BlogCoach: Grow Your Blog

Critique this Blog #37: Tonya Peila - Just My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:54:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing the blog Tonya Peila - Just My Life, an eponymous blog by Washington mom and photographer Tonya Peila. A blogger since 2008, Tonya posts about motherhood and parenting. She also publishes product reviews. Tonya's blog was critiqued here on BlogCoach about a year and a half ago. She approached me again because she's recently redesigned her site.

Tonya would like to hear any advice you have to give. More specifically, she'd like to increase her readership. She's also wondering if her blog's layout and navigation is effective.

What advice to you have for Tonya?

Critique this Blog #36: Health Food Lover

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:06:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing the blog Health Food Lover. Blogger Michelle posts healthy recipes as well as occasional giveaways. Recent posts include "Wild Edible Weed Dandelion Salad," a "Wholesome Whole Foods" blog carnival, and "Wild Edible Walk and Talk with Sergei Boutenko."
Michelle would like you to help her answer the following questions:

Does my sidebar look too busy? Too many adds etc?
I want to use my blog when I finish my course (Naturopathy) so I want to keep it professional but I still want it to show my personality. Is there a way to meet in between the two in terms of blog design and the tone in my posts?
I'm thinking of making my footer much larger to include a list of my pages, copyright, disclaimer etc. Would this be a good idea?
How can I improve my posts?
Is my site easy to navigate and to get what it's about?
How I can improve my design?
How I can increase my readership and subscribers?
How can I connect to my readers more?

Readers, take a look at Michelle's blog. do you have any tips for Michelle?

Like Blogging? Then It's Time to Say Goodbye to Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:54:00 +0000

Do you blog on Blogger? If so, go make a full backup of your blog posts NOW and then come back and read this.

If you're a "deal blogger" or "frugal blogger", and you like blogging, you need to move your blog. Now. Blogger has an ineffective system for finding and removing spam blogs, and bloggers are suffering as a result. It's not just deal bloggers, either. Visit Blogger's help desk and you'll see post after post after post from bloggers of all sorts with the same issue.

What's happening? Blogger's spam-seeking bots spider its blogs looking for offenders. Blogger doesn't give any specifics about how the bots "find" them, but my theory is that it looks for words that turn up commonly in spam blogs--words like "free" and "sale" and "cheap". Another theory is that Blogger's bots look for blogs by the same user which link to each other. When the bots find a potential spam blog, the blog is locked or, as seems to be more common lately, deleted without a human ever reviewing the blog to see if the bot's judgment is accurate. Baby Cheapskate, Freebies4Mom, All Aboard Deals and way too many other read-worthy blogs have disappeared in an instant.

Can it happen to you? Sure it can, especially if you use words like "free" and "sale" a lot in your blog. And don't think you're immune just because it's already happened to you once. This isn't chicken pox or mono. My blog was locked once before for the same reason, too. Evidently there's no system in place to exempt blogs that have been reviewed and exonerated from Blogger's spam seekers. You need to move your blog away from Blogger. Now.

Too late?
If you DO wake up one morning to find your blog deleted, don't panic. Your information isn't gone. Unless Blogger decides your blog IS a spam blog. (And if it is, you're probably not reading this.) If you've published thousands of posts, your backup file may be too large to be usable, I'm sorry to say. But still, don't panic.

The first step to recovering your blog is to file and appeal and a request for a review (by a human). These are two separate things. Once your blog is restored (for me it took four days), your posts can be transferred to your new blog if your backup file didn't work.

In the meantime, buy a domain name (hopefully you already have one) and open a hosting account. Find yourself a blog designer to take care of setting up your new blog and transferring posts to WordPress. I paid $300 to have it done, and it took two days (email me if you want a referral). You can do it yourself, of course, but if your blog has just been deleted, your probably a bit stressed out and might not want to deal with the steep learning curve.

Let your readers know what happened via Twitter and Facebook and tell them that you'll be up and running again soon. Your readers will stick with you, I promise.

Of course, if you go ahead and move your blog before it's deleted, the process will be MUCH easier. Blogger has a big problem, and they don't seem close to solving it. It's really a shame.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to try to help or point you to someone who can. Leave a comment or email me.

Want to know more? (external links)

Check in at BlogCoach.org tomorrow for a brand-new blog critique!

Get Started with Google Buzz: A Guide for Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:43:00 +0000

Google Buzz is here, arriving to a chorus of "Why do we need another social media platform?". A more useful question, I believe, is "How can I use Buzz to build my blog?". It's a question I'm still exploring, but I'm optimistic about the potential I see so far.

This is Google, after all, and Google is huge. So is Buzz's potential for changing the landscape of social media. Buzz is not to be ignored, and there's no reason to do so, since the setup is so easy (see below). Why not embrace Buzz as yet another way to share your blog with the world?

