I’m seriously not the person to answer your blogging questions.
The few people who’ve asked me technical questions have had low expectations, I’m sure.
They might be beating their heads against the wall right now.
The technical side of blogging has been a slow learning process for me. I think this simple pie chart explains it well:
(That’s also the ratio of women to men who read my blog based on a recent poll I conducted. Hey dudes!)
But there are a few free tools I love using. You’ve probably heard of most of them, but I thought I’d pass the tips along in case your pie chart looks like mine:
Google Alerts Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.I like to use Google Alerts to see where my blog name and personal name show up. I keep the names of my children private, so I’m alerted if their names are ever published on the Web.
Google Docs I’m pretty new to Google Docs, but I used their form for my poll and I thought it was very easy and user friendly.
Pingdom Tools My favorite feature in Pingdom Tools is a full page test. If my blog is running slow or {panic attack} not loading at all, I can enter my URL and it tells me what widget, picture, etc. is slowing down my blog. Seriously, love this tool!
Website Grader This is a really cool site that evaluates your blog and grades it accordingly. It details problematic areas. I don’t like tools that compare my blog with others, but I like Website Grader because it offers helpful ideas based on improving your site. (Of course, I don’t know how to make some of the changes it suggests!)
What are some of your favorite tools?
Please make sure you mark calendar for WFMW: Frugal Edition NEXT WEDNESDAY, May 6, the first Wednesday of May. (During these economic times, I thought it would be helpful to share a frugal/money saving tip for any area of your life!)
{Thank you for joining me for WFMW! You can read the guidelines here.}
Works for Me Wednesday Participants
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Sorry for the double post, the first link #11 is broken. Could you delete? I apologize for the trouble.
Blessings,
Kimberly
Loving those tips! Who knew you were SUPER SAVVY
I just saw Website grader today, and I LOVED it! I learned some great things about my blog and how I could improve it!
I also couldn’t live without Google Analytics
Hey, I didn’t know about some of the tools you suggested–most of them actually. So, you must be doing better than you think!
I like to read Problogger and BlogCoach to learn new things about blogging. They’ve been very helpful for this newbie.
Cool bloggy tips… thanks!
You officially know more than I do!!! Thanks for sharing this; I need all the help I can get!
Wow. I have never heard of some of these. What great tips! I would like to look into these, thank you so much for sharing and thank you for hosting!
Just out of curiousity, if you do find a google alert that tells you if your kid’s name is published, is there a way to remove their name or do you have to ask the person?
I’ve been trying to figure out the tweet deck. I’m not sure if I like it. But won’t give my final verdict till I get it figured out.
I just tried out a couple of the tools that you listed that I hadn’t heard of before. Too, too cool!
Oh, there are a couple of tools I haven’t heard of before! I’m off to play…because, you know, playing with blogging tools is a lot more fun than checking kids’ workbooks.
Ooo – just tried that Pingdom test. Love it! I don’t know what half of it means…but cool
Thanks for the great links.
Sorry for the double link! I misspelled children in the first one.
That’s what I get for posting late at night!
love learning new blogging stuff. thanks for sharing the links.
Wow! Most of these I’ve never heard of! Thanks! I’ll definitely be checking them out!
AWESOME tips. Seriously, thanks for posting!
I’m trying twitter as a way to promote my blog(s)
I’ll be sure to check out the ones you listed as well
Thanks for your list!
I use some of them, but off to check out the others.
very cool. thanks for the tips.
my blog is being analyzed and graded as i type this!!!
I love problogger – his site is full of blogging tips and I am working through his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (http://www.problogger.net/page/3/?s=dbbb) some of us need all the help we can get. He has set a daily task and they are actually quite manageable – believe it or not!!!
Hahaha– love that pie chart. That’s me, too.
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve bookmarked a few. =)
Happy Wednesday!
Awesome tips!!! I can’t wait to check those out!
Oh great! Some of those sites I hadn’t heard of! Thank you for sharing!
Oh great! Some of those sites I hadn’t heard of! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing! I wasn’t familiar with any of these. I need to check them out for sure.
Wow…I didn’t even know those existed…thanks.
sandy toe
I just did the website grader and it was cool. Thanks for all of the links.
I’ve been struggling with uploading a blog button and I’m hoping someing could walk me through step by step. I’ve made one, now I just need to learn how to grab the html code and upload it to my blog. I want one of those buttons where when other people have my blog button on their site and people click on it, it will link back to my site. Make sense?
Have a wonderful day.
Nancy
http://www.basketmasterweavings.blogspot.com
Thanks for the great suggetions! I’m new to blogging and every bit of help I get is really appreciated.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
Thanks for the great tips. I can use all the help I can get!
For a non-techie, you’re doing pretty well! I wrote about hospitality again, if anyone is interested. I think you guys who have a hard time making conversation will like this one.
I find Technorati and Statcounter to be quite useful as well!
Thanks for the tips!
I’m a total newbie and need help to learn how to design in Blogger. Any advice from anyone?
These links are great! Thank you!!
One (not to tech savy) question, what stat site do you use?
LOL at your pie chart!
I’m going to check out the links now. Thanks for sharing them.
can’t wait to try out some of these new-to-me links!
Thanks for letting us post!
http://Site-Perf.com/ – this tool is even better than Pingdom Tools
Thanks for hosting and thanks for these great tips.
??? Why can I not find a link on your blog to list my post for WFMW? It must be right in front of my eyes, but I’ve been searching and can’t find it.
Thanks for these!!!
I didn’t know of some of these site and its good info to have!
Now…to fancy-up my blog so that it gets more than its current score of “90″ – I’m happy with that, but its not quite the 96.6 it reports your site to have!
Great info for us technically challenged bloggers. Thanks. I am going to check out the Pindom Tools and Website Grade.
You are the BEST!
I found this to be a very helpful post, being that I am a novice blogger myself. Thanks.