I am the first to admit, I’m always at a bit of a loss when it comes to the techy parts of blogging. But the ‘techy parts’ are in fact the most important. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your blog is, if it runs slowly, isn’t using metrics properly or the coding isn’t up to scratch, then your readers won’t stick around, brands won’t feel inspired to want to work with you, and you won’t have enough information about your blog to make the time you spend blogging worth it.
So, how am I going to write a post about blogging tech tips, when I am more in the dark than most? Well, that was my first thought too, so I’m going to take you with me on my journey, seeing just how easy it can be to master blogging tech. I initially thought this was going to be a very daunting task, but I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the world of blogging tech isn’t that scary after all.
My first thought, was widgets. All blogs need them; links to your social media networks are really important, as well as including comment forms, and allowing comments. The two most popular blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress, both very simple to use, both come with lots of help and advice for its users.
I did a very quick Google to find out just how easy widgets are to install, and I was frankly terrified when I saw this piece of code on http://www.bloggerplugins.org/, which is showing you how to insert a Twitter Card to your Blogger blog, but I soon realised that it’s actually very simple, and such a quick way of starting to make your blog look more professional. Don’t forget, that you must keep your social media outlets as updated as your blog!
If you have a WordPress.com blog, you might come into some difficulty installing Widgets and Plugins, which sadly is the price you have to pay when you get a blogging platform for free. Look here to see the pros and cons of a WordPress.com blog. If you have splashed out on WordPress.org, then you are completely free to install as many widgets and plugins as your heart desires!
One of the best ways to gage your blogs online success is to install Majestic SEO Backlinks Analyser, Google Page Rank, and Moz SEO Toolbar. Not only will these help you keep an eye on your metrics, but you can also see how all other blogs and websites rank, which will give you a good idea of what to do to get your blog more professional! Also, they are so simple, even I use them!
A really important thing to do is to set up Google Analytics- this will give you a really in depth look into how people use your blog- see Bounce Rate, page duration, most visited pages…. It looks very daunting once you go on, but spend an hour or two having a proper look around and you won’t be sorry!
I hope this has been helpful, and if anything has shown that even a complete tech novice such as myself, doesn’t need to be left in the dark, blindly fumbling for some meaning behind coding. Take a look at more of our Tech Tips to get more advice!
No comments yet.