blogging 101

I know I haven't blogged for long, and if you looked back in my archive, you'd see that I'd been blogging since I found out I was pregnant with Sophie, but I haven't actively blogged until 2015.  These are some of the tips that I've picked up while blogging.

topics:

Write about what you know .  I love reading fashion blogs, but couldn't even begin to tell you how to pair up shoes and skirts together.  What I do know is being a mom, being a wife and being me.

type:

Follow similar blogs. I follow blogs that are similar to mine, yes you guessed it, I follow a lot of mom blogs, in particular the ones with mothers of young children (toddlers).  Does that mean I don't follow others?  Of course not, but I find common ground more with those blogs and these mothers.  Sometimes I can find new baby products for Sophie, ones to avoid, advice, etc.

link ups:

Link to link ups. These are a great way to find new blogs and meet new people.  But don't link up and dash!  Sit down, and really read all of the posts that interest you and comment on each one (at least 5) with thoughtful and interesting comments.  Of course  I've been guilty of linking up and running.  And make sure to read the host's post as well.  Most likely you'll find blogs you really like and people too ;)

Even if you don't find blogs you like, you've at least yourself out there for others to find you.  On top of this, you can find DIY projects, recipes, advice blogs, etc.

commenting and following:

Comment, comment, comment. More likely than not, you'll get new bloggers by the continual commenting on theirs, or when you comment on their blog, they come back and comment on yours.  Eventually they will just comment on yours without you commenting on theirs because either your blog interests them or they find a post interesting.  A good bit of bloggers I've found are through comments on other regular bloggers I follow and vice versa.  Not every comment I write is ever responded to, but most of them usually are.

writing:

Make your posts counts. I write most of my posts on the weekends, and edit them throughout the week.  I don't post every day, but I try to make my posts count.  While I was trying to picking up more readers I would most likely I was more likely than not to write more posts to join in a link up.  But it's not necessary to post every single day, once you get dedicated readers, they'll check up on your blog (or add you to their reading list).  I check my reading list every few days and then read on other blogs through their comments.

replying:

Reply in a timely fashion. I try so very hard to reply back to every comment I get, whether on the post itself (if you're a no-reply blogger) or via email. I try to do so within a few days after I receive the comment.  I can't tell you how nice it is to receive a response back from a comment I made on a blog.  Does that mean I'm offended if I never receive a response?  No, some of the blogs I read have over 100 comments by the time I post, I can only imagine their inbox.  However, if I'm one of the top comments, some acknowledgement would be nice.

Are you a no-reply blogger?  To find out, go to your name in the upper right hand corner and click blogger profile → edit profile → then make sure "show my email" is clicked. This allows people to respond directly to your comment.  If it's not clicked it prevents people from seeing your email address to respond.

look:

Style your blog so others can read it. If your blog is really hard to read, whether it's the font color and background, or the font color of the links, or the scheme of your blog... if it's hard to read, I'm less likely to continually come back and read your posts.  I'll be blind by the time I'm at the end of your post.  I know my scheme isn't perfect, but for the most part, it's readable, but please let me know if it's not, I should definitely follow what I preach.

purpose:

Don't blog to blog. Blog because it means something to you, whether as a documentation of how you've changed, your life, your children, fashion, your house etc.  It's easy to tell when someone is blogging purely to blog not because it means anything to them.  I blog to record the memories that Kyle and I have and what we create with Sophie.

comparison/competition:

Blogging is not a competition. I know for a fact that there are some blogs that have nearly 7000 google friend connect followers, and then some that have 2500.  Then there's me, with 5.  And let me tell you, just having 5 made me pretty damn happy when I saw that.  Seeing just a month ago, I didn't have any.  Focus on your blog stats, not others.  At the same time, also try not to get too wrapped up with your stats either.  If writing is what makes you happy then the stats on your blog shouldn't mean as much.

captchas:

I can't even.  The ones that you just click that say "prove you're not a robot" aren't that bad, but the ones where I'm sitting there trying to type in the phrase that I can barely see because the picture is so tiny...just not even worth it after the 10th time.  My blog doesn't bring enough traffic to have false people commenting on my blog, but it's always easy to remove the content and then remove the comment itself.  Please, do us all a favor and remove it.