Build a Better Blog
Articles and Resources
Grit and Glamour articles and vlogs on smarter blogging:
- 12 Ways to a Better Blog—and a Better You—in 2012 | January 11, 2012
- Tax Deductions and Blogging—What You Need to Know | August 17, 2011
- The Perks and Pitfalls of Partnerships and Product Placement | August 8, 2011
- Klout—What it is and Why it Matters | March 9, 2011
- Copyright and Image Use—What You Need to Know | February 7, 2011
- Trademarks—What You Need to Know | January 29, 2011
- How to Submit a Post to IFB Links à la Mode | January 24, 2011
- 12 Days of Christmas…to a Better Blog in 2011 | December 10, 2010
- Friend Friday: Let’s Stay Together | December 10, 2010
- RSS and Sharing for Dummies—and Lazies | November 19, 2010
- Friend Friday: Me! Me! Me! The Pitfalls of Self-Promotion | November 12, 2010
- Friend Friday: Baby Steps to a Better Blog | October 15, 2010
- Survey Says: Original Content Really is Queen | October 12, 2010
- G&G Reader Survey Results | October 12, 2010
- Friend Friday: Sticks, Stones, Comments, Criticism, and Kindness | October 8, 2010
- My Moo Mini (Business) Cards | September 27, 2010
- 5 Things I’ve Learned About Blogging | September 3, 2010
- The Build a Better Blog Vlog| July 13, 2010This post also ran on Independent Fashion Bloggers: http://heartifb.com/2010/07/20/the-build-a-better-blog-vlog/
- Photography for the Amateur, Stagefright-Afflicted Blogger| June 22, 2010This post also ran on Independent Fashion Bloggers: http://heartifb.com/2010/07/20/the-build-a-better-blog-vlog/
- Creating a Page on Wikifashion | July 31, 2010
- Twitter has tweaked fashion, forever. | October 19, 2009
The Secrets to Successful Fashion BloggingA fabulous series by Kristina of Pretty Shiny Sparkly |
Photo via Pretty Shiny Sparkly |
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| The Secrets to Successful Fashion Blogging Everything you wanted to know about blogging but were afraid to ask… |
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| Secrets to Successful Fashion Blogging, Part Two A deeper look at photography—cameras. lenses, the Golden Hour, sun flares, and more! |
Additional Blogging Resources
- 5 Alternatives to Picnik
- A-Z of Blogging Tools & Resources
- Grechen Blogs
- How to Follow Any Blog in Blogger
- Independent Fashion Bloggers
- Problogger
- Protecting your blog and copyright
- Style Sample Magazine Blogging Tools
- Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
- Terry Morris’ Web Design Best Practices Checklist
- The 5 Things I’ve Learned About Blogging [Project]
- The 10 Commandments of Building a Loyal Blog Readership
- 5 Sites to Strengthen Your Writing Skills
Blogger to WordPress
| Moving from Blogger to WordPress.org (self-hosted) |
Moving from Blogger to WordPress.com (free hosting) |
| New To WordPress – Where to Start | WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org |
| WordPress.org Web Hosting | Introduction to WordPress.com |
| Beautifully Invisible’sBlogger-to-WordPress Tutorials: | |
| The New Ultimate Guide to Migrating from Blogger to WordPress | Blogger vs. WordPress.com Comparison Chart – 2010 |
| First Steps With WordPress | Domain Mapping |
| Working with WordPress | Writing and Editing |
| Administration Panels | Custom CSS |
| Using Themes (see links to themes below) | Themes |
| Managing Comments | Manage Comments |
Themes and Tech Stuff
| Themes | Little Helpers |
| Thesis by DIY Themes | The Complete List Of Thesis Fonts In Action |
| Thesis + Themes (Skins) | Thesis Theme Blog |
| Elegant Themes | Firebug for Mozilla Firefox (Add-on that allows you to see code) |
| Woo Themes | Font Finder for Mozilla Firefox (Add-on that identifies any font on the Web) |
Hardware
| Technology | Device/Apps | |
| PC/Laptop | ASUS K601J | |
| Digital SLR + lens | Canon EOS Rebel Xsi (12.2 mpx) + Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens | |
| Memory card | 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory | |
| Smartphone | Apple iPhone 4s | |
| Smartphone apps related to blogging |
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| Tablet | Apple iPad 2,16GB, Wi-Fi | |
| Tablet/iPad apps related to blogging |
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| Video recorder | iPhone 4s and iPad 2 |
