Have you seen images and photos in the comments section of blog posts and wondered how they were left there? It’s something I’ve written about before and, given the many changes at WordPress since I last wrote about it, deserves an update.
Yes, it’s possible to leave photos and images in comments on WordPress blogs
When it comes to adding images and photos to comments, we have to be careful with what we add. We should always ensure the photo or image has a connection to the subject of the post we’re leaving the comment on. And not only that.
If a blogger invites readers to leave photos and images (such as in a photography challenge), then go ahead and leave them.
However, leaving an image or photo just for the sake of doing so is frowned upon by many bloggers, who will mark them as spam. And given that blogs are attacked by spammers daily, I don’t blame bloggers marking uninvited images and photos as spam.
I’ve added images and photos to the comments sections on my blog posts and the comments I have left on the blogs of other bloggers. However, unless I’ve been invited to leave an image or photo, I won’t leave them.
While many bloggers will be happy for you to leave images and photos, it’s always polite to ask first.
How to add images and photos to your comments
Add the image or photo to your WordPress media library.
Once the image has been added, click it and click the edit button to open it.
Click the edit button of the photo or image you want to add to a comment.
On the righthand side of the screen, you’ll see a window where you can add details about your image. It’s important to complete these details (see the image below).
Click the ‘Copy‘ button in the URL box.
Copy the URL address of the image or photo.
Paste the URL address into your comment.
Do not, at this stage, submit your comment as you need to edit one part of the text within the link.
Carefully delete the ‘s‘ from the ‘https‘ at the beginning of the link address, so it reads ‘http‘. (If you do not delete the ‘s‘ the image will not show in the comment).
Ensure your link ends with ‘.png’ or ‘.jpg’. If it doesn’t, delete any text after ‘.png’ or ‘.jpg’.
You can now submit your comment.
The image will now show on the comment. However, remember that if you are leaving an image in a comment on another blogger’s blog, they may have to approve it (and may even remove the link to the image) before it shows up.
I’ve only found this to work on WordPress.Com blogs. On self-hosted blogs, only the link to the image is visible rather than the image appearing. However, those clicking on the link will see the image.
Note – Not all images and photos will show if the security settings on your web browser are set high. However, this does not affect the photos or pictures you leave in the comments of your own blog posts. I recommend that you not change the security settings on your web browser.
Let’s wrap it up.
Yes, it is possible to insert images and photos into comments on WordPress.
After inserting the URL address of the image, ensure you remove the ‘s‘ from the beginning of the URL so that ‘https’ becomes ‘http.’
Only leave images and photos in comments if invited to do so or if you have asked for permission to do so first.
If the security settings on your web browser are set high, images and photos may not show. However, this does not affect the photos or pictures you leave in the comments of your own blog posts.
Want to give inserting an image or photo into a comment a go?
Leave me a comment with the link to your image. Perhaps it can be a photo of your latest book cover or of a family pet. I’ll leave it up to you, but only family-friendly images and photos, please.
If you have any further questions about inserting images or photos into the comments, leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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Is your blog plagued by spam, spammers and spambots? Do they annoy you? Do you know they’re even there and the damage they could be doing?
Allowing spammers and spambots to follow your blog makes it easier for them to attempt to flood your blog with spam comments. In turn, this opens the floodgates to your readers becoming the victims of scams or having their computer, tablet or phone infected with malware.
Is your blog infected with spammers and spambots?
There are many different types of spammers in the blog world. From those who leave uninvited links, those who flood your posts with pleas to check out their blog and follow them, and comments from spambots; they can all be a nuisance.
Some spammers are easy to spot. The clues are in their name.
The name of some spammers gives them a way straight away.
Some spammers try a little harder to trick you.
Always check the web address of where a comment has come from.
The above comment may sound genuine, but just look at the web address where it’s come from.
I’ve witnessed some bloggers approve and respond to the comments from these spambots. The comments look genuine, but they’re not. Here’s an example of a spam comment from one of the dog breeders.
Comment from a dog breeders spambot
Approving and allowing comments from spammers and spambots onto your blog posts will damage the ranking of your blog. It may also end up resulting in genuine readers clicking on links in comments or visiting the sites of these scammers resulting in them becoming victims of scams or having their computer infected with malware.
