Blog Resources

I thought I would share some of the resources that I found helpful when I started blogging about 3 months ago.  When I am looking for a hotel to stay at for vacation, searching for furniture and decor for my boys rooms (by the way just got them some nice stuff from Target) or looking for resources for the families that I work with daily...I like to research, research and research some more.  I think it is the sociologist in me:)  Anyway...Whether you are blogging just for fun or to make some profit, here are some sites that I found very helpful along the way!

1. ProBlogger
2. eHow
3. Blogging for Dummies - Book that I purchased at Barnes & Noble. It can also be
purchased at Amazon.

     

Blogging for 3 Months!

I have finally made it to the 3 month mark of blogging!! Yeah!!   One site that I found when I first started blogging was Top Mommy Blogs, which is a mommy blog directory.  I went to sign up for the site, but saw that you had to be blogging for 3 months to register your blog.  So, I made sure that as soon as I made it to 3 months of blogging I would register and I did.  I am now listed on Top Mommy Blogs.  There are other directories out there, but this is the most functional one that I have found.  Please share if you know of any other great blog directories out there:)   In addition, to joining some of the social blog networks you do want to make sure you register your blog with directories.

Blog Traffic...Where does it come from?

Blogging update: I have been blogging for almost 2 months now and I am loving it. I have found that with time traffic to my blog has increased. When I first started I wondered how much traffic "mommy blogs" get and now I have some statistics, which I get from Google Analytics.  I also use the statistics from Blogger, but Google Analytics is a more detailed.  The first month I had:

195 Visits

899 Pageviews

4.61 Pages/Visit

47.69% Bounce Rate

00:07:19 Avg. Time on Site

55.38% % New Visits

So, the next question is where is the traffic coming from?  I have been to numerous "mommy blog" social networking sites.  The sites that have sent me the most traffic in my first month of blogging have been:

1.  Mom Bloggers Club (MBC) - A network with over 11,000 mom bloggers!

2.  Twitter 

If you want to build on your blog traffic, once you join these networking sites, you need to network.  Join some of the groups, start discussions and share your blogs! 

Sites that Offer Free Blog Templates!

Now that you have your Blog Name and have started to post, it is time to find a template.  I think that having a nice template is just as important as the content of your blog. You may not want to put out any money just yet if you are new to blogging, so I found some sites that offer free templates.  Once your site is established and you decide you are going to stick with it, these sites also offer customized templates.  These sites really have nice templates, for free!  Check them out!

1. Blogger Templates



2. A Blog To Brag About




3. April Showers Blog Design



4. The Posh Box Web Design



5. Leelou Blogs

Choosing the name for your Blog

As simple as it may seem, choosing the name of your blog is not always an easy task.  When I started blogging about a month ago I started out with one name and have changed that name 2 times.  I thought I had it together but, I guess not. 


Here are some things I did once I had decided what I wanted the name of my blog to be:


1. I did a domain search to make sure that what I have chosen was not already in use, just in case I wanted to have a host site in the future.  So I went to Go Daddy to see if the name I had chosen was already used.  If it is, Go Daddy gives great examples of alternate names that you may like. 


2. I also realized that the blog publishing tools, like Blogger, may have someone using the name that you have chosen.  Yeah, it happened to me:(  So it's back to the drawing board to find something else.


3. I checked Google Keyword Tool Box, which is a great tool to use if you want to use a name that is going to drive traffic to your site.  Driving traffic seems to be what you need in order to make money from your blog site.  The tool box has a keyword tool and traffic esimator search, which is really cool.  These searches will give you an idea of how much traffic may come to your site based on the words in your blog name.

I did all these things to come up with a name for my blog.  It really took me a couple days to come up with a name that I thought captured what I would be blogging about.  I had to do some brainstorming with the help of my husband.  Once, I found what I liked I went through all the channels I listed to make sure the name was not used by anyone else.  Goodluck on your name finding search!

My Blogging Journey

My blogging journey has been a short one, but I have found out so much in this little time.  One day my mother suggested that I start blogging, so I dived right in and have been doing it every since.  I actually set up a blog with Blogger back in 2009 but only did a couple of posts.  Now, that I am actively blogging I will try to give you the information that I have gathered and continue to gather to help you along your journey as well.

My next post will be about: Choosing a Blogger Name