
For me this is the fun part! When I first began taking my photos, they were often too dark, or poorly composed. Part of this was due to my amateur status as a photographer and part was the quality of my camera. Although I’m still an amateur, I acquired a better camera and that did help! I’ve also learned that it’s amazing how much can be corrected with some good editing software! Whether it’s Lightroom, Photoshop or PicMonkey, using photo editing tools will make your blog more attractive, thereby attracting more readers!
Here’s a photo from an early post. I knew nothing about using natural light, or focus or exposure. Well, basically – I knew NOTHING! Ha!
And here’s a more recent one, taken over a year later. Can you tell a difference?
2. Re-name Photos before uploading (PLEASE, PLEASE!)
When you take a photo with a digital camera, a file number is automatically assigned to that image. It may say ‘IMG_1144’, or something similar. The problem with not giving that image a new name is at least two-fold:
a) For SEO, if the photo has the name of your blog and/or keywords, it can be found using a search engine (optimally, Google), and conversely, if it retains the IMG title, no one can search and find your photo based on the subject of the photo.
b) When someone wants to share your photo on social media (Pinterest or other), it will not be shared with the name of the photo and/or blog post UNLESS you give it a new name! Have you ever gone to pin a photo and all it says is IMG – something? You want people to re-pin your photo with a built-in reference to your post!
3. Link Photos
Similarly, you can assign a link to your photos. If, for instance, you refer to a previous post in a blog, you can insert a photo, and go into your info on that pic and plug in the link to that previous post to make it easy for your reader to check it out… thus spending more time on your site! I will actually link the following photo to the post where it originally appeared:
4. Re-size Photos when uploading
Unbeknownst to me when I began, most of the photos I took were waaaaay too large to be uploaded to my blog page and be properly viewable (I told you… I was clueless!). What I found to be the perfect size for my site is a width of 600 mp (mega pixels). For some, it might be slightly smaller or larger, but it will be in that ballpark. The really cool thing I didn’t know back then is that there is a ‘plug-in’ that will automatically upload every photo at a size you preset. (I use Imsanity)
5. Write with Passion.
Passion and excitement about what you’re doing will come though in your writing. We hear it everyday: If you want a successful blog, you must have great content. And it’s true. It’s not so easy to do consistently, but true it is! Honor your reader with material that is worthy of her time. Some people say you should post every day. Part of great content for me is NOT posting every day. I’d rather focus on quality, not quantity!
6. Optimize SEO
Most of what I know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) I have picked up from various sources, including the Haven conference. They gave a fabulous workshop dealing with SEO in 2013 and then had Dan Morris in to cover it in 2014. If you get a chance to take anything like it or attend a blogging conference, you should! A few things I learned:
a) Assign each post a keyword or keywords
b) Title each photo and give an alternate title… can be the name of the post, along with your blog name.
c) Write out a custom Meta Description, using the keyword(s) in it.
d) Update: Use a plug-in to optimize your SEO. I’ve been using Yoast SEO and it’s great!
8. Spell and Grammar Check (this should be a no-brainer!)
The fact that bloggers are human and everyone makes mistakes means that we all make writing and editing errors occasionally. What IS unnecessary are misspelled words! All blogging software sites offer spell check in the editing tools. It is imperative that you use it!
We all love to read good writing, including those bloggers who write like they talk! That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m referring to misspelled or misused words, like using ‘their’ when it should be ‘there’, etc. Try to make your sentences easy to read, with as few grammatical errors as possible.
9. Develop Relationships
Just as networking is crucial to a ‘real’ job, so it is with blogging. Visit other blogs, find those that you admire and comment on them! Find link parties and link up your creations and awesome posts. If you’re unwilling to read other blogs, should you really expect them to read yours?
Try to help and support fellow bloggers as much as you can. Join or form a group or ‘tribe’ where there is mutual support for each other. The sharing of information is wealth!! “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Update: A few ways to develop relationships with other bloggers include:
- Attend conferences and conventions. I have been to the Haven Conference twice and to the Design Bloggers Conference once (it was there that I met Nate Berkus, Bunny Williams and Brian Patrick Flynn!). Here you will meet and network with fellow bloggers, brands and product designers. If you are seeking to blog as a career, these relationships (which often lead to sponsored posts and brand ambassadorships) are invaluable!
- Join Facebook groups. Often these relationships lead to collaborative efforts such as blog hops, link parties and shared paid post opportunities. Be active. Comment and be your warm, friendly self!
- Join Link Parties. Would you believe that when I started blogging I had no idea what a link party was? And when I linked up to the first one I had not a clue about what to do. My friend Donna at Funky Junk Interiors did a post detailing how to link up at link parties and it’s a great how-to if you need one. Link parties can help you network with bloggers and drive traffic to your site from readers!
- Volunteer. Yep, that’s what I said. Hook up with Habitat, work with a soup kitchen, support any kind of local building effort in your community. This helps us look up and outside of our own space, which actually helps us broaden our view of the world, as well as our own creativity!
This list is by no means comprehensive! These are just some things I have learned in my first few months that help me on a daily basis. Many of my readers will have other suggestions and I do hope you’ll leave a comment because I’d really love to know your best blogging tips!
And if this post has helped you in any way, please consider sharing through social media… on Facebook, Pinterest, or by way of any of the social media buttons below his post! Thanks again!!
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