Girls Guide to Blogging

Ooops! Even blogging veterans make mistakes

Sophia Charming — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:06:44 +0000

I noticed today that when I went through and deleted all of my unapproved spam comments last week, I somehow managed to also delete a solid chunk of real comments. So, if you left me a comment and you don’t see it posted, it’s not because I don’t love you…it’s because I was apparently over zealous (and maybe even drunk) whilst doing some spring cleaning in my comment section. Feel free to come back and leave new comments, it will help me feel slightly less retarded.

Art by Joyce Ballantyne

The Basics of Blogging

Sophia Charming — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:09:45 +0000

We all have to get started somewhere, even your favorite fabulous blogger was a novice at one point. While starting a blog can be pretty intuitive, somethings you only learn through trial and error…that is if you don’t have a nifty guide like this one to get you started.

Step 1: Choose a Topic

Why are you starting a blog? Your chances of getting rich from blogging are about as good as your chances of winning the lottery, so I hope you weren’t thinking of starting a blog to get rich. I started my first blog as an outlet for my creative side. I started this blog because I wanted to give advice to other women interested in blogging, as they were emailing me for advice anyway! I also wanted to meet other bloggers with similar interests. Your blog does not have to be totally focused on one topic, but that does make it easier to find and keep readers. In the beginning I chose a topic for each day of the week to help stay focused and avoid writers block. I had “Wishlist Wednesday” when I would talk about something I was dying to buy and “Foodie Friday” when I shared some of my favorite culinary treats.

Step 2: Choose a name

Choosing a blog name is actually kind of important. You don’t want a name that is too long or hard to remember; you want something that is easy to spell and that you can “own” on Google. Google your name before you commit. Does someone already use the same name or a similar name? Do you think that you will eventually make it to one of the top few search spots? If there are numerous popular websites ahead of you on the list then you probably are never going to make it on to the Google first page. I found that using a city in your name can make it more difficult to make it to the front page. Why care? Google front page real estate is important for drawing readers into your blog.

Think about purchasing your domain name. It is not that expensive,its is easy to do and if you decide to move your blog in the future you can take your readers and Google traffic with you. Think of your time blogging as an investment in your domain name, the more work you do the more it will be worth…and if you don’t own your domain name then you can’t capture that value.

Step 3: Pick a Host

I can personally recommend Blogger as a free blogging platform. Blogger is run by Google and they do a really fabulous job with optimizing your posts to be picked up by search engines. There are also tons of helpful guides for setting up blogs on blogger.

If you choose to host your blog independently you will have to pay for hosting and things will be a bit more complicated. I recommend Wordpress for independently hosted blogs, but I cannot recommended a hosting service as I really don’t like mine.

Step 4: Tweak your Design

Your blog needs to look sharp, it shows that you are serious. Personally, when I visit a blog for the first time the design has a huge impact on my impression of the blog and the blogger. I don’t even bother to read busy and distracting blogs. Wordpress and Blogger both give you ample opportunity to tweak your blog design. I’ve written about customizing a blogger blog before and will write about customizing wordpress soon.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when designing your blog, no matter what platform you are using:

Your blog will look different depending on the screen resolution of your reader’s computer so check your blog at different screen resolutions and even on different computers.
Don’t put music on your blog or pop-ups
If you are going to put advertising on your blog, be tasteful about it. Now one wants to try to read an article with a bunch of busy blinking advertisements everywhere.

Step 5: Monitor

There is nothing more fun than checking your blog statistics, well in my opinion anyway. I love seeing what people are reading on my blog and how many people subscribe to my RSS feed.

Google Analytics
Feed Burner
Regularly check for incoming links and thank the blogger who’ve linked to you. You can check for incoming links in several ways, including searching google for links “link:http://www.chicandcharming.com” (link:yourblogurl) and checking out your technocrati page (e.g. http://technorati.com/blogs/www.chicandcharming.com).

Step 6: Write

Writing for a blog isn’t quite like writing for anything else. It is important to develop you own style, but certain thing remain true across the board.

