Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Five Helpful Tips for Choosing a WordPress Theme
Choosing a theme for your WordPress site is one of the first steps to getting your blog up and running. A theme dictates the basic design and layout of your blog. With thousands of themes out there, picking the right one can be an overwhelming task. Here are some important things to consider when shopping around for the perfect theme.
1. Cost: How much do you want to spend on a theme? There are many free themes available through WordPress and other sites. There are also a variety of places where you can purchase a theme which will usually run anywhere from $10-$80. Or, you can go the more expensive route and hire a web designer to create one for you.
2. Support: Be sure with any theme you choose that there is good support offered. This support may be available from the company you purchased your theme from or through online support forums. Be sure to find out how much information is out there about your theme. In the event that you have a question about how to modify something within your theme, you want to be sure you have somewhere to turn.
3. Reviews: Check out what other people are saying about the theme you are considering. Look for a theme with a high rating and multiple reviews. Read through the reviews to see what people like and don't like about the particular theme before making your decision.
4. Style: It is important to choose a theme that fits well with your style. Focus on the layout of the theme. Do you prefer one, two or three columns? Do you like the sidebar on the left or on the right side of the screen? Most sites allow you to demo their themes. Activate the demo and poke around to see how you like it. After navigating around a few of them, you will start to get a feel for what you like. I personally prefer two columns and a sidebar aligned on the right side.
5. Customization: Find out what features of the theme are easily customizable. Some themes will allow you to change more items while others will be more limited. Assess what options you want to have the ability to change and make sure the theme you choose allows for it.
I am currently using a free theme through wordpress.com created by WooThemes. It fits well with my style and has been very easy to use. It has up to 7 different color schemes and has the capability to support a custom header and background image. Overall, it has completely met my needs as a first time blogger. I hope with these helpful tips you will be able to find the perfect theme to help you build your special place in blog world.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Six Things You Can Do Today to Improve WordPress!
Like a lot of people, I started out with LiveJournal. I've also dabbled with tumblr, for about two seconds I had a Vox account, and a few years ago I registered my own Blogger - which I still continue to use.
Since Blogger, I have also become a user of WordPress, which very quickly became my go-to for blogging needs. The most difficult thing about WordPress is how incredibly sharp of a learning curve there is in learning to use it.
So today, I'm sharing six things that I recommend doing to all WordPress blogs - whether they're freshly made, or just looking for a quick face lift!
- 1. Deactivate and then delete all of the plugins you don't like, or aren't using.
Benefit: Not only will your blog run faster, it will also be more secure! One of the most well-known ways of compromising WordPress blogs are through deactivated files that haven't yet been deleted, so cut your chances from the get go and get those files gone.
2. Change the default settings on your Permalinks page
Benefit: Your posts will rank higher in SEO.
WordPress default (for some reason) is to file your posts by /year/month/date/your-post-name. Change it to just /your-post-name and your content will automatically become more likely to be crawled successfully by Google's search index program.
3. Limit yourself in categories, not Tags
Benefit: Your content will be easier to discover.
Think about your categories as genres, and your tags as ways to narrow those genres down. This will allow your reader to discover more content (via category), yet still find specific content when they want it (via tag).
4. Make WordPress work for you and your content!
Benefit: You can spend more time writing, promoting, and networking.
Install an Editor's Calendar plug-in to schedule posts ahead of time, find social network plug-ins so your content is automatically published to Twitter, Google, and Facebook, and automate as much SEO as you can! Make your blog "work for you" and you'll cover more ground in success in a shorter amount of time.
5. Remove your beginning widgets, and start fresh
Benefit: Your blog will have a cleaner, more customized look
Removing your starter widgets will allow you to decide the flow of your website that you'd most like your reader to follow. What is more important to you for your reader to see first: Instagram photos? Your pins?
Also, remember to remove the "meta" widget. Not only do you not really need to display it, if you do, you'll basically be showcasing a direct link to your admin panel to those who may use it for not-so-nice purposes.
6. Start adding META information to each image
Benefit: Increased ranking in Google Image Search
When you upload post photos or graphics, type in some keywords or even an image caption into the various ALT values that are there. Google will scan through your keywords whenever someone searches with Google Images, and can potentially be a great source of traffic if you nail the right words!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Blog Design: 25 Free Social Media Icon Sets
We talked in a previous post about how there are thousands of free resources on the web that you can use to make your blog your own. To delve into that a bit more, I've rounded some 25 FREE social media icon sets that will make your site look like the bomb-dot-com. Check out the aforementioned post for even more free icon sets and design resources!
via Dinosaur Stew & Lena B Actually
via IROCKSOWHAT
via Pancake Ninja
via Pure Imagination
via Craftiments
via The Pixelista
via Geek Fairy
via Joy Laforme
via c.w frosting
via IROCKSOWHAT
via Pink Moustache
via Geek Fairy
via Besotted
via Totally Tates
via Design Bolts
via Crab + Fish
via c.w frosting
via Hazel & Agnes
via verve & sass
PHEW! That's a lot of icons!
Let us know if you end up using these icons on your site! And as always, if you do, make sure to give credit to the original sources and if you pin the sets, PLEASE pin from the original source too! Only pin the title image from this post - we want to make sure we direct traffic to the designers for all their hard work.
