Better Blogging Tips {guest post by Hannah Grace}

Hello everyone!  My name is Hannah Grace, and it's a pleasure and a honor to get to guest-post for my dear friend while she is away. :-)  Today I'm going to share some tips and such that I've learned while blogging.


Before I get started though, may I say...Happy 16th Birthday, Lucia!!!  Yes, today is her birthday!  I have had the joy of knowing Lu for over two years now, and have been blessed immensely by her.  Happy birthday, girl, we love you! <3

Okay, on to the blogging tips.  Although I've been blogging for three years, I feel like I started to really blog at my current blog, which I've had just short of one year.  Maybe you don't need all these tips.  Maybe you're new and can use them.  Or maybe you've been blogging for awhile but want to make your blog better.  Whatever the case, I hope people will learn from my mistakes. :-)

~Don't beg for followers.  I've always been a bit put off by those ginormous blogs with 600, 800, or even 1,000 followers [the big blogs I follow now were small when they started out].  A couple of them seemed like they were begging for followers, with all their "follow me!" signs and such.  I'm not saying it's a bad idea to try and gain followers, but do it subtly.  If I visit your blog, big or small, I don't want to get blasted with "follow me!" posted everywhere [and yes, I've seen blogs where the "about me" was actually filled with reasons on why you should follow their blog.]  The only time I "ask" people to follow me is if I'm having a giveaway.  A couple blog/websites I follow have a "special offer" for those who follow through google or email. [for example,one crochet blog offers a free crocheting pattern if you sign up for emails]

Remember: followers are people that like what you have to say on your blog.  Someone who is interested in photography will most likely not follow a lot of knitting/crocheting centered blogs.  A writer will probably not follow a blog about fashion.  So don't be offended if someone does not follow your blog!  I only follow blogs that are about things I am interested in, or I enjoy the posts.

~Be Consistent in your posting. This is one I've learned the hard way.  On my old blog, I would take random breaks without posting about it first, and then come back a couple weeks or a month later [sometimes even longer!], and post almost every day for a couple weeks before disappearing again.  This annoyed people, and I lost a lot of readers because they had no idea when I'd suddenly disappear, and no idea when I'd come back and overwhelm them with posts.  I still struggle a bit with this, since life is just so busy for me, but I try to post 2-4 times a week, as consistently as possible.

If you must take a blogging break, either because you're busy or going on a trip, at the very least tell people.  Try to schedule some of your own posts, or get guest posts [like Lucia does!].  And if you aren't really going anywhere or taking a break, but you know that you'll be busy for several days, schedule a post or two and let blogger do the posting for you!  I often spend Sunday afternoon working on a couple posts for the upcoming week if I'm going to be busy.

~Try to include related pictures in your post.  Okay, admit it, when you open a blog post on someone's blog the last thing you want to see is paragraph after paragraph rambling on and on about something.  We need distractions, so include pictures in your post...just make sure they are as related as possible to what you're writing about!  Look at this post for examples. ;-)

But be careful, unless the blog post is specifically about pictures [e.g "pictures from our beach trip!"] don't overload on the pictures.  Probably no more than 2-4 related pictures.  And don't forget to credit if they aren't yours...I got my pictures from weheartit.

~For the love of Dickens, use readable font!!!  This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the blogging world.  Nothing makes me run screaming click away from your blog faster than unreadable font.  Use something simple and readable, like Ariel, georgia, Times, or Verdana.  Fancy fonts for things like blog titles are okay, or even post titles, but still make sure it's at the very least semi-readable, please! 


~Keep it simple in the template department, too.  Another blogging pet peeve [and this is probably because I used to be a blog designer myself] is crazy, cluttered blogs with huge headers that take years to load [I admit to being guilty in this area], music that automatically plays [AUGH!!!], and a crazy, loud background.  Keep it simple, folks, keep it simple.

~Don't make your posts too long.  Like this one probably is.  Oops. ;-)  If you have a long story to tell, make a part two, okay?  That'll get them to come back, too.

Well, I hope those helped!  There is SO much more I could talk about, but this is just what came to might right away.  Thanks for letting me post here, Lucia! <3

I'm Hannah Grace, a young Christian woman who thinks irregular thoughts and isn’t afraid to voice them. I'm unsure as to what exactly God has in mind for me, but I enjoy writing, photography, playing my guitar, knitting and crocheting, reading, herbalism, and being with my friends.  I dance to the beat of my own music, have conversations with the wind, am in love with Frank Sinatra, and am a wayfaring stranger.  You have never met another person quite like me, I guarantee it.


I blog at Walk.  Take pictures at Precious Moments.  Write reviews at My Goodreads Page.  Get inspired by Whispers of Heaven, my tumblr.