Am I Being Copied?

Do you know exactly what your readers are looking for, and taking from, your blog?  We all write posts with the hope that someone, somewhere, will benefit from it.  We share our experiences, hoping that we can reach people who are going through the same things, whether it be good or bad things.   The hard part is not knowing if you are reaching people.  Sure, you know you have visitors to your blog, but wouldn't you like to know what they are copying and taking with them?  You can use Blog Copy to find out.  This site monitors your blog, and lets you know which posts people are connecting with, by the showing you which parts of your posts are being copied and pasted. 

This information can be used to discover which key words work for you, allowing you to give your readers more of what they love.  I assume it will also help with search engines.  I'm no expert blogger, but I am curious to see what people are taking from my sites. 

Aren't you?

I Have So Much to Learn

A weird thing happened today.  I was at my mom's house, and I got on her computer to check and see if I had any pending opps.  I write for a few different sites, and when I logged into one of them, I didn't qualify for as many opps as I had this morning.  I checked their stats page, and it has both of my blogs that I write paid posts on as having page ranks of 0.  I thought this was a little odd, because I didn't think we were due for a page rank update until July.  This led me to Google's page rank checker tool, and it said both blogs still have their rank, so I am guessing it's the paid site that is messed up, not my blogs.

I will admit, though, that I am no expert when it comes to Social Media Services and Site Search Software.  I know I should be networking my sites, letting people know about them, but I have no idea how.  I have read articles and to be honest, most of what they say goes right over my head.I am just a simple mommy blogger trying to make a little extra cash, and not lose my page rank in the process.  I have a Twitter account, because I read that Twitter is a great way to network yourself.  The problem is, I don't get it.  I really need to Learn More about the different platforms, and how they contribute to SEO.   Then I have to learn more about SEO.

Any suggestions?

The Forum

I write a lot of posts that I get paid for.  It used to be, when you had a problem, you could write to the company, privately, and get the answers you were looking for.  I am not sure why, but a few months ago, they decided that all problems, questions, feedback, or whatever should be posted in an open forum, so that other bloggers could offer their two cents.

The problem I have noticed, though, is that some of these bloggers are just mean.  I am sure that they think they are offering constructive criticism, but sometimes it just comes out as condescending.  There was one instance when someone posted a question, and specifically asked that only a staff member answer.  That didn't stop certain others bloggers from offering up some advice.  In the end, it was something that only a staff member could fix, so why do others chime in?

It drives me crazy! 

I am all for helping out other bloggers, but seriously guys, there is a nice way to do it.

I Need The Assistance Of Los Angeles SEO

I have grown tired of my blogs lately. I love blogging, and can not wait until I can get back to it full time again. I am tired of the way they look, and how I hardly have any page views most days.

I need to find a way to fix this. I can use a service like Los Angeles Seo, and let them do all the hard work for me. They specialize in SEO, and to be honest, I do not have the patience or the time to devote to getting my blogs ranked high enough to show up in search engines. They also offer Pay Per Click management services, where I would only pay for advertising if someone were to click on my advertisement to visit my site. This is something I couldn't do on my own, and is something probably best left to the professionals.

I also want to take advantage of Los Angeles Web Design, and maybe do an overhaul of my blogs. I use the basic templates available, and I know there is so much more out there that I am unaware of. I want things like an "about" page, and maybe a "contact" page. In fact, I can probably come up with a pretty long list of things I want, but have no idea how to do for myself.

I guess my husband was right when he said I needed professional help.

What To Do...What To Do

I have been feeling very un-bloggy lately. I don't know why, but I have noticed that I am not the only one. Some of my favorite reads are no longer blogging daily, either.

Maybe it's the weather. Or the move. Or just laziness on my part.

The bad thing is that my blogs are starting to suffer. My standings on certain marketing sites have slipped, and it is my own fault. I am no longer qualifying for paid posts, which is weird because in the past, skipping a few days of posting hasn't made a difference.

Maybe it's the weather. Or the move. Or just laziness on my part.

I have decided, though, that once we get settled into the new place, and that's assuming we are going to find one, I am going to dedicate more time to my blogs. I am going to market myself more, and try and get more traffic to my sites. I am going to get some business cards online and start leaving them in random places around town, like I have heard other bloggers do. I am also going to try and not focus on just one of my blogs. I need to do the same for all of them. This blog and my Journey blog both increased in page rank during the last update, and i want to keep them where they are. Or even get them to rank higher next time. In fact, this blog is still not where it was before I went dot com, but I have faith that it will get there someday. I also have patience, and that is so important!

Now that I have laid out my intentions, lets see how well I do keeping to my word.

Testing Out The New Look

I have been playing around with the look over here, in anticipation of becoming a dot com. I figure a new URL deserves a new look.

I redid the header a little, and tried to get rid of all the black. I had it white for a little while, but didn't like how it looked. It was too, um, sterile? Make sense? They gray is a little easier to look at, at least in my opinion.

I also wanted to see how pictures will look, so you get to see a one of Boo that I just took.

Online Relationships

I blog. I know, you're shocked, right? I am actually finding myself blogging more and more every day. I am reading more, and commenting more. I mean, isn't that what it's all about? We write a post, hoping for comments. Hoping that someone has been through what we have written about, and that they can offer advice, or simply let us know that we're not alone.

When I started blogging, I had no idea that there was this whole blogging community that I was becoming a part of. If someone had told me three years ago that I would become best friends with women I had never met, I would have told them they were crazy. I never believed in bbw chat rooms, or finding love that way. Now I know it's true, that you can find love, or friends, anywhere, even online. Like I said, some of my best friends are women I have never met. Without blogging, I never would have met my Canadian friends, or my friends who live overseas. The computer brings us all closer together.

I hope to someday meet all my blog buddies in real life. I refer to these women by name when talking to my husband, and I no longer refer to them as blog friends.

They are just my friends.

Taking A Personal Day

The kids have been out of school for a little more than a week. I don't enforce bedtimes during the summer, so they have been staying up late. Brandi has been staying up until midnight or later, and then sleeping until noon. Kasi and Ryan go to bed before her, which I find pretty amusing. I think it's because they like to get up earlier than me in the mornings, because that is the only time they get to use the computer. Once I get up I kick them off. It's not like I do it so I can check out free interracial chat rooms. I kick them off so I can get my work done. I am going to start scheduling myself a day off each week, because I am seriously getting burned out. There are days I don't feel like blogging at all. I don't want to get to the point where blogging becomes a chore, because I enjoy it too much. I like keeping family and friends informed about our day to day happenings.

Maybe I'll schedule my first day off for tomorrow. Oh, wait, that won't work. I have too much lined up for tomorrow.

Maybe Sunday will work better.

Or Monday.