I was tagged by Puru to write this post and bullied by Richa Singh to make sure I got it out! 🙂
I Want To Take My Blog To the Next Level
One would think that after blogging for a little over 8 years, I should be content with what I’ve got. But one of the things, you might not know about bloggers is that we’re always finding something that we want to improve or change.
Bloggers can be obsessed with a lot of things.
Blog templates or themes – That’s a huge obsession with me. I have to have just the right theme and keep changing themes and widgets and shifting around things as I go. That I’ve actually stuck to this theme – Lifestyle Theme from Studio Press – for over a year, is an achievement for me. Ha! But I cheat, I play around with widgets instead or my other blog that seems to have a new theme a week (just got a new one today!).
Our social media counts – Who followed us, who didn’t – who ‘liked’ our posts, who didn’t, who shares our posts, who won’t. And with Facebook constantly changing how our shares are viewed, we’re always wondering should we share on our personal pages or have a blog page; should we use images or links. Once I remember, we were told to ‘like’ our own links to have them show up on everyone’s time (or some such madness!).
Other bloggers – Oh yes! That’s a big one. The grass is always greener and so are we when we start comparing ourselves to other bloggers. It gets worse when they start flouting their numbers and earnings in our face. If I wrote a book on all the stuff that bloggers say and do, two things might happen – a. it will be a best seller and b. I’d get sued for selling out on the tribe.
You’re welcome to add your thoughts on our obssessions in the comments. 😉
Oh dear, how could I forget this obsession – the number of comments our posts gets as compared to Blogger A or C!
So what do I mean when I say that I want to take my blog to the next level?
- I want to understand Google analytics better
- I want to have clearer blogging goals
- I want to let go of the obsessions I mentioned and bring more focus to my content
- I want to be part of bloggers who truly support and encourage each other. I think I’ve found one, but I still have to work on this much more.
- I want to monetize my blog in a more effective way.
- Most of all I want to be true to the blogging basics I believe in.
I now tag Dixita to write her take on the topic.
I want to take my blog to the next level with Blogchatter.
I think one thing that all bloggers can agree upon is to take our blogs up several notches…: I find a lot of things in that list are what I want to know about and improve about my blogging
Hey Corinne, hope I don’t get kicked out again by your spambot! Eight years Corinne? That is like super-wow! The best part is every time you post something, it is different, quirky, insightful and helpful! It is amazing how you have consistently churned out brilliant writing! For a fact, I and many others look up to you as an inspiration! To top it, you are still interested and so enthused about being up-to-date when it comes to all things tech! Hats of lady…hope to read more and more from you in the coming times!
Wow! Eight years of blogging…that’s quite an achievement in itself! I like to see how you keep re-inventing your blogs by constantly changing how they look and feel. Looking forward to seeing all those wonderful things on your blogs in the near future…a lot of us novice bloggers are taking the cues from you 🙂
I’m also fixated on a lot of things you mentioned above. I think it’s normal as long as we have the big goal in sight. I want to increase my reader base and I think that’s possible if I write better and use social media in the right manner.
Parul recently posted..#PledgeForParity – Change Begins With You
I’m with you on 3 4 and 6. Your blogging basics are spot on – passion, consistency, quality and connections. I think you follow your basics very well.
Suzy recently posted..My Life According to The Beatles #MondayMusings
Great, 8 years of blogging , of us novice bloggers are taking the cues from you.
Congratulations on eight years of blogging, Corinne. Impressive!
Constantly tweaking the stylesheet is something I do regularly – little changes here and there. Still searching for that perfect theme. 🙂 Google Analytics is fairly complicated and I wish I could understand it better too. As for comparing oneself to others or worrying about social media stuff; that’s just an exercise in frustration. There will always be bigger and better blogs as well as smaller and worse ones. Do what pleases you and don’t worry about everybody else is my philosophy.
Debbie D recently posted..MUSIC AND WORDS AWARD #MWA
Corinne – thanks for sharing this! I’ve been blogging for what seems like 10 years but end up falling off the blogging bandwagon. I think losing my blogging identity and the “business of blogging” as you mention in points 1-6 are important in keeping yourself relevant to the world (and to yourself!)
Thanks for stopping by, Bhanu. It can be hard to stay focussed on blogging when you have other priorities calling your name. But yes, it’s important to stay true to the reason why you started blogging in the first place.
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..The Day I Was Born #FTSF