SOPHISTICATED BLOGGING TIPS!

I am aware that there are so many bloggers spouting out all over the place recently, so I decided to give a few tips. I know that as a new blogger, I was always looking for new tips to improve my blog and so I decided to leave a few of my own tips! Instead of leaving a list of the most well-known tips, I have thought about the tips that I wasn't aware of as a new blogger which have made a huge difference to how I feel about my blog now! 

There are some things that I think should feature on every blog, some more important than others. The first thing I look for when it comes to the appearance of a blog, is a clean and well designed layout. I like to see a blogger has tried with the appearance of their blog, had a play around with the HTML and put some effort into what they produce. The appearance of a blog is the utmost important feature, it is often one of the reasons I follow blogs! I like the posts to be clear, easy to read, and for me, well set out. Spending a little bit of time on your blog makes all of the difference! Personally, I also love to see an 'about me' page, displaying a picture and some information about yourself! It helps me to put a face onto the blog and it also gives the blog a personality, along with the writing itself. Next, I would say it is vital to have a 'popular posts' widget to the side of your blog so that people can go through your posts and find what is popular easily!

Now that I have displayed my most important tips, I shall go on to the not so well-known tips, like how to add a search bar. These are tips that add that little bit more to your blog! All of these tips are ones that I have learnt about through research and I have managed to add to my blog with the help of other blogs! 

Add tags to your blog posts

This tip is vital if you want to add a search bar or category links to your blog! If you do not have tags, you cannot make suitable categories! You should add tags that are relevant to your post! For example if you are doing a beauty post, tag beauty, makeup, etc. It is the kind of thing that people would search for in a search tab!

Add a search bar

This is so important for a blog in my opinion! It allows people to find what they want to read. It gives a choice which people always like! For this, I used the website http://helplogger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/6-custom-search-boxes--for-blogger.html which has many different custom search button designs. You just have to copy the link and simply add it to your blog as a HTML/Javascript gadget in your blog sidebar, and it will appear! There's so many different designs you can find! 

Add a Bloglovin followers link

This is an absolute 1000% MUST for every blog!! It is so much easier to follow a blog that has a bloglovin link, it is so convenient. To find a Bloglovin button, go to http://www.bloglovin.com/widgets, choose the type of button you would like, and press 'get this icon'. Then it will ask you to log into bloglovin to get your information. After that it will come up with a link suitable for only your blog. You need to copy this link and copy and paste it into a HTML/Javascript gadget in your blog layout side bar. 

Add social media links

To add social media links all in one picture, first create a picture on picmonkey or any other photo creator and then save it to your computer. Next, go to this website: http://www.image-maps.com/

To add links to your social media link picture follow the steps:
1) Upload an image, press click to continue,
2) Right click on image, click create rectangle, draw a rectangle around the part of the picture that you want to add a link to
3) Then add a map URL (add URL you want this part to link to when pressed),
4) Next, press settings tab, delete the text from 'background colour' and 'border', then press save,
5) If you want more than one link, repeat those steps from 2 onwards again.
6) Once you're happy with the links made, right click on image, press get code, press HTML code, scroll down and copy the full code, paste into a HTML/Javascript gadget (on layout of blog).

Add an Instagram grid

To get your free Instagram widget, go to this website: http://snapwidget.com/
1) First, press 'get your free widget',
2) Type in all of your information and then choose  widget type as grid,
3) Press 'get widget' and copy the link that appears,
4) Copy this link into another HTML/Javascript gadget in your blog layout.
As this grid is linked to your Instagram, it will change as you update Instagram and add new pictures.

Add category links

The most helpful website I have found for making category links is this one: http://icanbuildablog.com/2014/06/blogger-how-to-add-categories/.
1) You need to create an image on pic monkey or another photo creator and save it to your computer.
2) Once you have done that, return to http://www.image-maps.com/ to add links as shown in the steps to add social media links (above).

THE LINKS YOU NEED TO USE IN IMAGE MAPS IS ON THE WEBSITE ABOVE, MAKE SURE TO USE THOSE LINKS OTHER WISE IT WON'T WORK AT ALL! The part you will require is pasted below...

I hope this post has helped you bloggers out there, whether you are a new blogger or whether you have lots of experience! If you would like more of these posts definitely let me know as I have plenty of other tips to share with you all...good luck!

Any further questions, feel free to let me know!

P.S I am very sorry for a blog post off of schedule, I haven't been well this week and so I
had a little break..New post will be up tomorrow as usual though.

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