What is Buzz?
Google Buzz publishes your feed, complete with images, to a follower's Gmail page, where a post looks like this (click the image to see it larger):

Followers have the option of "liking" (a la Facebook) the post and/or commenting on it. The follower can also share the post via email or send it directly to another user's stream by adding a comment prefaced by inserting "@" followed by another user's email address.

Responses to your Buzz postings are sent right to your Gmail inbox. You can respond from there, too. Like Facebook, your followers view your posts on their own turf, making accessing and responding to the info you offer extremely convenient.

Getting Started:
Click the Buzz link underneath your inbox link in Gmail to get started, or go to Buzz.Google.com. You'll need a public Google profile. If you blog using Blogger, you probably already have a profile, but even if you do, you should check it to make sure you're sharing only the information you want to share. You can also decide whether you want to show a list of accounts you're following and who are following you on your profile.

You can create a custom link to your profile. Mine looks like this: http://www.google.com/profiles/BabyCheapskate#buzz. You'll find the option at the bottom of your "edit profile" page. You can direct readers to your Buzz profile by adding #buzz to the end (http://www.google.com/profiles/BabyCheapskate#buzz) and sharing that link.

The next step is to select the sites you want to be part of your Buzz stream. Right now, you can choose from Blogger blogs, your Google Reader account (the posts you share will show up in your stream) Twitter account, Flickr account, or Picasa account. You can do this through Gmail (find the "Buzz" link right under your inbox link on the left side of the page) or through the main Buzz page. From Gmail, you can also edit your list of followers.

Note: If you're a Wordpress user, your posts will show up on Buzz if you connect your Twitter account and post blog updates there.

Adding Buzz to your Blog:
Soon, you'll be able to easily add a "Buzz This" button to your Blogger posts. You can do it now, but because the platform is so new, you'll need to manually add code to your blog template. It doesn't look too hard. You can find out more here. There's already a plug in for those with self-hosted WordPress blogs as well, which is a little embarassing, since Google owns Blogger.com.

Another easy way to entice your readers into following you on Buzz is with the Buzz widget at BuzzCounter.net:

Sharing Items with one click:
I've found an easy way to share links to sites around the web on Buzz with just one click: Add your Google Reader account to Buzz, then head to Reader and click on "Your Stuff".

Drag the "Share" bookmarklet to your browser toolbar. Reading something you want to share? Just click the bookmarklet. Shared items will turn up in your Buzz stream. Of course, if you enable Twitter, links you post there will enter your buzz stream as well.

Looking ahead:
Because it's so new, Google Buzz is most useful for those of us who already use Google's other services--notably Gmail and Blogger. If you don't use Gmail (which, as a blogger, I LOVE), you're a bit left out at the moment, since you wont' be able to view your own Buzz stream except via your profile. You won't be able to see anybody else's stuff either.

As we've seen with Gmail, Google Documents, and other Google services, however, Google products evolve. I expect we'll see lots of additions and tweaks to Buzz over the coming weeks. There isn't much available in the way of 3rd party Buzz apps yet (there's not even a gadget for igoogle). They're coming, though.

Additions I think (I hope!) we'll see soon:

The ability to integrate Facebook Updates
The ability to add any RSS feed to your stream (giving WordPress bloggers the ability to auto-update their streams with their posts)
FeedFlare FeedFlare options

Readers: Tell me what you think of Buzz so far!

More:

You Can Now Add Pages to Your Blogger Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:28:00 +0000

Hey Blogger users: Blogger has finally added much needed functionality to Blogger Blogs--pages!

From the Blogger Buzz blog:

This feature lets you easily publish static information on stand-alone pages. For example, you can create an About This Blog page that discusses the evolution of your blog, or a Contact Me page that provides directions, a phone number, and a map to your location.

How does it work? From your Dashboard at Blogger.com, just click to the Edit posts tab. You'll see the new "Edit Pages" option in the navbar:

Just click and you'll be shown an editor that looks a lot like the one you see when you create a post:

Enter your title and page content, and then publish. A handy widget allows you to add links to your pages to your sidebar or to the top of the blog, navbar style.

You'll find a list of your pages at the Edit Pages tab, along with the options to edit, delete, or view them. If you're using a custom template, you may need to fiddle with your html a bit. You'll find instructions for doing so here.

Well I know what I'll be doing this afternoon! What pages will you be adding to your Blogger blog?

More info on creating pages in Blogger.

Guest Post: Revamp Your 404 Page and Help Lost Readers Get Found

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:18:00 +0000

Ugh. Nothing stops readers in their tracks faster than a dead-end 404 page. This guest post from Whitney of the ever-so-helpful RookieMoms.com shows you how to customize your 404 page to send readers in the right direction.

I have been recently trying to take action on the many tips doled out by Darren Rouse of Problogger.net. A recent newsletter urged his followers to take a closer look at some of their supporting pages, such as About Us, Advertise Here, and 404.

