Choosing the right blog name

As you can tell by the lack of blog posts last week, I had a pretty busy work and social life. 

It has been a while since I posted my Monday blog advice posts but I think its time to bring them back as I did have great feedback on them so there here to stay, today's topic is all about choosing the best blog name.

William Shakespeare once wrote "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet", this may work for a rose Bill but not for a blog!
The first thing you do when starting a blog is of course think up the title, this however can be tricky. The very first blog that I started was all over the place design wise but it also had a pretty horrible blog name wish I had rushed into and began to hate fairly quickly.
Thankfully as I learnt how to use code and played around more with blogger I was to play around with blog names and blog title images until I finally developed and created the blog you are currently reading. I noticed that once I changed my title from Trials and Tribulations of Gi (a lifestyle blog) to The Hunt Life (a lifestyle / vegan / advice blog) I noticed a large increase in new blog followers and daily page views.
The following are some tips that I picked up when re branding my blog.......

Lets be honest here, no one likes a ridiculously long title, especially when the title is the same as the domain name (which it should be to help to brand your blog more) which when typed in iphone browsers make it harder to check what you have posted. Having a blog domain hosted by blogger which adds on a .blogspot.com makes it even longer again.

I would suggest buying your own domain so you have full control over it, I purchased mine from Godaddy,  but am waiting for the 60 days to hurry up and finish already so I can change it over, I can't wait for it to be exclusively www.the-hunt-life.com, having a domain listing the same as your blog title makes it far easier for people and google to find your page.

Consider what you post about, do you specifically write about recipes, fitness, blog advice, lifestyle, family, DIY or a mix of a few different subjects. You don't want to pick a blog name like Mother Helper and then post blog advice, as the majority of your readership will be heading on over assuming you have a blog about motherly life. 

Make sure your title reflects what you wish to post about, I like to put myself in the lifestyle category because I post a little bit of everything so I created The Hunt Life title because that's my name which gives a more personal feel and because it allows me to post whatever I like as its all related to my life somehow. This also means that if I wish to over hall my blog content I am not confined to posting certain topics.

Blogging fads come and go so titling your blog after a fad of the moment is of course always a bad idea. The same principal can be held with sayings, imagine if blogs had been around in the eighties I don't imagine the blog title "Its hip to be square" would still have the same charm that it may have had then, just like YOLO might seem like a fun and exciting blog name right now because your a fun-live-in-the-moment-regret-nothing-try-everything-once kind of girl but will you always be that? 
Your title needs to have staying power, who knows how long blog will last but imagine if you would still be happy with your title 10 years from now?  

Say it out loud and discuss the name with friends. If you don't tend to discuss your blog name with people you may not know exactly how you feel about when it is read at once by someone other than yourself.

If try discuss the name with friends but find yourself editing what you say or notice people immediately asking you what its about then take a step back and think if this is how the title is discussed then surely it will be far more complicated when browsing and googling blogs by title.

Play around with the font and style you wish to use for your blog title, when I first changed my blog to The Hunt Life I failed to notice how distracting and hard to read the cursive became when there was a lower case f in the title, of course after I started playing around with design I soon picked up on the issue and completely changed the style of font to ensure it was easier to read.

Above are just a few examples of how different font titles can completely change the feel the blog, I wanted a sleek and sophisticated title with a little bit of flare so I pared a clean font with a bold cursive font which I think makes the title easier to read but emphasis Hunt. I am sure you will find that most of your favourite bloggers have sleek easy to read titles that draw your attention when you first view the page but do not distract you whilst you start reading.

Follow what your heart says and pick a name. At the end of the day the name is only one part of your blog, the most important part is content so as long as you are creating content that you believe in and that you enjoy writing and reading then your readership will improve.
I hope that has given you a few helpful tips for creating a blog name.
What is your best tip for creating a great blog title? Have you changed you blog title before and noticed a increase in readers?

My Husband hates my blog?

Okay so maybe Hate is too strong a word but there is certainly some dislike towards my blog! He tries to hide his true feelings whenever I am doing anything blog related but I see his roll of the eyes or hear is quiet hmmmmm. I'm sure he can't be the only husband out there that has these feelings about their wife's relationship with their blog.

