10 Things NOT to Put in Your Personal Blog

So, I have had this conversation with hubby many times and we agree on what Pamela S Stevens has to say on TopTen Reviews. I wanted to create a post with my own thoughts on this topic but I have procrastinated it so much that I decided to google for it and found a short but crisp article at TopTen Reviews. 

If your blog or journal is posted for “Everyone,” meaning that anyone can look at it, you should hold back identifiable information. 

Here are 10 things to never put in your personal blog:

• 1. Your full name.
• 2. Your kids, friends or family member’s full names.
• 3. Where you work.
• 4. Where you live.
• 5. Telephone or cell number.
• 6. Personal email address.
• 7. Where you will be and when you will be there.
• 8. Pictures of where you live or work that include identifiable information.
• 9. Pictures of your car that show the license plate number.
• 10. Travel Itinerary.

If you hold back identifiable information you can be assured that most of your thoughts are safe to share. If you are not concerned with generating traffic to your blog, just write and don’t worry about whether it is going to be read, linked to or even liked. However, even if your blog is set to “Protected,” meaning only certain people can read it, you still need to be careful about writing content that may come back to haunt you later. 

If you really just want to write and not worry about sharing, set your blog to private, and keep your posts to yourself. Either way, public or private, blogging can be fun, cathartic and informative. 

Going by my gut feeling, I have somehow managed to follow these pointers unconsciously. I blog for fun and love to try new products. Last thing I want is my blog to become a burden to me! Despite being extremely cautious, we have experienced identity fraud and thankfully it wasn't damaging. I also prefer not to post any of my personal pictures which has "people" in it in the world wide web which provides easy access to my pictures. 

If I want to share my travel experience, I will make a post on it "after" my trip. I am sure it is very much possible to write a review without including too much details on the date and day I was out of my home.

If you really want to share personal details on your blog, there is an option to make your blog private whereby you choose your readers. I have not yet tried that, but I am aware that it is possible to do that. If I want to share with my family about my experience on something that I am going through, I will make a private blog.

Last but not the least, some bloggers are just fine with sharing many details from their life on their public blog. There are many options available and whatever works the best for you to express what you want to express, is the way to go!

I would love to hear what fellow bloggers think about this topic!

New to Blogville?

If yes, i think following some of these might help you and your visitors save a lot of time dealing with clutter and i promise you'll have more time to post interesting content and making new friends.

I am making my way through the beautiful city of Blogville and only discovered a few streets so far as i tend to wander into the crescents and end up there for a while before i make my way out :) In my adventure so far, i realized that Blogville is a nice, multi-cultural place, always buzzing with activity and thickly populated !! But there's always place for a million more! Blogville is technically- magical :) I found it very engaging to be reading posts at Blogville posted by people from different ethnicity. At least i always find something of interest to me. So, i was contemplating becoming a resident of Blogville so that i can be more participative in the buzz. So i bought myself a "Blog Spot" - a place that looks small but magically keeps expanding as you move forward. Isn't that amazing?

In your Blog Spot, wherever you set foot, that Spot will be yours. Yes, somewhat like God's promise to Moses!

Now that i had a Spot in Blogville, I wanted to make friends and invite them over for tea and make some bridges to stay in touch.I built a "Special lounge" for my visitors. Mind you, most of Blogville residents are tech savvy due to the availability of the latest technology called "Social Media". But they are always willing to help you if you need to ask a "how to", so that you can be an effective communicator too :)

So today i decided to test & review the effectiveness of my tech tools i use at my Blog Spot. During the walk through i learned some valuable lessons that will be useful for a new blogger and pro-bloggers.

Google Friend Connect ( GFC):

• A must have, to meet and accept new friends. In your search bar, type " Google Friend Connect" and you will get the link.You can customize it and copy the HTML code on your blog.
  

Facebook & Twitter Buttons:

• Consider having a facebook & twitter account and link it to your blog.It is a valuable networking tool ( I tried to do some networking and discovered some bloggers did not have the networking buttons)
• Check how many facebook & twitter buttons you have on your page.
  
• You need only 2 buttons - one, for your friends to follow you on facebook & twitter and second to "share" your post content on facebook & twitter.
• If you have too many widgets with facebook and twitter icons, it will confuse your reader and you will be wasting their precious time.They have to click all the buttons till they find out the one where they can "like " or "follow" you.
• Make sure that you choose small buttons so that you can place them on top of your page, making it easier for your reader to find it. If it is somewhere down in the middle of all your real estate, it is hard to find.
• With so many styles & patterns for facebook & twitter, choose buttons that have relevance : Eg, the sign "t" or "the bird" or "follow me"for a twitter button. This will enable any blogger to follow you instantly without further thoughts or searching.
• Placement of GFC, facebook & twitter buttons, not too far from each other and parallel to "about me" is a good idea for easy connections. Placing a few lines in the "About Me" section right on the top will make your reader to be easily informed about your blog in a nutshell. A potential follower can read about you and then instantly follow you on all 3 places.
• And finally. check if your buttons are linking you to your account.

The more effective you are in choosing and placing your networking buttons, the more real-estate you will have in your Blog Spot and it also means more space for interesting content.

The more easier you make it for readers to follow you, the more followers you will have on all your social networks.

On a final note, if you are newbie to blogging and have questions, i will be glad to help you

( Note: I found that the above helped to think from a reader's point of view. If some other way works or worked for you, that's great too! )