I decided to revamp our 404 page. It only took a few minutes and it felt so productive! I thought I’d share our before and after.

BEFORE: This is the standard text that comes with the page in the WordPress theme Thesis:

The only useful link in the body of the page is one that goes to the home page. Everytime I ran into this page on my own site, it sort of bummed me out that the tone was not appropriate for our audience. We have a sense of humor, for sure, but our site is for grown women, not teenaged surfers from the 1980s.

I decided to update our 404 page to give users a quick snapshot of what our site is all about, and provide them a fast way to get to valuable content.

Here’s the new page:

Now we have a headline that lets readers know the site is for moms. (If they didn’t get that from the header!)

The copy suggests that they may be looking for content in a category that is listed below. I wrote out the categories in a more complete way than my navigation buttons allow. For example, the first link reads “Activities for moms with babies 0-3 months”.

Some sassy sites have images of lost or disoriented folks on their 404 page. This can also convey your website’s personality. What’s right for you really depends on your target audience.

Note: As of this writing, custom 404 pages are not available for Blogspot blogs.

Further Reading:
Create a Custom 404 Error Page for your Blog @ProBlogger.net
404 Error Pages: Reloaded @Mashable

An Unobtrusive Way to Disclose Affiliate Links

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:20:00 +0000

As you probably know, FTC guidelines went into effect on December 1 calling for bloggers to disclose any material connection or freebies they receive related to reviews and endorsements. Opinions seem to be mixed when it comes to whether new FTC guidelines require bloggers to disclose affiliate links.

I can't help thinking that one reason some bloggers aren't doing so is because it seems too awkward (not to mention distracting) to work the disclosure into the post. Here's an easy, clever way to disclose that I picked up from the marvelous WantNot.ne t. It's clear, yet fairly subtle:

Add the following hover text to your affilate link:

title="disclosure text you want to use" target=_blank"

Like this:

<a href="http://affiliate_link.com" title="disclosure text you want to use" target=_blank"<Link text></a>

When readers point their mouse over your link, they'll see your disclosure. Try it: Affiliate Link

Read more about FTC guidelines and affiliate disclosure:

FTC on Guidelines, Affiliate Disclosures, Compliance @ Affiliate Marketing Blog
FTC Disclosure Rules & Affiliate Marketing Implications @ Affiliate Marketing Blog
Some Gray Areas Surrounding the FTC's Disclosure Requirements @ Citizen Media Law Project
How Bloggers Are Dealing with FTC's Disclosure Rules @ ClickZ

So what do you think? Do you disclose affiliate links?

How to Use Blogger's New Amazon Associates Functionality

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Whew. The holiday shopping season was pretty intense for me at BabyCheapskate (thus the dearth of new posts here at BlogCoach.org). Now that I have a few days to catch my breath, I thought I'd take a moment before we head off to family Christmas festivities to explore Blogger's new Amazon Associates functionality and walk you through how to use it with your Blogger blog.

As I've discussed before, the Amazon Associates program is a great entry point into monetizing your blog through affiliate sales. Now Blogger has made it even easier to get started.

The first step is to link your Amazon Associates account to your Blogger account. It's really easy. From your Blogger dashboard, click on the "monetize" link:

At the top of the next page click on the Amazon Associates link:

If you already have an Amazon Associates ID, choose that option on the next page and enter your Associates ID, which can be found on the Amazon Associates homepage after you log in. If not, choose the first option, "I want to create a new Associate's ID," and you'll be taken to an easy, integrated sign up form.

Once you've entered your Associates ID (or set up your new account), you'll have the option of setting up the "product finder" for your blog:

The product finder allows you to add images and affiliate text links to your posts without having to navigate to the Amazon Associates website. When you create a new post you'll see the product finder interface to the right of the page. To add an Amazon Associates link, you'll simply type the name of the product you want to link to, highlight them, and click "go" to begin a search.

When the results pop up, you'll have the option to add a link, an image, or a link and an image. Choose "text," for example, and the affiliate link will be added automatically to the text you typed. That's all there is to it!

If you want to add an Amazon banner or widget to your sidebar, Blogger has made it easy to do that, too. Just navigate to your layouts page and "add a gadget" where you want it to go. You'll find the new Amazon gadgets under "featured gadgets."

I can't wait to play around with these new features after the holidays are over. I'm hopeful that Amazon will release something comparable for you WordPress users soon, as well.

How To Maximize Your AdSense Performance with Channels

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Thanks so much to Carrie at SpringBargains.com for this BlogCoach.org guest post.

Are you a Google Adsense user? It's Google's pay-per-click ad platform for publishers. It looks at the content on your site and shows text or image ads targeted to that content. When you create an ad in Google Adsense, you'll go through all the steps to define a size, text or image or both, choose a color scheme, etc. Then at the end, you have the option to add it to a "channel".