These spammers often leave messages on posts that look authentic and nice, but they never mention anything about the contents of the posts (other than saying they like them) and often trick bloggers into believing they are genuine.
Spammers who follow your blog will also click the ‘like’ button on all your posts in the hope that other readers will see their gravatar icon, and visit their site. Once there, the reader puts themselves in danger of being scammed or having their device infected.
How Do You Spot Comments From Scammers and Spambot?
WordPress has recently improved the subscribers’ page of a blog. Not only has this helped spotting spammers and spambots, but it’s easy to remove them as subscribers to your blog.
Here’s a screenshot of a comment from a spambot. I’ve highlighted the spammers name for instructions on how to unsubscribe them from following your blog further down in this post.
Make sure you remove spammers from following your blog.
The Akismet Anti-Spam software that WordPress provides is excellent at dealing with spam, but it doesn’t catch it all.
Comments from spammers rarely have an image in their Gravatar, but spammers are now getting clever and inserting an image in their profile (like the one in the previous image).
Here’s how to spot, check and remove spammers and spambots as subscribers to your blog.
Make sure you are viewing your blog’s dashboard in ‘Default‘ view.
Copy the name of the spammers blog.
On your blog’s dashboard, go to ‘Users‘ – ‘Subscribers.’
Click Users – Subscribers
On the ‘Subscribers‘ page you’re taken to, paste the spammers blog’s name in the ‘search box.’
If the spammer is following your blog, their name will show in the results.
Click the three dots next to the blog you want to remove.
Click the ‘Remove‘ button to unsubscribe the blog from following you.
How to remove a spammer from following your blog.
The spammer has now been unsubscribed from following your blog.
Spammers who follow your blog are more likely to try and flood your blog posts with spam comments because they get notifications when you publish new posts. You can mark any such comments as spam, but I’d recommend you unsubscribe them from following your blog.
Of course, there is nothing stopping spammers from subscribing to your blog again, but every time they follow, unsubscribe them. As I have found out with those dog breeder spammers, they soon get fed up of having to keep subscribing to your blog.
Let’s Wrap It Up
Don’t allow spammers, scammers or spambots invade your blog or stress you out.
Spotting spammers, scammers and spambots is easy to do. Follow the guide in this post.
Never approve or respond to spam comments.
If you’re unsure a comment is from a spammer, check out their website address first.
Always unsubscribe spammers, scammers and spambots from your blog. Follow the guide in this post.
Although the Akismet Anti-Spam software that WordPress provides catches the majority of spam, it won’t catch all of it.
Approving and allowing comments from spammers and spambots onto your blog posts will damage the ranking of your blog. It may also end up resulting in genuine readers clicking on the links in their comments or visiting their website and becoming a victim of scams or having their computer infected with malware.
Look after your readers, not the spammers, scammers or spambots.
How do you deal with spam, spammers and spambots on your blog?Share details in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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Who do you blame when something goes wrong with your blog?
Most of us will probably blame WordPress, yet have you ever thought that the problem could be that the theme of your blog is to blame because you’ve never changed it and it’s been retired?
Is your blog’s theme causing the problems you’re experiencing with your blog?
Many problems can arise on blogs when a theme has been retired.
How Do I Find Out If The Theme I’m Using Has Been Retired?
You’ll see the following image on the themes page of your blog.
Has your theme been retired?
Go to your blog’s dashboard and click Appearance – Themes to determine if your chosen theme has been retired.
Can I Still Use My Retired Theme?
Yes, you can. WordPress won’t remove it from your site. However, when a theme is retired, it no longer appears in the list of themes available on WordPress.
Your retired theme may remain available for the lifetime of your site or blog, but it will no longer be fully supported by WordPress. It won’t receive any updates with new features; hence WordPress won’t guarantee it will always function correctly with their ever-evolving software. If anything goes wrong, it may not be possible to fix it.
You can still contact WordPress support so the Happiness Engineers can take a look, but support will be limited, and they’ll probably recommend switching to a newer theme. In addition, they won’t provide any CSS support for the retired theme.
Why Do Themes Get Retired?
