In the past weeks, some of you may have noticed some tweaks here and there, with the most obvious change being the aesthestics of this blog. Whilst the look of any blog is important, so are the other elements that comes with building a better blog. I don't neccessarily mean successful, as determining what a successful blog is can mean something completely different from one blogger to another (pageviews, blogging community, land a job or work with a brand?) it's all down to the perspective of the individual.
What I love most about blogging is the community, discussions, inspiration, the close-knit and regularly interactive family of consistently loyal readers.
I'm not exactly a pro on building a better blog but if you are looking to get noticed and grow your readership, note that this will not happen overnight. There are however, plenty of amazing, inspiring successful bloggers out there who share their wealth of information with us and who can help you along the way.
Here are some exemplary, informative reads from blogger buddies I heart! I'd offer them Blog Oscars for their knowledge on how to Build a Better Blog if I could!
- IFB's Responding to "Follow My Blog!" Messages and Comments. I'm sorry guys, whilst comments absolutely make my day, there are some comments like the aforementioned that are slightly irritating, some that just feel truly insincere, especially the one liners (unless they're from blogger buds you know) or the ones who only visit once asking you to follow them and are never to be seen or heard from again - you know the ones! This is a major pet-peeve of mine and also an example of how NOT to grow your readership/traffic! Having said that, I do always make a point of writing back on their blogs though. I invite you all to read Beautifully Invisible's "How to not be a savage blogger".
- Grechen Blogs - really love the '5 Things I've learned about Blogging' project. NEWBIES to blogging, this is a great read featuring different bloggers
- Blogging is like a Roller-Coaster Ride by Tanvii. It sure is but Tanvii takes all of this in her stride. There is always going to be a little Love & Hate - also see her post on Anonymous commenters.
- The stylish and lovely Mis Papelicos posted about building a better blog here and also brought my attention to how annoying Word Verification can be on Blogger Comments. Disable Word Verification in Blogger. Go to 'Settings' then click on Comments tab, scroll down to Show word verification for comments? Click on NO. Easy.
- Onto my fave bloggers: B of Beautifully Invisible recently wrote about "10 Blogging Myths Debunked" - BRILLIANT READ. Plus her other awesome post on "10 things about your blog that drive me crazy" .
- For html, blog design, custom fonts etc check out Faye's blogging tips here.
- The building a better blog guru & genius, Vahni of Grit and Glamour has a whole section on her blog dedicated to this subject here. I love her philosphy of "sharing is good", you'll learn heaps from this gorgeous, intelligent, funny, stylish lady!
- Last but not least and slightly unrealated to building a better blog, is Jennifer Fabulous, a fantastic and funny blogger from I know, right? Whose post "Parody of a Fashion Blogger" had me in total, utter stitches! Don't worry it's fictional, she isn't being mean, she's just freakin' hilarious!
- Added a Favicon icon - the little personalised icon in the web address bar. If you already have an image you'd like to use, check this link out for instructions on how to add a favicon icon.
- Joined StumbleUpon - brilliant for sharing posts you like, discovering new websites (with your interests in mind) and booking marking sites you love. You can submit any posts you love by clicking the thumbs up icon or hovering over the little social bookmarking icons at the bottom of each post and the StumbleUpon icon is right there.
- Added 'Add this' to the post footer on each of my blog post. This service helps share content and drive traffic - a brilliant sharing/bookmarking site.
- Joined Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB)- This site is the brainchild of Jennine Tamm of The Coveted. Seriously have to join this if you haven't already. There is so much info shared here on building a better blog along with amazing blog links & good reads.
That's all folks! Have a great week! Καλή εβδομάδα σε όλους!