So what are the main gripes my husband has with my blog.....
.....the whole house maybe trashed and piles of laundry may be stacked on one side of the table but the other side of the table where the afternoon light comes in perfectly and the set up looks great is always spotlessly clean and ready for blog photos. 
......he has to wait 10 to 15 after I have cooked dinner while I take 1500 photos of the plates to try and fine the perfect recipe picture.
.....I stay up till all hours of the night reading books for the monthly book club which keeps him up.
.....I paid someone to redesign my whole blog and changed it again 6 months later.
.....I wake up in the middle of the night with blog post idea's and have to turn on the lights to write everything down before I forget.
.....I can't go out for dinner without kneeling on my chair trying to get the best bird eye view of dinner, apparently this is embarrassing.
.....I spend extra money on products that I want to use for my blog.
.....My make up and outfits are constantly changing to keep up with current trends so I may spend more than we can afford.
.....I occasionally create recipes that don't get eaten and end up sitting in the fridge going bad waiting for him to clean the fridge out on the weekend.
.....I take 1 million and 1 photos of interesting and odd things whenever I am out.
.....If my phone dies I commander his phone for photos.
....I take photos of him when he doesn't think he looks alright because I want to post about him.
.....I spend hours talking to him about blog idea's, recent posts I read and loved and anything blgo related.
All in all my husband is very understandable when it comes to my blog, I feel that if he can put up with all of this and not say something then he might just be a keeper.
How understanding is your husband/ boyfriend or your blog? Do you think he's issues are granted?

How to make a gif

I don't know about you but I personally love gifs, I think they give a little something extra to posts and are pretty fun. When I first started blogging I had no idea how gifs where made at used to marvel at the must-be-geniuses behind them, recently I have learnt how to make my own gifs thanks to a awesome little website GIFFYSNAP.

Just upload the images you want to turn into a gif, arrange them the way you want, adjust the image size, adjust the animation speed and create it. Then grab the code and up load it to your blog, super simple and super easy to use.

Do you use Gifs? What do you think of Giffysnap?

Top Blogging Blunders

When I first started out blogging I made many "blunders", I posted more of what I would call diary entries than actual thought out posts. I spent hours blogging to no readers and had really no idea what I was doing wrong or right for that matter. Here are a few blunders I made hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

Switching points of view (POV) Throughout posts I would start writing them from first person POV and somewhere along the lines it would transition to third person POV, this made anything I wrote hard to follow and created a disjoint from me and the reader. I now focus on maintaining first person POV, I would suggest this POV as it is easier for readers to follow and creates more of a personal connection to the post.
Ignoring social media When I first started I honestly had no idea how twitter worked and thought facebook was only for personal use, somewhere along the lines I noticed that all my favourite bloggers where constantly tweeting, facebooking, pinteresting, google+ing and using every other available social media platform to get their new blog post noticed. Since creating a social media presence I have noticed a increase in views and new readers, I even created a printable daily blog planner to ensure I don't forget any of my platforms.
Maintaining a Anonymous Blog I am sure that I was not the only one who began writing posts under a nickname and not including any traceable knowledge of who I was, I thought that people I knew would be able to find my blog and whilst I wasn't embarrassed about what I was writing I just didn't want my family and friends reading it. I soon realized this was ridiculous, no one will be able to find my blog unless I tell them about it and how would my readers be able to relate to what I wrote if I stayed anonymous? 
Unreadable fonts Whilst it may be fun and exciting when you first start out to use all sorts of different crazy fonts this can be distracting and hard to read. It is also important that you choose a font size that is big enough to read comfortably but isn't overly large, you don't want readers squinting to read your posts but you also don't want readers craning their necks back to read either.
Hectic header graphics Playing around with headers is important, you want the header of your blog to represent the theme of your blog but at the same time it should be clear and readable. When I first worked out how to create my header the whole thing was horrific, I used a graphic space them with a very cursive title and 6 small images of myself in the title, this meant that it was to read the title and there was no main focus. I now stick to a very simple and classic image as I want my blog to feel timeless and elegant.
Writing novels of text It can be easy when you are writing something you are passionate about to write and write and write without creating any page breaks or paragraphs. I find as a reader this is overwhelming and I end up skipping half the post because I feel bombarded, just placing a few spaces between paragraphs and breaking the text up can completely change the feel of your post and make it far more enjoyable for a reader.
Central text alignment I like many others thought it looks pretty cool having my text in a central alignment, I thought it made it stand out against the blogs that always kept their text in a standard left alignment. It wasn't until I started reading a few other blogs that also had a central alignment that I realized just how difficult it was to follow each sentence when they where all over the page. As soon as I noticed the issue I high tailed it back to my template and left aligned all my text.
Well those are the main blogging blunders that I managed to discover and fix throughout my last few years as a blogger, there are many others that I am sure I still continue to do and in another year I am sure I will be posting part 2 of blogging blunders with those listed.
What do you think of my blunders? Do you have any blunders that should be included?

