I’ve been blogging for just over a year now, and I’ve been meaning to make some improvements and step up the professionalism of my blog. To do that I need some input from you folks first, so I thought I’d offer a contest.
After all, people love contests! It’s a chance to get something for free, and who wouldn’t like that chance?
So here are the rules to the “Improve my Blog” contest:
#1- The contest begins now and ends at 12 noon EST on March 5th.
#2- Post your idea about ways that I could improve* my blog in the comments section of this post.
#3- I will randomly draw (with Buddy’s help) the name of one commenter. That person will receive a $5 gift card valid at Red Lobster/Olive Garden/Bahama Breeze/Smokey Bones.
#4- I will post the winner’s name and ask them to contact me at my email with their mailing address, then the gift card will be mailed to them by standard US mail.
*Note-criticisms without any concrete suggestions of how to fix/change/improve do not count.
I would highly recommend getting your own domain name. It sounds a lot more professional than *.blogspot.com.
I didnt want to spend for hosting, so I decided to stick with blogger for free hosting. Here is the link for how to get your custom domain to work with blogger
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=55373
If you choose to go this route and use 1&1 for buying the domain name ($5.99 per year), then use the steps in this link rather than the blogger link
http://thefinancebuff.com/2007/02/upgraded-to-new-blogger-with-custom.html
Feel free to mail me if you need more info – i did this very recently and it is all still fresh in my mind (i think ) 🙂
ispf-good input! And thanks for the offer of help as well.
Oh, and as for clarification for everyone else-suggestions on topics to cover etc are welcome as well, I’m not just looking for computer geek HTML or design stuff.
I’d second ispf’s suggestion. Not only does it look more professional, but it also gives you more options in the future if you want to move to different blog software (I love WordPress) or rank higher on the search engines.
I think the number one thing you can do for your blog is get a custom design. It doesn’t have to be expensive (I charge a good amount for this but I’m targeting business bloggers); Bluebird Blogs does some very nice work and it’s very affordable.
A custom design will really set you apart from the masses of Blogger blogs and help you establish an online identity.
My next tip is similar: feature your photo on the sidebar near the top. People love seeing who you are and I find that this is often the most clicked location because it draws the eye (link to your “About me” page and satisfy your readers’ curiosity).
Finally, I’d recommend using the free FeedBurner service to let people subscribe to your blog via email. This is very handy for readers and makes it much more likely that a casual browser will become a regular visitor.
I’d suggest:
Custom design. I tend to think blogs like Typepad or WordPress are better for professional blogs. Typepad is pretty user friendly, and it’s simple to customize the appearance. (It’s not free, though.)
Eliminate clutter. Specifically, things like “Blog Rolls” and “Recent Readers” makes your blog appear more “personal” than “professional.”
Change tagline. “Frugal ramblings” immediately makes me think “personal blog.” I’d go for a more professional tagline, like “Tips, Tricks and Advice for Living the Frugal Life.” (That’s not a great one, but you get the idea.)
More practical posts. While I enjoy reading about your personal life very much, I’m not sure the contents of the lunchbox is the best angle for your blog. It works for food blogs, but yours is a frugal blog. Instead, I think the lunchbox works more as a brief story–illustrating a larger point–as Amy Dacyczyn does in the Tightwad books. Although she mentions lunches, she does in the context of a larger article–wowing the kids, saving money, etc.
Generally speaking, I’d suggest changing the text. I find light text on a dark background is more tiring to the eyes and dark text on a light background.
Good luck!
Hmm, I am in the same boat as you, looking to improve my blog a little bit.
The conclusion I’m coming to is that I need to find a way to get a custom template installed.
Whether this means hosting my blog on my own domain or not I don’t know. I do know that it would allow for a much wider variety of customization. I’ve been keeping my eye out for blogs I really like the look of and then figuring out what platform they are on and what template they are using…
Regards,
Frugal Guy
I meant to post here, but did it in the follow-up post instead. I’ll paste it over:
The banner at the top is a bit too busy, I think. With white text, I’ve found it’s best to have a solid (darker) colour background, rather than one in lighter shades that fades between colours.
How about larger print, or maybe my eyes are just old. Also move labels to top of sidebar so folks can find previous topics easily. I’ve seen bloggers place – most googled, or most popular posts on the top in the sidebar. That saves the reader a lot of time, and you can bump up interesting topics.
I just found your blog today, so I’ll start this off with a “hello!”
In terms of improving your blog, I would second everything everyone above me said (own domain, less clutter, picture, feedburner, etc), but I would also recommend dumping Snap Previews. They annoy the heck out of me, and I tend to avoid sites that use them. I feel they don’t add anything to most sites, and I know they make it particularly hard for visually or physically disabled reader (which make up 50% of the internet population, by the way) to read your site. So that would be my main suggestion.
Take care!
– Stephanie
What I think would help is to make the words Bolder and a darker color, like black or navy it is hard on your eyes to read the light color after a while and navy would look nice with your blogs to!
I like your blog because I am frugal, too– but because I HAVE to be frugal (we are living on one income and I stay at home with my four pre-teen/teen kids homeschooling… PLUS we have to pay public school taxes).
I’d say “no” about the comments that tell you buy your own website domain. Wouldn’t that kind of negate the whole frugal thing?? Why pay for something you can get free??
As far as improving your blog, I suggest you make it less dark and add some color. Blogger lets you really get creative with colors and fonts now. Besides, being frugal is mostly being creative, right, and using what you have, right? I think sticking with Blogger and sprucing up your existing site would be the best move you could make.
To be specific, dump the weighty turquoise background. Make a nice title background. Add a photo or at least an icon by your profile. I have noticed that blog readers like to associate a “trademark” picture with a blog.
You seem to like being frugal, that frugality can be fun and give someone a sense of accomplishment. Well, make your blog fun! Get creative, girl! 🙂 And thanks for the tips and links.
Oh, also, I forgot to mention an additional suggestion: Your Lunchbox updates are cute, but they do distract a tad from your main entries. Why not feature this from your sidebar? I think blogger lets you do this now. After signing in to your blog, click on “customize” at the top. That should take you to “Page Elements.” You’ll see (to your right side of the screen) a link that will let you “Add a Page Element.” A new window pops up and WOW, there’s a LOT you can do– add a picture, add text, etc etc. Update your Lunchbox section here. It will look nicer, and wil lbe very handy for folks who want to check it out with ease.
Have fun!