You usually don't have to ask a girl twice to give her opinion, so I thought I'd ask you, blog friends, to help me out with something... Your opinions are desired, so please share with me in the comments if you'd be so kind.
This blog has been a work in progress for quite some time. It's not yet where I'd like it to be stylistically, but the time to work on it is minimal. I know that my roles as a wife and mom are top priority! I'm thankful God has given me such contentment in the life He has carved out for me.
Blogging is a fun hobby for me, and when you're into a hobby, there's usually a few tools that come along with it. Just like a seamstress desires a sewing machine, good scissors, and a place to keep her sewing supplies; I'm looking to get some more tools in place to make my hobby a little more enjoyable! As I seek to mix things up a bit, I'm looking at changing from Blogger to Wordpress to host the blog (this may be more than you wanted to know...) and getting a custom domain. A custom domain would enable folks to type in the blog address without the "blogspot" part. You know, just a regular .com address.
Would you please share your opinions and answers to any or all of these questions?
- What things do you like about the layout of your favorite blogs? What invites you to stay and read?
- Do you have any preference about blogs named something like The Scarlet Paisley or the person's real first and last name? Does one or the other make you feel a certain way?
- Do you know of any just normal moms (like me, not an author or anything) that has a blog address that is www.firstnamelastname.com? (Um... I don't know how I feel about this either - it's really nice to protect one's last name from getting out there.) Big deal or not?
- How important is the ability to share blog posts on social media, and is it important that it's easy to do so? (Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest)
- Do you have any other constructive criticism you'd like to offer? (Like, does my "subscribe by email" thingy even work?)
Hmmm....well, I don't read as many blogs as I used to, but I'll answer to the best of my ability. ;)
ReplyDelete1. Cute pics draw me in, lol. Nothing too busy with the layout, I want to be able to read the posts without feeling like my senses are bombarded by things on the sidebars. I don't mind occasional posts about a sponsor for the site now and then, but constant pushing of products or companys makes me stop reading. An honest, encouraging person who is REAL about things makes me want to keep reading to get new ideas on things that work or don't work.
2. I think I prefer something more anonymous for the blog name than a real name. I guess it seems more professional to me if a blogger is really interested in blogging for more than just the family.
3. Personally, I would stick with not using first name last name. I can't think of a blogger that uses their full name as their blog address.
4. This I really don't know about.
5. Nope...really helpful, I know. :)
1. I love a minimal layout (this is totally just my taste preference) and despise ads. I also am apt to leave a blog quickly if there's music playing.
ReplyDelete2. No preference...
3. Nope. I keep my last name off of our blog, but when I'm a big! published! author! it will be out there, anyway. :)
4. Super important! Though I think this is pretty easy to do with most of the widgets already offered on Blogger, and sharing on facebook is a 2-click piece of cake, too. I have no experience with twitter...yet...
I also found this wonderful tool for finding out how many times your blog or post has been shared. For example, this is a link to one of my posts that I entered, but you can do it with any page or post on your blog:
http://muckrack.com/whosharedmylink/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcopperlightwood.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F03%2Fa-progress-report-of-sorts.html
5. Love your blog. Just keep writing...just keep writing... ♥
I second the music playing. If the are words being sung, I can't concentrate on the written words-- so I leave that blog. If there are many pictures, I get bored too. A simple picture of the birthday person is all I need-- not many of the party or cake on the face etc. I love the events you want to remember to be recorded-- it reaffirms the joys and difficulties of family life.
ReplyDelete