The 5 Things All Blogs Should Possess {According To A Landlocked Mermaid}

My dear friends,

Pour some tea, and won't you bring your tea kettle? Mine was broken and had to be thrown into the rubbage bin.

As many of you know by now, if you're avid readers of my blog, you know that I've been a blogger for well over 10 years. I wasn't always as serious about my blogging as I am now, and from the archive visual, it appears to be new. After my divorce, unfortunately, I had to start all over from scratch. Which meant, I absolutely cried on the kitchen floor for two weeks because I had lost 10 years of blog journaling. Ten years! I was devastated. After getting rip-roaring drunk {line from "The Notebook"} for two nights, I collected myself and went to work determined to learn how to create a new blog. With the help of a google search bar and many YouTube videos, I learned it all myself. Needless to say, I'm very proud of my accomplishments. If nothing else, I have learned to never take defeat lying down, nor ever give up.

In 2017, I paid Blue Host and Word Press for my blog theme and hosting, but I never did a thing with it. Isn't that a shame? It's now been close to the two-year mark, and I have decided to use it before it expires. I feel more confident now that some time has passed.

Now that I've gotten into a consistent schedule and have reached my page views, I have begun to reach out to a few brands (building an audience takes time). Also, now that I am getting sponsored collaboration deals, I felt it was a great time to speak about what I think are 5 things all blogs should possess.

If you aren't interested in blogging as a business, I wouldn't want to bore you to tears so you may want to skip this post. I just thought that it might be a helpful way to inspire you if you are a blog beginner. When I was researching ways to arrange my new blog layout, I noticed something. When I had my previous websites, {of which, I paid to have custom made}, I saw that I have kept the same layout style, the entire decade of my blogging voyage. Some things never change. {smile} Now, let us get on with it, shall we? 

The 5 Things All Blogs Should Possess

1. Accessible home page and navigation

I like simplistic blogs. I am not one for moving photos. It makes me dizzy, and I want to really observe {stare} pictures on blogs, and when they are always moving, I can't genuinely enjoy the photography, as I would like to. I don't like when blogs have music playing either. I swim to blogs to read in quiet, and having music playing is so distracting. That would be like sitting down to read a book, with the radio blaring. It makes no sense.

Furthermore, have you ever been to a blog, and you can't seem to find where to mute the music? Oh, how frustrating. I just end up leaving those type of blogs. 

On my blog, I have chosen to bury my links and sponsored collab posts. I have a visceral reaction to ads on blogs. Now, don't misunderstand, I know most business blogs are placing ads as a way to earn revenue, but I just can't deal. I don't have the patience to spend half of an hour X-ing out ads or trying to carefully make sure I don't tap an ad by accident, leading me to another tab. 

This is one that may seem odd, but for me, there's nothing more aggravating than to get sent to a landing home page and then I have to tap 15 links, just to get to the newest blog entry. {Baby likes easy.}

2. Search bar

A search bar is essential for a blog. Especially if you are a niche blog like mine, and use catchy blog titles. I have read dozens of blogs admonishing never to use catchy blog titles, as to get more traffic. I, for one, believe that everything is energy and I have been very successful in beating to the drum of my own dear heart. Might I receive more traffic, If I were to use dull blog titles, yes, perhaps? I don't much care about that, though. I find that just because something has worked for other bloggers or me, my way is not the one and only way to do things. Everyone has to follow their own heart, and that means with blogging, just as much as every other thing in one's life. I use my own search bar daily. I'm continually searching for mentions, trying to remember if I've already written about a topic or link posts.  Half the time, I forget what I've written on my own blog, so a little search bar goes a long way.

3. Author identity

I'm not expecting a blog author to leave specific details, but I find it a bit off-putting if I don't know who the blog author is that I am reading about. I feel it takes away the connection I might have if I knew who they were. Once again, if we go about life fearful, expecting that stalkers are going to bother us, that is precisely the energy we are emitting, and it will manifest. I am Raquel Carter publically, for reasons, here, but I very much tell people that I am both legally, a Carter and a Stafford. Do you know how off-putting it is if I am reading a blog, but I don't know who I am learning about?  I am also an avid blog commenter, but if I don't know the blog author, I'm not going to comment, as I don't remember their name. Also, I would love to see more than an about page that reads like this: I like long walks, coffee addict, dog mom of a fascinating hound and live in tin buck two. I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I have read that very similar about page. Be more descriptive sweet ones, I want to know you, my dear internet friend.

4. Email signup

This is clearly for my benefit, and yours too if you are blogging as a business. I knew years ago that to get a substantial email list is of the highest value as a business owner. Your email list is your tribe, customers and future customers.  An email list is a way to make sure you never go bust. Like I have mentioned before, as a blogger, we own our content, it's our money maker and an email list ensures that it stays this way no matter what happens. I tend to like pop-up email signups. Which reminds me, would you like to be my internet friend? Sign up for my newsletter, "The Current" it's to the right in the sidebar. Pop up email boxes are the best because I think it is a little reminder, to sign up before continuing to read. I am a little ADD, so I like receiving the prompt.

5. Archive

If you've been blogging for a long time and I've just found your blog, I'm going to want to go back to the beginning and see what you're all about. {I plan on stalking you. Errr...}

Reading archives are like reading a lovely book, so if I've swum across your sweet blog, I'd like to learn as much about you as I can while drinking my morning tea.

Maybe I'm just a nosy gal, but I want to know your whole story. I'm one for getting personal, as I feel that's how we land~locked folks become connected.

Is there anything else you can think of, that I have forgotten? 

I shall write again soon. 

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx