How to Get Reliable Feedback For Your Blog

So I've been blogging here at Alanna & Company for almost two years now. That's so crazy to think of how fast it flew by! Anyways, I'm always trying to improve my site to make it better for my readers, my viewers, and to keep me happy. I'm very visual and when things are hard to find, take too long to load, or aren't easy to navigate, I get frustrated. So I'm always looking to get reliable feedback about my blog.

Like I said earlier this week, I've reorganized and designed my site to make it more friendly to what I really want to be blogging about food & life, with a focus on restaurant and local reviews. I'm always curious what you guys think even if I'm totally in awe and love with my design, it might not be your favorite. Or you might have liked it better before.

So first of all, I want to open it up to you guys if you like the new design and look? I think that the navigation is a lot easier to find because I have two menus now. I have a landing page which highlights the main features of my blog, but also a blog page that looks like a typical blog layout. That's just me, what do you guys think?

Another way to get some great feedback, especially from people who aren't 100% familiar with blogs is a company called Peek. I heard about it a while ago from a fellow blogger over at Just the Elevator Pitch. Since then, I've been asking for Peek reviews every time I change my design.

Peek is a user-testing site that will let you submit your site to be reviewed. Someone will then review your site anonymously and give you a four-five minute video review of what they think of your site. And, it's free!



Be prepared for some harsh or awkward comments. When I reviewed my site, it took my reviewer a while to realize that I'm a food blog. So that made me rethink adding a sub-title under my blog header. He first thought I was a restaurant! He also commented that on my "About" page it looked weird because my sidebar was longer than the content (oh well!). However, I really find the review videos informative, especially because a lot of my friends and family aren't familiar with blogs, they might have a similar experience to a tester like this. Or you might get lucky and get a tester who is familiar with blogs! You never know.

So go check it out. You can submit your site for review up to 3 times per month.

Do you like to get feedback from your readers? How do you solicit feedback?

39

Why I Added my Blog to my Resume & Why You Should Too!

Resumes are always tricky. Do you remove unrelated work experience? Do you put a goals section? Should I note "references available upon request" or is that already inferred? One big question I had when I was updating my resume recently was if I should put my resume on my blog or not.



After a little introspection, I decided to go for it. I'm proud of my blog, I've shared it with my friends and family and talk about it frequently why should I be afraid to put it on my resume? I've learned tons of great skills from my blog that I can easily apply to any job.

How to List your Blog on your Resume

You might be thinking "Well I don't do anything blog related in my career, so I'm not going to add it." Neither do I! I work in Continuing Medical Education (CME) as a program coordinator. In layman's terms, I work to develop educational programs like conferences, webinars, journal-based activities and more to make sure that physicians maintain their education and keep current. How is that related to blogging? Not at all. Here's how I listed my blog in my resume:



I kept it general enough that any employer can understand what I do. Working with brands, got it. Built network of readers, check. Developed brand, that's great. Then I sprinkled in some names of processes and programs that I work with, so if your employer is familiar with those programs, they know that you will be competent using them. Edit your resume to fit your field, but start with basics to show that you know what you're talking about and doing and put in lots of dedicated time and effort to your blog.

[Tweet "Have you been blogging over 6 mos? You should add it to your resume right away and here's how!"]

 

Listing Your Blog on LinkedIn

I try to update LinkedIn as much as possible. I just saw a great article interviewing someone who works at LinkedIn, she put it in a great way, "Linkedin is not an online resume! It's a digital representation of your professional self." So even though I'll update my LinkedIn to reflect my resume, I try to change it up a bit.



First of all, I switch everything to present tense to show that I am currently doing all of the above things. LinkedIn also allows you to upload media files to each job. So I added in my media kit because LinkedIn is a great way to reach out to brands. If you haven't tried it you should!

Related Post: How to Balance Blogging and Working Full-Time

Mentioning Your Blog in Interviews

Hands down, every company I interviewed had some questions about my blog. What is it, what do I do with it, how much time it takes in my day, etc. They're usually curious about something they don't usually see on resumes and that's great because you want to stand out in the pool of candidates. Even if they don't ask you specifically about your blog, you can always find creative ways to tie it into the interview.

I had one interviewer ask me, "How do you describe something complicated to someone who knows nothing about it?" I decided to go for an example of having to explain SEO to my friends or newbie bloggers who are less familiar with it. He actually went into further depth and asked me to explain it to him!

Another example of how you can tie it into typical interview questions are as follows:

Q: Tell me about your greatest strengths.

A: I am a self-starter, I'm very motivated and dedicated to my job. As the sole owner of my website there are always projects that need to be finished and tasks to be done that I can keep on top of because of my constant dedication to tasks put in front of me.

Q: How do you manage multiple deadlines?

A: I work on numerous deadlines that overlap on a regular basis. Managing and maintaining my blog is a perfect example of that because I have learned how to pace myself, prioritize tasks, and keep my blog organized while working a full-time job.

P.S. This last one was actually the exact same response that I gave in an interview!

If you plan to put your blog on your resume, I would definitely practice what you want to say about it and be prepared that companies will look at your blog before or after your interview. So make sure there is nothing that is NSFW. Practice a quick elevator pitch for your blog if you get the general question, "What is your website all about?"