Web technology updates make the visibility and functionality of some themes outdated.
Web design is an area that is continually evolving, thanks to trends, tastes, and new technologies. WordPress has to keep up to date with these changes and is at the forefront of wanting blogs to look fresh and modern.
Retired themes can make blogs look outdated, stale, and uninviting to visitors, especially if you’ve never changed your theme since starting to blog.
Themes may also be retired if their design has become old-fashioned or uses certain no longer supported features.
What Should I Do If The Theme I Am Using Is Retired?
You can continue to use it, but it may no longer be possible for WordPress to fix any issues you encounter.
Some of the issues I have found with blogs that are still using retired themes are –
I can no longer leave comments.
Pingback to the blog no longer work.
Pingbacks from the blog no longer work.
The gravatar image is no longer displayed.
The ‘Notify me of new comments via email’ box is missing.
Pressing the ‘like’ button no longer works.
New blog posts do not appear on the WordPress Reader.
Blog posts are no longer mobile or tablet-friendly.
Comments do not display correctly.
Images, photos and paragraphs do not display correctly.
Sharing buttons no longer work correctly.
In all cases, when I’ve checked the blog’s theme when these problems have happened, it’s an old, retired theme.
Some bloggers find workarounds when problems occur, but all this does is put off the inevitable that one day they will have to change the theme.
My recommended advice is to consider switching to a new theme to ensure your blog has a modern look and feel to its design.
If you’re not bothered about parts of your blog being broken, you may wish to continue using it until you are forced to change the theme. However, that’s not something I recommend.
Not only can finding a new theme be fun, but it can also boost your blog’s ranking.
How Do I Find A New Theme?
On the dashboard of your blog, go to Appearance – Themes. You’ll see all the WordPress themes available. For free themes, click the ‘Free‘ button in the top-right of the page.
You can also use the search field on the themes page to find a replacement theme. Click on the filter options below the search bar or type directly into the search field to filter by specific features or subjects or by the number of columns the theme natively displays to select a new theme similar to your retired theme.
Block Themes Vs Classic Themes
Block (or Full-Site Editing) themes are the new boys on the block.
WordPress recommends switching to a Block theme, as these are the future and what will be supported in the long term.
I have heard of some bloggers encountering problems switching to Block themes. It’s a long learning curve to get used to them, but WordPress has plenty of advice and help for switching to one.
Some bloggers who have already made the switch have reported that not only do their blogs run faster after switching to a Block theme, but problems they were experiencing with their blogs also disappear.
I recommend watching WordPress tutorial videos and reading their guidance page before switching to a Block theme. For information, click the links below.
Contact the WordPress Happiness Engineers by clicking on the ‘question mark’ icon (next to the ‘bell’ notification icon) in the top right of your blog’s dashboard.
Ask for help from your followers and other bloggers by writing and publishing a post or contacting a blogger directly.
Important Information: Do not activate a new theme unless you are absolulty sure you like the theme you have chosen, as it’s impossible to go back to a retired theme once you’ve activated a new theme.
Classic themes were created to work with the old Classic editor, but with the large drop in Classic editor users, WordPress has been retiring them, especially when they no longer work with new functionality software or when updates to the WordPress platform have been released.
Unlike Block themes, Classic themes are heavily loaded with CSS code, meaning many things can go wrong. Block themes are only lightly loaded with CSS code, so are less likely to break.
Currently, WordPress provides 54 Classic themes that are free to use and compatible with the Block editor.
To find current Classic themes, search for them by adding ‘Classic‘ to the search bar on the Themes page, and select ‘Classic Theme‘ from the dropdown menu that appears.
If the theme you’re currently using has been retired, I recommend you switch to one of the Classic themes if you do not want to switch to a Block theme. Doing this will fix some or all of the problems your blog may be experiencing.
If you still experience problems after switching to a current Classic (or Block) theme, report the problems to WordPress. How will WordPress know about a problem unless you report it? Don’t rely on other users reporting the problems you’re having with your blog.
Does WordPress have any plans for new Classic themes?
I asked WordPress the above question. Their response was –
‘No, and we doubt there will be as the industry shifts to the more modern and convenient Full Site Editing (Block) themes that remove most of the need to learn coding to create and customize your theme.’
