Anyone care to help me improve my blog?

[ByGrace3]

I just started blogging last year and have not been super consistent with it, but I would like to do more. I would like to redo the look, but I am not sure how. Anyone have some suggestions/links as to how to do that? Also, suggestions on what to put as gadgets on the home page, how to organize, topics, etc. I would love any and all feedback. I love the idea of blogging, but I want to improve and not sure how to do that best. FWIW I have no desire to be a professional blogger, ;) I just want to be a help to other families and homeschoolers.

THANK YOU!!!

[Mergath]

Just off the top of my head, from a quick look:

 

I'd go with a more subdued background, along with a darker font for your main text. The bright/busy background combined with the brown text makes my brain hurt a bit.

 

I'd move the blurb about you/your family above the pictures so people can see it right away and get a sense of what your blog is all about.

 

For your blog title, I'd try to center it more, and maybe play around with pretty fonts or a nice header with pics. You can make those fairly easily now.

 

Instead of organizing your blog archive chronologically, I'd switch to categories so people have the option of looking for posts about subjects they're interested in. Adding a search bar is helpful, too.

 

ETA: I'm not a pro blogger either, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. ;)

[ByGrace3]

Just off the top of my head, from a quick look:

 

I'd go with a more subdued background, along with a darker font for your main text. The bright/busy background combined with the brown text makes my brain hurt a bit.

 

I'd move the blurb about you/your family above the pictures so people can see it right away and get a sense of what your blog is all about.

 

For your blog title, I'd try to center it more, and maybe play around with pretty fonts or a nice header with pics. You can make those fairly easily now.

 

Instead of organizing your blog archive chronologically, I'd switch to categories so people have the option of looking for posts about subjects they're interested in. Adding a search bar is helpful, too.

 

ETA: I'm not a pro blogger either, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. ;)

 

great input, thanks!

[ByGrace3]

 

For your blog title, I'd try to center it more, and maybe play around with pretty fonts or a nice header with pics. You can make those fairly easily now.

 

 

 

any ideas on how to do a header, it is something I have wanted to do but unsure of how to.

[Mergath]

any ideas on how to do a header, it is something I have wanted to do but unsure of how to.

 

There are blog headers with blank spots for pics you can use for free, or you can make something more simple in a program like Photoshop. Here's one tutorial using Picasa:

 

http://blissfullydomestic.com/life-bliss/geek-life-bliss/how-to-make-a-blog-header-for-free/66333/

 

If you want to use a premade header, http://shabbyblogs.com is free and has a ton to pick from. They have some tutorials that show you how to customize the headers, too.

[jenangelcat]

More and bigger pictures.

[Katy]

For privacy reasons, you might want to STRONGLY consider removing the name of your husband's ministry and your DC's names.

 

Someone on the internet could stalk you, call your children by their names, and say you or your DH were hurt and know so much information about you they might believe them and go with them.

 

I like your background, but I would make the color scheme pale rather than bright. It is a little too cluttered.

[ZipMommy]

I actually like the color scheme. I think the background is fun. (Mine is kinda colorful, too.) I'm a big fan of WordPress blogs - I think you can do more with them than Blogger. Wordpress.com hosts free blogs, I'm pretty sure. In WordPress, I know the blog description goes automatically under the Title in the header.

Also, I blog chronologically but use categories to keep it organized.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Ok, take this all with a grain of salt. I've been blogging for 4 years, but I'm not a money-maker. ;)

 

I like the portrait at the top in your sidebar, it shows me right away who speaking to me. You can add a description (or tagline) under your header title if you like.

 

And an aside: From what I understand, the free wordpress.com is not as customizable as blogger, (the version for those who pay for their own url and hosting is very customizable) but I could be wrong. You really can do a lot with blogger, so play around with it a bit. I use the free Windows LiveWriter to compose all my posts and then later upload them to blogger. Blogger has changed a lot in the past year or so, so it is easier to use than when I started.

