Welcome fellow traveler in this crazy but wonderful world of blogging! Today I’m sharing 5 simple blog basics that are essential for your blog’s brand and soooo easy to implement that it is RIDICULOUS! And speaking of branding, there’s a giveaway at the end of this post for a chance to win a complete design package from Tailor Brands, that you definitely don’t want to miss out on!
1. Keep your permalinks date free.
The permalink is the URL of your post. Keeping your blog permalink date free allows you to update and republish an old blog post without changing the url (keeping all your social shares intact, ie pins, likes, etc.). It also looks much more professional. For example, which one looks better to you?
- aspenjay.com/2016/04/07/simple-blog-basics-you-need-now
- aspenjay.com/simple-blog-basics-you-need-now
The first one, is a lot longer, not as pleasing to the eye, and gets out dated fast. If you are like me, when I see a post that was published back in 2011, I’m less inclined to read it.
So how do you change your permalink settings? Pretty simple actually, in WordPress, go to Settings -> Permalinks -> click on ‘Post Name’.
And that’s it! Now you have great looking urls and are free to republish your posts.
But… what about us that have been blogging for awhile and already have many published posts? Won’t changing the url mess up links to my site? Is it too late?
Nope! There is a simple fix.
I had been blogging for almost a year using a date in my permalink when I came across a great post entitled How to Easily Redirect Permalinks in WordPress from Budget Girl. She writes on the importance of keeping your posts evergreen and then walks you through how to redirect your permalinks. It only took me a few minutes to make the changes and I’m very glad I did. My urls look sooooo much cleaner and I haven’t had any problems updating and republishing an old post.
A heads up though, when I redirected my permalinks my pin count on each blog post went to zero. Yes this was very, very sad to see. However, it did not affect the pins and links that people had pinned from my site which is much more important.
2. Have a photo of yourself by your comments.
Having your picture next to your name when leaving a comment on other blogs helps your blog look legit and makes your comment more personable by putting a face to a name. You just need to get an avatar.
I was clueless for awhile about avatars and how others photos ‘magically’ appeared when they wrote a comment. I was so excited when I finally figured it out that I wrote a tutorial on How to make your Photo Appear Next to Your Comments which takes you through the entire process. It is ridiculously simple to implement (you may be kicking yourself for not getting an avatar earlier) and only takes a few minutes.
3. Customize your favicon. Your what?!
The favicon is the little square icon that you see next to your site in the browser tabs.
If you don’t create a favicon, then your blog will receive the default image of your hosting company.
BORING!
And very unprofessional. By having your own favicon it makes it easier for your viewers to identify your site when they are jumping around from site to site and have multiple tabs open (don’t we all?). I found this tutorial on how to create a custom favicon for your blog that I definitely recommend referring to if you need help setting up your favicon.
4. Add an email signature.
As a blogger, you will be corresponding with other bloggers, followers, and clients through email. Having your own customized signature complete with social media links will help give you a more polished look.
Setting up your own personalized email signature is A LOT easier than it may seem. Believe me, I was completely daunted by this task! Then I found this tutorial on Creating a Custom Email Signature that helped me through my email signature intimidation.
5. Set up rich pins.
Rich pins are pins that include additional information about each pin–the website name, favicon, and headline. Take a look at the difference of a pin with and without having the rich pin enabled.
Makes a difference, huh?
Setting up rich pins is super simple and so beneficial to your site. First off, you must have a Business Pinterest account.
Install WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin (this is a search engine optimization plugin that I strongly recommend even if it weren’t for rich pins). Once you activate the plugin, in your wp-admin, go to:
SEO –> Social –> Facebook –> check the “Add Open Graph meta data” box and save your changes.
Next go to the Rich Pin Validator. Click on “Validate your Rich Pins” and then enter a link to one of your blog posts and click validate. You will receive a message that says:
“Your pin has been validated! Apply now.” Click on the “apply now”. Pinterest will review your application and let you know via email that you have been approved. I received my email approval in a matter of seconds but I have heard others waiting a few weeks to hear back.
That’s it! Now all your pins are fancy rich pins. 🙂
Super quick and simple blogging tasks right?
Now onto the Giveaway!
But first…
Back to the blogging basics, do you have a logo for your blog or business? Do you like it? Good design branding can be expensive, but is crucial for establishing your blog presence.
I am excited to team up with Tailor Brands to offer a giveaway for one of their design Premium Bundles (a $99 value). Tailor Brands believes that great branding should be accessible to everyone and makes it possible to get great design at an affordable price. You should definitely check out their design packages!
The Premium Bundle includes:
- 21 logo sizes
- Logo in web & print formats (PNG and EPS)
- Business card design
- Letterhead design
- Cover images for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
- Profile images for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more
- Email signature and banner images
Giveaway time! Here is your chance to win the Design Premium Bundle (a $99 value)!!!