Break up your article with headlines in a different font or color
Include lots of pretty pictures with your blog posts
Think about making lists, especially Top 10 lists
Be generous with your links, people like to follow links and they’ll notice if you link to them
Post consistently, about once a day
Write a few “pillar posts” to help draw in traffic

Step 7: Promote

Comment on other people’s blogs, but make sure your comments are relevant and interesting
Tell your friends
Suggest link exchanges with a few of your favorite blogs
Submit your article to relevant aggragators, like kirtsy or digg (unless you blog on certain topics like humor or technology or really dedicate yourself, you probably won’t do well on digg).
Submit your blog around the web indexes like Blogs by Women and Blogged, never pay to be listed in a blog index
Fill out a profile at Girls Guide to Blogging
Post your blog on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else you have a profile
Join twitter, make friends, post interesting links and then post links to your best articles. Don’t link to yourself everyday…if people want to read what you write everyday they will subscribe to your blog.

A note on leaving it all behind

Don’t hastily delete your blog when you decide to throw in the towel. You might want to come back and take it back up later. More importantly, there are people who troll the internet for domains with lots of Google listings that have been abandoned. The buy the domain and sign up for the blogger account and then fill you former blog address with advertising. I know. It happened to me!

Check out a few of my Favorite Blogging Ladies Pictured Above

The ladies pictured above do not endorse GG2B. I consider them to be excellent examples of how to put together a quality blog:

Susie Bubble is one of the best known fashion bloggers, especially notable for “what I wore” posts and support of emerging designers.
Nubby Twiglet is a great example of blogging to promote a personal brand and company.
I love Cuffington’sstyle, this is one of the only blogs that I follow that regularly posts really wearable outfits. I would totally wear everything she wears.
Raggle regularly posts interesting photographs on flickr. She is a great example of a less conventional “blogging” style.
Daddy Likey writes an interesting, irreverent blog which shows a strong personal voice and perspective.
Kingdom of Style is a style blog jointly written by two lovely ladies, I especially love their fanciful outfit styling.
Hail Mary is a good example of a new blog, which covers the writer’s life and passions.
Wendy Brandes is fabulous. And funny. And makes beautiful jewelry. She is an amazingly prolific commenter, which makes her even more fabulous!

Pimp my Blogspot

Sophia Charming — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:38:46 +0000

I started out as a blogger on blogspot.com with one of the simple, prepackaged theme options that blogger provides when you create an account. Over the years I’ve spent a great deal of time hacking the HTML code on blogger to make each blogspot blog unique. Since I have no formal training it took me quite a while to mold my blogs into final form. Eventually I abandoned blogspot for wordpress and a whole new world of design freedom, but I realize that paying for web hosting and tinkering with wordpress is not for everyone. Blogspot is still hugely popular thanks to its ease of use and free hosting. So, it is no surprise that blogger templates are finally getting some attention from the open source programming community. Now, there are hundreds of great theme templates available for blogspot! You no longer have to stick to one of the half-dozen blogger templates, now you can make your blog design better reflect your blog content and personality.

There are several websites online that offer blogger templates or provide lists of the best templates and I think the best are: B Templates, Pyzam, Blogger Buster, and Mashable. Once you find your “perfect” template all you have to do is upload the template file under Layout->Edit HTML. Be sure the backup the previous version of your blogger template first in the event that you are not happy with the results. Personally, I’ve found sometimes there are bits of code missing from free templates which means you have to give up on the template or hunt down and implement the extra bits of code (often as a “gadget” in the page elements section). I recently tried my hand at using a downloaded template over at oucch.blogspot.com and I was quite happy with the results.

Images from Yummy Lolly and Chic Sassy Designs

Kicking Couture

Sophia Charming — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:16:33 +0000

1. What is your blog name (and URL)?
Kicking Couture

2. What do you blog about?
Fashion, Food, Shopping, Trends, Style, Accessories, Make-up/Beauty

3. Why did you start blogging?
Well I’ve been reading blogs for while now, and i thought it would be a fun and creative outlet for my spare time whilist talking about my favourite thing! Fashion and make up!

4. What is your goal as a blogger?
To receive over 1,000 views a day which i would love i just dont know how to get lots of readers!

