Armchiar BEA ~ Day Five ~ Blogging Tips

Well, today is the last official day for ArmchairBEA!

Today's Topic: Blogging Tips

 

 
My Advice?

More cats! 

Just kidding. Kind of. I mean, isn't that kitty cute?! Kitties and books, what more could you ask for?

I've been book blogging for a little over a year now, and blogging in general for about four. I blogged about this topic last year, and what I said is still relevant. Check it out HERE. Basically it said these things:

1. Make your blog pretty. It doens't have to be fancy, but it should be nice to look at. If it's crazy and hard to read, then no one will read it. If it's super boring, you might be losing out on some readers.

2. Don't use CAPTCHA. You know those word verification forms you have to fill out? Yeah, those are annoying and  no one likes them. I guarantee you're losing comments by having that on.

3. Don't have sounds that automatically play. Those annoy the poop out of me! Arg! If I want music playing, I'll put it on myself, thanks though.

Those are just three basic things that will make more people read and comment on your blog. Honestly though, your blog should be whatever you want it to be. Shannon over at Books Devoured was thinking the same thing I was and beat me to it! She posted on twitter while I was writing mine (you know, while dealing with my four year old who keeps pestering me to paint her toe nails and trying to entertain/feed/cuddle my 11 week old baby - in other words, writing this is going slow).

Basically, it's your blog, and it should be how YOU want it. Sure, it's nice to have people actually read your blog, but it's not very fulfilling if your blog starts to become something that doesn't reflect who you are. You will burn out really fast (I did!). If you want captcha and want music, go ahead. 

So, my biggest advice is to do it however you want to! Make it a reflection of who you are! 

The Future of Book Blogging -This is where I'm at in my blogging Journey:

Last year I took a break in blogging. I didn't quit altogether, but my posting slowed down a lot. I just got burned out on it! I think a big part of it was trying to keep up with everyone else, and I wasn't enjoying it as much. Well, that and being pregnant. Holy geez, growing a baby is exhausting!

I'm actually in the process of trying to figure out how I want my blog to be. I want to change the way I do reviews and stuff, because it's feeling boring and not like me at all. I'd also like to incorporate more of my personal life into the blog, although I'm having a hard time trying to decide how much is too much.

I have decided that I love book blogging, and that I'm going to try to do it for a long time. I'm just going to do it my way. :)

Well, that's it!

Armchair BEA 2012 is over! How sad. I love getting to meet other bloggers and chat with them! I still have some catching up to do. I hope to get to meet some more bloggers over the weekend. Fpr those of you I just met, yay for new friends!

Oh! Don't forget to enter my giveaway! You could win one of these, yay!