Blog Buddy...Followers and Links

Hello everyone...welcome to another addition of Blog Buddy. The place where you'll find helpful tips for your blog from someone who's learned from her own mistakes along the way.

Today, I will be talking about followers, following and the Followers Gadget. However, the second part is a world wide request for help. I am completely stumped by a certain part of becoming a follower and a blogger's profile picture or icon. More on this later in the post.


space




The first section is for new bloggers or bloggers not aware of the "Follow Section". There are so many ways to follow a blog, but for me this is the easiest. This picture below is the Follow gadget that you can add to your blog. Most bloggers have the gadget, but I wish everyone did.

It is so simple for someone, who is visiting your blog for the first time, to quickly add your blog address to their reader or blog list with a simple click of the Follow button. Blogger automatically adds your blog to their reading list. With the addition of your blog to their reader, they are updated every time you add a new post...and "click"...they are visiting you and reading your blog.






If you want to add a Followers Gadget to your blog...it's so easy. Go to your dashboard, click Design and the Add and Arrange Elements page comes up. You will see this picture on the right. Click add gadget...

The list of gadget choices comes up...click the Followers gadget or the plus sign. Mine is already added, so there isn't a plus sign in this picture.


When you click add and finish the steps, it will show up on the Add and Arrange Page. Here is a tip for this section. If you want more followers, you need to make it easy for your readers. Let's face it...we are all drive by readers sometimes. We are in a rush to do this and that and we're trying to squeeze in blogging too. We find a blog we love, but only notice the first post or two. We're thinking..."let me just follow this blog and I'll get back to it when I have more time". Does that sound familiar? Well, you DO want that someone to get back to your blog when they have more time, so why not put your "Follow" button towards the top of your blog. Maybe just under profile picture or a few clicks below that. That's another thing that should be at the top...YOU! Bring your "about me" info to the top too!
When they open your current blog page and see how great your blog is, let that follow button be right there for them. Click, click, click...you have new followers just from the position of a gadget!

How do you move your Followers gadget (or any gadget for that matter)? Simple...all elements on the Add and Arrange Page are click and drag. Just click on the Followers section, keep the mouse on it and drag it up to the top or some where near the top.
Once you make any changes to this page, ALWAYS click the SAVE button.


Now that you have the follow gadget, you can keep track of all your new friends on your dashboard.



When I click on this followers link, it brings me to the whole list of people who follow my blog and hopefully when I click on their picture or icon...I can find a link back to their blog and another world of inspiration.

Here's the first page of the list. The ones that show up first are the most recent followers with a picture or icon. Did you know that if you have those little gray icons of a person, you go to the end of the line...even if you have a blog :( How sad is that. My suggestion is to at least have a picture of something like your dog, cat or clip art if you don't want your actual picture of you on there.

From your followers page, you can click on a new follower and read their profile and click on their blog links...if available. Here is my great friend Tina and partner in crime when we go to quilt conventions, classes or fabric shopping...Hi Tina!! Sorry the picture is fuzzy. I couldn't get a clear picture, taking a picture of my computer screen.

When I click on Tina's profile picture, this is what comes up. A link to her email address, the links to all her blogs and below that, further down, are the blogs that she recently joined herself. I love this when all this info shows up under someone's profile picture. I can click on her awesome blog Seaside Stitches or send her an email. Go for a visit to her blog and see the quilt her daughter made with the Brownie Girl Scout Troop...unbelievable, so cute!! and oh yeah...Click her Follow button...we all love new followers!

Here is the section where I am completely stumped and aggravated by Blogger. When I have a new follower, I click on their profile picture to see if they have a blog. Sometimes I've noticed that there are no links to a blog when in fact I know they have one. Three very special people have helped me a great deal with this issue. Tina from above, Shellie from Shellie Sews and the ever so helpful Sassy Sites. I clicked on Shellie's and Sassy Sites' picture, but no link when I knew they had a blog! They have changed or fiddled with their blogs to try and find a way to add a link to their profile picture. (By the way, go visit Shellie and become a follower, she is having an awesome give away with a pattern she designed herself and FABRIC...woo hoo!! Visit Sassy Sites and follow too. Her blog is chuck full of inspiration and fun link parties)

Shellie fixed her link, but when I gave the directions to Sassy Sites, it didn't work for her. There are so many profile pictures out there that don't have a link back to their blog. Do you know how important links are. You may be following a ton of blogs, but no one can link back to you.

Go to a site that your have recently followed and click on your profile picture and see what comes up. I hope a link. I know some of you don't have blogs and that is why there aren't links, but for the many that do have blogs, it really bothers me that I can't figure out why. I really want you to have a link to your blog!

One explanation could be under the edit profile section on the dashboard.

Once you click edit profile, there is a section under the Privacy section "Select Blogs to display"...

Check off the ones you'd like to show. However, this may only be the links that show up on your dashboard.

I actually give up on this one...We tried so many different things in settings, Google Account settings, Blogger account settings. You name it.

So here is my plea...does any one out there know why some blog profile pictures have a link to their blog and others don't (when I know they have a blog)

Here is "Following" in a nut shell...

• it's a wonderful way to make new blogging friends
• when you click on someone's follow button, that blog is automatically added to your blog roll and google reader. Easy!
• when you click on someone's follow button, they will click to see your link and maybe follow your blog.
• Blogging is a wonderful network of inspirational people willing to share their thoughts and ideas. Following a blog connects us all and brings us closer together.
• Connecting is what it's all about.

Sassy Sites had a great question she wanted me to ask all of you. Her profile picture is an image of a chandelier. She wanted to know your thoughts on the image.

• Would you rather see a picture of an object maybe one that happens to match a blog's theme?
• a real photo of the person, so you can connect to that person and get to "know" the person behind the blog?
• or it doesn't matter to you either way.

Thanks for stopping by. This was a long one, but I am determined to help all those bloggers with linkless profile pictures, so fire off your answers for me...I'm ready!!

Thanks for all your comments on all my posts too. I really try to get back to everyone, but this last week or so I was swamped with comments. I love and read each and every one. I'm sending all of you a great big {HUG}

Take care,
~Karen~