Monday, July 2, 2012

Quick Tips To Improve Your Blog from Blogopolis


I have some followers who were unable to attend this year's Blogopolis conference and I promised to share what I learned to improve my blog.  I have to say the conference was absolutely fantastic this time around and I learned lots.  I have been inspired to keep improving this blog and the service I provide to the community surrounding it.

So here are 10 quick tips which you can employ with little effort to improve your blog.

Working the Room at Blogopolis 2012
1. On your blog.......Be yourself because everyone else is taken - Oscar Wild

2. A small following is not necessarily a disadvantage, because you can truly get to know your audience to a greater extent than a big blogger.  With this intimacy follows trust, and if you recommend something to your readers, a marketing company will take note of followers who comment that they purchased the product as a result of your recommendation.  When pitching to the PRs use emails/comments from your followers as evidence of this trust.

3.Ensure the primary key words in your title are closer to the left than the right.  So if you are posting about banana bread that is moist for example, make sure those words are closer to the left rather than say a title like  Garden Gourmet Cook off Tommorrow and a fabulously Moist Banana Bread, which is what I did.  Doh!!!!

3. Google has 90% of the search engine market and people search it for answers, not the latest headline.   Google likes descriptive information in the title, that is correct and directly related to the content of the post.  So even if your title is boring, if it is descriptive of the post's content, that will ultimately give you a better ranking in Google search results.

4.  Google search results use 67 characters in the title and 155 characters in the descriptive paragraph below.  Stick to that amount of characters and use the key words from your title in the first paragraph of the post.  Google gives more weight to what is said higher up in the post than in the content lower down in your text.  This is because when people click onto your site they will see what's up the top, but may not scroll down to the bottom.

5.  Spend a few minutes before you confirm the title of your post, doing research on the key words you intend using on Google Adwords here and how often they are searched.  If the competition for a search is 'high' on that keyword, you may be better off picking a keyword with 'medium' competition, but with a large number of search queries.



6.Create links back to your blog from other blogs as much as you can. Because links equal votes and this gets noticed.  We all know the power of linky parties ladies  And link to several other relevant posts of your own in your current post.  Ok doing that now, with one of my most hit on posts of all time.

7. Pinterst has 18,000,000 unique visitors per months, so set up an account, which I intend on doing very soon.  A 'unique visitor' is one human being and does not include the amount of times they click around once they are on a site.  So that means 18,000,00 sets of eyeballs go to pinterest each month and then start clicking around.  Oh and that figure was as at March 2012 and is growing wildly. Again, when you are labelling shots on pinterest or just for your post for that matter, be descriptive so they are more likely to come up in search results.

Copyright is still a grey area with Pinterest, and because I have a legal background, I will only be pinning my own shots or those of which I have express permission to use.  

Racheldevine who spoke at Blogopolis has a great photography blog here
8.  Good photography is very important on a blog.  Blogging is a visual medium and people 'read' your pictures before they read a word of your text, except perhaps your title, so they have to be good to encourage people to stick around.

9.  Light is the most important thing in photography.  If you are photographing food for example, don't rush a few shots just before serving up the meal to a hungry family.  Make the dish earlier in daylight, maybe you can reheat it at dinner time.  (That's why I do so much baking actually) Shoot it next to a window with your back to the window.  You can diffuse light (spread it evenly) in your little studio by the window, by using white and light grey sheets of cardboard strung up around the picture.  I have only ever used a point and shoot camera on this blog and those shots can be absolutely fine if you know how to rock it.

Also when you are ordering your shots in the post, put the best one first.  This shows up in your followers dash and any blog rolls you are on and needs to be attractive to encourage clicks.

10. And a final tip about content.  Ideas can come from anywhere.  For example, you can write a post about questions your readers ask you in the comments or in emails.

For example, the top 6 questions I get asked in emails and comments are:

What paint colours to choose in a renovation
Measurement conversions from metric to imperial
Where does your creativity come from?
What restaurants/accommodation options/ tourist attractions are there on the Northern Beaches of Sydney
Where did I purchase a certain item in my home
Queries about ingredients I use.

If you were to write a list of questions you are asked you would probably have 5 or 6 ideas for posts right there.

I hope these tips will inspire you to rock your little baby and blog on.

Oh and right at the end of the conference some lovely ladies representing brands got up.  Here's a couple of things they said:

Blown away but what I have seen here today
Bloggers should not under value themselves
Corporates are still coming to terms with the power of blogging.......give us some time.
You guys are amazing
I will be taking back what I have learned to the CEO and we want to be on broad this new media.

