8 quick fixes for your blog

Although this isn't my first blog, I'm still improving how I write and what I can do with my blog as I go. Although content is the number one thing you should be focusing on, there's a lot of ways to make your blog more professional, better looking and above all more yours.

Most advice online focuses on how to draw more traffic and make money out of your writing ('use keywords! Try Adsense! Link to and comment on other people's posts!'), and there's little on all the wee things you can do to give your blog some TLC. So I decided to write my own list!

1. Edit your theme.

I'd hope that no one is still using the default blogger theme! Even doing small edits to your theme, such as changing the background, the sidebar alignment or even the text colour can make your blog feel far more like it's yours.

 

 

2. Evaluate your sidebars.

Specifically, what widgets you're using. Is it cluttered? What do you value when you visit someone else's page? I've been trying to stick by this advice and simplify my own one (it's not been easy - I hoard widgets), as it makes it look so much nicer. You might want to make a page for all the ways people can follow you to cut down on the different links on your sidebar.

3. Personalize your 404 error page

Amusing 404 pages are my catnip, and I have indeed edited mine (you can see it whenever my blog messes up). For blogger users, this can be done by going to 'settings' in your blogger dashboard, clicking on 'search preferences' and form there to 'Custom Page Not Found'. A html box will pop up, and you can put whatever you like in there.

 

4. Upload a favicon.

For those who haven't heard of favicons, these are the wee icons that appear next to a webpage in a tab. These can be made with any image using a Favicon Generator, pick one from pre-made ones or make your own.

 

5. Tidy up your tags.

I am the worst of the worst for using silly tags on tumblr. However, in blogger, readers do actually use tags to find similar posts on your blog, and thus they are pretty important. Try and cut down on your tags so that you don't have to wade through all the unnecessary tags you use to find the more common ones.

 

6. Make a header.

This is perhaps a little hypocritical, given I don't currently have one myself! Nonetheless, making a header for your blog can make it far more personal than a simple text header.

7. Have an 'About Me' page.

I love writing about me pages! Here, you can give your readers a wee insight into you and even what you post on the blog (I have a separate page for this now, but it depends on what you want), and allows you to have far more creative control than you do over the blogger account profile. 

8.  Decide how much time you want to devote to your blog.

Overall, blogging is a fun hobby for most of us, and if you're constantly forgetting to post or are stressed because it's taking up too much time in your life, the whole point of it is lost (also - it's obvious, but post on subjects you're interested in, or you won't enjoy it). Look at how often you get inspiration for a new post, how much time you can dedicate to the blog and where you want to take it and from there work out a posting schedule.


And that's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed the more offbeat post. :)



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