Today’s guest blogger is one of my online pals, Leigh-Ann of Freckled Nest. We’ve been friends for almost a year now. Three quick reasons why I like being her friend//look up to her: she’s fun, friendly and smart :] I know you’re going to love her post below. And you’ll secretly learn a few things.
xxoo!
Hi Everyone + Maggie :) Thank you for inviting me to share blogging tips on Gussy! My name’s Leigh-Ann and my blog & company is Freckled Nest… I co-own FN and we mainly offer custom blog design, online classes (Indie Business and Home Ec), ad managing and handmade items through A Little Thistle on etsy :) I live in Winnipeg Canada, 5 minutes away from all of my family and I love thrifting, walks with my dog Lola, swimming, reality tv, doing Oprah impersonations, and working.
Five Simple Tips for Improving Your Blog
1. Post photos at their maximum width. To give your blog visual flow and appeal, load your photos at your blogs full width so that they can be seen easily and look stunning. Depending on what blog platform you’re on, you can preset your maximum photo width so that they always load full size OR increase the size by double-clicking the photo and choosing a larger width.
2. Let music be optional. Arriving at a blog that automatically starts playing music or a video is kinda alarming. I often read blogs when I can’t sleep, and when I open a blog with instant music, I panic and leave immediately to avoid waking my boyfriend or pup (also bad for people blog reading in their cubicles).
3. Tweet your post. Set your blog up to automatically tweet new posts. A lot of casual clickers will visit when they see the new post title + link in twitter and some people even use this as a ‘no pressure reader’. If your blog doesn’t have an automatic tweet feature, shorten your blog post address with a service like tinyurl.com to save characters. Tweet in the day or evening and only tweet about a post once.
4. Choose a contrasting link color. Links should stand out a little bit and be obvious amongst a body of text. If your blogs font color is black, avoid choosing grey or dark blue for the links because they will probably go unnoticed. To improve navigation, select a more vivid color for your linked words and consider enabling the underline or bold feature on linked text (available in some blog platforms).
5. Be one person. Brand yourself clearly and consistently by using one name online, in all of your online involvement. It’s not uncommon to meet a person who juggles their married name and maiden name, a nickname, short-form name, and/or a character that they carry online. You can represent yourself online with almost any name, you’re not signing checks so choose your favorite name and use it always so that you build recognizable relationships and easy communication for your friends and potential business connections. Choose an email (and blog) address that reflects your name, your blog name or business name so that there’s an immediate connection to you and keep it clear and simple.
xoxo, Leigh-Ann
Great and timely advice! Thank you!
-Kristin and Chris Ann
Great tips and so glad they are offering Indie Business course thinking of signing up, thanks Maggie and Leigh Ann
great tips! thank you!
Excellent! I’ll take all the help I can get :-) Have a good day all!
Great suggestions! I agree whole-heartedly on the NO MUSIC thing. There are a few blogs I love-love-love and I read them despite the music, but I wish so much they’d take it off so I wouldn’t have to mute my laptop every time I go to their site.
Great tips! I totally agree on the music. I leave those blogs right away!
these are some really great tips!! thanks soo much gussy and LA!!!
I agree with you and everyone else who has commented on the music thing…especially as someone who reads blogs at work. Hehe! (Shh, don’t tell.) Anyone who is interested in Indie Biz 3.0, there’s still time to sign up. I’ve met some really awesome people so far, so hurry up and join us!
I agree with the no music!! That is beyond annoying!!
And I also like bigger pictures! When they are so tiny that I can barley see what is being photographed, my mind starts to wander. :(
Wonderful tips!!! Thank you!!
xoxo
thanks gussy! that was some really good advice. for someone new to blogging (regularly anyway) the tips were helpful for sure!
are you excited for the indie class to start today? i am so going over there now!
Im so technically challenged when it comes to all of this blog stuff but Im trying my hardest to figure it all out. Thanks for the tips! Theyre greatly apprecaites:)
Xo,
Sarah
Thank you, Leigh Ann {and Gussy} for these timely tips!
Much appreciated!
Great tips Leigh-Ann! I am definitely one of those cubicle followers and I hate background music on blogs! Talk about a dead giveaway!!!
Gus – This was such a great guest post idea! It would be awesome to see these from more bloggers in the community!
Great advice! Thank you for posting this!
Thanks so much for the advice! I feel like I’m constantly working on “branding myself” and staying true to that, but boy is it difficult!
What a CUTE~CUTE vintage GIRLIE she is!
LOVE her ENERGY!
Great BLOGGING tips!
GUSSY + Freckled Nest = HAPPY!
xo
thanks for the tips! i never knew what the heck tinyurl was before and now i feel so savvy…appreciate the tips.
blessings,
alison
stuff and nonsense
Great post! i hate music on blogs too!
Such simple and helpful tips! I’m looking forward to updating my blog’s colour palette for spring! A bright link colour will definitely be included!
just tweaking my site today…i think ill go check my link colors. and thank you for posting about music. nothing will run me off of a blog or site sooner.
Great tips! And thanks for the TinyURL link! My blog automatically shortens my post links on Twitter but I didn’t know how to do it for other interesting links I want to share with everyone!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful advice! Thank you!
Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!!
xo, Leigh-Ann
Love LA & Indie 3.0! yes to the no music deal too. =) great tips & thank you.