Water Confetti + Advice (yes, you really can have it all in one post)

Well good afternoon to you all! I hope you’ve been having a great week so far, I know I have! Today I’m taking a quick break from the somewhat daily photo and passing on a few golden nuggets of advice. No, scratch that. I’ll do both because frankly, it just sounds cool.

Do you remember the days when I’d sum up my week? While that seems like it was eons ago it really has been just a couple of months. In one of them (actually in the one where I capped off my first month of being a blogger) I gave you all some advice that I had learned through trial and error (and sometimes just flat out error.) It was surprisingly well received by experienced and novice bloggers alike and some of you have said that it really did help improve their blog. What? My advice actually worked? Who would’ve guessed it? If you’re pretty green at blogging or are just looking to read more words on a shiny screen then I suggest you check the post out here. And for the rest of you who are either too cool to read it or have already done so – welcome to part 2 express. It’s “express” because I’ve got half as many things to say.

1. Don’t make people search for your search. Does you blog have the “search” tab? It can be found under “widgets” in your dashboard. Anyways, many a blogger has put it at the very bottom of their site. You’d be surprised at how many bloggers do this. I don’t blame the blogger, sometimes it’s the last thing they think about! This can prove frustrating to readers though, because they have to literally search for the search area! And some blogs don’t even have one! Do your readers a huge favor by placing it at the tippy top and it’ll greatly convenience everyone.
2. Background’s everything to do with it! Does your blog have a fun and trendy background? Or does it at least have something that connects to what you blog about? Presentation is a huge factor (as I have come to realize) in determining whether you reel in or discourage a reader. If a blog looks really chaotic and jumbled, I will most likely look elsewhere for a good read. I don’t want to have a hard time reading a blog and spend more time trying to figure out what I’m looking at instead of reading a great post. Have fun choosing a background that you enjoy! Make sure not to “overstimulate” your reader with a flashy look. 🙂 Yeah, it’s fun, but not super productive.
3.  Check you spam box! I know that sounds really strange, but hear read me out. I recently learned that computers aren’t as flawless as I’ve made them out to be. Sometimes they mistake legit comments for spam. So about once or twice a week, I check my spam box and free up those not-so-spam comments. Otherwise people who are just trying to say “hello” get blocked off and I don’t get to hear from them! With that being said, don’t free up everything (like the comments that look a little fishy and have a bunch of numbers and random letters, the gravatar names that appear very peculiar, and the comments that make absolutely no sense.)

Hopefully you’ve found this post somewhat helpful! Got any tips that you’re itching to share? Feel free to either post them in the comments below or on your own blog – and fill me in when you do! Have an awesome rest of the day and enjoy this water confetti! (The reflection of some umbrellas got muddled after a boat passed through.)