Top Free Fonts

Picking fonts can be a make or break decision on your blog, blog titles with interesting fonts can help drive traffic to your site but hard to read fonts can deter readers from your blog so it is a very fine line. I am currently favoring Quicksand as a font because it is clear, ledge-able and also has a classic feel to the lettering which is exactly the way I want my blog to feel.

Here are a few free fonts which I think are not only interesting but are also pretty easy to read, I have also included the sites to download these fonts from.

// American Horror Story // Sofia // CF Old Photography Credit // Clippers Script // Fine College // Sail // KG Happy //  // Quicksand // Lilly Belle // Moon Flower //
What do you think about these fonts? What is your favourite fonts? Do you have any suggestions?

Balancing blogging and working

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go"

- Rumi

The hardest thing about running a blog and working full time is trying to find balance. I occasionally feel that blogging is cutting into my working time to much or blogging is taking a back seat to work. I am sure that is the same with most bloggers out there, that is why I often take simple steps to keep me organized and make sure I am managing my time between working and blogging correctly.
Book time frames in like you would a business meeting. I get home from work at around 5:30pm so from 5:30pm till 6:30pm my husband knows that this time is blogging time and he doesn't bother me unless there is a emergency. Sunday afternoons from 2:30pm till 5pm are also normally booked out for blogging, this way I can really spend time organizing posts and creating the perfect pictures without feeling rushed.
Use downtime to check emails and social media. In  the mornings I usually have a few minutes before I drag myself out of bed, during that time I jump on my phone and reply to any emails or tweets that I have. Most likely TMI here but I also use bathroom breaks through out the day to also check social media and emails to make sure I haven't missed anything vital whilst working.
Prioritize  I am a slight stress-er, always have been always will be, someday's I can start to feel slightly overwhelmed by it all but normally it is because I have been wasting my time with things that aren't really important or urgent and then suddenly everything that is both important and urgent piles up on me. A good way to stop this happening is to use the Eisenhower Method, dividing your task between 4 different quadrants to evaluate which tasks need to be done and when. These quadrants are divided up into Urgent & Important which are normally time sensitive and to be done immediately, Important & Not Urgent which are usually things that are not time sensitive but need to be done when you get the chance, Urgent & Not Important which are normally task that have to be dealt with but can be delegated to someone else or a later date and finally Not Urgent & Not Important which are tasks that are complete time wasters and should be removed from you daily tasks. Below is a basic overview of task I need to complete with work and my blog and the quadrants they belong too:

Calender  Plan out a month of blog posts in advance, this way you don't have to rack your brain for post ideas. I created my own 2015 printable monthly calender which I keep stuck on my fridge at home so I can see at a glance what each day's post topic is, this way I can check what post I need to write about that day using either my laptop, work computer, ipad or iphone.  Have a set topic theme for certain days of the week ie Wednesday DIY or Thursday Recipes. Colour code each theme to make it easier to read, the colour code I use for my themes is simple Blog Advice are Purple,  Personal Posts are Orange, DIY's are Blue, Recipes are Green, 5 for Friday posts are Yellow and Weekend Roundups are Pink.

2015 Printable Calender
Brain Storm blog idea's Whenever you get a free moment sit down and brainstorm blog idea's, keep note pad by your bed at night and jot down anything that pops into your head. If you are reading a blog post and you think you would like to write about something similar then jot it down, this will help when you are sitting down trying to plan a month's worth of blog post's.
Draft posts On Sunday afternoon's I often sit down with a big cup of tea and start drafting up posts for the week, I write the bones of the each day's blog post so I can come home after work each day fill in the rest of the post and hit publish without spending half my night writing. I also write draft posts and save them for a rainy day when I don't have any inspiration to blog but I still want to post something. Drafting posts is one of the most important parts of blogging.
Schedule Schedule Schedule! Scheduling posts is a life saver when you know that you wont have time to blog that day. To be a successful blogger it is all about consistent reliable posts and scheduling posts can help you maintain this. If you are planning a trip away it is always a good idea to schedule a few posts before you leave, you may notice that your favourite bloggers will go away and yet they will still post new content which are more often then not scheduled posts. If work seems to be piling up on you one week and your really don't have time to write then schedule some of your draft posts to give your viewers something to read.

