Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Monday, November 10, 2008

OK Blog Geniuses I have Questions!

I have really enjoyed blogging. It's something that comes pretty easy to me. Sometimes I ramble on about things you care about, other times maybe not so much. My blog is a bunch of things really. It's what's on my mind today. It's what happened to me today. It's what happened to me last year. I think my whole life could be a book honestly, but then couldn't everyone's? I like sitting down and just writing it all out. I think I started off slow but now it's become more. So, I want to be serious. There is a ton I do not understand. First of all, what is the nofollow and dofollow stuff? Is it good or bad? I have no idea. I am thinking I should get my own domain name. I can do that right here through blogger for $10 but is it worth it? Should I do it somewhere else? My biggest question is if I do I will lose all the widgets I have up...some of which are kind of important. I could write down every single code I suppose and repost them in a new blog. Oh how complicated it seems! I don't think I could create a good blog layout on my own. Writing is more my thing, not designing a layout properly. I think there are people out there who do that sort of thing though. So...I need tips, hints and all of that stuff from those who know what they are talking about. If you have experience tell me. I am working on getting more traffic and have been proud of my efforts. I am running out of ideas there too though. It feels like I have done it all. I am sure there is more. So those experienced bloggers and technical pros, I am asking for advice. I appreciate any tips in advance. I will look into each one. I search and browse the web for things but a lot of it is confusing to me. I am not sure which way to go. I'm sure others out there have wondered all the same things. I see blogs with 20 to 30 comments on each post. That would sure be nice. Someday. I can see it in my future. haha

11 comments:

Sandee said...

My blog is do follow. Read this short post on the subject:

http://www.linkbuildingbestpractices.com/link-building/no-follow-vs-do-follow/

As for commenters. You need to visit others that are like you and comment on their blog. Blogs you like to visit. Eventually you will build a readership. Patience is the key. Some will come, some will go and some will stay.

Just have fun no matter what you do. :)

Speedcat Hollydale said...

I found this post through E card. Usually give a quick glance, and then move on. Yhis topic interests me, and I can easily answer your questions.

Number one, and the most important is to comment everywhere. Eventually you find blogs and people that you click with. Most blogs with massive amounts of comments are people that made friends somewhere along their way.

With friends you gain important links. Links on other blogs in posts, and on blogrolls. More importantly, others will subscribe to your blog, either in a feed, google reader, or other types of alerts.

Sandee from Comedy Plus is a perfect example. She comments on my posts almost imeadiately, because she knows when I publish something.

I get a lot of comments because I am a friend maker by nature. I talk to other bloggers more than comment. I can honestly say I "Know" my readers.

You have an interesting and heart felt topic, seem to be a very good writer, and you already have many key elements to becoming a popular blog ... assuming that is your goal.

Plese stop by my blog anytime. If you wish, I will add you to my contact list. I fully believe that some of the nicest people anywhere are my regulars, and they would love to meet someone like you as a new contact.

Sandee's blog is also FULL of great friends and bloggers. Best way to find others with similar interests is to find where they congregate. Randomly surfing is really impossible and too time consuming.

Buying your own domain is only something people do when they are concerned about blogging profits. I never saw much point in it, especially in a Blogger format. More elaborate Wordpress themes can be more functional, but there are also a new influx of free blogger templates you can install pretty easy. Yes, you will lose your widgets with a new template.

Try using the layout features of Blogger first ... changing colors fonts, etc.


Anyway, I hope that was not too much of a comment. Just some of my thoughts. Really, I could go on forever with these topics .. Ha haaa!!!!

Nice to meet you,
Eric "SpeedyCat"

Anonymous said...

hi!

I am not so good in blogging too more so of the techie stuff but last July I also bought my own domain in blogger and so far it's worth it.

when you move to your own domain you will not lose those widgets unless you change the template or lay out.

But you will start all over again in terms of blog ranking.

hope this helps a bit.

Rocks

Unknown said...

I am new to the blogging scene myself. I may not get to post everyday like I would like to but I do love reading many different blogs and meeting the people I have meant so far through blogging. There are some really wonderful people all over the world. I do follow, especially if I like what I read or for whatever reason. I have found that not everyone I follow does it in return, it which sometimes is kind of upsetting but hey to each there own, maybe I just don't fit with that blog since I do talk about anything and everything, not just one thing, lol! But it does not mean I don't like theirs and I choose to follow if I do. I did invest in my own domain and I am also glad that I did. Good luck and I love your blog by the way!

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blog for a few weeks or so and have been encouraged by your strength and willingness to share your experience with others.

Great questions on blogging. There are some nice blogger templates out there. Check out Theme Forest. I used a very simple template and then made major tweaks to it by learning a little html and css code. But if you are not into that you can just use a great template. Transferring the widgets and stuff is not that difficult. Just open each one up and copy the code to a text editor like notepad and then copy it back into the new template.

Anyway, I have also been looking into getting a domain. I see that a couple of those who answered above have indicated that they are glad they got their own domain name. My question is WHY. What specifically are the benefits?

Karen and Gerard said...

Ana at Chica & Pumuckl (one of the top pet blogs in the Entrecard community) designed my blog and walked me through it. You may try contacting her. Here is the link to her designing blog if you'd like to check it out: http://chica-pumuckl-designs.blogspot.com/

She is very nice and does a lot of them for people.

Sandi said...

thank you all so much for your tips. I really appreciate it. I do want this to be a popular blog. I wasn't sure about getting my own domain and I'm still on the fence. I hate the thought of starting over as far as ranking goes, but then again I would love my blog to have a professional look to it with a handmade template. So I don't know. It's all just kind of up in the air. I need to spend some time copying codes and inserting a new template sometime. I might. And thank you Eric "SpeedyCat" for all your great advice. I'm going to go stop by your blog now.

Anonymous said...

Your blog is great and that is the main criteria for getting readers and commenters. Keep the quality up and they will come... slowly but they will come.

Comment on others and consider putting a Stumbleupon button on each post (more code... damn :))

Very recently, I bought my €10 domain, I'm still a blogger hosted blog but it's harder to see now - I lost my pagerank (4) and my technority which was under 100,000. Was it worth it? Too soon to tell but I'll keep you posted. I do know, if you're going to move from blogspot, the longer you leave it the more you seem to lose.

Keep up the great writing.

k

Sandi said...

oh my. I wrote out a whole reply to you ken and it seems to have vanished into nowhere. But basically I have had issues with stumbleupons buttons. I get an error on their site when I click the buttons. I may try it from a different computer. I also am so on the fence about buying a domain but think I should do it sooner than later if I do it. Let me know your results! Oh and thanks again for the kind words. I hope this goes through the second time. lol

Anonymous said...

I recently moved my blog and registered my own domain name. It was a nightmare while going through it, but I am glad I did it. I also switched blogging software so for me it was a huge change and I had to start from scratch. If you get your own domain, but remain on blogger, the physical site will not change at all and it wont require any changes. If you are doing it that way, it makes sense to register the domain through blogger. If you are going with another hosting company, it makes sense to register the domain through the hosting company (otherwise, you have to change the DNS and it gets complicated). The biggest problem with hosting others is that the free designs are pretty lame. If you don't have someone who can work with you on it, there are designers who will do it inexpensively. I like having my own domain and it makes it much easier to remember. The only downside is the cost (and the transfer issues), but it will definitely be worth it.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it was helpful. You need to determine your long-term goals and then you can determine next steps.

Dee said...

Hi, I found your blog from EC, and this topic is interesting. Was only thinking as its an old post, so, might get something to learn here, from comenters. And yeah, got some now :D

*please forgive my poor english :)