Is WordPress retiring all Classic themes? If so, when?
Their response –
‘It’s likely, as the focus is shifted to the more modern approach. We do not have specific timelines for each theme or the ones available on our list at this moment.’
So I guess it’s a case of ‘watch this space.’
However, given that the Classic Editor plugin is still available, my guess is that WordPress will retain some of the Classic themes until they stop supporting the Classic Editor plugin. But the choice of Classic themes will become more and more limited as time passes.
I didn’t ask WordPress if there are any plans to stop supporting the Classic Editor plugin, although I have heard rumours that they plan to stop supporting it by the end of 2024.
Let’s wrap it up.
Problems may affect your blog because your theme has been retired.
WordPress may be able to fix some issues, but they will advise you to switch to a new theme if the theme you’re using is retired.
You can continue to use a retired theme you’re using, but it may not work correctly.
Once you activate a new theme, you won’t be able to go back to the retired theme you’ve been using.
Upon publication of this post, WordPress offers Full Site Editing (Block) and Classic themes.
All Classic themes are free to use.
There are no plans to introduce new Classic themes.
The number of available Classic themes will continue to diminish.
I’ve seen some bloggers say they will wait until they are forced to switch themes. Given that switching themes can be a complicated and time-consuming project, all that will do is make them panic when the time comes to switch. Don’t be one of them.
If the theme you’re using has been retired, switch now.
WordPress welcomes feedback on the new Block themes and encourages everyone to contact them with suggestions for improving them.
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‘Help! I’ve run out of media storage space on my blog and can no longer upload new photos, images or videos. What can I do?’
That was a question to me from Micheal, who blogs at Spo-Reflections.
Michael was happy to upgrade his WordPress plan to obtain more media space, but there are other things you could do if you find your blog running out of media space.
Have you run out of media space on your blog? Here are 5 things you can do to obtain more.
1. Upgrade your plan.
WordPress currently offers 6 plans.
The amount of media storage space you get varies. Click the following link to see the plans – ‘There Is A Plan For You.’ Pricing is correct at the time of publication of this post.
Each plan provides the following media storage space.
Name of plan
Storage Amount
Free
1GB
Personal
6GB
Premium
13GB
Business
200GB
Commerce
200GB
Enterprise
N/A
However, only upgrade your WordPress plan if you absolutely need to. Do not get into debt by upgrading unless you can afford it, as there are other things you can do to free up media storage space.
2. Resize the size of your images and photos.
One of the biggest reasons bloggers run out of media space is that they do not resize their images and photos before uploading them to their media library.
There are several ways you can reduce the size of images and photos. You can reduce them using photo editing software or via the tools of your device you use to blog.
I use an Apple iMac and can change the size of photos and images by clicking on Tools – Adjust size on the menubar of my desktop computer. I do this before uploading them to my WordPress media library.
I recommend reducing image and photo sizes to 900 x 675 pixels.
On a Windows computer, you can use Microsoft Paint. Open your image with that program, then click on Resize. You can find this option on the middle-right side of the “Image” section at the top of the Paint window.
The WordPress media library also has editing software, but please note that if you reduce the size of an image or photo using this tool, the original image is kept in your media library when you reduce the size of the picture – thus, you won’t have freed up any storage space.
Large images can also slow down your blog’s downloading speed, negatively impacting your blog’s search engine rankings and overall user experience. So, I recommend you always reduce the size of images and photos before uploading them to your blog.
3. Do not upload videos to your media library.
If you include videos in your blog posts, uploading them to your media library can take up vast amounts of space.
To overcome this problem and free up all the space they take up, upload your videos to YouTube. Then add the YouTube block to your blog post and include the link to the video in the block.
Adding videos to your blog via YouTube helps free up media space for your blog.
Do this for any existing videos you have in your media library. Upload them to YouTube and add them via the YouTube block before deleting the original from your media library. This will free up large amounts of storage in your media library.
4. Delete images from your media library.
We can accumulate vast amounts of images and photos in our media library, many of which will become redundant.
Deleting these images will free up storage space. However, when you delete any images or photos in your media library, they disappear from the blog posts they appear on.