To enter: Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway ends April 21st at 11:59pm. The winner will be chosen and notified via email within 24 hours of giveaway’s end.
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
A special thanks to Tailor Brands for providing this fabulous design package for our giveaway! I was not compensated in any way to write this post–I just wanted to offer you something awesome! 🙂
For more helpful blogging tips, check out this complete list of blogging resources.
These tips are great, they are things I haven’t seen a lot of other bloggers talk about, but I’ve been wondering how to do them. Thanks!
You are most welcome Jessica! Glad that they helped you out. It’s funny all the little things in blogging you see others have/do but you have no idea how to do it yourself!
Thank you so much for sharing! I love when I can find some real life insight into how others are making blogging look so easy! 🙂
Thank you SO much for an amazing post!!! I now have a snazzy new email signature thanks to your post! Thanks so much for sharing at Waiting on…Wednesday! Hope you’ll join us again tomorrow!
Thanks for the tips…good blog stuff that all new blogger need! I still need an email signature…better go check into that! Thanks for sharing at Welcome Home Wednesdays. See you tomorrow!
These are great tips – I’m happy to say I do most of them already. I do need to change my URLs though and I never would have thought to republish old posts like that either. Thanks! #ShareWithMe
This is so great thanks for all your amazing tips and knowledge on the url post name redirect i have been blogging about two years and wanting to change that so badly but didn’t want to break my site either. Off to hopefully fix it. now Thanks for linking up to #ShareWithMe
These tips were not your common tips.
They are so much better.
Thank you so much for providing this help. I have spent some time and changed the items you mentioned.
I now have a little anchor favicon.
Thanks again!
Useful tips, AJ! I do the 5 now, but I wish I had known them when I started blogging!
This is such a great list! I’m so happy to have this. I’ve done a couple, but have been putting off switching to non date URLs because I didn’t know how! Great tips, thanks so much! Pinning!
Thanks April! Nicely done switching out the urls! And thanks for the pin. 🙂
One thing I would add to your list is to make it easy for your readers to leave comments.
Thanks so much for the great giveaway and the chance to win that bundle!
very useful tips, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning and tweeting.
Thanks Swathi!
Great tips. I think bloggers should customize their sharing buttons to reflect their handles so they know when people share (Twitter) their posts.
That’s five amazing tips there AJ. I hadn’t given too much through to the URL string until you mentioned it. Luckily I set mine up so they wouldn’t date (unbeknown to me!) but I would have definitely considered changing them if not, you’re absolutely right about the recency thing.
Sally @ Life Loving
#LifeLovingLinkie
These are such great tips!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Lovely post! One other basic I would add: make sure you have enough clear pictures in your post and structure your posts out so they are clear and easy to read
Hi Christina! Definitely agree with your blogging basic addition! Thanks for stopping by!
Love the tips; just starting out again blogging after a year break and find the resources and information out there on how to improve your site have expanded exponentially. Definitely need to change my permalink settings, but someone who has the info on how to in Blogger. #ShineBlogHop
Thanks Candace! Good luck updating your permalinks!
These are great tips – especially the one about rich pins – I never realised they were so simple to set up. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hi Louise,
Glad to have helped! 🙂 Isn’t it crazy how simple so many of the things are to do that we see others doing… its just a matter of knowing how!
Thanks for these 5 basic steps. I just added a custom favicon 🙂
Nicely done Janine! 😀 Love your blog’s name by the way.
These are all great! I’ve done the majority, but there are a few that definitely need some attention, like getting my photo on my website 🙂 Thanks for sharing and for hosting the awesome giveaway.
Hi Ashley! You are most welcome! Excited to see your pretty face next to your comments! 🙂
Great tips! I definitely have a couple to work on. I’d that it’s vital to add a description to the alt tag of your photos, so the pin description is what you want it to be.
I’m hosting a link party and I’d love for you stop by and link up with us!
Thanks Abby! Oh, I definitely agree about the alt tag! Really helps because very few people ever customize the description when they pin images. And thanks for the invite! I’ll be there this next Tuesday! 🙂
Thanks for the tips, all great ones. We are new to blogging but slowly getting into the groove of things.
Baby steps, baby steps. 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you, Aspen Jay, for the giveaway and all the great tips and tricks. They were very detailed and easy to follow. Visiting from Chronically Content!
You are most welcome Jaime! Thanks for taking the time to comment! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much for all the information. It really is so helpful to have the questions answered that you don’t even know to ask. 🙂
Carol from WA state
Great tips! I’m going to do them…Hey BTW your post was the Most Viewed last week and will be featured tomorrow! Thanks for sharing on My 2 favorite Things on Thursday! See you again tomorrow!! Pinned!
