A blogging friend recently decided to call it quits with blogging, and it got me thinking about how important it is to keep the assorted shoulds at bay so that we can keep blogging sustainably. Shoulds re. what to write about You may come across articles that tell you what you should write about in … Continue reading Blogging Sustainably
Search engine optimization (SEO) can seem pretty intimidating at first. However, there are some SEO basics that any blogger can implement that will not only make your posts more search engine friendly, they'll probably be more reader-friendly. In addition, WordPress looks for similar elements when making post recommendations to users in the WP Reader, so … Continue reading Easy SEO Basics for Bloggers
I've written before about copyrighted images that you shouldn't be using on your blog, and in this post I'll go over some great places where you can get images that are licensed for free use, with no attribution requires. You won't find Google Images on this list, because it's not a photo sharing site, it's … Continue reading Where To Find Images For Your Blog Posts
It's been almost 7 months since I upgraded to the WordPress business plan, so I thought I'd reflect on how it has changed my blog, both good and bad. Plugins The business plan lets you install plugins to perform specific functions on your site. Basically, you load the plugin onto your site, tweak the settings, … Continue reading Reflections on Upgrading to the WordPress Business Plan
Not long ago someone left this comment on a post I'd written: "I guess you have to decide what you want. Money, hits, likes or trying to help others." This isn't the first time I've seen it cast in a somewhat negative light that people were trying to grow their blogs, so I thought it … Continue reading It’s Okay to Want to Grow (and Monetize) Your Blog
I've read a few people, both on WordPress and elsewhere, say that blogging is dying. To that I would offer a resounding hell to the no. A quick Google search shows that people have been talking about this for the last 10 years, and given that I'm here and so are you, I would say … Continue reading No, Blogging Is Not Dying
The blogging world and all things blogging-related can be a huge time sink. Given that most of us don't have unlimited amounts of time, some form of time management is called for. So, let's take a look at some of the different tasks we may want to allocate time to. Reading Other Blogs There are … Continue reading Time Management As A Blogger
Do you have a system for your blog, or do you write whatever strikes your fancy and post it whenever the moment feels right? While there are certainly benefits to spontaneity, doing some degree of blog planning can help give your readers a more consistent experience. Timing One element of this is timing. How often … Continue reading How Much Planning Goes Into Your Blog?
I'll start this post with the caveat that I'm far from a Pinterest expert. I've been more passive than I usually am when trying to learn about something, so I've picked up bits and pieces in dribs and drabs over the last 2 1/2 years. Over that time, my pinning approach has evolved, and it … Continue reading Using Pinterest With Your Blog
Many mental health bloggers and other bloggers living with chronic illness are used to having to adjust their blogging habits to compensate for changes in illness symptoms and intensity. I can't speak to what other bloggers experience and how they adapt, but I thought I'd write a bit about my own experience. For me, blogging … Continue reading Blogging During Mental Illness Flares
Maintaining a blog calls for a lot of creativity. Whether you publish daily, weekly, monthly, or at random, you need to come up with things to write about. So where might those blog post ideas come from? Well, to start off, the ideas you come up with don't have to be original. Any blog post … Continue reading Where Do You Get Blog Post Ideas From?
If your blog is brand spanking new, chances are no one is going to be arriving at your site view search engine results. Gradually, though, you'll start to notice in your WordPress stats that you're getting a trickle of visitors from search engines like Google and Bing. So how are people finding you? Setting up … Continue reading Using Search Engine Webmaster Tools with Your Blog
If you've spent a bit of time in the blogging world, you've probably come across blog awards. You've probably also noticed that some people do them and others do not. I evolved from an award-doer to an award-don't-er, so here's my thought process along the way. When I first started blogging, I really enjoyed blog … Continue reading Do You Do Blog Awards?
For various reasons, most of us like it when we get brand new blog viewers. It may be because it's great to have a new voice added to the conversation, or it may be for more business-oriented reasons, or it could be a confidence-booster. Even though, at least for most of us, numbers are not … Continue reading How Do You Find New Blog Viewers?
WordPress has a handy little feature that allows you to schedule blog posts ahead of time. So, do you use it? If so, how far out do you schedule? What are the pros and cons? I'm a scheduling devotee, and have been since very early on in my blogging days. I want to deliver a … Continue reading Do You Schedule Your Blog Posts?