In the end, just remember that you've put in lots of hard work and dedication to your blog. Make sure that your passion for it shines through, and hopefully it can be used to your advantage in your resume, LinkedIn, or job interview.

Have you added your blog to your resume? Why or why not?

 

53

Today, we have Anne from Love the Here and Now blog sharing some of her famous blogging advice. Today's all about Facebook Groups.

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I'm going to make 2 of my opinions known right here, right now. Personally I don't like Facebook. To be fair, I did once. I loved it. It was my favorite social media platform. Lately it seems though that Facebook is passive aggressive. From the posts that are elusive in detail that leave followers wondering what it means and the poster secretly hoping that people will beg for the details to the bragging I see left and right. Throw in politics being discussed left and right and you have a recipe for disaster. It has gotten old and I have toyed with the idea of deleting my account on more than one occasion. I am over the Facebook drama. Here's my second opinion. I love Facebook. As a blogger, it is amazing. The support groups you find are second to none. Someone is always willing to lend a hand, some support, or encouragement. In fact the Facebook groups that I belong to as a blogger are the only reason that I am keeping my personal Facebook account. They are that important to me. Something this positive deserves to be shared so today I am talking about my favorite Facebook groups for bloggers and hoping that you, as a blogger, take a moment and join them and reap the benefits of being a member.

Facebook Groups for Bloggers

Before I dive into the 10 Facebook groups for bloggers that I highly recommend you may be wondering why you should be joining these groups (or any other group I may not have mentioned). To be honest, I don't know why you wouldn't join a group geared towards bloggers. They offer so many benefits.

Knowledge

Since I have only been blogging for just over two years I still find that my knowledge of certain things is sparse. So many of these groups have people that have so much more knowledge than I do. I am like a sponge in many of these groups, absorbing all of the information and tips. I take note of technical information and all of a sudden, what once seemed so out of my reach is explained so well that I am able to attempt something on my own.

Support

As I mention below in the first Facebook group for my WordPress theme, members often get technical issues resolved prior to needing to open a support ticket. It's pretty wonderful knowing that many of these groups provide support basically 24/7.

Experience

Again, with only two years of blogging under my belt it is so beneficial knowing that I have access to bloggers that have been blogging for much longer.

Encouragement // Inspiration

We all need some extra TLC at times and these groups are there for you. Have an issue with a company? Break your blog? Someone is always there to lend a hand and a shoulder.

Community

Where else can you find hundreds and even thousands of people that share the same interests as you? I have the answer to that question: in any of the following groups! It's nice to see random strangers coming together through a mutual love of blogging.

Promotion

Some bloggers simply look for groups to promote their posts. Many of these groups do allow that, in fact they encourage it. For me though, personally, I don't do that. I use my own social media platforms to do that. Instead I choose to use these groups to educate myself and to interact with others.

Restored 316 Themes

Granted this one is specific to not only WordPress users but also bloggers that have purchased a Restored 316 theme (affiliate). This group is phenomenal. Setting up a new theme or want to change something on your blog? Go ahead...pose a question to the group and people will chime in and help you out. Even more impressive? Lauren , the mastermind behind Restored 316 Designs and her coworkers often personally respond. I check this group daily as I often learn something new each time I visit.

My key point of advice to anyone buying a WordPress theme is check out the support that they offer. I highly recommend using a business that provides a support group like this one. You often can resolve issues prior to needing to open a support ticket.

Blog and Biz BFFs

This group was created by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. Melyssa started this group for bloggers and entrepreneurs and it is definitely one that is full of support and encouragement. Ask a question and you will get knowledgeable responses form not only Melyssa but other members as well. Looking for feedback? This group is full of positivity.

For Love + Money

Although this group appears to be geared more towards the business end of blogging you will definitely find a place here even if you are not selling anything. It's loaded with information that applies to all areas of blogging.

Blog Beautiful

This was one of the first groups I joined and I absolutely love it. Need design feedback on your blog? Have a design question? Marianne is a wealth of information and has created a great community in this group. I love that she has designated different days of the week to certain topics. For example, Tuesday is called Tips and Tricks Tuesday where you are encouraged to share new things you have learned. Intention Monday is all about sharing your latest projects.

Blogging Boost

This is a recent addition for me and one that I feel will be beneficial. You can promote your posts and encourage your fellow bloggers. Read through the posts and you are bound to learn something new here as well.

[bctt tweet="Looking for Facebook Groups for Bloggers? Look no further! Here are 10 great ones to join."]

The Peony Project

This group is truly amazing. Looking for encouragement and support in all areas of your life and blogging? This is the group for you. Betsy has created such a wonderful community that embraces all of its members.

#GirlsOnWP

This is the probably the most technical of the groups I belong to and I love it. Although I am not technically inclined I always learn something new here. I am impressed by the wealth of knowledge that these women possess and I find it not only helpful but also inspiring. They make me want to learn more about the behind the scenes aspects of running a WordPress blog. Ashley, the blogger behind Nose Graze, knows her stuff and can code like nobody's business. She amazes me to no end.

Genesis WordPress

Another great group to join if you are looking for WordPress knowledge and experience. Both are free flowing in this community.

The Blog Loft

Want to grow your blog? Meet other bloggers? Collaborate with other bloggers? This is the group for you. If you are looking for promotion there's a daily thread for you to share your blog posts. You will also find lots of great information and courses being offered by members in this group.

Web Appeal

I love this site as it is a great resource for all things blogging related. As the page states, it can be considered office hours for your website. Someone is always willing to lend a hand. Don't be fooled into thinking it's all technical though; there's plenty of opportunities to share your posts and just chat with others. Allyssa has created a great community here.

Do you belong to any Facebook groups for bloggers? Which ones? Do you think they are as beneficial as I do?

7

How to Truncate Your Posts in Bloglovin'

I'm still pretty new at Wordpress. I just switched over a couple months ago. But here I go again, finding tricks and tips that may be handy for you to use.

I've seen a lot of people recently complaining about Bloglovin' "scraping" their posts. What that means is that Bloglovin' is pulling the entire content from your blog post onto their site. So instead of driving traffic to your website, your readers can read your entire blog post on Bloglovin'. The only way/reason for a reader to click over to your site is if they want to comment, since they can't comment on directly on Bloglovin'. A scraped blog post on Bloglovin' looks like this:



So if you are sharing your posts to twitter or facebook from your Bloglovin' page, this is where that link will take them! That's no good! So I've found a very simple work around to stop Bloglovin' from scraping your entire blog post RSS feed and make your blog post look like this on Bloglovin'



See how it doesn't show the entire post and goes to (...)? That's much better. Your readers will now see an excerpt of your blog post and then get prompted to click "Continue Reading" which will take them over to your site, with a Bloglovin' top static bar. This will still allow your site to get page views and drive readers directly to your blog where they can find more great content to read.

[Tweet "Let's make sure Bloglovin' keeps driving traffic to your site. It's time to truncate your posts. Here's how"]

All right, let's get to fixing this.

Setting up Truncated RSS Feeds in Wordpress

First, go to Dashboard/Settings/Reading.



Now look for "For each article in a feed, show" and click Summary instead of Full Text and save.



Ta-da! That's it. Seriously. It's that easy. This method will truncate posts in your RSS feeds in Bloglovin', Feedburner, and Mailchimp. Luckily, Bloglovin' will always pull images from your blog post but if you want Feedburner and Mailchimp to pull an image with your blog post, try installing a plugin like RSS Image Feed to keep an image with your blog post excerpt.

Hope this is helpful :)

Have you had any issues with Bloglovin' or noticed traffic referrals from Bloglovin' dropping lately? 

47

Why I Love Blogging (even with my pet peeves)

I shared this tweet last week. I was honestly in a grumpy mood and felt like kvetching so I did.

Quick blog rant: Why is everyone using #BLOGBOSS now? Can't we be unique? When lifestyle bloggers turn into "blogging" bloggers. :(

— Alanna (@AlannaAndCo) March 4, 2016

I shouldn't be surprised but I was surprised by how much traction it got. Handfuls of bloggers agreed and shared similar feelings about how blogging has "lost it's soul," so-to-say.

I'll just link to Lindsay's and Lexi's posts because they hit the nail on what I had to say. (If you really want to hear it from my own keyboard you can read my comments on their posts.)

I hate being so negative about something I care for so much so I wanted to share why I absolutely, 100% love blogging.

Blogging keeps me occupied

I started this blog because I had some extra free time that I was sick of spending scrolling through my Netflix feed, watching endless SVU episodes, or knitting. I wanted something that would challenge me. And boy, has blogging done that.

Blogging challenges me to do things out of my comfort zone

When has a hobby challenged you to go outside of your comfort zone? Knitting? I think not. I honestly have never bought blush, contoured my face, used hot rollers on my hair, set up a tripod, bought a $500+ camera, forced myself to go to Walmart to buy a ingredient for a recipe I've never made before blogging. These are only a few of the many things blogging has opened my eyes to. I don't have to do these things if I don't want to, but having a reason to try something crazy and new is refreshing.

My readers and followers are my community and it's real!

Ok this is something you've probably heard before about blogging. I never really understood it until these past 6 or so months. My consistent followers who truly comment because they connect with me make my community. Many of you I consider friends! I shared this post on my Instagram last week and I also shared it on my personal Facebook.



The amount of thoughtful and concerned comments brought a tear to my eyes. Even people who aren't familiar with the reason behind it (cough, applying to grad schools, cough) many of you took the time to wish me a happy Friday or send good vibes my way. Now here's the same post on my Facebook. Look at the stark difference in interaction! Wouldn't you think my personal friends who I see and spend time with in person would have been more concerned? It was eye opening, shocking, and heart warming all at the same time.



P.S. Love you guys.

There are many other small reasons why I love blogging but these three are hands-down at the top of the list.

Why do you love blogging? What are your pet peeves about blogging recently?

53

Best Fonts to Use for Your Blog

It's no secret that Anne from Love the Here and Now loves fonts. She's shared bunches of her favorite paid and free fonts for a while now and continues to share the love. I've definitely followed her lead and downloaded a few of my favorites that I use for my blog graphics. So today, we're teaming up to share with you our favorite fonts to use for our blogs.

