Bloggy Tips 101

Share YOUR resolutions and tips at the linky party described below.
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Here are three simple basics for unlocking your blog and making it more accessible to readers, followers and party hosts.


1.) Put your name on your blog. 
Hi! My name is... It's surprising how many people forget to do this. You think it's on there--but are you sure? Examine your pages, sidebars, and posts. Is your name easy to spot? Put it in several places. Sign out of your blog and view it from the "outside." Make a contact page, or an "about this blog" page. Is your name there and are there ways to reach you? Try it. Make sure it works.



2.) Turn off Word Verification.
You really don't need word verification on your comment section. It discourages people from interacting with you because it's an extra step, and it really adds up time-wise. Besides: Blogger has done a superb job of keeping out spam. {In Blogger, go to your "settings" and in the comment tab click 'no' where it asks: 'show word verification for comments.' If you don't see this option, you'll have to switch to the old interface by clicking that little gear thingy--you can switch back when you're done.}

3.) Upload photos that are large enough.  
Photos smaller than 300 pixels wide are not compelling. When featured, small photos don't attract attention like the larger ones do. There's so much more to photos, but a minimum starting point: pay attention to size. On the other end, too large makes your page load more slowly. For the most part, I set mine at 600 wide. {Note: Party hosts can't display your photos larger than what you upload because they become pixelated and blurry.}


Make it a resolution to give readers the keys to come visit you by checking on and fixing these three thingsAs a relative newbie, I learned these three basic tips to improve my blog from personal experience hosting my linky parties, and 'listening' to veteran bloggers {Donna at Funky Junk Interiors and Debbie at Debbiedoos... chief among them}.

There's so much more to say about photos, comments, writing, etiquette, etc. I certainly have much more to learn and improve!

Click the icon to check out the wisdom linked up at the Blog Tips Cafe linky party! 





This is hands down the best tutorial to show you 
how to add Social Media Buttons to your blog!



Bling for your Blog!!





Visit my visual table of contents for more 
tutorials, crafts, home decor and recipes.




38 comments:

Debbiedoos said...

That is wonderful! I hope word gets out and these tips are found helpful to newbies. I know when I started out I sure needed help, in fact I still do, it really is a never ending learning experience.

Bonnie ~ a wee Meenit said...

great ideas on your part and being a newbie too, can't wait to keep coming back to learn new things I am sure I am not doing, but should be doing! Have a very Happy and Healthy 2012!

Deana@CountryMommaCooks said...

Great tips thanks for sharing..

Unknown said...

Great tips Christina! We all want readers to keep coming back!

Jen @ Craftincowgirl said...

Thank you for the tips! I am a newbie and this was great advice!

Babs said...

Thanks so much for the great tips. I need all the help I can get, so I'll be looking forward to your linky party. My New Year's resolution is to learn how to make a new header. LOL As you see, I'm sadly lacking in blogging skills.
Hugs,
Babs

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

Great tips my dear. It's funny, I've given advise in emails, but never did a post on them. I learned by observation, and from veterans as well. I think you've covered some very important points.

Make It Happen Mama said...

Love it! Thank you for sharing these valuable tips :-)

Honey I'm Home Blog said...

Here, here! I heartily agree with these tips ESPECIALLY letting readers know your name and that dang word verification. Great tutorial.

Warmly, Michelle

Sonny G said...

These are great tips, for newbees and some of the oldbees who we cant seem to convince to turn OFF their word verification.. lol..

I'm pretty sure everybody knows my name is Sonny but I'll got put it on my blog in a few places just to make sure.. See, us oldies can still learn..

Gloria said...

TFS great tips, looking forward to the linkups.

Olive said...

Fabulous and I adore LARGE images.

Anonymous said...

I have a tip!
Turn off the playlist.
I like to browse while listening to my own playlist or Pandora. Also, I will often open many links from a linky party, and sometimes I cant find the link that has the playlist. It's very frustrating.
K

Unknown said...

These are such GREAT points! I'm with your friend K and the playlist, too! Thanks for sharing at Overflowing with Creativity! I’m excited to continue being inspired by you in 2012!!! XO, Aimee

Michele said...

Yes, put your name on your blog! I often spend minutes searching...so I can give credit to the blogger and there is no one there. Thanks for the great reminders.
Michele

Lauren said...