Software
| Function | Application | |
| Browser | Mozilla Firefox | |
| Blog platform/application | WordPress.org | |
| Blog template | Thesis by DIY Themes | |
| Blog/WordPress plugins |
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| Domain registration and hosting | Bluehost | |
| Photo editing | ||
| Questions | Formspring | |
| Reader | Bloglovin’ | |
| RSS | Feedburner | |
| Screen capture | PicPick | |
| Stats and analytics | ||
| Video hosting | You Tube |
Social Media and Blog Promotion
| Connections/Communities | Promotion | |
| Blog Catalog | Creative Commons (copyright/licensing) | |
| Blog Trends Chat | ||
| BonBon Rose Girls Network | Hootsuite | |
| Fashion Beauty Friend Friday Google Group | Indie Style Media Ad Exchange & Marketplace | |
| Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB) | Manage Flitter | |
| Networked Blogs | Moo Mini Business Cards | |
| Wikifashion | Tumblr | |
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
@AnikaByAnika
October 19, 2010
this is absolutely amazing, thank you so much for doing all this! You must have been working at this for hours! Really appreaciate it, and will really take my time reading this to see where to take my blog next. Well done Vahni!
@gritandglamour
October 19, 2010
Thank you Anika! It was a bit of work, but well worth it!
@122 W. Manheim Street Apt. 8
October 19, 2010
This is amazing and extremely useful! Great work and thanks for all the hard work and research that went into this V!
@gritandglamour
October 19, 2010
Thank you Fajr! I appreciate that!
@katy_rose1
October 19, 2010
V – Wow! I feel like I have my reading for the next month completely planned out with this. A little discouraging to see there is so much more I still need to learn. But hey! It’s all here for the taking. Thanks for make this so user friendly!
- Katy
@gritandglamour
October 19, 2010
No problem…thanks Katy!
@MJ_Beauty
October 21, 2010
Hey Girl, I tried the code you sent me but it still isn’t showing up on my sidebar. Am I missing something?
@gritandglamour
October 23, 2010
MJ, I’m not sure…maybe just copy the image and upload to your image gallery, then link to me? I’m a newbie at this!
@MJ_Beauty
October 25, 2010
That sounds like a good idea! I’m gonna try it! Thanks V!
Thanks for this! Great tips and advice
@gritandglamour
October 23, 2010
No worries…thanks for your comment, Sarah!
@jTwisdom
October 30, 2010
V
Thanks for the advice I am a newbie at this WordPress stuff. Right now I am trying to add the Friend Friday button to my blog.
@gritandglamour
October 31, 2010
Thanks JT, and you are welcome! Hope this helps you!
Thank you for doing all this it’s been so helpful! x
@gritandglamour
November 20, 2010
Thank you Purdey…glad to hear that!
The topic Build a Better Blog is absolutely new for me, but it´s very interesting. I have to read more about this topic and make me my own opinion. Thanks, Katy Wein
@gritandglamour
December 2, 2010
Thanks for your comment Katy…hope this page helps you learn more!
@laurenNjordan
December 27, 2010
V, Your blog has to be my favorite.
1. perfect grammar
2. helpful tips
3. and topics worth discussing
ps, I love your theme. I’m not sure how to install it but I am going to keep reading to try and make my blog better.
thank you for such helpful advice for a newbie like me! Happy holidays!
@gritandglamour
December 27, 2010
Thank you Lauren! I appreciate your kind comment!
The theme is the uber-popular Thesis WordPress Theme from DIYthemes. It’s not free, but it’s fantastic! It can only be used on a self-hosted blog (through WordPress.org, for example).
@starcrossedsmil
January 7, 2011
Hi V,
Thank you so much for all of these awesome tips and tutorials! I have been reading over your articles for the past few days and compiling a list of all the ways I can improve my blog this year. I have a question for you- on this page you mention that you use Google Analytics for your stats and I am a signed up for an account, but I don’t understand it one bit and am not sure how I can use it to keep posting the content that people like/are interested in. Could you maybe explain the basics that you need to know when using this tool? Thanks so much for your time and help!
