Blogging. Its a lot of work! Seriously! Don’t believe me? Just listen to this podcast I co-hosted with Taylor from Boss Girl Creative! The blog related to do list never ends. EVER! And if you’re serious about blogging, and want to make a this a more than just a part time hobby, you’ve got to stay on top of things. The easiest way I’ve discovered to actually cross off some of those things on that never ending list, is take it one task at a time! Got 10 minutes? These 10 things can be done in 10 minutes to improve your blog!
10 Things You Can Do In 10 Minutes to Improve Your Blog:
#1. Update your “About Me” section. Major life event? Add it in! New photos of your self of family that you like? Add them in! Anytime that there has been a change in your life, situation, family or just because you’ve done something cool, you should take the time to update your About Me section. Your readers really do want to know more about you!
#2. Update, Rearrange and Clean Up your sidebar space. Sidebars tend to get over looked these days, especially if its the same-old-same-old stuff! By changing things up, removing old adds, fitting in new images or even just rearranging the order things appear in, you can breath new life into an often static area on your blog.
#3 Create a Branded Image to share on social media. Sometimes you just want to do something fun and creative with your 10 minutes. Use that time to create a new branded image that you can share across your social medias! It doesn’t have to be fancy, sometimes simple is best, but make sure you keep it with in the branding you’ve set for yourself. And ALWAYS put your website on there! You never know when something might go viral!
#4 Re-Share Evergreen Content. Got a post that you worked really hard on from a year ago, 2 years ago? Why not reshare it! If you’ve got buffer, you can schedule it in to go out a few times over the next few weeks or months! If you have Meet Edgar, add it into your content schedule.
#5 Find some new blogs to connect with. Take your 10 minutes and spend it finding some new blogs to follow and connect with. Leave awesome comments related to the post and follow them on social media too!
#6 Respond to comments readers have left on your blog. Hopefully you have readers that like to leave you comments! Do you take the time to respond? Its an important way to connect with the people that visit your site and build a sense of community!
#7 Work on your editorial calendar. Blogging can be hectic and chaotic… its worse when you never know what you’re posting until the night before, or sometimes the day of! Taking the time to write down your ideas and building your editorial calendar is the perfect way to spend a spare 10 minutes! Coschedule is my JAM when it comes to editorial awesomeness. I’ve been using it for over a year and its made life SO much easier!
#8 Write a Post or Series Outline. Got an idea for an awesome blog post or blog series? Take 10 minutes and put your outline together! Save it as a draft so irs already to go when you’ve got a little more time to sit down and get it all written out!
#9 Pitch a Guest Post. Want to gain more exposure for your blog? Guest posts are a great way to do it! But these kinds of opportunities don’t just show up… you may have to go out there and find it! So put together a proposal – out line your post idea, how long it would be, what kind of images you could include, and how soon you’d be able to deliver it – and send it to your favorite blog! The worst that can happen is they say no, and you end up using that idea for your own site! Oh and don’t forget to include a few links to similar/relevant content that you’ve already published!
I can honestly tell you’ve that I have yet to turn down a well written guest post pitch! (Feel free to send your crafty/DIY pitches my way too 😉 )
#10 Schedule It Out! Take that 10 minutes and reinvest it into driving more traffic to your blog! If you use a scheduling service (Buffer is FREE) add some content in and let it do its magical thing! Or, take that 10 minutes and schedule some engaging memes, photos or questions on Facebook! With 10 minutes you can probably schedule 5 to 7 days worth of content for your Facebook Page!
These are just 10 of the things You Can Do in 10 Minutes to Improve Your Blog! All you have to do is START! Turning off as many distraction as possible isn’t a bad idea either!
Got a suggestion for something you can do in 10 minutes to improve your blog? I’d love to hear it! I might even include it (with credit back to you of course) in the next edition of Ten 10 Minute Things!
tthese are all great ideas and ones ill utilize to keep my blog growing! thanks my friend!
Such great ideas! I like to work on 1-2 hours each day on my blog. But it’s amazing how much you can get done in as little as 10 mins!
xo,
Abby of Life in the Fash Lane
These are great tips! I always have to remember to tweet past posts – outside of the plugin I use.
Thank you for reminding me I need to update my About Me section. I haven’t touched it in over a year!
I try to share older posts that make sense, but I need to get better about it!
elle
Southern Elle Style
Hello Jennifer, great post! I have some questions if you don’t mind sharing. Maybe you could even turn your answers into a great series of blog posts. 🙂
I like how your images look. Do you take the pictures yourself, purchase stock images or know of a great free site to find them on? What kind of software do you use to help create that perfect image with text and your website on them?
I also love how you have a tweet all ready for us to use. What plug in do you use for that? It looks like you use WordPress like I do, is that correct?
