Are you confused and overwhelmed at how to arrange and organize your blog?  I was...for almost four years.  When I finally moved to WordPress in December 2011, I decided to really put some thought into how I organized my posts, and to utilize my categories to the fullest. So I got busy making lists of the categories that I used over and over, and then deciding how to arrange all of the information so that my posts organized and easy to find … [Read more...]

I get emails and comments quite often from people (generally bloggers who are using Blogger), who had thought of moving to WordPress, or really want to move to WordPress, but are scared that it'll be way too difficult or too technical for them to understand. WordPress is just different from Blogger, but it's not difficult. I'm sure that one reason that so many people are afraid of moving to WordPress is simply a fear of the unknown.  So in … [Read more...]

Today, I want to share five simple tips on how to write a blog post that will draw in your readers. Let me preface by saying that these tips are for bloggers who are in a home, decorating, DIY, or other creative niche who write posts that are very picture-heavy. I've been blogging now for six years, and the way I write posts now is completely different from how I started out writing posts as a newbie blogger. Now when I look back on those old … [Read more...]

HTML can be a very scary thing, especially for a new blogger. And while it's not imperative that you learn HTML since Blogger, WordPress and other blogging software have WYSIWYG blog post editors, I still think that every blogger should at least know the basics, like how to add a link to text or an image using HTML. For example, what if you want to add a linked image on your sidebar? In both Blogger and WordPress, there are simple widgets that … [Read more...]

I recently customized a WordPress blog using the Genesis Pure Elegance Theme by StudioPress. One of my favorite features in that theme was the linked featured images section right below the menu bar. In fact, I liked it so much that I seriously considered switching themes just to get that feature.  But in the end, I decided that I didn't want to spend time switching themes right now, and after giving it some thought, I decided that I … [Read more...]

Today's Blogging Help post is for those of you who aren't yet bloggers, but have been toying with the idea of starting a blog. In the last couple of weeks, I've had several people contact me saying that they've been inspired to start a blog, and they want to do it right from the start, i.e., bypass Blogger and go right to a self-hosted WordPress blog (a decision I sooooo wish I had made five years ago when I first started blogging). If you're … [Read more...]

Last week, I asked readers a very simple question. What are you biggest blog pet peeves? I learned a very quickly that if you ask readers their opinion, they're going to answer. :-D And we bloggers have lots to learn from the feedback that readers give us.  There were about 95 responses on the blog post and on Facebook.  Let's just jump right in to the top answers, and then I'll list the others at the bottom. These are listed in order from … [Read more...]

Do you have a user-friendly blog? I know this question can be highly subjective. What one reader considers user-friendly may be a considered by another to be a complete pain in the neck (truncated posts on the home page and lots of options on drop down menus, for example). But there are some practical things you can do to make sure that your blog is generally user-friendly for the majority of your visitors. It's important to visit your own … [Read more...]

Hello all! Last weekend, I shared the various ways that I make money on my blog, including the amounts that I make with each method. *gasp* I know, I know. I divulged some very sensitive info there. :) And by the way, all of the videos have been added now, just in case you arrived to read the post when I was still working to get the videos uploaded. I must admit that I was very hesitant to hit the "publish" button on that post, because I … [Read more...]