Aug 10, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for advice, feedback, and friendly blogging chatter.

Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63057306@N04/5734415538">Beachfront Solutions</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

Have you just published a new post and are dying for some feedback? Did you recently start your blog and could use some layout or design advice from your more seasoned peers?

Tap into the wisdom of The Daily Post blogging community and leave your question here in the comments. Others can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips you might find useful:

TIP: To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.

  • While you’re not required to, we encourage everyone who requests feedback to also reply to at least one or two other bloggers who need some help. Spread the love!
  • The Community Pool comments section can get quite big — and starting duplicate threads doesn’t help. Thanks for not posting the same question more than once!
  • If you’re looking for quality feedback, be as specific as you can. Questions about a particular post tend to draw more comments than ones about entire blogs. Questions about specific design elements are more likely to be answered than ones asking for general layout advice.
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  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
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  2. Hello. I’m Scott. I run Herman’s Neutics (http://hermansneutics.com). I recently took a two week break from blogging. During that time, my Facebook Group Page and the blog itself posted a picture that said I was “Gone Fishin'” and that I would be back August 10th. Naturally, traffic dropped significantly (I am still a first-year blogger). My question to anyone who’s smart on these things is, did I handle thatright? Should I have Hootsuited a whole bunch of archives in my absence? What say you? Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Ben, that’s exactly the sort of feedback I have been looking for. Thank you so much and God bless.

        Like

  4. Hey everybody! I’ve recently created a blog to help inspire and motivate myself in boosting my self-esteem levels, which I am continuing to do by creating and accomplishing many goals for myself. Some of these goals include my health and fitness, as well as my travels, hobbies and whatever else that makes me happy. Lately I’ve been posting about my desire to become a stronger runner, and eventually achieving a full 5K, 1oK, half-marathon, and at some point, running a full marathon. However, there are some workout and fitness struggles that I endure, and would really appreciate my fellow community (especially you women, and men, runners out there) to give me some tips and advice!

    Much appreciated!

    See, this blog already pushes me

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Hi netizens, I have started blogging a few months. I would like the community to review the quality of blogs I have posted for the last few months. I need someone who can guide me. Till now, I have been doing things on my own, also from whatever is available in the blogsphere. I expect to make it big in future.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. I am very new to blogging I have a vision on what I want my blog to be and where I eventually want it to go. Here and with other social media. As a new blogger I am sure i am missing things and do not even know it if any of you could take a look at Trippingvittles.com and offer any advice i would appreciate it. Thanks so much.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. hi there – i really dig the look of your blog and visually it is quite stunning and just the general layout is good as well – i notice that none of your side menus seem to be inhabited at all – i would start with your ABOUT page as that gives someone an idea of who you are and what you are about. Having empty pages there can be detrimental as people are put off when they click a link and nothing is there. So once you get those filled in i think it will be great as you really have chosen a good theme and put it to great use.

      Keep going
      love brett fish

      Like

    2. I like the main content, but Brett’s right – the content listed in your menus are just empty pages, even the About page. You’ll want to get those filled out ASAP, or make them invisible until you are able to fill them out.

      Like

  9. Hello everyone! I started my blog a few weeks ago and intended it to be a mix of beauty and lifestyle. However, I have found myself going in a far more personal direction; feeling far more inspired by things that have been weighing on my mind or that I need to rant about than anything beauty related! Two of these more personal/commentary posts are linked below; the first about virginity, and the second about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Please give one (or both!) of them a read and let me know if you think this is a style I should continue with. Any other feedback you feel you’d like to share about my blog would also be greatly welcomed 🙂 Many thanks!

    http://themagpieagenda.com/2015/08/11/the-virginity-complex-having-it-losing-it-and-wanting-it-back/

    http://themagpieagenda.com/2015/08/04/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-welcome-to-the-cysterhood/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. hi Victoria, thanks for sharing. Left some words on your About page. i’m not sure if it;s just me but i prefer a blog where the front page has you jumping right into posts which might be a Theme thing so maybe try experimenting with different themes as you can test the look before you change anything and it will show you what your blog will look like.

      Otherwise it takes too long and too many clicks for me to find your first post and then i will lose interest. Take a look at brettfish.wordpress.com [although i just bought a name and found a domain to host so will be moving to a website soon hopefully] for example and see that you dive straight into the posts but then i have a bunch of tabs at the top so you can follow whatever theme you are interested in.