I think it is helpful to have the popup for email subscriptions like you have added along with the one in your right hand menu. Any suggestions for plug ins?
What about the SM plug in on the left, I love that one too.
Are there any other plug ins that you love or would recommend?
Would you mind answering some questions about blog etiquette? I always see great DIY projects and articles that I would like to share on my blog. I try and contact the owners, some people just say that as long as you give credit to the original author of the content, use only one of their images, and link back to their site, you do not need to go to the trouble to ask them and wait for a reply. What are your thoughts on this? As a fairly new blogger I am not sure of the protocol to follow.
Again, I understand that not all bloggers want to give away their secrets but you seem very open and helpful. That is another thing that I really like about your blog. It is evident that you are interested in actually helping other bloggers and are not just running this as a money making proposition. There is nothing wrong with making money from a blog if that is your goal, but I don’t care to read blogs where it is plain as day that they are only in it to make money and really don’t care about their content or readers. Click here, enter this, subscribe, follow me here and here and here and here, lol. You know the kind I am talking about 🙂
I also like your clean layout. It has all the information you need, plus your relevant advertisements but they aren’t overwhelming.
Thank you for taking the time to read this VERY long comment, any help is appreciated even if you are only able to answer one thing at this time. Once I started typing my list grew longer and longer!
Heeeeyyyyyy!! I’m sending you an email so we can have a chat about all the things you asked 🙂
Those are all great tips. And, you’re right, blogging is a lot of work. I’ve had several people tell me that they want to start a blog but they think it’s all easy peasy. They don’t realize all the hard work that goes in to one.
That’s so funny you said that because now that I’m FINALLY making money at this (after a long time and a lot of work), at least five of my friends and family have told me they want to start blogging. If they only knew how many hours I put into this and how hard I work, they’d probably change their minds…LOL! I don’t think they want to go into it for the reasons I did…they just think it’s easy money (I wish!) LOL
I can not say enough about your #6 – I think this should be something bloggers do daily or as the comments come in. Someone out there took the time to comment – and should have some sort of response. Great list!
Yes and Yes! I probably should have made that #1! LOL
Really great tips and although I know them all, sometimes I forget about them in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Thanks for the reminder. ANd I never forget #6 it has proven to be a really winner for me.
I think #6 is the real difference between “Having a blog” and “Being a Blogger with an awesome community”! You get to the awesome community stage of the “game” by engaginging with your readers and really fostering an interactive community! And that means responding to comments 😀
Jennifer what you said about blogging is a lot of work is true. Thanks for the tips.
These are all great tips. I’ve been working on a lot of them. And your right if you want your blog to be more than a hobby it is a never ending to do list.
These are awesome tips! I have to say that I love Coschedule too! It’s made my life so much easier. There are some really great ideas on here and I haven’t updated my about me section in a while…I might go do that. 🙂
Great tips!
What a wonderful list of ideas! I don’t think a lot of bloggers realize how difficult it really is to make blogging a full time job, it really is a lot of work. Sharing your post with my followers. Thanks for sharing on Inspire me Monday. Have a wonderful weekend!!
Good to think 10 minutes is enough to get something done, though I think sorting out my sidebar might take a little longer I could at least assess what needs doing. Thanks.
Awesome tips! I love reading about ways to improve my blog. 🙂
You’ve got so many good ideas here! One of the biggest complaints I hear from readers is that they “don’t have time” to blog – but it’s really a matter of what you make an effort to spend your time on – and you’ve proven here that it doesn’t take much time to take real action. Found you on the Pretty Pintastic Party – pinned and tweeted!
Thank you for these great tips! It is remarkable what can be done in only 10 minutes with proper planning!
This is a really great post! I already do some of these but there are other things that I need to go back and look at. I haven’t updated my “About me” for awhile and I also love the idea of changing up my sidebar! I also keep hearing a lot about co-schedule so I definitely need to look into that, too. Thanks for sharing your awesome post at Share The Wealth Sunday…I’m making it one of my features for this week’s edition! xoxo
Thanks for the tips! I just signed up to try out Buffer!
What a great list of suggestions! I usually try to set aside time on Saturday to plan out my blog posts for the week.
These are great tips and yes,most of these things need few minutes,but we dont do it.Specially,thanks for reminding me to update the ‘about me’ page…
Great tips! I know I need to do a couple of these eek!
Hi,
I liked your post, all important tips. You make them sound quick to implement. I blog about blogging too. Perhaps you’ll check out my blogging tips site.
Janice
Thanks for sharing these great tips at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared. See you again soon.
I am so with you on number 6 and a few of these I do, but I see some new ideas that I need to incorporate! I love the idea that you took time to share!
Thanks for bringing this by Throwback Thursday last week!
Mollie
Interesting indeed. Thanks for the guest post tip – I have never done it yet.
Practical tips that add value. Thanks 🙂