10 Things Your Blog Should Already Have

Good morning, readers. Today I'm here to discuss with you the 10 essential gadgets and pages your blog should already have, as of today. If you have just made your blog and have no idea what to put there, then consider this post as a checklist. In fact, everyone should consider this as a checklist. Just put pretend little boxes next to everything and start looking. Also, I've got good news- I am now officially a part of the Facebook FMS Photo a Day group, and you should, too. It's really fun and I encourage you to participate with me, it's amazing to wake up every morning with a new and unique photo prompt created by none other than the queen herself, Chantelle Ellem. In fact, I just now walked out into the rain to take a picture for today's prompt, "My mood". 

1. An awesome About Page- here's a post with a few tips on how to make it great. This one is important, all bloggers swear by it!

2. An archive, or at least some sort of collection of all your posts, in case a reader is looking for that one post from October to show their buddies. Blogger offers some pretty good options for this one :)

3. You really need to add labels/tags to your posts so that people can easily find posts of that same subject. If someone really likes your DIY Roundups, they'll click on the tag for more. 

4. You really don't want a super boring blog with boring fonts that is all in black and white- that is a blog I would not return to. Instead, use colors that compliment each other that YOU like, and some cute fonts to mix it up a bit. 

5. A really good idea is to have a gadget that shows recent posts or some of your most popular posts. This will help people to be directed to more of your content, and they likely won't leave very soon!

6. A big part of SEO is having your post title before your blog title, but Blogger does a funny thing where they turn this around, and it's all backwards. There's a tutorial here on how to change that- you're welcome. It's super easy, too- I promise! 

7. Having a cute little favicon is something you should totally have because it makes your blog look more professional. It's easy to change- oh, and if you don't know, the favicon is the little image doodaddy on the tab. Mine is a panda bear, and the default Blogger favicon is the Blogger logo. 

8. Make yourself a contact page- this allows people to get more of you. Include links to your Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin, Google+, Pinterest, etc. If you don't have any social media whatsoever, I suggest you get some- it helps a ton. 

9. Don't spam your readers with a page full of ads- this is BAD. I will likely not return to a blog that is overwhelmed with ads. One or two, maybe three is okay- but just for the money. If you don't make any money off of your ads, get rid of them. 

10. Use HelloBar to make advertisements and allow people to subscribe to your blog. It's completely free and makes quality bars and pop ups. They're easy to use and completely free; I promise!

That's everything you really should have if being a pro blogger is something you want to do. Don't forget to share and Pin this- it's all about SEO, something I will talk about in a future post. Thanks for reading!

xx Savannah