Flying home from the inaugural Savvy Blogging conference in Breckenridge, CO, I was breathless from the altitude and the energy of 60 bloggers putting their heads together to share and learn. Without in-flight Internet to blog, I did the next best thing. I created a list of ways to improve my blog, BargainBabe.com. Line by line, I filled nine pages.
Here are highlights of that list. I’m going to blame my conviction that I would complete all 64 tasks within three weeks on the mountain’s thin air.
Accomplished
* Checked how quickly BargainBabe.com loads using the Google Page Speed tool
* Made a list of advertisers to approach
* Interviewed a blogger I met at Savvy about eating organic on a budget. The resulting post was so popular I’m writing about this topic more often
* Purchased an alternate domain, BargainBabe.org
* Started a redesign that better enables readers to find evergreen content that is as relevant today as the day it was published
* Made sure BargainBabe.com has a Page Title with keywords
* Spent more time learning keywords in my blog space using the Google Keyword tool
* Wrote a contract for BargainBabe.com’s part-time bloggers to clarify the working relationship
* Created a small network of bloggers I met at Savvy to bounce around questions and ideas, share posts and links
* Emailed a blogger I met at Savvy for her rate sheet and realized I need to update mine, big time! (currently in the works)
Still to do
* Email the advertisers on my list to introduce BargainBabe.com and share my rate sheet
* Install an RSS footer that warns about copyright infringement
* Make my right sidebar align. The darn thing won’t cooperate!
* Customize my 404 page with links to my homepage, a contact form, and/or my email
At Savvy I learned practical ways to make BargainBabe.com more professional and returned home inspired to do so. I hope next year’s conference is as energizing and practical, but with more air.
Julia Scott shares strategies and inspiration to save at BargainBabe.com, and shares coupons at WalletPop.com.
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Why did you puchase an alternate domain?
[Reply]
Good question. I purchased bargainbabe.org, .biz, .us, and .net because as the brand grows, I don’t want to confuse readers if they end up at another site and it isn’t mine (which could happen if I did not own the alternate urls). The alternates point to BargainBabe.com. I hope this will increase my traffic a bit and be valuable if I ever sell the site.
Julia
aka Bargain Babe
[Reply]