Woot, woot! Thanks so much for the feature and pin Elaine and for hosting the link party!
Thanks for the tips! I am still a new blogger.
I had thought about changing my permalinks but wasn’t sure what to do about the posts I had already posted.
I also need to work on a few other things you talked about.
Thanks for posting the helpful info! Everything that I have learned, I learned from other bloggers and with hard work. I appreciate how helpful fellow bloggers are 🙂
Thank you for posting this, I will need to imlement some of these tips! Some I have already but it seems that you never keep up with all of it.
Great resources! I did not have a Favicon but used your tutorials to create one. Our blogging community would be blessed if you shared this great blogging how-to at the Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup.
Hi Leslie! Great job on setting up your favicon, so glad to have helped. Thanks for the invite, I’ll have to stop by on Monday! 🙂
Wow! These are great tips. I’m looking forward to getting the avatar, favicon, and email signature!
Hi Angela! Can’t wait to see your pretty face next to your comment! 🙂
Im a new blogger but I could have never gotten to the point I am so far without the help of books and group pages, so you are amazing. I was reluctant to click on your post because I figured I would already know the 5 basic things, but I was totally unaware of the perma link dates so I am glad for that info. I am not sure I have the flavicon either, so again, a very informative post!
Hi Debbie! Ha, that’s funny that the title almost sent you away! 🙂 Glad you clicked on it anyways. I’m with you, bloggers sharing their tips has helped my blog SO much! Thanks for stopping by!
What an absolutely fantastic list!!! You’ve taught me so much in this one post! I have implemented several of these already – however, I’ve got to do the signature thing and that’s what I’m doing as soon as I get done typing this.
You’ve got it rocking over here, girl. Thanks for sharing this at Tuesday Talk – I’ll be featuring this next week on my blog because ALL bloggers need to know these valuable tips!
Hi Ruthie! I like your spirit! How does your signature look? Thanks for hosting the link party!
Quick question about the permalink…is there a way to set it to do from this point forward or is it automatically retroactive?
Hi Jennifer!
Sadly the permalinks are retroactive… BUT never fear! You can redirect the old permalink address to the new one and it’s a lot easier than it sounds! You definitely will want to do in order that previous pins and shares and internal links will still work.
This post http://www.diybudgetgirl.com/how-to-easily-redirect-permalinks-in-wordpress/ helped me through the whole process when I was changing my permalinks. It’s a great tutorial!
Hi Aspen Jay! I am always a fan of how you explain things in a way that makes sense. You are is of my favorites for sure!
Pinning and sharing
Have a great week, Hugs – Jenny
Oh Jenny! You are so kind! That means a lot coming from you! Thanks for the pin! Cheers, AJ
These are great tips! I’m pinning this for sure! Thanks so much for sharing!
You are most welcome Jennifer! Thanks for the pin. 🙂
Wow, do I have a lot to learn. Do I know anything at this point? 😉 Thank you for these unique and useful tips. Have pinned to my bloggy things board! Stopping by from Tuesday Talk!
You are most welcome Elizabeth! Good luck implementing any you don’t have yet and thanks for the pin! 🙂
I love these suggestions! So simple and helpful.
Thanks Erin! 🙂
These are great tips! I would add that something as simple as carefully editing your posts can make a big difference.
Hi Kailyn,
I agree with that! Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips for blogging. I have the date post and changed it once and nothing was linking in my social media posts back to my blog so I changed it back. Will have to read the recommendation you gave and see if it helps. Thanks for sharing on Let’s Get Real Friday Party.
Hi Karen,
Oh how frustrating! I would definitely check out that post and let me know if it works alright.
Ok, it took me way longer than that to set up rich pins. If only I had read your tutorial first!
I’m sorry I didn’t have it up sooner for you Lorelei! But glad you did finally figure it out. 🙂
Great suggestions. Now I have to look resources for blogger.
Thanks Sahana! The Blogger Resources is definitely a good one too. 🙂
It’s crazy to me, but I find that I love learning more about blogging itself as well. I don’t always DO what I learn, but I like the learning part anyway. 🙂 Your suggestions are all good; the one I need to do most is to do is # 4, add an email signature. I’ll check out the tutorial today. Thanks for the advice.
Hi Lisa,
Glad to know I’m not the only one out there! 🙂 It’s hard to implement everything we learn about blogging- because there is so much out there! Baby steps I guess. 🙂 Good luck setting up the email signature today.
-AJ
These are great tips, still can’t believe I haven’t got round to doing number 5
Hi Natasha,
Today is the day to get it set up those Rich Pins! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
AJ
All sound so easy. Not sure about the date though. I am blogging to leave a legacy so if I remove the date does that mean my family will not know when I posted that blog?