 

Suggestions:

 

• You can share more about who you are and what you're about with a custom header, create it in any photo editing or creating software you own (I use a digi-scrapbook program called My Memories Suite).
  

 

• Use a darker font, the brown is too hard on my eyes.
  
• Use a larger font (larger than you think looks good---I struggled with this one myself) for ease of reading.
  
• Feel free to customize your blog widths in the advanced settings of your template---most readers have wider screens these days, you could then widen your split sidebar some if you want.
  

You asked about gadgets, so I'll share:

 

• Add another way to follow you other than GFC (Google Friend Connect). You can add an email subscription option (my preferred choice these days), and RSS feed subscription. Different readers will have different ways they want to connect with you, so give them options.
  
• You can add tabs across your top (below the header) with categories.
  

I would concentrate more on content, though. I love the year in review posts, btw, that you've written this month. :)

[fourcatmom]

There is also the Cutest Block on the Block site, they have some cute templates if you want to look around at any and some with headers to match. I do like the Orange on your blog. :001_smile:

[ByGrace3]

ok, I finally had some time to do some updating. I still want to add some categories for easy searching, maybe tabs at the top? And I need to make my header pic narrower. Any ideas how to do that? Anyone care to comment on the changes. Better/worse, or comments in general since you probably don't remember what it looked like! :lol:

Thank you!

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Your header pic is gorgeous! To resize you have a couple of options. You can resize the pic itself or you can click the little "shrink to fit" box on the header pic (you'll have to re-upload it, clicking the box before it uploads) and see it that fixes it. Alternatively, widen your blog to match up with the width of the header pic. Your image width is 960 px, so a bit wider than that, say 1000 px---Setting your blog width to the exact pic width is not usually the magic number (blogger is a teen bit loopy on this), so you could play with it a bit.

 

To resize the pic itself, just use your photo editing software and resize it a bit smaller in width than the width of your blog (you can find that magic number in your template settings, under advanced).

[ByGrace3]

Your header pic is gorgeous! To resize you have a couple of options. You can resize the pic itself or you can click the little "shrink to fit" box on the header pic (you'll have to re-upload it, clicking the box before it uploads) and see it that fixes it. Alternatively, widen your blog to match up with the width of the header pic. Your image width is 960 px, so a bit wider than that, say 1000 px---Setting your blog width to the exact pic width is not usually the magic number (blogger is a teen bit loopy on this), so you could play with it a bit.

 

To resize the pic itself, just use your photo editing software and resize it a bit smaller in width than the width of your blog (you can find that magic number in your template settings, under advanced).

 

ok, I think I fixed the width of the blog but I tried to re upload the pic and there was no option to "shrink to fit". I have stared forever at the html page where I should be finding how to make it more narrow it, but it is proving fruitless! :tongue_smilie:

[JoLuRu]

Blogging with Amy is really great for tutorials and how-to posts on blogging, and she's not assuming that you're coming from a pro-blogging background. Worth checking out. :) bloggingwithamy.com

[ByGrace3]

Hmmmm just looked at it from my iPad and the background is orange...I had a different one uploaded and it showed up on my other computer?:confused:

[ByGrace3]

Ok weird. It is only orange on the top....??? And bottom? It is only right in the middle...

Edited August 4, 2012 by ByGrace3

[ZipMommy]

It's beautiful! I love the wider column- so much easier to read. And the design is lovely.

[Jpoy85]

I just revamped my blog. Before it had a stone background/template and a school house at the top. Before that an old tree at the top. It didnt say Homeschool. :( The side bar was VERY disorganized.

 

I found out, after some frustration, how to change a template (you have to go in a change the HTML code and i can explain that if you want?) for a custom background/template. That helped. Then i changed the top of my blog, so now it looks like school.

 

Then I went to a few Homeschool blogs I love and looked at the way they organized things and copied them for ideas.

 

Youll want ways to reach you/subscribe/etc at the top area and then go into linking up.