      Here is an example of a post i wrote about the line about bread in the Lord’s prayer this last week – i hope you enjoy: https://brettfish.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/whose-bread-is-it-anyway

      Keep on though, you just need to find the style that works for you and it sometimes does take some experimenting – enjoy.
      love brett fish

      Like

    2. Hi there – thanks for giving us a glimpse – i agree with the other commenter who spoke about perhaps trying a theme oor maybe a setting that only gives a snippet of each post on the main page because when your posts are different lengths it can make it quite confusing and too busy. i personally enjoy a theme that allows you to show one post at a time [brettfish..wordpress.com for example] because it feels a little neater but there are themes like yours and setting it up so it maybe just shows the first sentence so people get a taste for what it is about and then click to read the post. That will help a lot.

      Also perhaps you can add some other tabs next to your About so that people can find older posts of yours as well – i also just noticed that your About is empty so i would edit that page and give people a brief idea of who you are and what you are about so they might choose to subscribe.

      All the best
      love brett fish

      p,s. if you don’t know how to do anything i have said you can ask in here or just google it cos there are simple explanations for most of the stuff on the google!

      Like

      2. hi brett.. thank you for your response.. appreciated it. yes i will do that, i will try to google it myself or ask someone here to be able to edit it wisely, as what i mentioned i am new to this and don’t have much idea on the whereabouts of it. thank you so much 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I feel like what you’re doing on your blog is important, keep it up. You should consider fleshing out your About page! Also, did you know that you have duplicate content in your footer?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it! I’ve been hesitant to put my story up on the “about” page because I don’t want this to be about me as much as it is about mental health in general. I am trying to find other ways to improve it though. I did not realize I have duplicate content, I will fix it! Thank you so much!

        Liked by 1 person

  14. So I’ve tried something new. It was extremely fun to write but….is it fun to read? Any insight, criticism etc is really appreciated as this is a brand new idea I’m sort of excited about. Thank you

    Like

    2. Yes! :Left some words on the blog but it is a great piece and i think you nailed the style – very good… definitely something you should give your fans more of.

      love brett fish

      Like

  15. Hello everyone, I am kind of new to blogging, and my site is pretty random right now. And its like I don’t really know if blogging is hard or if I am just making it hard, or if its just a little bit of both.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Find your passions and just go with them. Thats the first rule to enjoying blogging. If you are passionate about the subjects you choose to write about, your readers will pick up on your passion. 🙂

      Like

    2. Wow, thanks for sharing, that is a hectic piece. One piece of advice i would give is to break up your paragraphs with spaces between them as it gives the eye a bit of a break. If your writing is one long paragraph it can put a lot of people off and even with paragraphs as you have it is often more helpful to break for a line so the reader can breathe and then jump in again.

      Pictures and bold headings are also a great way to break up text so think of using more of those. The writing itself is good and it would be a shame if more people didn’t get the chance to read it.

      If you get a chance to read this one it gives an example of using both pictures and headings so see if this is something that will work for you too: https://brettfish.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/2-definitive-and-practical-ways-to-achieve-world-peace

      Just an idea
      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

  17. hello, if i want to hire writers to post articles describing my business and posting it to there websites, where on wordpress can i do this?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If you are a member of LinkedIn, there are people offering to write for 5.00 per hour. As far as finding other writers to post to their websites, network.. network… network. Begin small first.. local papers, local news etc.. Hook up with Social Media groups on Social Networks as well as Marketing groups. Good luck!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. share it on social media sites using strong key words. Twitter, google + LinkedIn and try sproutsocial.com its free for 30 days, but it can help to attract more people to your blog.

        Like

      1. Thanks so much! I will definitely look at other themes. I was just worried with overwhelming the reader with too much of a creative background hehe.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Took a look at your poetry and philosophy blog and i like it – i think the white background draws attention to your writing and as long as you have a picture or some bold print that does enough to grab someone’s attention – i think minimalism is good when it’s poetry or reflection so i would not hurry to change it.

      Have been experimenting myself with micropoetry [lots of meaning squished into few words] so take a look if you get a chance – still figuring it out i think: https://brettfish.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/micropoetry-2015

      But keep on and thanks for sharing
      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Hey Everyone!
    I am somewhat new to this blogging world. I am a military wife, love traveling, am a Christian, love fashion, fitness, DIY projects and more and I want to blog about it all! Some constructive feedback for my blog would be greatly appreciated. I would love to make a career out of blogging some day but I’m not really sure where to start and how it all works. Would love some help and support. Thanks!
    https://dwetselaar1989.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey your blog seems pretty cool, I just read a few posts. Only suggestion would be: that maybe you should try to keep them shorter to hold the interest of your reader. Or have shorter paragraphs. Love the blog name: His Boots Her Heels!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for checking out my blog 🙂 is there a general word count or length a blog post should be? I read one article that said longer posts are better so you get better content so I was going off of that, I guess?