The High Tea was lovely as well


So there you go ladies.  Please let me know if I have inspired anything in you from this post.  Oh and I am doing a Twitter and Facebook drive this week so pop on over and like me and follow and I'll come back and do the same for you. Make sure you let me know you've done so in the comments. Links are in my side bar or right here in this paragraph.  Have a great week gals.  It's school holidays here, so I hope to keep up the pace, but will be putting the Beach House Brats first this week.

Today I am linked here
Sunday Showcase
Home Maker on a Dime
Metamorphosis Monday
Table Top Tuesday
Talent Show Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday
DIY by Design

62 comments :

  1. thanks for all these great tips carolyn!
    x

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  2. Loved these tips, thanks so much xx

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  3. I didn't get to the conference so I really appreciate you sharing these tips. Thank you Carolyn!

    I'm actually hosting a Let's Get Social {Media} Linky Party at my blog on the 14th-maybe you would be interested in linking up? The details are at the blog so please pop by if you have chance. Maybe you could even link up this post to this week's Say G'day Party!

    Best wishes for a great week!
    Natasha in Oz

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    1. No worries Natasha

      I hope I remember as it's holidays and my routines go hey wire at this time.
      Carolyn

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  4. some great tips - thanks for sharing!

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  5. Wow, seems you took copious amounts of notes. Love it. Also liked your Facebook page and am going to dash off to follow you on Twitter :)

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  6. Hi Carolyn,
    Great to hear from you. Thanks for the tips.
    Beth x

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  7. Thank you for the info that is very helpful. Sounds like you had a great time and the food looked delicious!

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  8. Yep get on instagram. It's so much fun and I find I'm really starting to become friends with people as we exchange likes and comments. You also get to know them better by seeing their photos.

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  9. Just liked you on the book will also follow you on twitter. Valuable information, thank you so much for sharing!

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  10. Such great advice, thanks for sharing! Off to do the whole like and following thing now. Your blog is gorgeous.. I should have done it sooner!

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  11. Hi Carolyn. Thanks so much for these tips, I wish I could have gone to the conference too. I've just liked you on FB and following on Twitter. Thanks again for sharing, these are certainly exciting times for bloggers :)
    Cas x

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  12. Awesome! Thanks for sharing!! Some of these things I already knew, but a lot I hadn't thought of. I love being able to learn something new from my fellow bloggers!
    Have a great 4th (:
    Carla
    http://www.mrsnonoknows.blogspot.com/

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  13. Super great info! Thanks for posting this :)

    Dee

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  14. Great info. Thanks for the post.

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  15. I always wondered about the titles... if they were more fun ..., what would happen. But as you say, I want to get the keywords in. Great post!!

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  16. just thanking you for the follow, and following you back, can't wait to see even more that i have spy-ed already!!!

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  17. Super tips. Thanks tons and thanks also for joining TTT. Hugs, marty

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  18. Great tips...thanks for gathering them for all of us.
    May I insert a comment about your light colored links in this post? The color, altho a beautiful one, is so light, it is hard to read. I had a blogger tell me this several years ago so I am very careful to keep mine in the darker colors. I have several blogs that I follow that use the lighter colors and if there's more than one word, it is just hard to read. I find myself skipping their blogs for this reason alone.
    Thanks again for the wonderful tips.

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    1. Sure BJ thanks for letting me know. For me it's all about colour and it seems if I can see it then I think everyone else can. Sorry
      Carolyn

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  19. These are fabulous tips hun thanks for sharing. So glad you had a great time at the conference and you have just taught me some fab new stuff. Look forwardto catching up soon xx

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  20. Yes cause I need to here about your dream!!!!!
    PS Mel from Georgica pond had a baby girl Monday week ago. Her story is in my blog roll and it's beautiful. All Good

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    1. Ohhhhh I am so thrilled for her. I was only thinking about her the other day. Thanks for letting me know! xx

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  21. Splendid tips. I too have yet to join the Pinterest site. Thank you.

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  22. Great tips, Carolyn - I've been implementing some of the tips myself recently - particularly about post titles being descriptive - it used to be that I would do something like "weekend recap", which tells nobody anything, so now I focus on what the post is actually about, and I do that.

    The tea they provided looks yummy! It sounds like you had a nice time!

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    1. Yep the food was fabbo as was the info disseminated

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  23. Hi Carolyn, lovely to meet you at Blogopolis! This was a great wrap up...I need to work on so many things, including my blasted SEO! I linked to you in my Blogopolis post so that's one tick for me :)

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  24. Mel@Georgica PondJuly 4, 2012 at 9:54 AM

    Thank you thank you for sharing. Love all this very useful info - so wish I had been there. Can't believe I missed this a second time. Next year for sure!

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  25. great tips...especially for a new blogger like me!

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  26. Wow, thank you for being so generous and sharing all of these great tips! I have come over from Savvy Southern Style.

    Have a great weekend! Elizabeth

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  27. Thanks for sharing, I'm a new blogger and appreciate it very much. Have followed on twitter.

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  28. Thanks for the tips - I have also found StumbleUpon to be good for pushing up page views (but no good for adding followers)
    I found you on Live.Laugh.Rowe's linky. I linked in a salmon platter with corn and crispy roasted potatoes. Have a super week.

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  29. Love your hints and tips from the day! I so wished I was there but maybe next year :) We are a different blog and we are trying to find our niche, so it was good to read about being oneself and having a smaller following :)

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  30. Thank you for sharing this information. The search points I'm still trying to master. The photography I'm practicing and Pinterest too. So good to know I'm headed in the right direction. Your blog is beautiful.
    Cheers!
    Miss Ellie

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  31. Great wrap-up Carolyn - I didn't attend the photography session so it was good to read those tips.

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  32. Thanks so much for the helpful tips! New facebook follower :0)

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  33. What a shame I didn't meet you last week!
    It was a great day with loads of fantastic information.

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  34. Great tips! I hope to put some of these into action. Thanks!
    Karin

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  35. Sorry not to have met you at Blogopolis. It really was a great day.
    This is a great summary! Especially the photography tips as I didn't go to that session!
    x

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  36. Great tips!! Really appreciate it!

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  37. I am a new blogger and have been looking for tips to improve my blog this is just what I needed to get started because they were quick and easy thanks so much for sharing I really appreciate it and applied some of them to my post that was dropping tonight. I also so need to get on face book and twitter and pinterest. Can I say though I find the very bright light blue in your post very hard to read.

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  38. You have inspired me! Happy FYBF and thanks for the tips :)

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  39. LOVE these tips! Thank you so much for sharing them and inspiring me to keep up the hard blogging work! HUGS!!

    ~Jen

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  40. Thanks for linking up and sharing your tips from the conference!

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  41. Thanks! I'm just starting a blog and can use all the help I can get. I'm hosting my first linky party "One Creative Weekend" at OneCreativeMommy.com. I'd love for you to visit and link up this idea and/or anything else you'd like to share. I definitely need to check learn more about adwords.

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  42. It was lovely to meet you, last Saturday, when you said hello! Thank you for such a good wrap up...must look at making my titles better. Denyse

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  43. Carolyn, thanks for sharing the tips you learned from the conference. The search engine ideas are some I've not given any thought to. I don't advertise on my blog, but it is nice to have visitors. I also found you comment on Pinterest interesting. I had an account at first, but closed it because of concern about copyrights. Even if I had gotten permission to pin something, it could be repined again and again without credit to the original. So I decided not to continue. It's a great concept, but I think the copyright issue needs to be resolved. Thanks again~ Sarah

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  44. Thanks for all of your great tips!

    Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

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  45. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE TIPS,I EVEN SAVED THEM TO MY FAVORITES SO I COULD FIND YOU EVERY WHERE!!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!

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  46. Thanks for sharing your insights. It's amazing how we all focus on different ideas to take away, forgetting some tips that are really important. So thanks for reminding me of things I'd forgotten! I'm sad I didn't get to meet you, maybe at the next conference.

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  47. Thanks for all the great tips. I found you on the Ivy Cottage.

    Kimberly @ mypinterestreality.com

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  48. thank you for sharing all of those great tips! I am a new blogger, and every little bit helps so much!

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  49. Thanks so much for these tips! I don't have a huge following but many loyal ones so that makes me happy! The light color of some of your words is very hard to read, just wanted to let you know. I also liked you on Facebook. XO, Pinky

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  50. Ohh glad I FB'd you! Even knowing some (not all) of these tips, I don't use them :/ Inspiration is key! Thanks (again) for the excellent tips :)

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  51. Great tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
    CAS

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  52. Thanks for sharing these great tips! I'm a new blogger and these are great things to know:)

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  53. Great tips. Thanks so much for sharing what you learned. I am pinning it so I can find and reference it later.
    Thanks!

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  54. Hi I have been applying what you shared I am using add words and been linking back and oh my photography has like really improved because of your tips this Yankee in Texas thanks you so much.
    RaNae

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  55. Great article Carolyn. It reminded me of some things that I learned at my last blog conference {& haven't done yet!}. You're awesome.

    Warmly, Michelle

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  56. Thank you Carolyn! I plan on applying these great tips to my blog. Blessings! Barb

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