Help With My New Blog

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   susi10posted 10 years ago

   Hi everyone! 
   In addition to my hubs and writing hubs I also want to start a new blog and build a number of posts there. As I'm new to the blogging world, I would just like some tips or advice on how I would gain traffic. I am not going to link to it here but it is on the website link on my profile page. You could take a look at it and please tell me what you would add, change etc.
   
   Thank you and I'm looking forward to your responses!

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      The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi susi10, I looked at your blog and I have had a blog for a year. Now I have not got experience because I do not have members. I did notice through advice that I read, and saw on other blogs, it is good to have gadgets like 'Followers', 'Share on Facebook or Tweeter', 'Blog & Forum List', and a list of 'Labels'. I added them one at a time as I found out about them. Plus, after seeing your blog, I just changed my template. Before I started it I was following, and I still am following, a forum called Blogging on About.com.

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         Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         The Examiner is right. You need to add your social media buttons other than the ones provided with Blogger, your Google profile gadget and the Follow gadget.
         
         My recipe blog (caroleesbestrecipes.com)  is very successful. You can have a look at it through my profile page and get some ideas. Ask me any questions you want and I also assist with customizing Blogger blogs to look like websites.
         
         I love what I see so far. Very good!

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            susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks so much for your fantastic advice, Cardisa! I've added the social media gadget and I am adding the Follow gadget also.
            
            Wow, your recipe blog is absolutely amazing, it looks like a fully fledged website, well done! I have gotten some ideas from your blog (I love the idea of the live traffic feed!) and I will be writing more posts today.
            
            I just have one question: How long does it take to get a blog such as yours to such a standard that it gets continuous traffic every day?

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               Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               It takes a while but with continuous post and updates you go faster. This blog is a little over a year old and when it was new it took a while to pick up traffic. Give your blog around six months. Make sure your blog title and description are keyword friendly.
               For example:
               Authentic Jamaican Recipes was chosen specifically for that keyword.
               Caroleesbestrecipes.com uses best recipes as it's URL keywords
               My description also has relevant keywords.
               
               You must also utilize Google Adsense Scorecard to optimize your blog. It is found on your homepage of your Adsense account. It will tell you when something is wrong, what kinds of ads to use and how to fix your blog to make more money.
               
               Looks something like this:
               
               

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               The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               A better question might be 'Is she paying for her host?'

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                  Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  It's a blogger blog which I customized by editing the HTML. The domain name cost me less than $7 for the year. As a matter of fact I own several domain names which I got on sale.
                  
                  So the answer to that would be no, that recipe site is hosted by blogger.

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                     The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I did not see the recipe blog. Since it did not mention 'blog' in it I did not look at it, sorry. It is impressive. I only looked at the 'healthsmart' blog.

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                        Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        My health smart blog is also a blogger site which I customized. This template allowed me to remove the credits so it looks nothing like a blog, except if you look closely at the article feed you will realize it.

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                     susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Yes, I was wondering you achieved the drop down menus at the top of the page as it is not possible in blogger, however, it is possible through HTML. I would love to make a drop down menu, is there any way I could do so?

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                        Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        You would have to edit the HTML for the template. What I did was get a free custom template then edit it. I could assist with that, for free it you like. I am not sure I can tutor you but I will try to record the steps.
                        
                        This is one of the other blogs I did that don't belong to me.
                        
                        (martind28acousticguitar.blogspot.com)

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                           susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           OK, thanks Cardisa! I'll try to find a HTML template which will include a dropdown menu of some sort. Also I have one more question; How many posts do I have to write until I will see a constant stream of traffic, would I have to write 100 or 150? The blog that you helped out with looks great, by the way, so professionally done!

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                              Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              Your traffic will depend on your niche. If you have a demand niche it doesn't matter how many posts you have. My recipe blog has only 12 blog posts and 12 stand alone pages. The other recipes are from my HP account but unless you click the links you wouldn't know that.

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                                 susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                 Thanks Cardisa, for everything and you have helped me so much with my blog. I am very grateful for your help so thank you!!

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                                    Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                    No I haven't!  you didn't email me. Did you find the template? I was expecting you to tell me when you found a suitable template so I could help you with the menu as you stated.

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                              The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              I do not think that it is the number of posts, I think that it is the number of months that you have been writing. Although the more posts which are there when you do get viewers might keep them coming back, and bring more.

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   zeusspeakposted 10 years ago

   Over time, you will naturally gain some sort of following, and some of them will read and comment on your articles. Write some more useful tips and ideas.
   All the best

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      susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi zeusspeak!
      Thank you for your thoughts and advice, what you have said is reassuring, I do hope I will get a following soon.

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   rainsanmartinposted 10 years ago

   The site looks nice. Over time as you create new blog posts you can sort them into categories such as Lifehack.org does.  Examples would be Astronomy, Life Science, Technology. Overtime if this seems too overwhelming you may wish to switch to a more specialized focus such as Astronomy.

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   epsonok0posted 10 years ago

   Do exactly what they teach on HP try to put your blog entries together and to format them in an appealing fashion. I do that for my blog under a different user name and I receive about 1100 visitors a week to it. Not to bad for a google blog. Over time like others mentioned you will gain a following and if you promote your "brand" as it were you can gain even more. Make a favicon (the little pic next to the websites name on your browsers tab) And be sure to adjust themes and settings to something flashy and stylish you dont want white and black with some navigation buttons. My dentists website is not even that boring. I will try to visit your blog, I love blogs and have been to many. Great job on branching out.

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   epsonok0posted 10 years ago

   I went to your blog. Awesome and formatted so nice. I will be keeping up with that and may have my friend who owns a blog there +1 your blog to his followers. He has several thousand loyal readers. I will give him a call now to do that for your when he gets a chance.

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      susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you epsonok0, so much! I'm absolutely delighted and I cannot express my gratitude, thank you!
      
      I will keep up writing on it daily and I will do all your tips and advice. I have began making an animated favicon for my blog so that should make it more interesting.
      
      Thanks again for everything!

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         epsonok0posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         any time.

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   mike_online08posted 10 years ago

   If you are planning to have high traffic with your blog, start learning H tags. there are a lot of tutorials about using tags to improve On page SEO. I also agree with other comments mentioned here, social media buttons will greatly help you get traffic. If you need help, dont hesitate to ask me. I' am a freelancer for blog owners which is why i know a lot about getting traffic to your blog.

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