Occasionally I turn to you all for some opinions and talk of behind-the-scenes of blogging – – today is one of those days – – a few things that have been on my mind…
LAYOUT – – I’m debating whether to keep my layout the same (full post after full post) or to change it up to where if you’re on my main page, you’ll see a handful of article snippets at once. I asked which you readers prefer on FB, and it’s about 50/50, and whatever side you vote for, you’re adamant! I just can’t decide – I like the flowing feel of reading one post after another, but I like the organization and clean look of the snippets. Decisions, decisions! If you have an opinion, let’s here it, because I’m on the fence.
READERS – So when Google Reader shut down (yes, I’m still mourning it) and a few other factors set in, my blog readership dropped by half – so sad! I think some people out there just haven’t found a way to read blogs in a routine like they used to. How do you read blogs? Do you use a site (I use BlogLovin’ – it’s okay, but I don’t love it) or do you just go straight to the blogs you love? I would love a way to connect with all those lost readers. Side note, I finally took off my Google Friend Contact box from my sidebar – I think I was the last blogger left to do so!
CONNECTING – A couple of years ago, it was common to get 20 comments on each post. Now I get one or two. Times are a changin’, but I really miss that interaction with readers.
ADS – I put a lot of time and effort into my blog, mainly because I really love sharing projects with the world. I like that I can accomplish something and I want everyone to have that feeling that they can do something – it’s great to be able to provide steps and tutorials to accomplish those projects. But I’d also love to make a little money for all the effort, and that’s why I had ads on the sidebar. I try to keep them as unobtrusive as possible – I don’t go for the auto-video-playing ones or the giant pop-up box ones, etc. Occasionally ads get through that I didn’t know would and you are all great about letting me know.
SPONSORED POSTS – along the same line as ads, I can make a little money from Sponsored Posts (heads up, I don’t make anything near a salary off my blog – I know a few bloggers do, but most of us probably make like $0.50 an hour). So I occasionally do sponsored posts – but I want you to know a few things:
–I only apply for opportunities that fit me and I think you would enjoy reading about.
–I try to weave fun personal stories or awesome craft ideas in with sponsored posts.
–The post is sponsored, but the opinions are still mine.
—If I post a Sponsored Post, it won’t be a substitute for content. So it won’t take the place of a regular post – it will just be an additional post. (which is why sometimes I have more posts than normal)
–I apply for lots of opportunities, but a lot don’t go through. So I never know if I will get an opportunity or not. Sometimes I apply for a lot and get none. And sometimes I apply and get several – when that happens, there may be times when there are a couple of Sponsored Posts in the same week – it’s hard to gauge which will go through. Also, some I write content for but I don’t know the exact day/time when the content will be published to my blog, so bear with that as well.
UPDATES – tutorials, about me, etc — Pretty high on my to-do list is to update my About Me Page (any suggestions on what I should include?) and revamp my tutorials page, because I know it can be hard to find past projects. I think I might need a new headshot too. And maybe a little blog background revamp? Just something to freshen up the place a little.
Anyways, that’s about where I’m at right now. I still really love blogging and reading blogs and will be doing so far into the future. You have any random questions for me? Just let me know! Mandybeez at gmail.
Personally, I love snippets. I like the clean organization look. I also like that I can peruse more posts and choose the ones I’m interested in. Also, sponsor post and ad away! I’m thrilled you can make a little moolah for all your hard work! Keep it up, girl!
I use Feedly – I like it way better than Bloglovin’. I absolutely hate truncated feeds, just thought I’d throw that in there! I fvery often just don’t subscribe to blogs that don’t have full posts, or else if I do subscribe it ends up that I don’t bother to click through.
On my blog I do snippets for all posts, except short ones and the most recent post. I feel like it makes my blog less overwhelming to navigate. It also benefits me, because readers spend more time on my blog with having to actually click to see the rest of the post.
As far as how I read and keep up with the blogs I follow, I use Feedly. I do use Bloglovin occassionally, but I prefer Feedly. Unfortunately, there is no way you can keep with who follows your blog on Feedly, or at least with the free version you can’t. Bloglovin does allow you to see this, because it allows readers to follow you and keeps track of them. Google Reader no longer existing does suck, but I think in due time there will be more vehicles available to read blogs on and interact.
Tenns @ New Mama Diaries
I like that your blog is overall white, it gives it a clean fresh feeling. I prefer full posts, but certainly wouldn’t stop following someone because they do snippets. I also use Bloglovin’ like a crazy woman. I’m totally fine with sponsored ads, etc. Keep it up lady!