@gritandglamour
January 9, 2011
Nnenna, so glad this page is helpful for you!
I agree that Google Analytics isn’t the easiest to decipher. Katy of Modly Chic actually wrote a post on this you might find helpful: http://modlychic.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-read-your-google-analytics.html.
You may also find the Google Analytics Help page useful: http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/?hl=en_US
For tracking blog traffic, my go-to counter is actualy Stat Counter: http://statcounter.com
It is important to have a Google Analytics account because it seems to be the standard reference in the industry, but for your own daily, high-level tracking, you will probably like Stat Counter better.
Thanks for your comment, and good luck!
@starcrossedsmil
January 10, 2011
Thanks V, I’m off to go check out these articles right now!
@TheStyleFile
January 14, 2011
V, you already know that I think you are a genius! But I just thought I’d let you know this page is incredible and I constantly refer to it whenever I have issues or questions!
Thanks darlin’.
XXXO
M
Marissa´s latest post: INTRODUCING- The Bloggerista Book Club
@gritandglamour
January 14, 2011
And thank YOU, darlin’. So good to know that so many people find this page helpful. I’ve had so many struggles with the technological aspects of running a blog that I feel compelled to share when I find a solution!
@beccabellle
March 4, 2011
V you are a goddess – I’ve been looking high and low for a listing of thesis fonts – and the link was sitting right here the whole time. I came to scoop up your resources so I can switch Free Honey over to Wordpress and I end up finding something else I’ve been searching for for weeks!! <3
Becca´s latest post: Menswear Inspiration
@gritandglamour
March 4, 2011
Superb, Becca! Thanks for your sweet comment!
Isn’t it nice when we discover those little shortcuts?
Just found this and what great information you have here and I’m sure it took you sometime to get together. This is very helpful and I’m also loving your blog btw and I have added you to my blogroll as well. Such inspiration
Tyesha´s latest post: American Express- Membership Rewards Program
@gritandglamour
June 1, 2011
Thank you so much, doll!
@www.twitter.com/silkfordinner
May 12, 2011
Hello, wonderful and so very helpful ! I was looking to make a decision to switch to WP and your information made it clear to me ! thank you so much ! I’m definately a follower and keep on doing that “shameless”promotion. I think it’s charming the way you do. xoxo Silk
Silk´s latest post: Mademoiselle Economist
@gritandglamour
June 1, 2011
Hi Silk…so glad you found some helpful info. Thanks much for your comment and support!
@metsyc
June 15, 2011
You are a blogging powerhouse. Thank you for doing all this work!
Metsy´s latest post: Do you have Social Media Klout
@gritandglamour
June 17, 2011
Hey sweets, no worries!
@aaqil
September 24, 2011
Thanks for such huge collection of tips
I am enjoying them. Before I never paid attention to blogging tips.
Aaqil Mahmood´s latest post: illusion "Lilac Chaser" [images]
έμπα στον υπολογιστη να μου ρυθμισεις της τεχνικες λεπτομερειες ενος Blogg που διαθετω…
Να στο ξαναπω παλι!
Ελα στον υπολογιστη, μεσω της απομακρυσμενης βοηθειας, να μου ρυθμισεις τις τεχνικες λεπτομερειες ενος Blogg
διαθετω. στειλε οδηγιες εντω μεταξυ σε τι ενεργειες πρεπει να προβω για να επιτευχθει αυτο.
Μετα τιμης
fotios
It is pretty good,please do keep up
Alex. O´s latest post: Are you always running in crisis mode?
Thanks for sharing your wonderful tips. I am a new blogger, hence these thoughts of wisdom helps me a lot during blogging.
Infotainment Lounge´s latest post: Cute Tattoo Designs for Girls
@gritandglamour
October 14, 2011
Fantastic! Thanks for your comment!
I found this so helpful, thanks!
@gritandglamour
October 14, 2011
Super, Miss B!
@katha_strophal
October 25, 2011
This has been soooo incredibly helpful!
Thank you for sharing all of these great tips, I really love the way you write.
Katha Strophe´s latest post: Top 5 scarves
@gritandglamour
October 25, 2011
Thank you, and you’re so welcome!
Nice tips for new bloggers to start a blog with quality contents!
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