Great tips! I agree with the word verification {I leave lots of comments and sometimes I submit and close the page not realizing I needed to leave word verification}. Also the playlist thing isn't my fave thing...when I'm up late browsing, everyone is sleeping and I forget to turn my speakers off.

Lauren said...

Forgot to invite you to link up and share your great tips: http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/2011/12/pinteresting-linky-party-week-nineteen.html

House of Avandan said...

Thanks for the tips. I am just starting out and need the help badly.
http://www.houseofavandan.blogspot.com
http://www.vmsloan.etsy.com

Unknown said...

I like your tip about putting your name 'out there' - in fact I'm going to do it right now!

West Michigan Quilter said...

Great tips! I've already implemented one of them. Thanks.

Michelle Johnnie said...

I dislike word verification!!!!! I am highlighting this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Grab my "featured" button.

Christina at I Gotta Create! said...

YeeehaW! Thanks, Michelle!! I'm on it :)

DogpackMOMMA said...

Thanks. I haven't made the plunge yet (to having my own blog)& your input is most helpful. Happy Trails!

Shan said...

EXCELLENT tips!!!! BTW, I didn't see a header at the top of your blog.

Tracy Snyder said...

Thanks for the tips! I really dislike word verification, turn that off right away. Thanks!

Megan said...

Hi Christina, thank you for your comment on my fairy dolls and the tip about turning off word verification. It took me a while to find how to do it though. If you are using the new blogger it seems that you need to revert to the old blogger (using that circle thing at the top right of the page) and switch off WV from there. Got there in the end - thanks!

Andrea @ Wild Bean Vanilla Blog said...

Thanks for these! I actually didn't have my name on my blog! :O I went and added it! :-) Thanks!

LilaLoa said...

I can't even tell you how much I agree with the word verification tip. Especially on the blogs where it loads separately from the original comment box. Sometimes I just exit the page without realizing I haven't actually submitted the comment.

Pam - @diy Design Fanatic said...

Such a good post. I so agree with everything, especially turning off the word verification! Stopping by from Wow Us Wednesday.

Special 'K' said...

Thanks for the great tips! Always, Always thankful for any advise or help here in bloggerland. What a great idea. Sending you every good wish for an amazing year. I look forward to engaging with you more in twenty twelve. Cheers Specialk XoXo

Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made said...

Thanks for posting these tips -- the word verification keeps me from posting many times. If I have to add that extra step, I just click out and move on.

Susan said...

I used to teach teachers how to set up web pages. Photo issues were always common. I agree that you must make sure your photos are big enough. It is also important to make sure they aren't TOO big. If you've ever wondered why some pages take forever to load, often it is because of the number and/or size of pictures. If you resize a photo after you've already inserted it, when someone goes to your page, their computer reads the original size first, downloads it, and resizes it to the proper viewing size. This takes time. Not only that, but if the person viewing has limited bandwidth usage (not everyone has cable!), it uses it up. So the best thing you can do is to size your photos appropriately BEFORE you insert them on your page. You can't always tell by looking at them in your photo viewer how big they are. If pixels and bytes mean nothing to you for determining the size of your photo, there's an easy way to tell how big they are. Open a word processing document and insert the photo. You'll see immediately how large it is in comparison to the rest of the page. Resize it right on the blank page to the size you think is good, then save it (the photo, not the document). Now put the resized photo in your blog.

Gay Vaughan said...

Great tips, thanks for sharing!
~Gay~
itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com

Jennifer said...

Great tips! Thanks for the heads up on word verification on my blog!

KathleenSD said...

Excellent tips - the word verification thing is just plain annoying and probably turns off would-be commenters.

Larger photos are nicer than teeny tiny ones and there should be an image for each post.

Also, I think it is important to break up text so it isn't one giant paragraph. MAKE IT READABLE :-)

http://longisland chick.com

Jessica @ Stay at Home-ista said...

The name!!! That is so important, I hate it when I can't identify my new "friends" by name, just awkward.

Jessica
stayathomeista.com

With A Blast said...

Thank you so much for first visiting my blog and secondly giving me this link to shut down that verification thingy! It is really annoying and I just couldn't figure out where to change it - will try now! Have a great week.
Linda

bliss said...

hey thanks so much for sharing your tip about turning off the notification. I actually had no clue on this one and being a new blogger any little bit of advice or tips helps!
cheers
amanda at creatingdomesticbliss.blogspot.ca