Easy Tips & Tricks For Beauty Blogging Technophobes #1

I don't know about you but I'm a serious technophobe when it comes to the more "Techy" "HTML" aspects of blogging, it just isn't in my DNA to know that kind of stuff. I know my way around Selfridges Beauty Hall, just not coding. Despite that though, throughout my years of beauty blogging (in July it will be 6 years) I've picked up a few tips that I think have improved my personal blogging game, so I thought I would share them with you. Now, these tips probably won't satisfy really clued up girls who know their stuff, but for people who are in the same shoes (suede knee high boots) as me, hopefully this might be in some way helpful.

How To Make Your Instagram Pictures Show Up in Your Twitter Feed?

This one was a new one to me as of two weeks ago, but discovering the website Ifttt has made my (social media) life so much easier. This website basically connects your apps together. Some of these steps may sound like gobbledygook, but they are pretty easy to follow when you're on the site.

First make an Ifttt account (it's totally free).

Make sure to add all your social media links, then create a "Recipe". The words "if this then that" should be on screen, click "This" it's in blue and search for Instagram in the search box. It then asks you to choose a "Trigger", there are a bunch of options, but the one you want is "Any New Photo By You", click create Trigger. Now a Instagram icon should have appeared and "That" should be now in blue. Click "That" and now search for Twitter. More options will appear and the one you want is "Post A Tweet With Image" click create action and you're done.

 Now every picture you post on Instagram will show in your Twitter timeline. You don't need to click the twitter icon (in Instagram) when you post either, that will just show the link as well as the picture.

How To Leave A Clickable Blog Link In A Comment?

 One of my favourite things to do is comment on other peoples blog posts. If you loved what you just read, let them know. I, like a lot of people like to end my comment by adding my blog link, not in a spammy "hey check out my blog" "follow for follow" kind of way, just to let the person know I'm a fellow blogger. If you fancy doing it for yourself, this is how.

Example: This is what you're aiming for:

a href="http://www.claireellis.co.uk/">http://www.claireellis.co.uk/

You just need to replace my address with your own, then add a < symbol at the beginning and a > at the end to make the link complete. I took them off, so I could show you what the link looked like typed. I like to store this link in my notes so I can just copy and past it, instead of having to type it out every time.

Always Name Your Pictures:

As soon as I've finished editing my pictures I always make sure to name them, even before I upload them to blogger. Say for example I took a picture of a Mac lipstick, I will name it "Mac Lady Danger Lipstick" instead of whatever default name the camera came up with, normally something like 3u34384383uh3. I still name them again when I'm writing my posts, but naming the actual file makes it easier for search engines. I mean, no ones gonna search 3u34384383uh3 in google are they?

Add A Search Description:
Someone once said (no idea who, but it makes sense) that the first couple of sentences in a blog post are the most important. They set the tone for the whole post. Do they interest the reader enough for them to keep reading? In Google the search description is the first few lines of text after the link, sort of like a teaser of what you can expect from said post.

When you're creating a blog post in blogger (it may be different for other platforms) on the right hand side is the "Search Description" box. I normally just add the first paragraph of text from my blog post and that's it, so easy and simple.

 Add Skimlinks:

Now this one might be bit controversial. I added Skimlinks about three years ago, which is a way of monetizing your blog. It basically makes product links into affiliate links. Say I write about a Nars Foundation, in that post there will be a link to where you can purchase it, if someone clicks the link and then went on to buy it through my link, I would earn some commission, believe me it's not a lot, but every little bit helps. I personally think if you spend a lot of time and effort on your blog, there's no reason why you shouldn't add some affiliate links. Honestly the amount of money you make can barely buy a stamp, so it's not exactly a get rich quick scheme.

Buy Your Own Domain:

This is another new thing for me, I don't know whether you noticed that my blog address is no longer Blogspot, yes I've moved up in the world (after 6 years it's about time) this little blog is now http://www.claireellis.co.uk It's something I'd wanted to do for ages but I was so terrified, I had visions of my blog vanishing in a puff of smoke because I'd clicked the wrong thing. I really didn't need to worry it was really easy and way cheaper than I thought. I bought my domain from Godaddy, which was simple enough. The hardest part was putting it into effect, thankfully I found this amazing tutorial from TheWonderforest.com who takes you through it step by step. It was definitely one of the best decisions I've made, my blog now feels more my own, plus my views have also increased, which is fab.

I hope a few of these tips were somewhat helpful, I was bit nervous about this post as it's not really my forte, so let me know what you think. Also I'd love to know a few of your own tips, "we're all in this together" after all! Did anyone else have a Highschool Musical flashback, no just me ahem...

XOXO Claire
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