Deleting old, redundant blog posts containing images, photos, and videos frees up storage space. However, delete any images, photos and videos in your media library before deleting the posts.
5. Reduce the number of images and photos you add to blog posts.
While I recommend adding at least one image or photo to a blog post (because blog posts containing images get up to 70% more traffic), reducing the number of images and pictures will help save media space.
Before adding more images or photos, ask yourself if adding them to your post is necessary.
Let’s wrap it up.
Resize your images and photos before uploading them to your blog’s media library.
Upload videos to YouTube and use the YouTube block to show them on your blog posts.
Delete old images and photos from your media library, but remember to remove them from any posts first.
Do not resize images using tools in the media library, as this does not save storage space.
Consider deleting old blog posts that are no longer relevant.
Reduce the number of images and photos on blog posts. Ask yourself if they’re necessary.
How do you free up storage space in your blog’s media library? If you have any questions about this post, leave them in the comments section.
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I’ve been contacted by several bloggers asking the question in the title of this post.
In March 2023, the WordPress app that many of us are familiar with will lose many key features. For example, you’ll no longer be able to access the WordPress Reader or view your blog’s stats.
But fear not because all the features the WordPress app bring have been transferred to the new Jetpack app.
Which app should I use?
Which app should I use?
If you want access to all the WordPress features you’re used to, switch to the new Jetpack app.
If you only want to focus on the basics of writing and publishing and have no interest in your blog stats, notifications of comments, menus and the WordPress Reader (to name a few), stick with the WordPress app.
Can I use both apps?
It’s not recommended that you use both apps. Managing your blog across both apps is unsupported and may lead to issues such as data conflicts. So I’d recommend sticking to one.
What features does the Jetpack app have?
Posts
Pages
Media Library
Comments
Site Settings
Stats
WordPress Reader
Notifications
Activity Log
Jetpack Social
Jetpack Backup
Jetpack Scan
Menus
People
Themes
With the Jetpack app, you’ll benefit from powerful tools to manage and build your blog.
Is the Jetpack app free?
Yes. There are no additional costs for using the Jetpack app.
What features does the WordPress app have?
From March 2023, only the features listed below will be available on the WordPress app.
Posts
Pages
Media library
Comments
Site Settings
How do I make the switch to the Jetpack app?
First, ensure you have the latest version of the WordPress app installed and are logged in to it.
If you’ve had (or get) an email from WordPress asking you to choose which app to use, click the link in the email to download the Jetpack app. If you’ve not had the email, click here to download the Jetpack app.
Once the app has been downloaded, open it, and you’ll be automatically logged in with all your data and settings in place. All your posts, pages, media library and anything else you have on your blog will also be transferred.
Remember to delete the WordPress app.
Any questions about switching to the Jetpack app? Leave them in the comments section.
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How easily can all visitors engage with you on your blog?
Is it as easy as you think it is?
Did you know that you could be preventing some visitors to your blog from leaving you comments?
After receiving an e-mail from Jean, who blogs at DelightfulRepast.com, who had seen one of my posts at the Senior Salon Pitstop weekly linky party hosted by Esme and Julie, I was somewhat concerned when she mentioned that it wasn’t easy for her to engage with me on my blog.
Jean explained that she didn’t want to leave her e-mail address, create a WordPress account or use social media to be able to leave me comments. I understand why she didn’t want to leave any of those details. After all, our information is private and shouldn’t be given out if we don’t want to give it out.
WordPress offers ‘Discussions‘ options where users can decide how easily readers can engage with them without leaving any personal details. I thought I already had this option switched off, so nobody needed to leave any personal details, and I was right, but it didn’t explain why Jean thought she had to leave her personal details if she wanted to comment on my posts.
Upon further checking my discussion settings, I saw where the confusion was coming from and want to highlight it so those who wish to engage with me without personal details can still leave comments knowing they do not need to give any personal information.
Let’s Look At The Discussion Settings On WordPress.
Ensure you’re viewing your blog’s dashboard in the Default view. To do this, click on the View button in the top right of the screen when viewing your blog’s dashboard.
Go to Settings – Discussion.
Make sure you’re viewing your blog’s dashboard in the Default view.
On the Discussions Settings page, look for the Comments box.
Look for the comments settings box.
As you will see from the above screenshot, I have turned off both the ‘Comment author must fill out name and e-mail‘ and ‘Users must be registered and logged in to comment‘ options. So why wasn’t Jean able to leave me a comment?
It seems that, for whatever reason, in their wisdom, WordPress has decided to still show visitors a login box when these options have been switched off. This is what Jean and visitors who are not logged in see.
The log in box tricks visitors into believing they have to leave personal details to be able to leave comments.
And this is what WordPress say –
Comment author must fill out name and e-mail: When this setting is on, anyone leaving a comment will be forced to leave a name and a valid e-mail address. If the setting is off, visitors can leave anonymous comments. While your commenters do not have to fill in the e-mail field if you’ve turned this setting off, it will still be visible to them when they comment.
So I understand why Jean thought I wasn’t making it easy for her to engage with me.
If you only want readers to engage with you who must leave their name and email address, ensure you have this option switched on.
If you only want comments from readers who are logged in and registered, ensure you have the ‘Users must be registered and logged in to comment‘ setting switched on.
If you want comments from both, ensure both settings are switched on.
However, if, like me, you’re happy to allow anyone to leave you a comment, then switch both of these settings off.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Save‘ button in the Comments settings box if you make any changes.
Are There Any Disadvantages To Switching These Discussion Settings Off?
The main disadvantage is that it could open the gates for spammers and trolls to leave you comments. However, the Akismet antispam software on WordPress catches and places the majority of spam into your blog’s spam folder, so you’ll never see it unless you check what’s in it.
Further down on the Discussion Settings page, there is more help to filter out spam and troll comments.
Look for the ‘Before A Comment Appears‘ box, and you’ll see these two options.
Comment must be manually approved: If this setting is on, all comments will go into moderation, and they will need to be approved by you before appearing on your blog.
Comment author must have a previously approved comment: If this option is on, any visitors that have had a comment approved on your blog in the past will get a free pass through approval and only comments from new visitors will go into moderation.
As you will see from the following screenshot, my blog is set for manually approving all comments before they appear on any of my posts.
Decide which level of protection you want to stop the comments of spammers and trolls from appearing on your blog posts.
This helps me stop unprofessional, rude, nasty comments from appearing on any of my posts, even if they’re from somebody who has previously left a friendly comment.
My thanks to Jean for contacting me about discussion settings on blogs. And apologies for the confusion WordPress causes in insisting a login box shows when visitors do not need to leave any personal details when wanting to engage or leave a comment.
If you see a login box or are asked to leave your name and email address when leaving a comment, try leaving a comment without filling in personal details or logging in. If the blogger you’re engaging with has switched off the ‘Comment author must fill out name and e-mail‘ and ‘Users must be registered and logged in to comment.‘ options, your comment will go through.
If either or one of those options is switched on, you’ll need to follow the instructions to be able to leave a comment.
Let’s wrap it up.
Check the discussion settings on your blog to see if you’re preventing visitors from leaving comments.
Decide whether you want only certain visitors to be able to leave comments or if you’re happy for all visitors to leave comments.
The majority of spam comments will go straight to your spam folder. Remember to empty your spam folder regularly.
To stop comments from trolls appearing on your blog posts, switch on the ‘Comment must be manually approved‘ setting.
Consider whether comments from those who have previously left you a friendly comment do not need to be manually approved by you.
If you have questions about the discussion settings on your WordPress blog, leave them in the comments section.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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Getting readers to engage with you by leaving comments on your blog posts is something many bloggers crave.
And when those comments clearly show that your post has been read, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.
However, once you get visitors reading your posts and leaving comments, you need to do all you can to ensure they keep coming back.
Writing good quality posts that make your readers want to engage with you and each other is one way to keep your readers returning, but you also need to ensure they can easily find your other similarly themed posts, which are often buried deep in your blog archives.
Need more readers and followers? These 5 blogging tools will help
Here are five blogging tools that work for me. Not only do they give my readers a way of finding more similarly-themed content, but these tools have also helped bring me many new readers and followers.