Now, when I first started blogging I had no clue what a channel was. OK, laugh at me -- I thought it was something that was supposed to match the subject matter of my site, like I'd have a "coupon" channel like there's a "game show" channel on TV. Yes, seriously.

But, when I learned what channels really were, I got excited that I could actually know which ads were performing! I'm pretty anti-clutter, so once I learned that the ads that were 3/4 of the way down the page weren't performing, they were gone.

So, how do you use Google Adsense channels to track the performance of your ad?

Create a channel with a name that will help you remember what ad location this is. You can do this when you're setting up an ad, no need to create a channel first. I suggest giving your channels names that indicate where on the site they are, such as "above the header" - that's an ad that's, well, above the header? This isn't rocket science!
If you're tracking a sidebar ad, call it something like "sidebar, first position" or "sidebar, second position". If you place an ad within a post, you might name it something like "within post". It really doesn't matter, just call it something so that you will remember which ad it is.

Then, once you have all your ads set up and running on your blog, log in to Adsense and you'll see your reports. Click on "top channels" and all the channels you have set up will appear. You'll be able to see the number of impressions each ad has gotten, how many clicks, the click-through rate, the money it's earned you, etc.

From there, you can watch your ads to see how they perform. Is the "above the header" ad not performing? Maybe you could try a different ad size, maybe a different ad from another program, or maybe you should even remove it and you can put up an ad somewhere else.

By the way, different ad programs call "channels" different things: some call them "creatives", some say "deployments", etc., but they basically all work this same way.

Have you used channels to track your ad performance? What slots work best for you? I'd love to hear!

Carrie Isaac blogs about bargain hunting in Colorado Springs at SpringsBargains.com and about local interest on her husband's real estate website, The Circa Group.

The Writing's On the Wall [Facebook vs Twitter, Pt 2]

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:44:00 +0000

In part one of this article, I showed you how much more effective Facebook was than Twitter at generating click throughs for my blog. But why is Facebook is such a powerful PR tool for bloggers? How can bloggers take advantage of its unique community building qualities?

Why is Facebook so powerful?
Even my not-so-computer-savvy baby boomer relatives call Facebook addictive, and with good reason. Remember Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from sociology class? FB taps in to a user's basic social need to feel like part of a larger community. Its ability to fulfill (even on a superficial level) this need to "belong" points to why up to a half million users sign up for Facebook per day, adding to a total of more than 91 million users in the United States alone (source). Facebook is here to stay. That's not to say that Twitter isn't, however. When it comes to marketing, Facebook and Twitter are just different.

Fundamental Differences
In her article, Social Media Smackdown: Facebook vs. Twitter, travel writer Wendy Perrin asks travel industry execs whose (huge) corporations use both Facebook and Twitter the question, "Which is a better tool for talking to customers: Facebook or Twitter?" Boiled down, here's what they said:

Facebook is better for
Developing "brand zealots"
Long term engagement
Creating dialogue
Fostering communication between users

Twitter is better for
Addressing immediate customer service issues
Conflict resolution
Getting the word out about time-sensitive issues
Generating "short term, intense buzz"

MTV Digital VP and general manager Dan Hunt notes in the March CNET article Facebook vs. Twitter: How do You Stream Your World? that part of Facebook's effectiveness for marketers lies in its ability to deliver appealing multimedia content like photos and videos, something Twitter can't do.

Finally, what kind of fan page content is most likely to generate that engagement and dialogue? Whereas you want readers who visit your blog's URL to feel like a part of your blogging community, the converse is true on Facebook. As I mentioned in the BlogCoach article, Make the Most of Your Facebook Fan Page, most readers who become your fans allow your content to become part of their streams. They're inviting you, as a blogger, to become part of their FB communities. Provide value, conversation, and fun and they won't rescind the invitation.

Become a fan of BlogCoach.org on Facebook

Recommended Reading
Make the Most of Your Facebook Fan Page @ BlogCoach.org
Twitter versus Facebook: Should you Choose One? @ Twitip.com
Mind-Blowing Facebook Stats and What to Do With Them @ ClickZ.com
5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page @ Mashable
5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand’s Facebook Presence @ Mashable

For Bloggers, Facebook Trumps Twitter [Part 1]

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Social Media has allowed bloggers to interact with readers and potential readers in new and exciting ways. You can chat with your fans on Facebook and follow up with your followers on Twitter. At at the end of the day, however, be sure to invite those readers home with you.

Your blog is your home base. It's where readers find the full text of your articles, browse past postings, and access the resources you provide. If your blog is monetized, it's also where you earn your money via display advertising. To build traffic, you bring readers at other sites back to that home base and offer them incentive to return again and again via the value you provide there.

What's the most effective way to reach readers and bring them back to your blog? Use every method available to you, of course; it all adds up. But which site gives you the most ROI on your time and effort? Facebook beats Twitter by a huge margin, in my experience.

