writing – New England's Narrow Road

Revisiting an Old Blog Means Lots of Organizing

Little house-misty field — The Little Red House

As I prepare to write again on this blog, I am seeing just how horrible I used to be at writing.

Blogging for me has been a huge learning experience and whenever I see old posts of mine, I cringe. Tags are horrible, links are missing, categories don’t make sense, and photos are not placed well, if they show at all. Some posts have bad links and some writing is so bad it should be deleted.

I was learning. Like anything in life that is new to us, doing it over and over usually makes us better at it. I’d like to think I have advanced in my writing and blogging skills over my years of posting at my various websites and blogs.

What I didn’t know, but do now is that links are good. Outside links and links to pages and posts within a blog are good for SEO. Bringing readers is what we want after all, right?

I suppose some people have plenty of family and friends who read their blogs and that is fine. Some photography blogs I follow have little text yet they have loads of likes and comments. Supposedly you must write good content to place well in the searches for subjects. And that content should be at least 300 words.

I’ve never been much on keywords, since I believe in simply writing about my subject matter in the best way I know how. But tagging is important and many of my posts here have horrible tags. Almost none of my posts link to each other, and I can’t even find subjects to read about when searching my own blog! That is not good.

So I’m organizing this blog just like I organized my Seashell blog not long ago. Categories can be removed, but first the posts have to be directed to other categories… but they are almost all bad. This will take time.

No one I actually know reads my blogs. I have come across some very nice fellow bloggers who run sites I truly enjoy visiting. Mostly they are photographers, artists and gardeners. And they visit me and leave comments (thank you!). I don’t have family or friends who keep up with my blogs, and that is fine. Blogging can take you around the world, where you will find nice people who show you great things. It’s partly why I do it.

Don’t just write… visit others who write about subjects that interest you. Leave comments and maybe they will become a dear online friend.

(Photo at the top is of the Anchorage restaurant on Lake Sunapee.)

Time to Try New Blogging Techniques

blogging, writing, — Making Time to Blog

There comes a time when I say to myself; either do it or don’t. Decide already and move on! It’s been that way with blogging for a while now for me. My online business keeps me very busy, and since it’s my bread and butter, I am disciplined and do it every day. I even work weekends, so I have no problem with the design part of my business. That is because I enjoy it, mostly. I never run out of ideas for designs to try on various products I sell. But that is the easy part of my business. Promotion is a big part, and that means writing, as in blogging.

Often I will enjoy writing. When an idea is born and takes flight, I can write and write. Too bad most of those ideas come in the middle of the night when I know I will forget them by morning. However, I now have a new iPhone, and as I’m learning how to take advantage of it’s apps, I see that I can “speak” a message. How about telling my phone, using the notes app, about my great ideas? No pen and paper and lights on in the night required. Just my groggy voice speaking my idea into the phone. (I knew I needed an iPhone!)

After reading The Daily Post article on blogging “Three Thoughts on Sustainable Blogging Resolutions” I was inspired to make some changes in my attitude about blogging. It doesn’t’ matter that I don’t plan to do exactly what the writer suggested, reading the article was enough to make me realize that I need to do something productive. And as it goes with my design work, the end product will probably be a lot different than I visualize in the beginning. My new attitude is positive!

My excuses for not blogging range from no time, to no inspiration. I don’t write because I feel like it will fall flat. What is the point of writing something that is horribly boring and dull. Who wants to read that? So here is my solution. Although I realize that a good, long post is what helps in the rankings, not every post needs to be a masterpiece (according to my scale). I love photos, and when the weather is good I tend to take a lot of photos myself. It’s easy and fun to share photos, whether they are my own or borrowed from a public domain site, like Pixabay. A short post with a nice photo can fill in the gaps between my big stories.

So there you have it. These are just a couple of new ideas I plan to follow going forward. This is not my only blog, so I will have to do it times 5, but I am hopeful that the days to follow will bring better posts. And with that, I will be a more focused blogger.

Not Stopping, Just Moving

I am not stopping writing.

In fact I write at these other blogs that seem to get views without me trying so hard.

Seashells by Millhill

This is about my life in Florida, what I learned when I lived there and the shells I collected. Kind of an educational / travel ideas place.

Hydrangeas Blue

I am becoming a hydrangea expert! I grow them, photograph them, and make a living (partially) from designing with their images. I love to garden, so this is a fun blog for me.

Sandpiper Wedding

Beach wedding stuff.

This all keeps me busy and I’d love it if you’d continue to visit me at these places.

Thank you!