For me, anything free is better. Can you believe I still don't have my credit card linked to my iTunes account? Seriously. I rarely buy anything if I can find it free elsewhere. So I've rounded up my top free fonts that I love to use as much as I can.



1. Sail, by Font Squirrel

2. Shorelines, by DaFont

3. Learning Curve, by Blue Vinyl Fonts

4. Italic C, by Fontsner

There are other web fonts that I use pretty frequently which you don't even need to download because they are almost always already available. These are Raleway, Playfair Display, and Satisfy. I almost always use these when I develop my images, and these fonts are all available on Canva (which I primarily use to make blog graphics!).

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Hi there! I'm Anne and I am thrilled to be working with Alanna today. When Alanna proposed the idea of sharing my favorite 4 fonts I was excited. The panic snuck in. Asking me to choose 4 favorite fonts is tough. I am a font addict. I love finding new fonts and adding them to my ever-growing collection. I do think that everyone should have their go to fonts and use them as their main fonts. For me this is Bombshell Pro and Source Sans Pro. They are everywhere on my blog, Love the Here and Now. That doesn't stop me from loving other fonts though. Today I am sharing with you my top fonts in 4 different font styles: a script font, a mixed font, a sans serif font, and a brush script font.

Cantoni Basic

I love script fonts but some tend to be overbearing and too decorative. Cantoni Basic is light and feminine with just enough of a decorative look for me.

Madina Script Font

This is the font I labeled as a mixed font. It has a script like feel but also a brushed stroke look. It is the font taking the blogging world by storm recently...you see it in tons of blog designs and graphics. I can't blame people for using it...I'm a huge fan!

Print Clearly

Every blog needs a decent sans serif font that they can use to anchor their decorative fonts. Print Clearly fits the bill nicely.

Manhattan Darling

I love brushed script fonts as they tend to look more artistic and handwritten. Manhattan Darling is my go-to when I want to use a brushed script font.

If you are a lover of fonts like me, be sure to stop by and visit my blog the 2nd Tuesday of each month as I share some of my recent font finds!

36

Maintaining Blog Traffic on Days You Don't Post

We all know that the highest traffic to your blog is when you publish a post. Makes sense. Now unless you are a full-time blogger (I'm envious of you) not all of us can post five days a week. So what do you do on the days that you don't blog? How do you maintain your traffic?

I typically post three times a week -- Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday -- and on the days that I don't post I maintain my traffic in a variety of ways.

How to Maintain Blog Traffic On Days You Don't Post

Read other blogs!

The best way to do this is by following other blogs on Bloglovin'. It will aggregate all their RSS feeds into one easy to find way. Or in less techy talk, it will post excerpts of all the new posts as they come out. It's a great way to follow along with other bloggers. Of course, don't forget to comment on blogs. Often times, many bloggers who receive comments will go to your blog and comment on one of your posts, like Kathy from More Coffee, Less Talky.

 

Take some time to clean up your blog or social media accounts

For example, I've been revamping all my Pinterest boards to make them more cohesive, eliminate any redundancies, and delete old pins. On my to-do list is go through my old blog posts and add new images. All of mine were sized on blogger and look tiny on my lovely new Wordpress site.

[Tweet "On days you don't blog, how do you maintain your blog? "]

Promote, promote, promote!

Get on your social media and promote your blog posts. I typically start with Facebook and promote myself through a a few of my favorite Facebook groups, Blog Passion Project and Show Your Blog Love. These two are my favorite and I use them the most. If you have any others that you love, share them in the comments!

Use Stumbleupon. If you aren't stumbling your blog pages, you're missing out! Jaelan from Making Mrs. M has a great explanation of what it is and why you need to be using it. Even though my bounce rates are a bit higher now that I use it, my pageviews are definitely blossoming because of StumbleUpon. In addition to stumbling your own pages, you need to be stumbling others. Follow other Stumblers and like their pages. My stumble account is here, and if you follow me, I'll add you to the list of bloggers that I frequently stumble.

Organically interact on your other social media platforms. What I mean by this is instead of just sharing posts with blurbs, write something different. Pose a question to your readers, tell a joke, share a picture (not blog related), etc. For example:



Instead of just sharing my sponsors posts or promoting my own posts, I posted a picture of these awesome cheese cart that was at a restaurant I stopped into. That way your followers won't just see your blog promotions but will feel like they can really connect with you (not just your blog) via social media.

 

Lastly, Take a breather!

Your blog will be okay for a day and come back to your blog feeling refreshed and ready to go!

How frequently do you post? On days you don't post do you have any tactics to promote your blog?

 



For more great resources, you can check out my Blogging Resources Pinterest board!

Follow Alanna & Company Blog's board Ultimate Blogging Resources on Pinterest.

110

Five Ways to Optimize your Blogger SEO

There's always that debate about Wordpress vs Blogger and why which is better. I've talked to you about why I moved to Blogger from Wordpress.com, Helene's a great "Blogger" blogger and has covered the great debate between the two platforms, and there's many many other posts that you'll find out there telling you which is better. But regardless of all that buzz, today I'll be talking to you about how to optimize your SEO for your Blogger or Blogspot blog!