One way to determine whether that's true for you as well is to look at how many clickthroughs (CTs) a link gets when it's posted on different sites over eight hours or so. You can track CTs with link shortening site that offers tracking. I use bit.ly. On the link's info page at bit.ly, you can see the number of clicks the link has received. "Clicks" shows you the link activity over time, while "Referrers" shows you where the activity is happening:

Curious about just how many readers Facebook was sending my way, I posted an identical bit.ly link to an article on Twitter and on my blog's Facebook Fan Page. For purposes of comparison, I also posted the same link on my main blog, Baby Cheapskate. (the article it linked to was actually posted at my Upromise blog). I then tracked the CTs each site provided over a 24-hour period. Here are the results for the first eight hours, which is when most of the social media action occurred:What did I learn?

In the first half hour, Twitter received 8 CTs. Facebook received 55 CTs in the same amount of time.
The Twitter link received virtually all it's CTs within a half hour after posting, whereas the Facebook link continued to receive CTs consistently for about eight hours.
In 24 hours, the Twitter link received 9 CTs, while the Facebook link received 160.
Facebook CTs outpaced even my blog's CTs for the first four hours, though blog CTs continued for more than 24 hours.

What about RSS, the grande dame of bloggy outreach? Facebook's CT rate is higher than the CT rate for my blog's RSS feed despite the fact that I have more than twice as many subscribers to my feed as I have Fans. The feed item received only 111 CTs within 24 hours. Of course, that's still better than Twitter.

There is one unknown here: The first image above shoes that 62 CTs were from email clients, including CTs from iPhone/Blackberry, etc. Unfortunately, there's no way to know whether those CTs came from a Twitter application or a Facebook application on those devices.

In part two of this article, I'll explore the differences between Twitter and Facebook as traffic building tools and tell you how you can make the most of what each has to offer.

Recommended Reading:
Using Bit.ly Stats to Build a More Successful Blog
Make the Most of Your Facebook Fan Page

How to Make Halloween a PR Treat for Your Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Heather at Freebies4Mom posted about her newest Halloween PR idea at her blog, so I thought I'd republish this treat of a discussion from last October. Enjoy, and be sure to check the comments for more frightfully good ideas.

Heather at Freebies4Mom came up with one of the most creative PR ideas I've seen:

"Will you be getting some trick-or-treaters at your house this Halloween? What about passing out treats for the moms? Last year I passed out treat bags to the moms who visited my house as a way to spread the word about Freebies 4 Mom. This year I've got some Dove and Hershey's Bliss chocolate ready to pass out to the moms along with my blog's business card."

Great job Heather! I can see carrying this idea into other holidays as well!

Related: Blogging Halloween @ Bloggers Blog

photo by peasap via Flickr

Critique this Blog #35: Frugal Femina

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing the blog FrugalFemina.com. Blogger Katie, who's been at it since March, posts "Fun & Thrifty Talk for a Well-Managed Home." Recent posts include current grocery store and drugstore deals, some freebies, a giveaway, and a "Menu Plan Monday" post. Katie wants your advice about the following. She asks:

Does the design look clean and professional? Anything you don't like?
Should I have two columns in the right sidebar instead of 1 to organize things better?
Is it ok to have search/categories/archives in the top linkbar instead of in the sidebar?
I really go back and forth on whether or not I should post all the store deals/coupon matchups each week (Kroger, Target, CVS, etc.). When I take time to do that, I feel like I lose time to write more meaningful posts. I don't want to be *only* the deals. What do you think?

This is a fairly new blog for me. Any tips for more consistent stats, or does it seem like I'm on the right track?

BlogCoach readers, is Katie on the right track with Frugal Femina? Should she tweak her blog's design? What do you think about her "deal vs. other post" balance?

On Losing Traffic, Going Cold Turkey With Stats, And Writing Well

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Several weeks ago, I noticed that my daily unique visitor count was dropping. Each week, it dropped a little more. Soon it had dropped to about 60% of what it was during peak months. You might think an experienced blogger like me would just roll with it. Nope. Much hand-wringing ensued: Maybe they don't like me anymore, I thought. Maybe my posts are silly or trite. Maybe my days as of earning a living as a blogger were coming to and end. Blah, blah, blah. I increased my posting frequency (and thus my work hours), and it still didn't help.

Each time I looked at my stats my heart got a little heavier. The job that has always felt like play started to feel a lot more like work. I finally threw up my hands and decided to stop looking at my stats entirely. I went cold turkey. It was one of the best blogging decisions I've made.

Over the next couple of weeks, I stopped whimpering to myself how my dwindling traffic was affecting my advertising and affiliate income and instead devoted all my blogging energy to writing posts that were useful to my readers. I thought hard about what they cared about reading, and about what would make their lives better. I reevaluated the ads, widgets, and modules on my sidebar and edited them until the site was more useful than ever before. I spent more time making connections with other bloggers through blog comments and social media. I didn't look at my stats. It was a LOT more fun than worrying.

