By Lori Lowe
Guest Columnist
I was lucky enough to have my blog, LifeGems4Marriage, chosen by Blogging Bistro for a Monday Makeover recently. [See the BEFORE screenshot and suggestions for improvement here]
My site, offering research-based marriage tips, has had strong momentum, but was in need of a visual boost. I had been blogging for two years in combination with my book writing, and knew I needed to make improvements. However, as a non-techie, I frankly didn’t know where to start.
Laura and her team were so generous with their time and recommendations that I was able to quickly implement significant improvements. Here’s a screenshot, followed by a list of improvements I made:
- I created a new banner that better reflects my message and my desired tone. My graphics are much bolder and more attention-getting, and the photo is more related to my topic.
- I’m transitioning to a shorter title, Marriage Gems.
- I rearranged my sidebar to be more user-friendly and to group the follow tools.
- I improved my search capabilities to include searching posts by common categories. This was important to me, because I had previously listed posts only by date, and many quality posts were buried.
- I reserved another web URL to house my future author web site and link to my blog.
- I’m working on an auto reply feature to respond to new subscribers with a free e-book.
Overall, I think the improvements make a much better first impression for visitors, and improved structure for my long-time readers. And it was all very easy once I knew what to do.
My strength is in providing regular, quality content to readers interested in new research on relationships, expert opinions and interviews with inspiring couples. Blogging Bistro’s blog and eBook, Blogophobia Conquered, provided valuable insight I needed to improve traffic and a sense of community with other bloggers. I’m networked with about 30 relationship bloggers, who encourage one another. I’ve also increased my efforts to provide guest posts (and was thrilled to receive this invitation), as this usually results in a nice spike in traffic. Guest posts are also a great way to build relationships online.
Of course, I’ve learned the value of including Twitter and Facebook as a part of my social media strategy. However, I haven’t left out old media, as my marriage columns are being featured in some Indianapolis-area newspapers, including local papers and niche publications such as The Criterion. All of these efforts help me provide positive messages about marriage and to build my readership for my upcoming book.
I’m extremely grateful to Laura for her encouragement and suggestions. As bloggers, it can sometimes feel as if we are working alone in cyberspace. So, when you make a true connection with a great organization, it’s something to celebrate. I look forward to each post of the Blogging Bistro blog so I can learn something new and take my blog to the next level. I’d love additional feedback and suggestions for readers who want to check out my improvements. Cheers!
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