 

Wordpress definitely makes SEO a bit easier with their plugins and additions but for us "Blogger" Bloggers, we need to be a bit more creative!

Make sure your blog is searchable and has a description.

You can find this by going into your blogger account, clicking Settings, then click on "privacy" on the first page. You'll find a part that looks like this. Make sure that both are selecting "Yes."

 

Secondly, go down to "Search Preferences" under Settings. There should be a description option right at the top of the page. Go through and write up a short but detailed description of things that your blog is about and what you write about. Here's what mine is:

If you don’t have a blog description, Google will pull up the first line of text of one of your recent posts instead. That may mean you aren’t always putting your blog’s best foot forward.

For example, this is what my blog description looked like before I changed it to be more descriptive. That looks so bad! What does that even tell readers about my content?

Sub-Headings and Headings

I use sub-headings to separate each part of my post in a list format, which if you can't tell is one of my favorite styles of writing my posts! I like being able to skim through and see the breaks in the content, and guess what, so do search engines! Search engines specifically look for heading tags because they generally have important information regarding the content of the post. Use them!

 

 

Search Description

At first when I saw this, I thought I should just type in keywords. No! You want to write a short description in sentence form, maybe 150-200 characters, describing what the post is about. Otherwise, if you don't type in a search description, search engines will pull up the first part of your post. Take a quick peek back at the first paragraph or so of my post. It's a lot of nice fluff to pull your attention into the post, but for a search engine, not a very good at describing what the post is going to convey.

Now that I typed in a search description this is what search engines will pull up about your post. In addition, if you link your posts to Facebook, this will be the short caption underneath your shared link on Facebook.

Image Titles

So there's two steps to this, and one I just learned as I was typing this post! First is image titles before uploading your photos. Google looks at your photo titles when searching for keywords in a post, and they are the only thing google looks at when doing image searches. So for example, I started taking screen caps and labeling them "1" "2" "3" in order of where they would fall in this post. That's not what you're supposed to do. Even if I labeled the photos as "Blogger Blospot SEO 1" that still isn't descriptive enough for google.

What I should have done was labeled the photos something along the lines of "Blogger SEO Search Description" for the last photo that I have above. That way the photos have the keywords of exactly what they are showing.

Image Alt Text & Title Text

After uploading an image when composing your post, you can click on it and it will pull up a menu for sizing, centering, adding a caption etc. The option you are looking for in that window is “Properties” and this is where all your SEO information should go.

 

There are two options: one for title text, and one for alt text. Your title text is another way of labeling your photo. It can be more wordy and in sentence form. One huge point for you to remember about title text is that when someone goes to pin your image, that is the text that is pulled up by Pinterest! Many templates for blogger already have some sort of written code in it that will automatically add title text to your photos if you do not specify it. For my template, it will automatically pull the post title and then put " | Alanna & Company" at the end of it. Since I'm not a blog designer, I'm really not sure where that code is or how to change it. Definitely get in touch with your blog designer if your photos aren't automatically pulling some sort of text. Or you can manually add your title text in.

Alt text is what is more important to search engines than title text. Since google can’t see an image, alt text is what google determines what your image is actually about. Also, if your image doesn't load, these are the words that will show in place of the image. You'll need to keep your alt text a bit more consise and organic and since you already titled your images like that, you can type your alt text in as exactly what the image was titled. So again, I would title the photo "Blogger SEO Search Description" or something along those lines depending on which photo it was.

I know this all seems like a lot to do for each post, but trust me, it'll help you in the end! Just keep these five steps in mind and it'll do miracles for your blog. The best thing about it, is that you can test it, too! After you start implementing these tricks to your blog and blog posts, take a quick peek and search your blog on google. You'll see the difference with your own eyes.

 

What tricks do you use to help your SEO for your blog?

 

38

How to Balance Blogging and Working Full Time

Remember a while back I mentioned that I started a new job? Well, the first couple weeks were pretty uneventful, as most new jobs, but it has dramatically picked-up. When I started blogging last year, I had a lot of free time during work and also after work to commit to writing posts, scheduling my editorial calendar, replying to comments, etc. But you know how life likes to get in the way of your plans, right? So how do I juggle working a demanding full-time job along with blogging, which as many of you know, can be a full-time job in itself! I've paired up with Alex from Always, Al to share our best tips on how to balance blogging and working (and still having a life!)

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Take advantage of all the great tools out there to help you blog! I consistently use Buffer, but there are other great scheduling tools like Co-Schedule, Hootsuite, and more to help promote your posts. I typically schedule one facebook update, three-four twitter updates, add a pin, stumble the post, and post to Google+ for each post! Buffer can take care of four out of those updates (Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Google+) right away, as soon as you hit "Publish" on your post, take some time to write out all your social media updates, and then you won't have to worry about it the day that your post goes live.

Use an Editorial Calendar and Plan your Posts

Not only does this help create consistency for your readers, but it also gives you deadlines! Figure out what you want to write, when you want the post to go live, and then work backwards. It usually takes me a good couple hours to write a post, if I know I need to write my three posts for next week, I can plan out how much time to set aside, and when I need to get it done by. Unfortunately, I don't have Co-Schedule or Wordpress, which I think does all of this, but I use my handy Google Calendar. Here's a sneak peek of how I lay out my calendar. I color code posts that are already developed, and posts that are still drafts.

Don't feel pressured to respond immediately

I know we're all tempted to read and respond to everyone's comments and tweets as they ping in on our phones, tablets, etc. I've only recently employed this strategy and it really helps. I always have my phone on me and to combat impulsively checking it and then feeling the urge to respond, I put my phone on "Do Not Disturb," that way, notifications can still come in, but they won't beep at me. By all means, please do respond to all your comments, but if you respond a few hours (or even a whole day!) after the notification comes in, no one will die!

Set aside dedicated work time and blog time (and life time!)

I'm going to assume when you're at your job you're busy. You're on the clock, you're getting paid, so respect your employer's time and concentrate on the job at hand. At the same time, find some dedicated time for blogging. I typically dedicate my week day evenings and Sunday evenings to blogging! In that time alone, I can get everything I need for my blog done. That way I have my Friday evenings and Saturdays to spend time outside the blog world and spend some quality time with family, friends, or Starla!

Hi everyone! I’m Alex, and I blog over at Always, Al,  a lifestyle blog where I write about all the different things that interest me. I write a little bit about beauty, books and you’ll see the occasional recipe or DIY on there too. I started writing Always, Al as a creative outlet when I was in college, and continued it when I moved down South for work!One of the things that I work on a lot in life is balancing my work with my blog. Blogging is my favorite hobby, and it is so important to have a good work, blog and life balance. I find that when I don't have a good balance, all three of these things suffer! Whether you are balancing work, school, children, blogging, or animals, here are some of the strategies that I have found help me to stay sane!

You Can Do Anything, But Not Everything

I am a firm believer that you can do anything you put your mind to. But with the busy schedules that we take on today, it's so important to keep in mind that we can't do everything. Taking on too many responsibilities isn't good for anyone. When I have too many things going on, I always feel spread too thin, and I know that my work, blog and life are suffering for it.

Plan Out Your Time

Scheduling my days is a lifesaver. I use a Day Designer to schedule my time and to keep daily to-do lists for both my work and my blog. Planning my time helps me to use my time wisely and make sure that I am getting all the tasks done that I need to do. I highly suggest that everyone invest in a quality planner and start using it!

Take a Break!

When I blog, I occasionally miss a post in my editorial calendar. In finding balance between work, life and blogging, sometimes something has to give. Since blogging for me is a hobby, that is what needs to take a back burner sometimes. And that is okay! We all need to give ourselves a break once in a while to be able to catch up on life, or even just to recover from a busy week. Blogland will be there when we get back.

What tricks do you use to balance your work and your blog? Or are you a full-time blogger? 

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#EverythingAugust Instagram Challenge Recap

So earlier this month I paired up with a great group of bloggers to make an August Instagram challenge, #EverythingAugust. Again, thank you so much to everyone who has joined in to the instagram challenge. The co-hosts and I are so happy about the great response we've received. I absolutely love going through all of your photos each day. So, I have my roundup of my favorite instagram posts throughout the challenge!

 

Sparkle

Twinkle lights make everything prettier! Love this rope lights to add whimsy around the house #twinkle #sparkle #everythingaugust #whimsical

A photo posted by Alexis Rochester (@alexis.roch) on Aug 25, 2015 at 2:02pm PDT

Case of the Mondays

 

Avoiding a case of the Mondays by trying to stay busy from the minute I woke up. Six tips to help increase your morning productivity are on the blog today! ?☕️?? #12x30challenge

A photo posted by Megan Stroup Tristao ✈️?☕️ (@mcstroup) on Aug 24, 2015 at 9:12a

Celebrate

21st Century Shadow Puppets. #minnstameets_playatmcm #WHPabstract #everythingaugust

A photo posted by Kati Rose (@katirose13) on Aug 21, 2015 at 2:18pm PDT

#CantStopWontStop

Surviving on sugar and caffeine! @krispykreme #disneybound #cantstopwontstop #EverythingAugust #doughnuts #coffee #krispykreme #yum #breakfastofchampions

A photo posted by @nyfoodiefamily on Aug 20, 2015 at 7:32am PDT

#Lucky

Feeling #lucky that I live in a world with flowers like these?

A photo posted by Helen || Hel On Heels (@helenguyyay) on Aug 18, 2015 at 7:28p

From Where I Stand

Love the decor at angus barn #everythingaugust

A photo posted by Ashley Chase (@girltalkblog0803) on Aug 16, 2015 at 4:26pm PDT

Sit Back and Relax

books I have read & my collection. There's two more books sitting on my night stand that I really need to finish. #EverythingAugust #books

A photo posted by ⓙⓐⓢⓜⓘⓝⓔ (@csandsblog) on Aug 15, 2015 at 4:43am PDT

Shadows

I have always loved the #shadows of the wine glasses in this photo. The best photos often come without staging if we are only wiling to look. #everythingaugust #livethelittlethings #thehappynow #petitejoys #ABMhappyhour #ABMsummer #thatsdarling #thatsdarlingmovement #wanderleurspark #sharethelex #jeanfarriswnery #Howtomakealife

A photo posted by @sherylww on Aug 10, 2015 at 5:42pm PDT

Had a productive #Saturday morning and looking forward to this haul from the #lexingtonfarmersmarket being on my plate this weekend! #everythingaugust #sharerhelex #shoplocal #georgiapeaches #lexky #thatsdarlingweekend #thatsdarling #thehappynow #wanderleurspark #ABMsummer #petitejoys #livethelittlethings #Howtomakealife #kentuckyblogger

A photo posted by @sherylww on Aug 8, 2015 at 9:11am PDT

Somewhere Warm

I was a little too sleepy during my run but once I woke up I got to spend some quality time thinking about Chicago and my training and making some solid plans for the next 9.5 weeks. #morningslikethese #everythingaugust #adaylate #running #instarun #marathontraining #chicagomarathon2015

A photo posted by Christy (@christyrunsdc) on Aug 6, 2015 at 6:07am PDT

Wake up and Smell the Roses

One of my favorite flowers in my yard...also sharing some of my favorite flowers from my garden over the years ? #linkinprofile #everythingaugust #rose #abmlifeiscolorful

A photo posted by Alexis Rochester (@alexis.roch) on Aug 4, 2015 at 2:34pm PDT

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Happy #NationalIceCreamSandwichDay! These homemade gems (via @kaitlynbraile) were thoroughly enjoyed this weekend? #EverythingAugust #Summer ?

A photo posted by Angie Scheie (@chasingmyhalo) on Aug 2, 2015 at 3:05pm PDT

Summer Nights

Summer nights outside are the best! Ruger discovered baby toads in the garden & he's very curious ? #everythingaugust #englishbulldog #rugerthebulldog

A photo posted by Alexis Rochester (@alexis.roch) on Aug 1, 2015 at 4:16pm PDT

Before we started the challenge there was about 8 photos tagged with #EverythingAugust. Now there are over 700! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

What were your favorite photos from the past month?


P.S. I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend! I have a wedding, a Modest Mouse concert, and brunch plans. I'll be back on Tuesday instead of my typical Monday post.

 

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How to Use Google Analytics to Track Individual Page Traffic Sources

Happy Humpday everyone!

Now this is something that I just figured out, and it took me a little while to find, so I thought that I'd share my findings with you if you were lost in Google Analytics like me.

 

First of all, if you don't know, Google Analytics, is a tracking code that you can put into your site that will read all of your site's traffic, stats, performance, etc. It's simple to install (especially on blogger!) and give you much better and more accurate statistics than your built in stats on either Wordpress or Blogger.

It will take about a day to set up and start pulling data from your site. So once you've done that, it's great to track numerous different types of traffic. Before delving too deep into what Google Analytics does, let me get to what I'm trying to show you today. If you need a basic intro to analytics, Elle & Co has an absolutely wonderful resource for that.

I've been using multiple types of social media sites to promote my blog including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Google +, and then link-parties. Certain posts have been crazy popular and I wanted to find out, what source is really driving the most traffic to that post?

 

First of all, you'll want to navigate to your Analytics page and go to "Behavior". I always thought that I would have to find this in the "Acquisition" tab but I was incorrect! It will automatically take you to "All Pages" which is where you want to be.

That page will look like this. At the top right of the page, you can edit what dates you want to track statistics from. It defaults to the past thirty days. For this demo, I'll keep that since the post I'm going to select was posted within thirty days. You can go back in time to when your blog started, the past month, even as little as the past day.

 

 

Next, scroll down and choose the post you want. I'm going to choose "Eight Clues that You have a Resting Bitch Face" since that was a post that is listed as one of my most popular pages on Blogger. You'll now see that at the top below "Page" it shows the HTML/title of the page I selected. You will have a plot graph of how many pageviews you have per day, You'll see that the traffic on that post peaked in early July, which is the day that the post launched. Makes sense that that day would have the most traffic, right?

But what we want to get into is what traffic source is the best for that page. So let's go down to the "Primary Dimension" where I have the red arrow. You'll hit the "Other" drop down and click "Acquisition" then "Source."

Viola! Here's all the statistics that you want! I can see what traffic source brought in the most traffic and how those viewers behavior once on the page. As you can see from below my "top" traffic sources that brought in the most page views are Disqus, Stumbleupon, direct, Bloglovin' and Virginia Bloggers.com. However, if you look at their behavior, the people who came in from Stumble Upon and Bloglovin really didn't stay on my site long enough to read my post. Stumbleupon was about 1 second (which make sense for Stumbleupon, they saw the title and just kept stumbling) and only 11 seconds for Bloglovin. This is a testament to how well Bloglovin is working for me....(ahem...not well.) This also shows really good stats for my direct readers, Disqus and for Virginia Bloggers.com. Look at how much time they spent reading that post!

It's also nice to take a peek at how many pageviews you have versus how many unique page views you have.

By no means am I a Google Analytics expert, I am learning every day. So I hope this helps the rest of you who are learning just like me. However, feel free to ask me any questions or let me know if I need to clarify any terms I used in this post.

What is your best traffic source on your most popular post?

 

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A Photo a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

First of all, happy friday! Has this week seemed to last forever to you guys too?

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in to the instagram challenge, #EverythingAugust. The co-hosts and I are so happy about the great response we've received. I absolutely love going through all of your photos each day. So, today I have all of my favorite posts from the first six days of the photo a day challenge.