As often happens, when I let go a little, my problem went away on its own. It turns out that my traffic woes had been caused by a page loading problem at Baby Cheapskate that I had been unaware of. A reader tipped me off to it, I fixed it, and my traffic swiftly returned to where it should be. I guess you do still like me!

I love to feel in control. It's a character trait I'm not particularly proud of. The longer I blog (I'm coming up on four years now), however, the more I understand that traffic is cyclical and occasionally even capricious. Natural ebbs and surges in readership can be caused by anything from bad weather to school starting to whatever celebrity news is trending on Twitter. Uniques go up, but as I've learned, they can also go down. Why obsess, when you can write?

I guess I needed reminding that traffic is so much more than a statistic. It's so much more than an indicator of potential ad revenue. Stats don't read your blog. People do. Fundamentally, traffic is the dozens or hundreds or thousands of readers who visit your blog, and who return because they liked what they found there. The lesson? Write for readers, not for readership. Write well, write often, tell the world, and the numbers will take care of themselves.

Readers: Has your traffic ever decreased noticeably? What did you do about it?

Critique This Blog #34: Sashwhy's Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing a website rather than a blog. Blog and website designer Ashlyn (I interviewed her here last year) is revamping her professional website, Sashwhy's Studio and wants to know what you think. After all, who better to evaluate the appeal of a designer's blog than potential clients?

Ashlyn would like to know:

Is it too busy?
If you were a potential client, would you be able to find the information easily?
What can I do to keep more potential buyers looking through my site?
I'm thinking about going for a redesign like: http://woothemes.com/demo/?t=42, would this make a better website than what I have?

What do you say, BlogCoach readers? Take a look at Sashwhy's Studio's redesign and let Ashlyn know what you think.

Critique This Blog #33: Kitchen Stewardship

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing the blog, Kitchen Stewardship, which is all about, as the tag line says, "Finding the Balance: Nutrition, Environment, Time, Money and Faith." Recent posts include 5 Reasons I Love Apple Season, a recipe for Katie’s Asian Toasted Sesame Salad Dressing, and Release Your Fear of Fats. Blogger Katie would like you to respond to the following questions:

Design: I feel like I need a professional design other than a basic Wordpress theme. Is this necessary? What should change/stay the same?
Posts/Content: Length? Do they do a good job drawing the reader in within the first few sentences? Do they make you want to stay? Are you tempted to click around to other links?
RSS feed: easy enough to find?
Sidebars: should I have two on opposite sides? What is there that shouldn't be? What changes can I make to my "news" to make it more eye-catching?
How to use Twitter to best advertise my blog...
Is the site easy to navigate? Can you find what you need?
Should posts be truncated on the homepage so that you can see more of them with a quick scan, but have to click on each one to read it in its entirety?
Tips for increasing readership/clicks/subscribers? I've been blogging since February 2009 and at my own domain since April. I'm approaching 100,000 hits since that time, have 600 subscribers and average about 1000 hits a day. Some days fluctuate a lot, though. How can I increase this number?

Readers: What do you think? What design or traffic-building advice do you have for Katie?

Guest Post: Time Management for Blogging Mamas

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Today's guest post is from Rachel, who blogged at DIYMommy, Modern Mommyhood, and Small Red Kitchen prior to bloggy burnout. She is recovering nicely and plans to blog at Life Off the Shelf evermore. Thanks, Rachel.

The baby is crying, dinner is bubbling over on the stove, your husband is working overtime, and there’s still a pile of laundry that needs washed. Your “to do” list is long and daunting, and you’re out of milk again, but you’re in your pajamas! After more than a few days in a row like this, you throw up your hands and say, “Something’s gotta go!” And it’s usually your blog.

This was me. Three times.

Just about two years ago, I started blogging. I gave up on three blogs before I finally figured out what I was lacking: time management.

For me, blogging wasn’t just writing a post every day. It was also reading blogs, commenting on blogs, social networking, teaching myself HTML, taking photos, participating in memes and carnivals, and interacting with readers. Like most bloggers, I wanted to promote myself because I thought I had something good to share. But it’s a lot of work, and a lot of time on the computer.

Once I found my niche and decided to dedicate myself to blogging, I immediately got myself organized. Since then, I’ve been able to fit in blogging (and all that extra stuff) without complicating the rest of my life. The following steps helped me tremendously:

Set goals for your blog. When you have a written plan, it’s so much easier to stay on track. Decide what you want to get out of blogging. Do you want to make friends? Do you want to make money? Maybe you just want to write for YOU. Make small goals that you want to complete this month. Then make larger goals you want to reach by the end of this year. Where do you want your blog to be in 2010?

