Tips for Blogging

I love blogging so I thought I'd share some blogging tips. These are just some things that I think work for the blogs I read and my own blogging experience.

*Have a nice layout - The look of your website is what people notice first. Have a nice layout that is easy for people to navigate. Choose a few key colors to use as your theme. Blogging websites, like Blogger, have layouts you can automatically set up or customize to make them your own. Use basic design rules like not using bright colors against white that are hard to read. Adding a nice blog graphic header can make your blog look visually appealing. I used a combination of some of my favorite photos I put in blog entries to make my blog header.

*Think about names - The name of your blog is another important thing to think about when you're just creating a blog. Make sure you have a main theme for your blog (e.g. cooking, Etsy, art) and choose a name that fits that theme. My blog is Etsy/craft related so I chose a name (My Thread of Thought) that related to the name of my Etsy shop, Move the Needle, and is also craft related. Try to make your blog name creative and original. If want to buy a domain name for your blog, check to see that the domain name isn't taken.

*Domain names - Speaking of domain names, if you don't already have a domain name for your blog, you might want to think of getting one. A domain name is .com name (it can also be .org, .net, etc.) My domain name is mythreadofthought.com. This makes my website easier to remember and I think it looks nicer. It costs a little money (you can find domain names for about $12/year), but I think it's worth it.

*Use tags - Use tags or labels to keep your blog organized. Most blog sites have an option to add tags to each blog entry. When you post an entry, people can click on a tag and see all entries with that tag. For example, if I make a tag "journal", clicking on that tag will show all my blog entries that I tagged the word "journal" with. You can also post links to some of your tags on the side of your blog (or put graphics of them). There is a section that says "Labels" on the right side of my blog where you can click my more popular tags.

*Mix text and photos - My favorite blogs are a mixture of text and photos. Consider using both in your blog. I also like it when blogs make graphics for specific entries. It shows you put time and thought in to your blog entry and makes your blog more lively and interesting.

*Blog consistently and schedule posts ahead of time - You should try to blog consistently. You might want to make a schedule for yourself where you plan ahead what you're going to blog. For example, you can decide you want to post new entries on Tuesday and Friday. Or you might decide to be more specific and have a weekly schedule where you blog about one topic on Monday, another on Tuesday, etc. Most blog sites have a "Schedule" option where you can schedule posts ahead of time. If you want to blog a lot, but don't want to write new entries every day, this feature can make blogging a lot easier. Sometimes, I'll get really inspired one day and write a bunch of blog entries at once.

Now that you have a blog, you want to get the word out about it. Next week, I will give tips on how to promote your blog.

Do you own a blog?