There is a lot of information out there about blogging. You can find tutorials on how to start a blog, the best way to capture readers, advice on how to be successful and the list goes on. I’ve been blogging now for almost four years. I’m not an expert by any means at all, but I’ve seen a lot of blogs now and I have people ask me often about blogging. So here’s my quick tips for new bloggers:
People read blogs for a lot of different reasons and are usually looking for something relatable or something that gives them something in return (advice, knowledge, inspiration, etc.). I used to have time to read a lot more blogs than I do now; but when I do read other blogs, I’ve learned that I’m a “skimmer”. I realize that I am a visual reader and I love pictures. I don’t usually have time to read lengthy posts, but occasionally come across a few that hit home and really enjoy reading. I’ve come up with a few tips that I think are important for your blog when starting new or looking to make some updates.
“Do as I say, not as I do.”
I honestly don’t always do these things, but I’m trying to incorporate them more. These are things I love to see from other blogs when I’m reading them or skimming through new ones.
1. Use LARGE photos:
Make your photos large or x-large in Blogger. I hate (and so does everyone else) looking at small photos. I recently figured out how to enlarge your photos in Blogger. I mostly only enlarge the vertical photos that I post. This little trick has made me very happy! I’ve learned that my width is best at 640. Everyone’s may be a little different, but that might help guide you. Here is a quick tutorial:
Step 1: choose original size on your picture!
Step 2: Go to the “HTML” setting (you can shift between “Compose” and “HTML” at the upper left of your screen when you’re editing posts).
these options are in the upper left corner of the editing screen.
You’ll see a lot of stuff that looks like this: <a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-eILBTyMmI/UNwQqiBg6aI/AAAAAAAABRM/KdvNMs5BM0A/s1600/sc003c7770.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-eILBTyMmI/UNwQqiBg6aI/AAAAAAAABRM/KdvNMs5BM0A/s1600/sc003c7770.jpg” /></a></div>
All you have to do is find the place where it says the name of your image file. (Above, mine is a very long string of things ending with .jpg”, highlighted in red for clarity.)
Step 3: After the .jpg” or however your image title ends, put one space and then type in width=”640″ (or any other size you want!). I like 640 for vertical photos, but you can decide whatever you want. That’s it!
Your HTML after will look like this: <a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-eILBTyMmI/UNwQqiBg6aI/AAAAAAAABRM/KdvNMs5BM0A/s1600/sc003c7770.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-eILBTyMmI/UNwQqiBg6aI/AAAAAAAABRM/KdvNMs5BM0A/s1600/sc003c7770.jpg” width=”640″ /></a></div>
2. Use Photo Editing Apps:
People are visual which means it’s important to have good quality photos! Do your best on this.
My favorite photo editing apps are After light and PicTapGo on the iPhone. I love Picmonkey on the computer for adding text to my photos for the blog. They also just released an iPhone app that I bet will be good too. There are a ton of photo editing apps out there. Just pick one that is easy for you to use and use it! It can make a big difference in your photos.
People are visual which means it’s important to have good quality photos! Do your best on this.
My favorite photo editing apps are After light and PicTapGo on the iPhone. I love Picmonkey on the computer for adding text to my photos for the blog. They also just released an iPhone app that I bet will be good too. There are a ton of photo editing apps out there. Just pick one that is easy for you to use and use it! It can make a big difference in your photos.
3. Choose a Simple/Clean/Pretty Design Template:
Just keep it simple. You are seeing a lot of black & white blogs out there lately because it is as clean as you can get. I love seeing some personality in blog designs, but just remember to keep it clean. People will judge your blog by it’s cover 🙂 And make sure you have a great “about me” page. Those are always one of the most popular pages on a blog because people want to get to know the face behind the blog! And if you’re up for it, have a home tour. Bloggers are nosy and love to see inside the house.
Just keep it simple. You are seeing a lot of black & white blogs out there lately because it is as clean as you can get. I love seeing some personality in blog designs, but just remember to keep it clean. People will judge your blog by it’s cover 🙂 And make sure you have a great “about me” page. Those are always one of the most popular pages on a blog because people want to get to know the face behind the blog! And if you’re up for it, have a home tour. Bloggers are nosy and love to see inside the house.
4. Less is More Sometimes:
Don’t always think that you have to have a really lengthy post to publish for the day. Sometimes less really is more. Like I mentioned above, I’m into letting the photos do the talking a lot of times. Keeping your message brief is okay. Get your message out there and write enough so people can feel like they know you and understand you, but don’t write a novel.
Don’t always think that you have to have a really lengthy post to publish for the day. Sometimes less really is more. Like I mentioned above, I’m into letting the photos do the talking a lot of times. Keeping your message brief is okay. Get your message out there and write enough so people can feel like they know you and understand you, but don’t write a novel.
5. Love what you do:
This really should be number one. Don’t blog unless you love it. There are so many blogs out there right now and I think they can be so helpful and inspiring to all of us as long as they are written with the right intentions. Don’t start a blog because you think you are going to immediately make money. Start a blog because you love to write, or cook, or tell stories, or want to have a creative outlet. Start a blog because you want to inspire. I love to inspire and I hope to do that every day.
This really should be number one. Don’t blog unless you love it. There are so many blogs out there right now and I think they can be so helpful and inspiring to all of us as long as they are written with the right intentions. Don’t start a blog because you think you are going to immediately make money. Start a blog because you love to write, or cook, or tell stories, or want to have a creative outlet. Start a blog because you want to inspire. I love to inspire and I hope to do that every day.
What tips am I forgetting???
Link up with Natalie and I below for Thoughts for Thursday.
Awesome tips! Thank you.
Can we talk about how good you look in orange??
Wow! Great tips, I agree with all of them. Especially the large picture one. I know of one blog where the pictures are so tiny I can't even make out the detail, so I asked the blogger if she could make the pictures bigger. She clearly didn't know how because she responded "I don't know, click on them?". That didn't work.
These are great tips! Thanks so much for sharing!!
These are great tips, especially the tutorial for the height of the photo (way easier than other methods)! I'm curious about how you get a hashtag to show up on bloglovin, if you'd be willing to share? I notice that when I see this post on bloglovin, the hashtag #blogging is under it. Would love to know how to utilize that feature too, but I have googled it and don't see any tutorials! thanks again for your info!
So funny that you ask, Megan, because I was just looking at that last night. So all it is, is when you LABEL your post in blogger (you can see all my topics on the right hand side), that's what shows up in bloglovin. Does that make sense?
And I'm also going to edit this post real quick. Because it's actually my "width=640" that I like. It still may be different for everyone, but in case that helps.
Great tips! I'm sharing mine for my blogiversary next week and we definitely are thinking about some of the same things. You look lovely in that orange!
Great tips, changing the height for photos is really good one and I could use it.
xo Sheree
http://poshclassymom.com
IG: @poshclassymom
These are some great tips and I definitely agree about the pictures. Sometimes I visit the blog and the pictures are small! I want to see that cute outfit!
xo, Whitney and Blaire
Peaches In A Pod
great tips! i especially love the last one!! that's why i took almost the whole summer off, i was a little burnt out with blogging i wanted to wait to start up again when i missed it — not to mention i would rather play with Vi most days than be stuck behind a computer. xo jillian – cornflake dreams
Great tips! Totally agree about the pictures… Makes or breaks a blog for me!
Great tips!! I really need to try to start widening my vertical pictures… I'm just too lazy most times lol
These are great, and I so agree: Bigger pics are always better and less clutter!