5 Tips to a Better Blog

I've been excited to write this final installment to my blogging series: five blogging resources.  These tools and tips have helped me out a lot over the last few years and I can't wait to share them with my bloggie friends.  If you have any tips or resources to add, please do so!

1.) Prettiest blog backgrounds.  Since around 2011, I've taken all of my backgrounds from Shabby Blogs.  This website offers all kinds of pretty, free blog goodies, like backgrounds and buttons.  It's amazing.  Hot Bliggity Blog has some pretty cute backgrounds as well, although most of them are a little loud for my personal taste. 

2.) For making headers (and other photo editing).  I don't know about you, but I was so disappointed when the photo-editing site, Picnik, shut down.  Now there is a nearly-identical site called Pic Monkey.  It offers some great fonts, photo-editing tools, as well as available collages for blog headers and Facebook timelines.  You must pay a membership fee to use some of Pic Monkey's tools, but several of them are free, like these great header collages.

 

3.) Public domain photos.  Images are so important if you keep a regular blog.  My favorite source of public domain photos is MorgueFile.  Some other great websites that offer thousands of free public domain photos are Photos Public Domain, 5000 Free Stock Photos, Wikimedia Commons, and Stock Exchange.  Sometimes all that's needed to add a little color and beauty to your blog post is a pretty nature picture, like what I have above.  These websites offer this for free.

4.) For giveaways.  I'm pretty new to this aspect of blogging, but I've found that Rafflecopter is a great resource for hosting giveaways and allowing all of your readers to apply and support your blog.  Rafflecopter is free, although there are services that you can pay for. 

5.) My favorite blog reader.  I follow a bunch of blogs through BlogLovin and I have for the past two or three years.  It's great.  With BlogLovin, you can organize all the blogs you read and access them in one place.  There's no more need to skip all over the internet to see if your favorite bloggers have posted anything new. 


I hope this helped.  I'm having my blogging Q&A day tomorrow, but I'm still taking questions!  Leave any questions you have about blogging or writing in the comments or send me an email.

Three years ago: Illuminate
Two years ago: Being Like Him