Brainstorm post ideas. It’s not a good idea to turn on the computer every morning and stare at the screen until you come up with a post for the day (although, you know, it happens sometimes). Sit down with a cup of coffee at the beginning of the month, and make a list of posts you’d like to write. Then go back through and organize them. I usually put a star next to ideas that will require more research, a ‘P’ next to those that will need pictures, and I underline posts that will be short and sweet and easy to put together.

Make a Calendar. I like to use Google Calendar. I schedule my posts appropriately each month for the following month. Be sure to schedule time to promote your blog, work on your design, etc. Schedule BREAKS (yes, days with no computer) as well. Now you know what next week will look like, and you can work ahead!

Plan computer time. This can be difficult, but it is doable. When are the best times to work on your blog that won’t interfere with your other responsibilities? If you’re a mom, that probably means the wee small hours of the morning, nap time, and bedtime. Choose one or two of those times to work, but not all three! Set a timer for an hour or thirty minutes and STOP when your time is up. The same goes with reading blogs (I could spend hours reading them). And remember – if you don’t have time to join in someone’s Mr. Linky, don’t do it. You’ll survive, I promise!

Keep things organized and you’ll have no problem staying on top of your blog. Make lists. Weed out your feed reader once in a while. Take time to clean your inbox - EMPTY it – it’s a beautiful thing.

Want to write a guest post for BlogCoach.org? Email me with your idea!

Critique This Blog #32: The Finer Things In Life

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:25:00 +0000

Today we're critiquing the blog, The Finer Things in Life, a WordPress blog that's been around since July 2008. Blogger Amy is a Kansas mom of three. Recent post topics have included couponing, recipes, meal plans, and inspirational family life essays.

Amy's ready to take her blog to the next level. She's put together these questions for you:

1. First Impressions - Is my design clean and professional? What about the sidebars...too much? All the important stuff in the right places? Easily accessible?

2. Niche -- Do you get a good feel for my blog by reading the tagline and about page? Do my category titles and posts reflect my theme? Can you tell what The Finer Things in Life is all about?

3. Content -- I don't take the time to read many long posts, so I try to not write them, either. If you browse through a few posts, are they easy to read without being too long or too short?

4. Next level -- I currently average 20,000 unique visitors and 45,000 page views per month. What can I do to take my blog to the next level?

What do you think, BlogCoach readers? Can you offer Amy some feedback about her blog?

Why Haven't I "Switched to WordPress"?

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:58:00 +0000

A BlogCoach reader writes:

I would love to read a post about why you've stuck with Blogger. So many of my blogging friends tell me that I have to switch from Blogger to WordPress if I want to grow my blog, earn more money, etc.

Yet, you have TWO successful blogs, both hosted on Blogger. Have you ever been tempted to switch? What keeps you at Blogger? I'm not convinced the grass is greener on the other side, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Hmmm. Why don't I switch to WordPress? Why would I?

I've heard the question before. There's a puzzling misconception that to grow a blog you've got to use WordPress. I'm not sure where it came from. BabyCheapskate.com gets nice traffic, but blogs with much more traffic than mine run on Blogger, too. Post Secret, anyone? MomAdvice's (The MotherLoad)? Freebies4Mom?

Some also believe that you can't monetize a Blogger blog effectively and that it's easier to monetize with WordPress. Uh uh. Nope. Blogspot users are free to post affiliate links, display ads, etc. I'm the primary income earner in my family, and I earn that income through various monetizing efforts on Blogger.

WordPress is fabulous and awesome and wonderful; don't get me wrong. I've used it on several occasions. In fact, I kind of chose Blogger by default. Back in 2005 when I started Baby Cheapskate, I don't think I had even heard of WordPress. I chose Blogger because to me, that's just what bloggers did. I've never seen a reason to switch.

I'm really not proselytizing for Blogger, I promise. I'm just answering the question. Why haven't I switched to Word Press? Because there's nothing I haven't been able to accomplish with Blogger. Sleek themes and nifty plug ins aside, a blogging platform is just a platform. It's the creativity, writing, pr, marketing, business sense, and design that you layer onto that platform that determine your success.

BlogCoach readers: Why do you use the platform you do? Would you switch if you could?

Simply Linked: It's a New "Mr. Linky"

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Hey, remember all those problems Mr. Linky had and how there was really no good alternative if you wanted to put a link list on your blog?

Enter Simply Linked, a free service that allows you to place link lists on your blog. Simply sign up and create a new list. You'll be able to view your lists on your dashboard at Simply-Linked.com. Simply Linked lets you create link lists especially for Carnivals and Memes, too.

The Simply Linked dashboard allows you to view and edit each link that's been submitted (and delete links if necessary). You can set your list to "inactive" and even import lists from Mr. Linky and other services.

One issue that I'm seeing is that the URL can't be more than 50 characters, a limit that's easily exceeded with Blogger post page URLs. The easy workaround? Use bit.ly or another URL shortening service to shrink your link.

