I’ve come up with a list of things I like to do for my blog to keep it looking professional. I love reading tips on how to make your blog better, and often get asked questions about this, so I thought I’d start with one of my own short lists here.
- Kill the Captcha. That’s the little box that pops up when you want to comment, making you write all sorts of odd words, numbers or phrases. Trust me, no one likes to go through all that, so they’d rather not bother commenting at all. I would suggest adding Disqus to your posts, I find that it makes everything so much more simple.
- Keep your layout clean. Unless it’s deliberate, like you’re going for a kitschy feel. You don’t want your readers to feel so overwhelmed they just leave. You want to invite them in to stay awhile. I suggest cleaning up the clutter, like your sidebar, at least once or twice a year.
- Keep your photo widths the same. I personally do 600px wide. You can resize them on Ribbet very easily. It’s free, simple to use, and makes the photo easy on the eyes. Free photo editors like Ribbet or PicMonkey are a bloggers best friend.
- On that note, use those photo editing sites to keep your photos looking bright and clean. Trust me on this one- don’t use unedited photos on your blog, unless you have a legit camera, like a DSLR, that takes incredible shots. I’ve made this mistake more times than I care to admit. And even top bloggers like Kendi edit their photos before posting!
- Make your social media icons prominent. If I like a blog, the first thing I do is “like” it on Facebook and follow on Twitter. If these social media icons aren’t very visible, or are really difficult to find, people won’t be as likely to bother. I know it may sound silly, but it takes a LOT to keep internet folks engaged.
Pretty Shiny Sparkly has an amazing series called Secrets to Successful Blogging, I highly encourage you to check it out!
Let me know if you like the simple format of these tips and if you want me to write more! If you found these tips at all helpful, I’d love for you to share this post with others. Thank you!