How do you balance work life and blog life? Do you have some tips that I should use?

Free Printable Daily Blog Planner

"success is dependent on effort" - Sophocles
I am sure that it is glaringly obvious by now that I love to be organised, I feel that organisation is the key to being successful. Last month I bought you my Free Printable 2015 Calender so its only fair that this month I bring you my Free Printable Daily Blog Planner.
I created this planner as my daily go to when I am blogging, it helps to ensure that I cover all my blogging basics including all social media prompts on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Google+ to receive the most coverage for my post. 
I suggest printing this on A4 heavy printing card and do NOT fit to card! I have sized it to A4 so if you fit to card it will print larger than A4.

Printable Daily Blog Planner
Do you use a daily blog planner? What do you think of my planner? Will you try my planner?

SEO and Blog Images for Dummies

"Photography is the Beauty of Life Captured"

- Tara Chisholm

Let me start by saying I am a Dummy when it comes to any form of serious computer work, when I first started blogging I certainly had no idea what I was doing nor what I should be doing and the acronym SEO scared the life out of me, mainly because I really had no idea what it meant and all the successful bloggers I idolized were talking about it!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which is really just some big words bloggers use when describing how they make their blog easier to find. Most bloggers, unless they really want to keep their blog fairly anonymous, go to great lengths to make it easier for readers to find their blogs through search engines.
One of the easiest ways for people to find your blog and want to read onwards is to include beautiful Images, most people are drawn to a picture that describes what the post is about so creating a descriptive image for your post should be something you create first.
When you upload a blog post little search engine robots scour your post for topics that they can place you in on search engines. Unfortunately theses little tiny robots cannot see images they can only read text so if you want to include a beautiful picture on your post (every post should have a picture that's Blogging Rule 1) then you need to correctly label your image.
Often if you are uploading a image that you have taken with your camera the image will be labeled something that your camera has listed such as IMG_364.jpg, the search engine robots will not know what this image is therefore cannot list the image in the correct search engine. To help these robots you should change the image label to something that describes what the image is for example if the image is a fern change the image label to fern.jpg then when someone searches for a picture of a fern in google images your fern will pop up.

If you wish to title your image something that is more than one word use a Hyphen (-) to separate the words, the little search engine robots are also unable to read spaces, the image above is labeled Imaging-labels.jpg by putting the hyphen in this avoids the search engines bundling the label into Imaginglabels.jpg which would also make this image harder to find in a search engine.

Use can also use ALT Text (Alternative Text) to help label your images and make them easier to find, this can be done extremely easily in Blogger.
Firstly click on the image you wish to label, the image will become highlighted and the menu box will pop up below. Click on the "Properties" button.

A Image Properties box will pop up, to label your image just type what you wish to label the image in the ALT Text box and click Ok.

These steps are fairly simple but make a world of difference when trying to get your blog out into the world and by taking these first few easy steps you have taken your first dabble in SEO! What are your thoughts on SEO? Do you like my Tips? Do you have any Image Title tips that I have missed?

Top Free Stock Photo Websites

Don't worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop. - Jeffrey Zeldman
I love blogging, its a passion that I have and I work so hard to create beautiful blog posts but unfortunately for me, no matter how beautifully written a blog post is, it will never be perfect with out a stunning picture to go along with it. 
I am not one of those people that can take a stunning photo, I can barely take a picture that isn't blurry, so you must understand my complete and utter jealousy when I first started blogging and would read all these wonderfully written posts with stunning pictures to go along with them. Then one day I noticed that one of the pictures in a post I had loved showed up slightly altered in another bloggers post.
I queried the image with the blogger as I knew all about copyright images and I knew that this blogger would never put her blog in jeopardy by "borrowing" another bloggers image and I thought that maybe there was a secret club where great bloggers exchanged pictures, well you could imagine my surprise when she wrote to me explaining that no there is no secret bloggers picture exchange they had just both used the same free stock image....
Free stock image?????? suddenly my eyes where open.