Here's what it looks like on your page. There are no customization features, but I think it's pretty sleek. This one's live. Help me test it. Feel free to link to a great post you've written lately.

So what do you think?

Blogger Buster Author Launches Directory of Gadgets For Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:21:00 +0000

If you've ever spent an afternoon searching the web trying to find just the right add-on widget for your Blogger blog, you'll understand why Blogger guru Amanda Fazani's new site is so cool.

The Blogger Buster author has launched a searchable directory of tested blog widgets for Blogger users. Each gadget listed at Gadgets for Blogger includes screen shots and clearly-written instructions for installation. Clicking the "add gadget" button at the bottom of each post often takes you straight to Blogger's interface for one (or two)-click installation.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Recent Posts (Advanced): Lists recent posts and summaries, complete with thumbnails (if you like). Super easy to install.
Recent Comments: Shows the most recent comments your blog has received. You decide how many to show. Optional summaries.
Feeds in Tabs: Lets you show RSS updates for any feed you can grab. Ideas include your Twitter update feed, Your delicious.com bookmarks, a feed from another site, and more. I wish the fonts, etc. were more customizable, but if I were as tech savvy as Amanda Fazani, I bet I could figure out how to do that, too.

Essential Reads: Make More Money, Report Abuse, Up Your Writing's WOW Factor

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:16:00 +0000

11 Lessons I Learned Earning $119,725.45 from Amazon Associates Program

Find out how ProBlogger Darren Rowse makes a bajillion bucks form Amazon Associates in the last six years. Tip number five? "5. Get People in the Door and Let Amazon Do What they're Good At." Amen.

10 More Amazon Associate Program Lessons I Learned on My Way to Six Figure Earnings

More tips from Darren in this follow up ProBlogger piece.

How to Report Abuse to WordPress.com

Mucho helpful info and links for WordPress bloggers in this Lorelle on WordPress guest post from Plagiarism Today blogger Jonathan Bailey. How to report "spammers, scrapers and other bad guys" to the powers-that-be at WordPress.

Why You’re Too Qualified and Respectful to Produce Great Content

Write boldly. Have an opinion. This Copyblogger guest post shows you how being "respectful" and qualifying your opinions can make your blog kind of boring.

Weekly Widget: Facebook Fan Box

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:24:00 +0000

Facebook Fan Boxes offer another way to make your blog's Facebook fan page a more integrated part of your site. They allow you to show your fan page updates and a select number of follower thumbnails on your blog. Best of all, Facebook members who want to become a fan can do so with one click and without leaving your blog.

Installing the fan box is a cinch. You'll find the link to the "Add Fan Book to Your Site" option underneath the logo to fan page logo/profile pic (or just click here):

Choose whether you want to display your stream and thumbnails of a few of your fans. Then just copy the script and add it to your sidebar. The widget is 300 px wide by default. Though there isn't a specific option for doing so, you can customize the width of the widget by changing the numbers in the script (minimum width is 200 px.). You can also change the number of "fan connections" (fan photos) shown by adjusting that number in the script. The "Advanced Options" you'll find below the script code takes you to the Fan Box developer page, where more techy folks can find a few more ways to customize.

I have to admit that I feel a little weird putting my fans' clickable photos on my site without asking first, so for my Baby Cheapskate fan box, chose not to do so. I notice, too, that only the posts I contribute to the fan page show up in the widget. I wish that fan/reader comments were an optional part of the stream.

Of course if all you're doing with your fan page (and I'm sure it isn't) is posting your feed, adding this widget to your site might be a bit redundant.

Here's the Fanbox for BlogCoach:

BlogCoach.org on Facebook

What do you think? Would you feel comfortable displaying fans' profile thumbnails on your blog? Would this widget give your site some added value?

Related Reading:
Make the Most of Your Facebook Fan Page: Think Like a Fan
Facebook debuts 'fan box' tool @ cnet.com
Facebook Fan Boxes: Embeddable Facebook Pages @ Mashable

Essential Reads: Walmart 11Moms, Blogging Etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:35:00 +0000

The Truth About the Walmart ElevenMoms

"I'm not sure what you've heard about the ElevenMoms, and what we do and don't do for Walmart, but I think it's about time someone dispels the rumors and myths, by giving you the truth." An informative post with a great comments discussion at From Dates to Diapers. Enjoyed the read, Christine!

The Blog Etiquette Your Mom Didn’t Teach You

This Moms Who Blog article by Dawn Miller is a must read for beginning bloggers. Prevent that "If I had known then what I know now" feeling that many of us "seasoned" bloggers have.

Today's Essential Reading: Blogging's Deadly Sins

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:33:00 +0000

The 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging

My favorite quote from this Copyblogger piece? "It's great to be inspired by a big blogger. But in order to create your own audience and your own place in the blogging world, you're going to have to find your own voice." A well-composed "what not to do" article for bloggers.