1. The Search Bar
The other day, I was writing a new blog post and wanted to include links to some posts I had read on other blogs.
However, try as I might, I couldn’t find one of the posts I wanted to link to. Even worse, there was no search bar on the blog concerned.
It wasn’t long before I gave up looking for that blog post. I didn’t have the time to find it.
You can make it easy for readers to find what they are looking for by including a search bar on your blog.
Does your blog have a search bar? If not, WordPress has a ‘search’ widget. Click here to find out how to install one.
Once you’ve installed a search bar, open up one of your blog posts and check you are happy with its position. Ensure it’s visible and easy for visitors to find. The search bar on my blog is the first widget on my widget bar to the right of all my blog posts.
Remember, too, that you can use the search bar when looking for your own posts. You can save yourself a lot of time by doing this instead of scrolling through all your blog posts on your blog’s dashboard.
2. The Menu Bar
Navigation is of prime importance on any blog. Make it difficult for visitors to navigate or find more content, and they’ll probably give up and never return.
That’s why it’s essential to have a menu bar on your blog.
A menu bar allows your readers to check out what is on your blog and helps direct them to other parts of your blog they’d like to explore.
Many bloggers can be frightened by including a menu bar on their blog or adding items. However, it’s an easy and straightforward process.
Click here for details on how to set up a custom menu bar on your WordPress blog.
However, don’t overload the menu bar on your blog, as it can look overwhelming. And ensure you keep it updated and check that everything works on it.
3. The ‘Contact Me Page
Just imagine another blogger, a magazine editor, or somebody from your local radio station wanting to contact you to invite you to write an article or appear on a show. How exciting would that be? But they can’t find a way of reaching you privately!
Not everyone wants to leave a comment when they want to invite you to write a guest post, be interviewed, or ask you to appear on a show. If you don’t have a ‘contact me’ page, and nobody can contact you privately, then they’ll probably move on and give that opportunity to somebody else.
On the menu bar of my blog, you’ll see a ‘Contact Hugh’ button. That’s how people can contact me privately.
I get lots of people contacting me every week. As a result, I’ve written guest articles, appeared on radio shows and recorded podcasts, all of which have allowed me to promote myself and my blog. In return, I’ve got hundreds of new readers and followers to my blog.
Make sure you’re contactable. Click here to find out how to set up a ‘contact me’ page.
4. The ‘About Me’ Page
Ever since my early days of blogging, I’ve been told that many new blog visitors will want to learn a little about the blogger behind the blog before deciding whether to follow.
When I visit a new blog, I first look for an ‘about me’ page to learn more about the blogger.
If the blogger doesn’t have an ‘about me’ page or it’s difficult to find, I’m more likely to move on than check out the rest of their blog.
If you do have an ‘about me’ page, ensure you allow new visitors to introduce themselves by allowing them to leave a comment on it. And don’t forget, a friendly reply is more likely to keep that visitor returning to read your posts.
Click here for details on setting up an ‘About Me’ page and what to include.
5. The Gravatar
The image that appears next to all comments is known as a Gravatar. A gravatar is created for you as soon as you leave your first review or comment on the internet.
How many times have you clicked on the gravatar image of somebody who has left an excellent comment on a post and not been able to find their blog details? Frustrating, isn’t it, especially when you think it may be a blog you’d like to follow.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes many bloggers make, as soon as their gravatar is created, is they forget about it. Many don’t realise they can add images and leave links to their blog and social media accounts on their gravatar.
If a reader then clicks on your gravatar, they’ll see the links to your blog and social media accounts and be able to visit them. That means more visitors to your blog and social media accounts which could result in more followers.
Click here to find out how to add links to your blog and social media accounts to your gravatar.
Let’s wrap it up
Many blogging tools can help readers notice your blog and keep them returning.
Make sure you have a Search Bar on your blog to help visitors find other content.
Ensure your blog includes a menu bar, but don’t overload it with too many items.
Ensure the links on your blog’s menu bar all work. Check for broken links at least once a month and fix any that have become broken.
Ensure your blog has a page where readers and visitors can contact you privately. Not everyone will want to leave a comment inviting you to write a guest post or to appear on a radio show or podcast.
Many new visitors want to know a little about the person behind the blog before deciding whether to follow. Tell visitors a little about yourself on an ‘about me’ page.
Ensure your Gravatar has links to your blog and social media accounts.
This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in September 2018
What powerful blogging tools do you use on your blog, and why do you use them? Share them with us by leaving a comment.
Performing housekeeping on your blog has many benefits. After all, who doesn’t want their blog to look like a friendly, easy-to-use and inviting place old and new visitors will want to keep coming back to?
If you’re a blogger looking to expand their readership, performing housekeeping on your blog is something you should seriously consider.
But what blog housekeeping jobs should you consider doing?
This is why blog housekeeping is essential.
During a 4-day heatwave last month, I couldn’t venture outside, so I took the opportunity to do some blog housekeeping. Here’s what I did.
1. Delete old, out-of-date blog posts.
I always feel that old, out-of-date blog posts that can not be updated or rewritten do nothing but drag down my blog.
They hang around like some uninvited members of the family you hardly ever see or have contact with. You know they are there but feel afraid to ask them to leave.
I had over 400 blog posts on my blog, some of which were doing nothing apart from attracting spam comments. They were dead ducks. They were not attracting any new views, visitors or comments.
I ended up deleting over 80 posts. Not only did I feel good getting rid of what I considered clutter, but it made my blog look much better with no more outdated information.
Some bloggers claim that deleting old posts is not a good idea because they can look back and see how much they have improved since those early posts. I disagree! When you’re somebody who never goes back to read old posts, mainly because you don’t have the time to do so, deleting these old blog posts is like cutting away the string tied to the brick holding your blog down.
2. Fixing broken links.
A downside of deleting old blog posts is that any pingback and links you have to them will become broken.
I used Broken Link Check to run a report showing me broken links on my blog. It’s free to use.
Since SEOs like Google rank blogs that have broken links lower, cleaning up and fixing broken links is a job every blogger should consider.
That first broken link report could be long and overwhelming, but once you start running a broken link report every month, you’ll soon conquer that job.
Fixing broken links was the best bit of blog housekeeping I did because it improves your blog’s overall ranking, meaning more traffic and visitors to your blog.
3. Categories and tags
When I checked how many categories and tags I had on my blog, I was shocked by the number.
What amazed me was that many categories and tags were no longer active. Like some of my old blog posts, they were deadwood.
Checking which categories and tags are no longer active is easy.
Follow this guide.
On your blog’s dashboard, click on Posts and then Categories. (Click on Tags to manage Tags).
How to manage categories and tags on your WordPress blog
A list of all your categories will show how many posts you have under each category.
To delete a category, click on the meatball menu next to the number and click on ‘delete.’
How to delete categories on your WordPress blog
Follow the same process for managing the Tags on your blog.
4. Menu Bar
I also took the opportunity to tidy up the menubar on my blog. Although it was not what I considered ‘top heavy’, I moved some items to sub-categories.
Here’s an example. I moved some fictional stuff to sub-categories under ‘Fiction.’ When you hover over ‘Fiction‘ on the menu, you’ll see the sub-categories pop up.
Blogs with top-heavy menus can look overwhelming and messy to visitors.
For more information about menus on your blog, see ‘Menus‘ by WordPress.
Once you start housekeeping your blog, it will make you feel much more positive about blogging.
Try and get into the habit of housekeeping your blog at least once every six months, although I’d recommend running a broken links report at least once a month.
Let’s wrap it up
Performing housekeeping on your blog is something every blogger should perform at least once every six months.
A well-kept blog is one that old and new visitors will want to keep returning to.
Fixing broken links on your blog will improve your blog’s SEO rating.
Run a broken link report for your blog once a month. Fix any broken links.
Delete categories and tags that are no longer being used on your blog. Too many categories and tags can confuse readers.
Delete old out-of-date blog posts, especially if all they are doing is attracting lots of spam.
Try and keep the menu of your blog to a minimum. Top-heavy menus can look messy and overwhelming.
How often do you perform blog housekeeping? What do those jobs involve? Do you have any simple tips for housekeeping your blog? Share them in the comments.
Remember that a well-kept blog is a positive and friendly place for your visitors and readers.
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