Amy @ https://www.delineateyourdwelling.com
totally agree
My blog reading dropped drastically after google reader shut down. I am on bloglovin, but I HATE it. I hate that you have to scroll so much, I really hate the frames (meaning you are not on the blog itself, but still on bloglovin, which makes pinning difficult and it can be hard to click links and find your way back), and I hate that the last email I see at night is “Your Daily Feed from Bloglovin!” 11pm, every night. Why oh why? I am not going to stay up later, and it will be the first email deleted in the morning. Since the site itself is so hard to use, I don’t mind the email–if it only came at 9am or 7 pm or any useful time.
Of course, my blog posting has also dropped drastically, because I am out of the loop. I’ve discovered I don’t really care. I am taking a coursera course instead, and doing more paid writing.
I follow a few blogs on facebook (like yours). It is the easiest way I have found now, but not all the blogs I like have facebook pages too.
If by a “snippet” system you mean what slate.com has done to their home page–I hate it. I go to their site much less now, it is such an ugly and confusing mess of black type! white type! skinny column! wide column! Outlines! Fills! No way to tell what is new and what is not. Just an ugly mess. I’m also not clear on how this would mesh with your facebook feed?
Hey Dree – I too use Bloglovin’ and the things you are complaining about can all be changed in the “Settings” tab. All you need to do is hover over the small icon profile picture on the top bar then select “Settings.” From there you can select to not receive an e-mail under Notifications and to not have the Bloglovin’ frame included in your viewing under the Other area. I hope the changes help!
There are a ton of us who need to update our About Me pages! I wish I could just answer questions instead of having to write about myself in general. But that’s just me being silly and shy, I suppose!
For me, I like scrolling through my Bloglovin’ app because it’s easy for me on the phone, but I never used Google Reader anyways. My friend says the same thing as you gals that she just doesn’t keep up with reading her blogs anymore since the reader went down. 🙁
I’m not a fan of the snippet look. I find it hard to navigate when I haven’t been able to read regularly/daily. But the thing that really bothers me is when there isn’t a link to the previous/next post on each post. I HATE having to go back to the home page to find the next link, etc. Easier to keep going through with the older post button. I think I like the full post {or full first post then truncated posts}because it is a much homier look to the blog. I get a better idea on what each post is about and if I should bother reading it. But that is probably the reason most people are changing to get a more “preofessional” or streamlined look. I prefer to think that the bloggers are my friends that I can check in with once a day. 😉
I’m a newbie blogger (since April) and I read my blogs via bloglovin on my phone. That has proven the only not chaotic way to keep up with the blogs I follow. My Facebook page is slowly getting traction but boy is hard to keep up socially with twitter, google, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. If it wasn’t for my phone I would probably wouldn’t blog or read any blogs. I think bloglovin will become huge… Newbie opinion 😉
love reading all these different opinions. and i love your blog. just saying. :)))
Fun post! I like reading about your thought process. Personally I love the full posts (and hate the snippets). I have fast internet, but due to the large numbers of graphics and video, loading each post separately sometimes took a very long time (if I missed a couple of days of reading and tried to catch up). I go straight to the blogs I read, so I don’t have an opinion on the readers. I love your personal stories on your sponsered posts. It’s fun to see your family trying new things. (I think my kids would love it!) Love, love, love your blog. It’s a great way to stay in touch.
interesting post today. I wondered what happened to your blog and did a search and since it has been so long since I heard from you decided to subscribe again (via email) and got the message that I am already a subscriber. Perhaps this would be a clue why you are getting so few comments. We are not receiving anything to respond to.
weird! I’m checking into this for sure! Thanks for the heads up!
I’ve got all kinds of thoughts. First, I like post after post. If I have to click through little snippets, I usually won’t. I use bloglovin and I like it, particularly that it shows which posts I haven’t read and that I can mark them as read if they don’t interest me so they don’t keep showing up. I like to comment but if I comment several times and receive no response, I usually don’t bother anymore. Ads don’t bother me at all. I don’t find them inappropriate or intrusive and occasionally click on them. I strongly dislike sponsored posts and typically skip them or close them as soon as I know what they are. I understand the perks but would rather not spend time reading them. As for updates, your content is what keeps me coming back. I love the tutorials and ideas you share, and hope you continue to do so both by updating and adding new content. Sorry if this seems way to opinionated but I figured you asked so I’d give lots of input.
I think I posted this on FB, but I like the “half posts” vs. just the first paragraph. I did that on my blog since i tend to have really really long posts and the load time was getting to be too much if I wanted 5-8 posts on the homepage. So now I do the first few paragraphs and images so that you can actually start reading the post.. and then click over for the entire thing.. Or skip to the next. I don’t like snippets so short that you don’t know exactly what the article is about.
I need to update my About Me page too.. but it is so much more fun to write about projects than myself!
FWIW I love your blog.. and as long as you are happy with it, I am sure I will be too!
I read thru bloglovin and try to turn off frames since it is annoying. I am not a big commenter since I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to reply to anything I post. I tried feedly for a while too, but I stuck with BL since it seemed like it was more popular and don’t want to have to move readers again (if Feedly goes under)
As for Ads/Sponsored posts.. Since I’m a blogger I totally understand you. I struggle with similar things. I don’t want to feel like a ‘sell out’ but I love having a little income to do bigger and better projects and can use it to create even more content down the line. And I totally agree.. if you stay on topic and relevant, sponsored posts CAN be quality content.
When it comes to readers I think people scattered and it’s hard to see those numbers. I use Net New Wire and love it but you can’t track how many people are following your blog like you can on Feedburner or Bloglovin. As for comments I hear you. In the last several months I’ve seen the number of comments on my blog drop as well as on my favorite bloggers sites. I think [eople are skimming and not stopping to comment. If you figure out how to reconnect I would love to see a post on that. It’s an issue many pepole are having.
This is an unexpected post because you are to me a top blogger that knows what she’s doing. Love all your ideas and can’t believe you offer so many each week. Maybe you’re not getting many comments because more people are reading with their phones and it is a hastle to type one up? Also, you explain everything well enough that there are no questions. I like seeing an entire post instead of snipets. Also, I do not like sponsored posts, but understand why you’d do them, plus you type them up pretty well with stories.
I definitely prefer full posts on a page. I don’t like having to click to keep reading. More often than not I just skip past. As for feed readers, I like Feedly. I tried several before Google Reader went away and Feedly was my favorite. I was not a fan of Bloglovin at all, mostly because I find the name slightly annoying. I don’t know, weird personal quibble. As for ads and sponsored posts, I am all for them! You definitely deserve some payback for all the awesome work you do. I appreciate when bloggers try to avoid pop-ups and annoying video ads as well.
I use Bloglovin’ but I’m not lovin’ it. Maybe I need to weed out the blogs I don’t really read all that much. Mostly I follow along with blogs via Facebook and Instagram. And I don’t always read every post (who has the time!) but if its something i’m interested in, I click through. In terms of layout — have you seen Nutmeg Nanny’s layout? I really like that layout for an alternative to post after post after post. But I have no strong feelings either way
I was just on the website “Our Best Bites” and the thought crossed my mind that you might have the best of both worlds for your posts!! They have the first post a full read and then the rest are just a highlighted tidbit. I personally would like that better than having to click all the time to read the first one. Because if I am keeping up on your blog, then the only one I’m really wanting to read is the latest one. Then if I haven’t had the chance to catch up, I have the option of going to that main page. Just a thought!! It seems more like something I would like to do for myself. 😉
good point!
This is actually just want I want to do – one full post, the rest snippets – – but I’m on Blogger, and looking into it, it doesn’t seem to be an option…
I think you are doing a great job! As far as what you site has snippets or long posts it doesn’t much matter to me. I always read in a reader anyway. I do get annoyed if I don’t get a ‘full post’ in my reader, but yours is doing that just fine! I use Feedly and I LOVE it! Keep doing what you’re doing! I’ll be sure to comment more…. ya know, to click out of my reader is SO hard because I’m SO lazy. =)
I don’t mind the ads but sponsered posts to me are nothing but junk and I will never read them. I actually perfer snippets because it’s easier to skip over the sponsered posts and get to the posts I actually want to read.
I love your blog and think you are doing a great job. I have actually used some of your advice to start my own blog. Obviously, I am very new and still learning…and definitely have a long long way to go. But any time a blogger that I read posts something about “blogging” itself, I love it. Any little bit of insight helps, so thanks.
As a blog reader I hate truncated posts (I never click through) but as a blogger I love how clean and organized it looks! I also only read blogs on my phone (mostly through the feedly app) and so leaving a comment is not as easy. I don’t think that every sponsored post needs a regular post. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the sheer number of posts gathering in my unread pile and I just avoid them. Love your stuff though and demerit recommend trying feedly on for size!
I switched to Feedly when my beloved Google Reader shut down. The free service doesn’t allow for searching, which was pretty helpful, but all in all, I’d give it an 8/10.
As for the snippets vs the full post… I typically only read via Feedly, so I rarely click through to a snippetted (is that a word??) post. But I can see why you’d do that!