And now while I try my best to take beautiful pictures to pair with my posts, on the days that I cannot take a picture or my sunset image is blurry and dark I scour my favourite free stock photo websites to jazz my posts up a little.
//FIRST//  Unsplash

Unsplash would have to be my all time favourite free stock photo site, the images are breath taking and they update 10 new photos every 10 days. The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
//SECOND// Jay Mantri

Jay Mantri is pretty much a stop for stock images as well, these images are mostly powerful landscapes with a high amount of black and white images and 7 new photos are updated every Thursday. The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.
//THIRD// Pixabay

Pixabay is my third point of call, the site is searchable so if I am looking for a specific topic in my image I find pixabay the best (ie looking for a desk image or cup of coffee), however a large percentage of the images do feature people in them which personally I choose not to use. Most of the images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution. However occasionally you may come across a image that is not licensed this way but they will always list the licensing next to the image underneath the different sizes you can download it in.
//FOURTH// Gratisography

Gratisography is a site I use when I am looking for a image that is a bit different, most of the images have a slight crazed feel to them but are still high quality and very appealing. All pictures are photographed by Ryan Mcguire and new pictures are added weekly. The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution but Ryan does appreciate it when attribution is listed.

//FIFTH// Snapwire Snaps

Snapwire Snaps has a wonderful bunch of images, a large percentage of the images do feature people in them which can add extra personality to your post, I normally chose images that do not feature a face because I think they translate better into my posts, 7 new images are uploaded every 7 days.
Most of the images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution. However occasionally you may come across a image that is not licensed this way but they will always list the licensing underneath the image.
//SIXTH// Foodies Feed

If I am looking for food images then there really is only one place to go, Foodies Feed is full of amazing images taken by Jakub a food and photography enthusiast. Most images are free however some are listed in a premium package that must be purchased. All images are completely copyright free, you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution but Jakob does appreciate it when you mention Foodies Feed.

//SEVENTH// Life of Pix

The life of Pix has a wonderful arrangement of different images, there are divided up in a gallery and listed in themes Beach, Black & White, City, Construction, Desk, Food, Industrial, Nature, Object, Sea and Textures. The site has a great mix of images with and without people. New images are added weekly.

All images are completely copyright free, you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.

//EIGHTH// Little Visuals

Little Visuals is a smaller stock image website but the images are still breath taking, they post all sorts of different images from close ups to large landscapes. 7 images are updated every 7 days and you can sign up with email to receive all 7 images delivered to your inbox each week.

The images are licensed under the Creative Common's Zero which means that you can use them as you please, copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission or providing attribution.

Well that is my go to list if I am ever in desperate need of great stock images.

Do you use any of these websites?

Do you have any suggestions to add to my list?

Top 10 Blog Post Ideas

You can't be blocked if you just keep on writing words. Any words. 

People who get 'blocked' make the mistake of thinking they have to write good words.