Hi Debbie,
Great question! Taking the date out of the url simply takes it out of the url address and that’s all. For example in your recent post “Whole” taking the date out of the url will change the address of the post from:
https://mixwilliams.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/wholly-comitted/
to
https://mixwilliams.wordpress.com/wholly-comitted/
If won’t affect the date that is in the circle on the top of each of your posts.
Sum up: Your family will STILL be able to know the date of when you published a post.
🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
-AJ
This is a great article! I never thought about the email signature. I’ll have to add it. Thanks so much for sharing your blogging resources with us at Funtastic Friday.
Thanks Sherry! Oh and don’t forget to get your avatar so we can see your pretty face! 🙂 Thanks for hosting!
-AJ
These are really great tips! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Thanks for hosting Angelina! Cannot wait for you to get your avatar so we can see your pretty face! 🙂
Wow! Thanks so much for the great tips! Now I just have to get my teenager to help me figure it all out!!
Thanks for the giveaway too!
Thanks for stopping by Pamela!
There are always so many things to learn… and even more to consider! I’m not sure I have any great tips, just try to have some fun in the process!
I couldn’t agree more Carlee! Learning more about blogging is definitely a fun process!
Thank you for the quick rich pins tutorial! And I totally agree with the dated links – not a fan.
You’re most welcome Morgan! Thanks for stopping by. Yes those dated links-just are too long and ugly!
AJ
AJ! This is such a helpful post. Thanks for writing it. Being such a novice, I don’t have any to add. Heck, I haven’t done most of these!
Hey Calli,
Well you have your avatar which is more than some so that is great! 🙂 I know you would rather be writing… but these are a must! Good luck implementing these!
-AJ
I don’t have my face next to my comments etc, I don’t want it there not matter how personable it is. i have my avatar though, it’s the same everyone I am. Good tips though. I’d never considered getting a business account for pinterest.
Hi Bread,
I can see why some may not want to have their face next to their comments, so another great alternative would be to create an avatar having your blog’s logo and/or blog. Just helps with branding. Thanks for sharing this added point Bread, I think I’ll go and add a little bit to that section. Thanks!
These are fantastic tricks! Isn’t blogging great? I have to agree with you the amount of information about blogging that’s out there is fantastic. Like you I havent had to buy any other supplementary materials to help me out. Thanks so much for sharing such a useful post with us on #shinebloghop!
Hi Maria!
It really is! Definitely all the bloggers that share all there tips! Thanks for hosting!
Wow this is just what I was looking for, so many great blogging tips that I need to apply to my blog, thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks Love! Can’t wait to see your avatar! 🙂
Great tips – thank you! As you can see I still haven’t put a picture up as my avatar for when I comment so that’s something I need to work on for sure. Pinned the post for later when I have a couple of minutes to make that quick change. Found your post at #ThisIsHowWeRoll
Cannot wait to see your pretty face Nicole! 🙂
I’ve got all of these except a signature, which I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now. P.S. I LOVE yours–simple and chic. Happy Thursday!
Thanks Lindsey! 🙂 Oh and don’t forget to get your avatar!
Thanks! I hadn’t even realized that since switching to self-hosting my pins weren’t rich anymore. I just fixed it! And, I’m excited to work on making my own custom favicon. Your post was seriously one of the easiest to understand and follow for practical blogging tips and tutorials that I’ve found. If you EVER want to share more, I’m all ears…especially about Google keyword planner or analytics, which are currently the bane of my existence for their complexity. 🙂
Thanks Meg, you are so sweet! I’m so glad that it was helpful and good for you for taking care of your rich pins right away! What are you confused about with Google Analytics? I don’t know if I can help much in the Keyword Planner, but the analytics I might. 🙂
Wonderful tips! I’m working on these! I have a few accomplished but need to fix a couple more.
Thanks Becky! Good luck getting them done!
Thank you for this list. As a newbie, this was probably one of the very few posts about blogging that didn’t make me Google what they were talking about! Happy that the post signature was the only one I was lacking – phew! Visiting from The DIY Collective.
You are most welcome Victoria! Have you set up your post signature yet? 😉
I am a fairly new blogger. I really appreciate you tips and especially the screen shots and step by step. So many bloggers give tips, but forget to inform those of us who know so much less, how to do it.
Hi Krista,
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for stopping by and good luck implementing these!
These are all great suggestions…and not your usual tips. I am 5 for 5, but my e-mail signature is not nearly as nice are yours. 🙂
One other basic I would add: add descriptions to the alt tag when adding images to posts. That way when someone goes to pin a photo to Pinterest, there is already a great description ready for Pinterest!
Adding the alt tag is so essential for sure! Thanks for adding that one Emily!