5. What advice would you offer to other bloggers?
take time on your posts, have fun, dont waffle, lots of pictures.
Also if your blog is about something ( fashion etc) don’t post about your life all the time as it becomes boring and your readers don’t click on your blog to read about your life, they want to know about fashion etc.

6. Where can we find you on the internet?

You Tube

7. What are your top three must read blogs everyday?
http://leeselooks.blogspot.com/
http://starsarepurple.blogspot.com/

9. Exchanging guest posts is an excellent way to promote your blog, would you be interested in exchanging guest posts with other bloggers in your niche? How would you like to be contacted?
by email or comments

Daily Dose of Coffee

Sophia Charming — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:02:05 +0000

1. What is your blog name (and URL)?
Daily Dose of Coffee

2. What do you blog about?
Fashion, Design, Shopping, Trends, Style, Make-up/Beauty

3. Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to share my cool finds with friends. It just sort of continued to grow and expand as I turned to it as a creative outlet.

4. What is your goal as a blogger?
To keep having fun with it.

5. What advice would you offer to other bloggers?
Keep at it and don’t give up. And most of all, have fun!

6. Where can we find you on the internet?

7. What are your top three must read blogs everyday?
http://icanhascheezburger.com
http://gofugyourself.com

9. Exchanging guest posts is an excellent way to promote your blog, would you be interested in exchanging guest posts with other bloggers in your niche? How would you like to be contacted?
email

Just Lizabell

Sophia Charming — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:50:49 +0000

What is your blog name (and URL)?
Just Lizabell

2. What do you blog about?
Personal anecdotes, Blogging, Personal Improvement, Political, Family, Writing

3. Why did you start blogging?
I originally started blogging just to have a little corner of the internet where I could write about whatever was going on with my life but it’s evolved into so much more than that. Now I blog to have a platform for my writing and eventually I hope to become a full-time blogger.

4. What is your goal as a blogger?
My goal as a blogger is to be able to work from home and support myself as a full-time blogger/writer.

5. What advice would you offer to other bloggers?
Be patient, be dedicated, be real, be creative, and be fabulous.

6. Where can we find you on the internet?

7. Exchanging guest posts is an excellent way to promote your blog, would you be interested in exchanging guest posts with other bloggers in your niche? How would you like to be contacted?
contact at justlizabell.com

The Glamourous Grad Student

Sophia Charming — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:47:23 +0000

1. What is your blog name (and URL)?
The Glamourous Grad Student

2. What do you blog about?
Fashion, Shopping, Trends, Style, Accessories, Cheap and Chic, Travel, Education, Personal Improvement, Make-up/Beauty, Etiquette

3. Why did you start blogging?
I am a scientist in grad school with this whole other side that is crazy about all things chic and very girly. Blogging it a chance for that side to come out to play, and has put me in touch with fellow grad students who are also style obsessed!

4. What is your goal as a blogger?
To have some fun and interact with other people with similar interests and mindsets.

5. What advice would you offer to other bloggers?
Be your original you, not an imitation someone else. Lots of people in the blogosphere write about the same sort of stuff, but what makes you different is putting your mark on it, and having your style.

6. What are your top three must read blogs everyday?
www.yesandyes.org
www.chicandcharming.com

We’re Under Construction

Sophia Charming — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:32:56 +0000

Dear Readers,

If you follow my other blogs you may have noticed that I have been on a re-design bender. I am finally turning my attention to Girls Guide to Blogging for some much needed TLC.

In addition to a full makeover, there will be a big shift in focus and content here on GG2B. I plan to make the website into more of a blog than a “community.” I’ll being doing away with the forum section, which was initially added mostly because I wanted to challenge myself with a new design problem. It has never been very popular. If the community part happens naturally that is great and in the future I might bring back the forum. The community element of the website will be converted into a “profiles” section because I have always loved the member profile section…I think it is a really great resource. I will continue to take profile submissions!

