Five Blogging Tips from an Avid Blog Reader...

 Julie & Julia

For starters, I love reading blogs! It's a past-time I'm ever so grateful I stumbled upon about 6 years ago. Honestly I had no real idea what a blog was until I saw Julie & Julia. Julie blogged her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and it pretty much went viral. I had no idea it could be so involved and rewarding. I used to have a live journal growing up and the fall-out from an ex reading it caused me to abandon my writing. Every once in a while I used to write a little post in myspace where the newsfeed used to have surveys or a longer blurb on my profile. But blogging was something new which I happily jumped on the bandwagon. 

From reading 1,000+ blogs in this time I've noticed a few things that have helped me embrace new blogs and make sure I come back to read it again and again.

FIVE BLOGGING TIPS FROM AN AVID BLOG READER

1. Always Click "Open this link in a new Window/Tab" Option for Hyperlinks

~ I can't tell you how many amazing blogs I've lost because I clicked on a link within their posts - especially sponsored posts - and it opened the new link in current Tab/window losing the original blog post. In blogger it's easy to click to the "open the link..." option when adding a link, but please do some research for other blogging sites to ensure the reader does not lose your blog in the current tab/window. ~

2. Learn Simple HTML Coding 

~ This ties into the first one too. Learning simple HTML coding can greatly help you drive traffic to your blog. Most templates and blogging host sites help considerably so you don't have to delve deep into the computer coding madness but learning how to leave your blog's link in a comment can help! There are tons of websites to help you out too! 

3. A Pin-It Button & Use Pinterest Correctly

~ There are so many wonderful blogs out there - Fashion blogs, beauty blogs, DIY blogs...pretty much anything with original content you want to remember. If Pinterest is used correctly &/or a Pin It button hovering over images is available, the reader can save your content efficiently and instantaneous. 

To use Pinterest correctly, please make sure the image posted/saved to Pinterest has a link reference back to the source. Too many times there is just an image pinned...Well if it was once your original image and you didn't link it properly to your blog...it's lost. Always include a reference link. ~

4. Please Have Clearly Visible Social Media Buttons

~As I'm building my little blog, Toots + Dill, I've been commenting on a lot of blogs, finding my old favorites to follow, and joining link-ups to get myself out there. In the process I find I like to follow a blog on twitter, as well as bloglovin, and love to peek into their Pinterest boards. If you partake in these social media forums and wish to have the general public follow you, please make it visible on your sidebars &/or Contact/About me pages. It's too hard to search for blogs on the other forums without having it clearly marked because who knows what your username could possibly be?!? On Bloglovin a blog is easier to find, but twitter...forget it. There are endless possibilities of what your username could be. ~ 

5. An About Me/Contact Me Page

~ I have to take my own advice on this one...I love finding bloggers from other parts of the world and love learning a little bit about them before I decide to hit the follow button. If your blog is just post after post without any personal information anywhere I find it hard to pinpoint who you are and what your blog is truly about. This works for some people, anonymity, but it's nice to know a little bit about you. It makes it real. This is also a great place to list your social media forum usernames/links and your email address for possible further blogging relationships!~ 

I hope you've enjoyed these few tips from my personal experiences as a blog reader!

What are some Blogging Tips You've Found Helpful?

I'd love to hear...

 Julie & Julia