Day 1: Summer Nights

A photo posted by Blonde Life en Pointe (@blondelife_enpointe) on Aug 1, 2015 at 11:25pm PDT

Day 2: Ice Cream Sandwiches in honor of National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!

A photo posted by rlamar (@rlamar) on Aug 2, 2015 at 8:42pm PDT

Day 3: Favorite quote

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on Aug 2, 2015 at 1:10pm PDT

Day 4: Wake up & Smell the roses

A photo posted by @nyfoodiefamily on Aug 4, 2015 at 6:26am PDT

Day 5: Mornings like these

A photo posted by Natalie Douglas (@natalie_douglas) on Aug 5, 2015 at 9:22am PDT

Day 6: Somewhere warm

A photo posted by Helen || Hel On Heels (@helenguyyay) on Aug 6, 2015 at 6:38am PDT

I can't wait to see what the rest of the challenge will look like. If you need a reminder of the prompts, you can find all the details here! It's crazy that before we started this challenge there were maybe six random photos using the hashtag #EverythingAugust, and now there's 236 and counting!

 

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Reader Survey Results

A big thank you to everyone who filled out my reader survey. It was really great getting your responses in and getting a bit more information about you and what you like!

That being said, here are the results of my reader survey! However, you are more than welcome to keep submitting survey responses.

What is your favorite type of content on Alanna & Company? (select all that apply)

Humor - 14%

Lifestyle - 24%

Books, Reading, or Music - 13%

DC and Travel - 11%

Restaurant and Food - 8%

Beauty, Fashion, and Makeup - 8%

Blogging Tips (Including PicMonkey Tutorials) - 22%

What would you prefer to see less of on Alanna & Company? (select all that apply)

Humor - 0%

Lifestyle - 6%

Books, Reading, or Music - 9%

DC and Travel - 3%

Restaurant and Food - 12%

Beauty, Fashion, and Makeup - 18%

Blogging Tips (Including PicMonkey Tutorials) - 21%

Sponsored/Reviews - 31%

How long have you been reading Alanna & Company?

New Reader - 17%

1 - 2 Months - 47%

2 - 4 Months - 23%

4 - 6 Months - 13%

I find new posts from Alanna & Company on:

Twitter - 7%

Facebook - 41%

Blogger.com - 4%

Bloglovin' or Feedly - 41%

I have your blog bookmarked or directly at www.alannaandcompany.com - 7%

How do you like the frequency of posts?

Just right - 85%

Could have more - 15%

Would like less - 0%

How often do you visit Alanna & Company?

Every day there is a new post - 25%

Two to Three times a week - 54%

Once a week - 21%

What is your age?

16 -24 years old - 22%

25 - 29 years old - 56%

30 - 40 years old - 22%

Now, what?

Well, first of all, I used this on google forms, and the data was a bit hard to format. So next time, I'll definitely use surveymonkey or something like that. I'll keep writing lifestyle posts, but I definitely need to step up the blogging tips and PicMonkey tutorials because you all like those a lot!

I wasn't surprised that Sponsored posts and review posts were ranked as what you would like to see a lot less of, but then the Blogging Tutorials ranked at 21% of you would prefer to see less, which directly opposes the question above...Weird! Right after that was Beauty, Fashion, and Makeup which I wasn't really surprised with. I'm not the strongest writer in that category, so I'll continue to keep those posts to a minimum.

Most of you find me on Bloglovin' or Feedly and Facebook. I'm going to assume that you mostly chose Facebook because of the Facebook blogging groups that I'm in, not because of my Facebook page, right? If so, I'll continue to share on those! I also need to keep in mind the age demographic. I know I write from my point of view as a twenty-something, but the fact that 44% of you are either 30-40 or 16-24 makes me really happy that I don't just interest people in my age demographic!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for filling out my reader survey. What do you think about the results? Any further suggestions? You can always email me at alanna@alannaandcompany.com. As a last thank you to all of you, I am offering a buy one month, get one month free on sponsorship offers. For any of you who purchase an ad within the next week, I'll automatically extend you for a second month on that same spot!

 

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Don't Forget About August's Instagram Challenge #EverythingAugust

Hey everyone! I just wanted to post a quick reminder that our August Instagram challenge starts this Saturday! I hope you all are just as excited as I am. For a reminder, here's the prompt list again.

So please join Erica from Looking to the Stars, Jasmine from Classy, Sassy. and a Bit Smart-Assy, Ashley from Girl Talk, Helen from Hel on Heels, Christine from So Called Homemaker, Dayne from The Daily Dayne, and myself.

 I will be featuring my favorite instagram photos weekly and the rest of the co-hosts will be checking out any posts with the hashtag #EverythingAugust too.

All we ask is that you follow all of the hosts on Instagram (@Alannaandco, @thedailydayne, @christineeveryday, @ashleyechase, @csandsblog, @helenguyyay, and @1hotredhd), keep your instagram accounts public so we can see your photos, and to comment and like using the challenge hashtag.

The challenge starts on August 1st and the first prompt will be "Summer Nights".

Looking forward to seeing all of your grams in August!

 

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