Blogging Tips {A Guest Post by Bethany}

Hello Ladies!

What a lovely day it is here in Miss Grace's Garden! I am so honored and pleased to be able to be guest posting while Miss Grace is away! Today I have some Blogging tips for you "Blogger fans" that I have learned from several years of Blogging experience. I hope that they will help you and make your blog extra nice!

I have been blogging since November of 2009 and have really enjoyed it! Blogger is a great way to share many things, update friends and family on recent news, share with friends what you have been doing lately and lots more! Lately the Lord has been showing me how I, as a blogger have the opportunity to reach people I normally wouldn't reach through my blogs. Thus I have the opportunity to share Christ's love with them and encourage those who are devoted to Him. I want to encourage all you Christian bloggers to use ever opportunity you get through blogging to encourage others who are following Christ! This was one of the things that was a priority for me and Johanna when we started Royal Daughters of the King ministry back in June.

When I started blogging back in 2009, my first blog was for my previously published magazine Hearts for God, which I have since quit publishing and moved on to Royal Daughters of the King. I needed a site for HFG to share updates with subscribers and to give information on the magazine for new subscribers  and subscribers-to-be. So that blog started and later I started our other blog, The Ward Family Blog. I started it in hopes to share with friends and family the happenings around our house, and since there are 8 of us in my family, there is a lot to tell! :D

Now for the blogger tips!

Always use pictures! Pictures that go along with your post always make such a nice effect and make the post seem more real. Pictures I take often need a little editing so I like to use Picnik for that since it's free and has a lot of neat options!

Post often. If you get busy and can't post, at least try and post a little something explaining that you will be taking a blogging break. No one likes to be left hanging! {I've been bad about this!} When someone truly enjoys your blog then they will want to see reguar posts so try and be faithful!

Post ideas: Here are some ideas for posts you can feature on your blog: giveaway posts, product reviews, posts with things you have been doing lately, photos about what you and your family have been up to, posts of what your day looks like, craft tutorial posts, recipe posts, quote posts, interview posts, guest posts, book review posts, host a blog event, share a music video, and an "ask me" post.

Don't worry about what your blog looks like. Although it is important to make sure your blog looks nice, sometimes bloggers take so much effort in trying to please others by how their blog looks they don't have any energy left to actually post on it! So keep it simple and clean and write from your heart!

Don't compare your blog to others. I think that a lot of people {including myself!} get caught in this trap. When we allow ourselves to think about how great her blog is, what an awesome design she has, the amount of followers another blog has, how many comment she gets, and so on, it can discourage you! When we are constantly comparing our blog to theirs than this can lower our ability or desire to post things with confidence.

Pray for your blog! Praying was something I did a lot of for my ministry blog once it started, and I still do it now! Pray and ask that God would allow your blog to encourage others and bring them to Him and to bless your blog. Ask Him to give you wisdom in knowing what to write and what not to write, to give you the ability to speak to your readers hearts! Ask Him what His will is for your blog and allow Him to guide you through it.

Find someone who can help! When you find a experienced blogger friend who you can ask blogger questions to it help a lot! Blogger can sometimes get a bit complicated so be sure and have someone you can go to for answers you will have.

Keep your posts at the right length. Sometimes it's hard to find the perfect length for a post. You never want it too short, but not too long either! You want it long enough to give the reader a good idea of what you are writing about, but not so long that they don't want to read it since it's soooo long. :)

Encourage! Always remember to encourage your readers in the Lord and use lots of Scripture that goes with your post! It's always a blessing to be able to read Scripture from blogs! I like to use BibleGateway to do a Bible search for verses with keywords that go with my post and then copy them onto the actual post.

Have a contact form. For those with blogs, you will have people who want to  contact  you personally, but in another form than a comment. Contact forms are perfect for this! Especially since you can have someone contact you without revealing your email address. Free contact form sites I have used include 123 Contact and Kontactr.

Justify your posts. When you are making a new post on blogger, on the top of the post box were all the gadgets are, in between the "Insert jump break" tool is and the "Numbered bullet" tool is, there is a drop down box were you can "justify" your post {a.k.a. make your post fit nicely on your blog}. Just click your mouse and keep it clicked down while you go over the words of your post until they are underlined in blue. Then go to the justify option and click on it!

Keep your sidebar clean. Cluttered sidebars can often be a distraction so try and go through yours every so often to keep it neat and tidy.

I hope that these tips will help you! May God bless you as you blog for Him!

Because of Jesus and in His Love,

Bethany

About The Authoress: Bethany Ann is a mid-teen aged Christian girl who lives with her 5 younger siblings, parents and 3 dogs in Texas. Some of her interest include Bible work, sewing, reading, blogging, encouraging young ladies in the Lord, crocheting, knitting, baking/cooking, crafting, helping around the house and more! She loves the Lord and desires to glorify Him through her writings. Her blogs include Royal Daughters of the King, which is a encouragement blog for young ladies which is done with Johanna of An Old Fashioned Girl blog, and The Ward Family Blog.