I expect the redesign to take several weeks, during which time I expect the blog will be quite a mess!

xoxo

Sophia

Gretch-a-sketch

Sophia Charming — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:07:06 +0000

1. What is your blog name (and URL)?
Gretch-a-sketch

2. What do you blog about?
Books, Personal anecdotes, Blogging, Style, Hobbies, Entertainment, Internet, Religion, Family

3. Why did you start blogging?
I started consistently reading blogs last autumn and I decided to start my own so I could connect with those bloggers. As an avid fan of the internet, it was also a good way for me to archive all the cool things I found (which I now do through Tumblr).

4. What is your goal as a blogger?
Ultimately, it’s to help me improve myself. I’ve become a better writer as I’ve blogged and I’ve also learned more about my sense of humor. I love learning about how other bloggers have improved their life, which in turn inspires me to be better.
Also, to become a professional blogger and become fabulously rich.
Maybe I’m joking about that last part.

5. What advice would you offer to other bloggers?
Realize that success doesn’t come immediately.
Make friends with other bloggers that have similar interests.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, but do be careful what you say.
Don’t post out of a duty to post, but as a desire to post.

6. Where can we find you on the internet?

7. What are your top three must read blogs everyday?
http://thehollyandtheivy.blogspot.com/
http://theleilatexts.blogspot.com

8. Exchanging guest posts is an excellent way to promote your blog, would you be interested in exchanging guest posts with other bloggers in your niche? How would you like to be contacted?
gretchenalice@gmail.com

@Twitter #HashTags

Sophia Charming — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:03:23 +0000

I’ve been wondering for weeks what the hell was up with people throwing little number (#) signs in their tweets on twitter. I just discovered that this symbol is called a hashtag and was developed as a way of tagging the content of a tweet, so that twitter folk who don’t follow you, but are interested in that topic, can find and read your tweet.

How HashTags Work

For example, say I tweeted a link to a great article on how to earn a million dollars, if I want to make it searchable I could tweet this:

“Great article on how to make tons of $$ http://tinyurl.com/… #diy #howto”

Now someone can search on twitter or on hashtags.org for “#diy” or “#howto” and my tweet will come up! The hash mark is basically a sign to those reading the text of your tweet that those words are just tags, not necessarily the content of your tweet. However, some people do incorporate the hash mark into the tweet message content.

Hashtags are most useful if you friend @hastags. Your hashtags will then automatically be indexed with hashtags.org for others to follow and you will be able to subscribe to terms of interest. Tweets containing the terms you subscribe to will appear in your time line, even if you you don’t follow the tweet author. For example, if I tweeted the message above, anyone subscribed to #diy would automatically see my tweet in their time line.

An Example of HashTags in Action

So, lets say I am a huge Twilight fan and I want to see every tweet out there marked #twilight, I would tweet “Follow #twilight” and then I would get all of the updates tagged #twilight in my twitter time line.

Maybe I only want to see when @ChicandCharming tweets about twilight, then I would tweet “follow chicandcharming#twilight.” If you are already following @chicandcharming this would be redundant, as you already get all of her tweets!

Now, lets say that you are OVER twilight and want to unsubscribe, tweet “Leave #twilight” and you are unsubscribed.

Finally, lets say that you were never a fan of twilight, you think it is boring and you don’t ever want to hear anything about it, you can tweet “Remove #twilight” and any time someone you follow tags something with #twilight it will not appear in your time line! Note, they must actually use the # tag, it won’t weed out anything with just the word twilight.

HashTags Cliffnotes

If you want to tag a message, to be sent to anyone subscribed to that term or tag, you tweet #tag followed by whatever it is you want to tweet. You can actually place the tag anywhere in the body of your message. You can also send out tweets to only those subscribed to a topic by beginning your tweet with #tag !
To subscribe: Follow #tag To unsubscribe: Leave #tag
If you want to follow what 1 person has to say on your term of interest, you would tweet Follow twittername#tag
To block a tag from ever appearing in your timeline, even if someone you are subscribed to uses it: Remove #tag

Hashtags are also useful for when you want to append searchable keywords to your tweet that are not already in the text. Additionally, if you do a search on twitter for a keyword with a hashtag in front, your results are likely to be a bit more focused.

Image from luclatulippe.com and www.dirjournal.com