        Like

      2. Yeah. both short and long posts have their pros and cons. There is no word count as such. Maybe you should just have shorter paras and space out the photos better. Like you have two photos side by side. Instead have them in between your paras, to serve as a visual break between text. Like in your Cambodia post you have pictures much later and then you have lots of them together. Space them out instead.

        Like

      3. Ok, I will try that more! I try to keep the pictures close to the content that is talking about them which can be tricky so I will try that! Thanks 🙂

        Like

    2. Write travel posts, like things to see.
      Try getting in touch with travel magazines to see if they are interested in publishing stories from your travels.
      Or just publish a book

      Like

      1. That’s a great idea! I’m not sure how I would go about writing a book but if you have suggestions for that I would appreciate it 🙂 thanks for your input 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Hi! It’s my first time posting at the Community Pool and I’d love your feedback about my blog 🙂 I’ve just recently made my blog and have been following the Blogging 101 series to help start me up. Feel free to come check it out at http://camelliasentry.com where I’ve just posted my latest piece titled, “Mother Knows Best?”. Thanks! ❤
    Camellia Sentry

    Liked by 2 people

  25. Hi, I’m just getting back to blogging after a long break (brain freeze). I was told my blog is well written, but should be shorter? I have read pro’s & con’s RE: Shorter blogs vs. Longer blogs and content? I would appreciate feedback. Thanks!

    Like

    1. From what i read, your blog size is perfect. It all depends on who your readers are. And you can’t predict if they will sit and read through the entire post, however you can try making the post as interesting as possible

      Liked by 1 person

  26. Hi,

    A certain thought has been eating me about my blog: Do people like reading blogs where the posts are all over the place i.e. the blog is not about a certain theme. Would you as a reader follow a blog like mine that covers a range of stuff like travel, poetry, short stories, art, philosophy, food and a whole lot of other things with no relation to the previous post. Because I have noticed that blog that have a singular theme tend to have more traffic. But then again, there are not many blogs that are like mine, so it is hard to decide.

    Like

    1. Hi!
      I read your blog and i liked it. It is covering all of the places and topics and that is things: It is a personal blog so it will. It is how life is right!
      So keep writing, if you want a single themed blog then you can always make one and link it to this 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yeah. Thanks. You just said what I keep telling my friends: life is not about one thing. Even I had thought about starting another blog, but then backed out. I guess I just needed some validation. Thanks for the feedback!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. It really depends on the reader whether they follow a single topic or a range of topics. As you have everything so neatly categorized and organized I don’t see that it’s an issue that you cover several topics.

      Like

    3. For me, I prefer blogs that are consistent with a specific topic. However, I would test it out. Try getting your blog out there and see what results you get. If you find it is not working, you can always link to your other blogs.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. Second update. After looking at your blog, I had a change of heart. I think if you get your name out there it could work for you! I like the notation, “About Everything and Nothing.” So for me, it was getting me to look at the website and then realize, “Hey this is unique.” So I would keep doing what you are doing.

      Like

      1. Do you mean I should sign off with my name or something? I actually kept the blog anonymous in the start. But then wanted go share some stuff with friends so would throw in my name sometimes. I am always confused between anonymity and putting my name out there. Only because I don’t want anybody to develop a bias because of who I might be, where I come from or whatever else.

        Like

    2. I love this idea, and the picture is great. Have you ever tried describing colors using sounds and smells and tastes? It’s really fun to do and people look at me like a lunatic when I describe a certain yellow hue as a chirping sparrow, the smell of fresh book pages, and a light essence of fresh lemon. Oh well. You seem like you’d understand, at any rate.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. First of that is an amazing description for yellow! I actually have heard of people describing colors like that but I haven’t tried it myself yet. I think I should remedy that. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  29. Hi There! I do have a lot of people going through my work. But i could really use a few remarks, criticisms and tips to help me improve. What I write about is usually abstract and almost everyone can relate to a few blogs. Others are usually based on the neglected or outcastes of our society. I really want to bring a change. Big or small. Your feedbacks would mean a lot to me!

    Let it be known!

    Liked by 1 person

    4. I find your blogs to be shocking and a reality that is not known to many. I would however add more. For example, an introduction page would be helpful to know what and why you are writing. Let the readers get to know you and what you are trying to accomplish by writing the blog. I would also add a menu with links to the different stories, etc.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. A little blah at the moment. Have you considered adding an About page? You may also want to consider adding widgets, pictures, and Read More tags for interest. Right now I’m not really sure of what I’m seeing.

      Liked by 1 person