 

I hope that helps. Check out my blog if you want.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Ok weird. It is only orange on the top....??? And bottom? It is only right in the middle...

Your blog will display differently for different browsers and different platforms. It will definitely look different on a mobile device from how it looks on your computer and you won't have 100% control over how it looks. That reminds me, I should look at mine on my Android. ;)

 

It is not a bad idea to look at it in various browsers, as it will display differently in each of them---I think there's an online free site you can use to do this easily, actually.

 

The orange background displays for me when my computer is waiting for your images to load...they are a bit slow to load, you may want to consider using smaller images or pngs instead of jpgs for that reason (pngs load more quickly).

 

This is where the orange comes from: there's a background color that loads before your background image. You can change that color in your customize template settings. So, click "template" (in the left sidebar), then click the "customize" button under the thumbnail of your blog. Now choose "advanced" and then "background." You'll probably see that your background color is set to orange. You can change it to whatever you want, even transparent. Pick something that is less intrusive and works with your background.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

The new width is perfect, btw. :)

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Very put together, colors work well together. Are you sure you're not a pro?

And I see you are using Sonlight. We'll be using Core 5(F). Should be interesting. I'm your newest follower. ;)

 

As far as things like tabs and stuff. Give it some time. It'll be easier for you to choose some categories for organizing your stuff once you have a feel for the types of different things you write about. You may surprise yourself.

[Mergath]

It looks wonderful! I love the way the colors in your header pic coordinate with your background.

[ByGrace3]

Yeah, thanks everyone for your help!!! I am excited about the ground I covered today. Now if only I could figure out how to change that header!!! :willy_nilly:

[ByGrace3]

[*]You can add tabs across your top (below the header) with categories.

I would concentrate more on content, though. I love the year in review posts, btw, that you've written this month. :)

 

ok, sorry to resurrect this thread, but I forgot to ask before, how do you get tabs across the top?

 

And I have been working on content. I have lots of ideas floating around, now to get them on there! :)

 

Also, any suggestions on getting followers? I have had several people I know say something lately, but none of them are "followers" so I had no idea they even read regularly. I am planning a giveaway for September so that should help as well. I would like to do reviews eventually, so I would like to get up my content and followers for that.

 

oh this reminds me, I meant to change the font size...off to do that!

 

Thanks again everyone!!! :grouphug:

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

If you want followers, don't limit readers to GFC for following you. People have different preferences, so give them options. Some options you can add:

 

 

• email subscribe (I have a lot of "silent" friends who get me in their inbox and then email me rather than leave comments, for instance)
  
• RSS feed---allows them to use their own online reader
  

 

Also, don't discount the value of having a page for your blog on Facebook. I have some readers who read my blog almost exclusively through facebook links---it's also a great place to let people know about your giveaways and such.

 

 

Tabs can be added by adding "pages." If you go to your Blogger dashboard, click on the "Pages" link in the left sidebar. You'll see at the top "New Page." If you click on it, you'll see 2 options:

 

 

• create a new static page (this is a page where you can add text, pics, links, a list a favorite posts, or whatever you want)
  
• or link to a web address---you can use this to take advantage of "labels" or to link to your facebook page, for instance. So, one of the topics you like to blog about is "Raising Kids," you could add that label to all the applicable posts, then use the url that points to that label as a tab. When a reader clicks on it, they'll get a search result with all your Raising Kids posts.
  

 

You'll see an option "Show the Pages as..." and then you can choose "Tabs" or "Sidebar Links" or "Don't Show"

 

 

I was a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's homeschool Crew for 3 years. I "retired" from that because it was a lot (A LOT) of work and I needed more freedom in my curriculum choices (I was reviewing 50 and more items for them in a year!), but I still do some reviews independently. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about homeschool reviews. I'm not a social media expert and my blog is still tiny by commercial standards, but I have learned a lot along the way.

 

 

For general blog stuff, learning about stats, learning about driving traffic and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I highly recommend checking out Blogging with Amy.