- Martha Grimes

I love writing, I have always loved writing which is why I work so hard to maintain a blog whilst working full time. Some days it can be difficult, I can get home exhausted and not feel like blogging, not feel like I have anything of value to put out into the world. It's days like that which I like to keep a list of post ideas to draw from, when I feel uninspired I can find a topic, set myself up at the laptop and just let my fingers do all the work. 
Here are my Top 10 Blog Post Ideas for Bloggers Block:
//FIRST// Recipes Recipes should be your first go to when struggling for a post idea. Not sure what to write, cook up your families favourite dinner whilst photographing your cooking steps, upload the photos and cooking instructions and there you have dinner and a post all at once. 
//SECOND// DIY's Lets face it everyone love's a good DIY project, whether its a DIY face mask or DIY Bedroom Decor someone somewhere will want a tutorial for it. Struggling to find the right DIY then check pinterest, your DIY failed miserably then post a Pinterest fail post. No matter what type of DIY you create, readers will read it.
//THIRD// Embarrassing Personal Stories People love to follow blogs that they can relate too, the most relateble posts are normally centered around embarrassing personal stories. Struggling for a post idea, write about last weeks trip to the grocery store with the large hole in the back of your gym pants or the time you surprised hugged your best friend only to realize it wasn't her. 
//FOURTH// Guest Posts Guest posts are a wonderful way to switch up your posts, don't have any sponsors to guest post then why not ask your husband/ boyfriend/ sister/ best friend, why not even get a pet to guest post. 
//FIFTH// OOTD Outfit Of The Day posts are great when you are in a time crunch and need to post something quick but still interesting on the blog. Don't feel comfortable posting a picture of your outfit on your blog then why don't you post dream outfit using Polyvore to create a look that you can only dream about.
//SIXTH// Your Favourite Bloggers I am always on the look out for new and wonderful blogs to follow and I am sure I am not the only one. Why not create a post linking to your favourite bloggers or posts that you find inspirational or important. I am sure the bloggers you link to will appreciate the extra traffic and your readers will enjoy reading what you find inspirational.
//SEVENTH// Blind Date with your Readers Write a post about yourself in a style similar to a Blind Date, these types of posts can be fun and also informative for your readers. Have you had a influx in new followers or has it been a while since you wrote about yourself, then use this conversational style of writing to fill your followers in on who the writer behind the blog is and use this platform to ask readers a bit about themselves.
//EIGHTH// Day In The Life Set up your camera and get snapping, readers like to sneak a peak at what makes their favourite bloggers tick so create a post that gives a little insight into your daily life. These types of posts are best when they are picture heavy without too much text.
//NINTH// Blog Advice Do you have any tips or tricks that you wish you knew when you first started blogging? Are you a wiz at creating blog titles or do you have think you know everything there is about SEO? Blog about that, most bloggers are self taught and constantly on the look out for ways they can better their blogs, if you think you have any form of advice that could help out another blogger out there than write about that.
//TENTH// Lists If all else fails then write a post centered around a list, these types of posts can be life savers when you are completely stuck for ideas. Just pick a topic and start writing down as much or as little as you want about it. Lists are easily viewable for readers and can help give substance to a otherwise boring topic.
What do you think about my blog post ideas? What would you recommend for a blog post?

5 Tips for better blogging in 2015

Can you believe that 2015 is already upon us?!?!

January is the perfect time to sit down, plan, organize and create goals for the year. This year The Hunt Life will be focusing on increasing the regularity and creating better content posts. Below is a list of 5 tips that will be used throughout the year to fill this blog goal.

//FIRST// Organisation Plan out a month of blog posts in advance, this way you don't have to rack your brain for post ideas. I use Google Calender, this way I can check what post I need to write about that day using either my laptop, work computer, ipad or iphone.  Have a set topic theme for certain days of the week ie Wednesday DIY or Thursday Recipes. Colour code each theme to make it easier to read, the colour code I use for my themes is simple Blog Tips are Purple, Weekly Stories are Red, DIY's are Blue, Recipes are Green, 5 for Friday posts are Yellow and Think Pink Sunday posts are Pink. Blog link ups are great for weekend posts, you can really promote previous blog posts that you love.

Not showing the colour coding.

//SECOND// Social Media 

Now days Social Media drives our lives and in order to keep upto date with blog followers you must optimize your accounts. Try linking accounts together, every time I upload a picture to Instagram, create a status on Facebook or pin something to Pinterest I automatically tweet the same picture and description to Twitter. Be sure to visit followers social media accounts too, its easy for followers to feel ignored.

//THIRD// Image Titles

There is no point taking a stunning picture, spending a hour photo-shopping the correct lighting only to upload the image to your blog and find out that it cannot be found in Google Image Search. To create a searchable image either change the title of the saved image to a description of the image before uploading (ie an image of blueberries originally titled IMG3574 changed to Blueberries) or you can upload the picture to your post, click on the properties button and type the description in the ALT Text Bar. I would suggest using small and descriptive words.

//FOURTH// Stock Photos

Taking beautiful photo's for a post can be hard some days when you are busy working. A quick search for a image may seem like a good idea but posting any image that you have not taken yourself or do not have approval from the original source is stealing and can lead you into some serious legal trouble. To avoid any unnecessary issues you can use free stock photos provided by kind websites, my favourite would have to be Unsplash it has stunning images that you can use as you like, the below is one of their standard stock images, I will be posting a list of Stock Photo websites later in the month.

//FIFTH// Switch Things Up

Post things that are out of your comfort zone, if you constantly post recipes throw a few beauty tip posts in through out the month. Readers want a little bit of everything so don't feel trapped into your general content, remember its your blog post what you want.

That is my 5 Tips for Better Blogging in 2015, stick around and see how I implement these tips through out the year.

Did you find my tips helpful?

What is your best blogging tip?