Friday, May 17, 2013
How To: Add a Search Bar on Your Blogger Homepage...and Why You Should.
Search Bars! Search Boxes! What the heck are those and why on earth would I want one on my blog?! Aww friend, I am SO glad you asked! Let me tell you all about this fun lil thing.
Search Bars/Boxes- What are they?
Simply put, a search box/bar works the same as any other search engine would (Ahem...Google, anyone?) except it's on YOUR BLOG and searches through YOUR STUFF! Wheeeeeeeeee! We like that.
For any Blogger users out there, this is in the form of a "Gadget", and is something we can SIMPLY add to our blog to give it a bit more blinggy-bling.
Why Should I Have One on My Blog?
Well, there's a couple of reasons! For one, functionality! This little Gadget-O-Love adds a lot of functionality to your blog. It enables readers to search through all of your hard work and find exactly what they are looking for.
Why is that important? Because if any readers out there are ANYTHING like me, they don't have a lot of time to scroll through each and every post you've ever written until they find what they're looking for. They'll most likely give up along the way and go somewhere else (GASP!) to get their info. We definitely don't want that.
So, by adding a Search Bar/Box you are saying to your devoted readers, "Hey, I get it...time is money. Why not type in exactly what you're looking for and be on your merry way?"
That's exactly what it does. It creates a little internal search engine within your blog! So now, anytime you've tagged a post (I hope you're making precise tags within each blog post you publish) those tags get stored in your search engine. So let's say Sally loves your blog, is trying to do something she knows she's seen posted before, but can't remember when. By having a Search Bar/Box all she needs to do is kind of know what it is she's looking for (maybe..."fun fonts for free"), type those words into your bar, and hit enter. Your internal search engine will now do the work for her! It will search through each and every post you've written, and then bring up a nice little tidy list of previous blog posts that has something to do with her key words!
So instead of 700 posts, she now only has to go through a couple. Usually the search engine is so smart and precise, that it narrows it down to only 3-4. Badda Bing, Badda Boom.
In essence, a Search Bar/Box makes your blog work the way it should, as well as making it engaging and helpful. This keeps your readers coming back time and again.
So now, How Do I Add One to My Blogger Blog?
Easy Peasy! Just follow these steps and you'll be there in no time at all :)
1. First and foremost, make sure you are signed into your Blogger account. Once you are, you're going to go to your blog's homepage and click "Design"- which is up on the top right!
2. By clicking "Design" you are able to see your blog's inner core- where you can do any and all changes you might want to make. There are so many lovely things you can do in this place, so play around!
For our purposes we will need to find "Layout" and click it.
3. Next, you'll see you're now able to see your blog's "skeleton" (in a sense). This is an outline of what you have on your blog, where everything you've added is placed, and an easy way to make any changes- like moving something around, deleting something, or adding on.
Find where you want to add your new Gadget (a Search Bar/Box is indeed a Gadget!)- this place doesn't have to be exact- but has to be around where you're thinking of having it go. I suggest having a search bar somewhere close to your main information on your home page (i.e.: profile pic, social media, etc). We can move the Search Bar around once it's installed.
Click "Add a Gadget".
4. Now we are seeing a list of all the different Gadgets available on Blogger! There's some neat ones there, so look around! You might find something you didn't even know you could do! As you can see, Blogger lets you know what's already been installed by simply saying "Already Added" on the right side of each Gadget.
Scroll down until you find, "Search Box" and click the little "+" on the right. This adds it to your blog!
5. Now we need to simply configure our Search Bar/Box. All this means is we're going to make it do exactly what we want it to do.
A. Here you can title whatever you want your bar to be. Keep in mind that this "name" will show up on your blog for all to see. You can also leave it blank should you choose.
B. Make sure this box is checked! This allows people to type in key words (i.e.: How To, Blog Design, Blog Help...) and your Search Bar will search ALL throughout your blog's posts for any post related to those words! Neat huh?
That being said, I personally want the Search Bar to ONLY search my blog, so I unchecked the following two boxes. I don't want people seeing results from anywhere else, other than my blog :)
C. Here is where you will see a nice little preview of what your Search Bar will look like :)
D. When you are satisfied, click "Save". This will apply those changes to your Search Bar/Box.
6. Now as you can see we're taken back to our blog's skeleton. And, as you can see in A. our Search Bar is automatically up at the very top of my Gadget list. I'm not happy with it being there, so to move the box around all I need to do is click and hold down on the box, and drag to where I want it (within that area). Usually just up and down. If you're wanting it somewhere completely different, you'll need to delete (by clicking "Edit"), delete the Gadget, and start over someplace else on your skeleton.
B. When you think you know where you want it, click "Preview" to be shown a mock-up of what your blog will look like once you hit "Save". Click out of that box and come back here to make changes. I usually have to "Preview" 3 or 4 times before I've got it right.
C. Again, once you're happy with your placement, click "Save Arrangement"!
7. Viola! When I go to my homepage, displayed in all it's glory is my new Search Bar/Box! It's easy to see (up towards the top) and is titled appropriately (so my readers know what it is).
8. Here's how it works! Let's say you want to find an old blog post, or your reader really needs to know how to do something: Just type in the key words into your Search Box and BOOM a beautiful list of ANY and ALL YOUR BLOG POSTS that include those words, shows up!
Neat. Tidy. Easy. That's what we like!
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