[ByGrace3]

If you want followers, don't limit readers to GFC for following you. People have different preferences, so give them options. Some options you can add:

 

• email subscribe (I have a lot of "silent" friends who get me in their inbox and then email me rather than leave comments, for instance)
  
• RSS feed---allows them to use their own online reader
  

Also, don't discount the value of having a page for your blog on Facebook. I have some readers who read my blog almost exclusively through facebook links---it's also a great place to let people know about your giveaways and such.

 

 

Tabs can be added by adding "pages." If you go to your Blogger dashboard, click on the "Pages" link in the left sidebar. You'll see at the top "New Page." If you click on it, you'll see 2 options:

 

• create a new static page (this is a page where you can add text, pics, links, a list a favorite posts, or whatever you want)
  
• or link to a web address---you can use this to take advantage of "labels" or to link to your facebook page, for instance. So, one of the topics you like to blog about is "Raising Kids," you could add that label to all the applicable posts, then use the url that points to that label as a tab. When a reader clicks on it, they'll get a search result with all your Raising Kids posts.
  

You'll see an option "Show the Pages as..." and then you can choose "Tabs" or "Sidebar Links" or "Don't Show"

 

 

I was a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's homeschool Crew for 3 years. I "retired" from that because it was a lot (A LOT) of work and I needed more freedom in my curriculum choices (I was reviewing 50 and more items for them in a year!), but I still do some reviews independently. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about homeschool reviews. I'm not a social media expert and my blog is still tiny by commercial standards, but I have learned a lot along the way.

 

 

For general blog stuff, learning about stats, learning about driving traffic and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I highly recommend checking out Blogging with Amy.

 

Thank you so much for your help! I was just talking to Dh tonight about making a FB page. I do think I have a lot of readers on FB and they always comment on my page there. I will work on tabs tomorrow. Thanks again!

[Dustybug]

If you want followers, don't limit readers to GFC for following you. People have different preferences, so give them options. Some options you can add:

 

 

• email subscribe (I have a lot of "silent" friends who get me in their inbox and then email me rather than leave comments, for instance)

• RSS feed---allows them to use their own online reader

 

Also, don't discount the value of having a page for your blog on Facebook. I have some readers who read my blog almost exclusively through facebook links---it's also a great place to let people know about your giveaways and such.

 

 

Tabs can be added by adding "pages." If you go to your Blogger dashboard, click on the "Pages" link in the left sidebar. You'll see at the top "New Page." If you click on it, you'll see 2 options:

 

 

• create a new static page (this is a page where you can add text, pics, links, a list a favorite posts, or whatever you want)

• or link to a web address---you can use this to take advantage of "labels" or to link to your facebook page, for instance. So, one of the topics you like to blog about is "Raising Kids," you could add that label to all the applicable posts, then use the url that points to that label as a tab. When a reader clicks on it, they'll get a search result with all your Raising Kids posts.

 

You'll see an option "Show the Pages as..." and then you can choose "Tabs" or "Sidebar Links" or "Don't Show"

 

 

I was a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's homeschool Crew for 3 years. I "retired" from that because it was a lot (A LOT) of work and I needed more freedom in my curriculum choices (I was reviewing 50 and more items for them in a year!), but I still do some reviews independently. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about homeschool reviews. I'm not a social media expert and my blog is still tiny by commercial standards, but I have learned a lot along the way.

 

 

For general blog stuff, learning about stats, learning about driving traffic and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I highly recommend checking out Blogging with Amy.

 

 

:iagree: I don't have a huge following or anything but I have been growing steadily the last few months and MOST of that came from my blog's fb page. I used the ebook "How to Design Your Blog for Free" that is linked on my blog's sidebar to revamp my blog a few weeks back. :) I highly recommend it!

[ByGrace3]

Yeah! One Magnificent Obsession has a facebook page, come check it out! I hope the link works :tongue_smilie: