How to Make Your Website Load Faster

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how to make your website load faster



While you may not always be thinking about it, your website’s load speed is quite important. Think about it – how long do you let a site try and load before getting annoyed? Maybe 5 seconds? If you’re a really patient person, 10 seconds?

The truth is, it’s around 5 seconds for most people. How long does it take your site to fully load? Are you losing visitors because it’s too slow?

Since user experience is now a focus of Google, a site’s load time is more important than ever. You want people to stay on your site. There are many SEO people who believe site load speed directly effects SEO.

For this post, I am going to be taking my How to Start a Blog post, and making changes to improve the speed.

I’ll walk you through step-by-step what I am doing, so you can follow right along! I’ll also add some other ways (that I did not use) to speed up your site’s load time.

The tools I am using to test the site for speed are pingdom and gtmetrix. They are both free.

Here are our results before this post:
GTmetrix
how to speed up your site

Pingdom
pingdom test

As you can see, this post is actually loading pretty quickly already, but there are some things we can do to speed it up even more.

Now, both free speed test sites shown above provide a ton of insight about specific elements of your site and how they are affecting load speed. Feel free to delve into those reasons, but I will cover many of the common things that slow down sites in this post.

GTmetrix gives you grades on specific categories, while Pingdom shows you how long each element took to load, how large each element is and how long it waited to connect to each element.

A quick look at GTmetrix shoes that they give image optimization a D grade.
gtmetrix
Obviously, there are other issues there as well, but we’ll focus on images first.

So I see the D grade from GTmetrix and head over to Pingdom. Sure enough, I see a couple of images over 145kb in size.
images
Now, if you’ve got nice, high quality photos, you’re going to need to have images that are larger than this. However, you can see the images on my post are just screenshots. They don’t need to be top quality.

One thing to note here: if you’re going to re-size images in existing posts, keep in mind the metadata of those images such as file name and alt tags. If you upload new images, keep that stuff the same to avoid negative SEO impact.

Ok, time to work though the post image by image.

First up, I’ll go over some image re-sizing tools.
PicMonkey – easily resize images in jpeg format in 3 size/quality options. Also crop out unnecessary parts of images with this tool.
Picresize.com – upload pics right on the site, resize, crop, add effects or simple save as a lower quality.
Irfanview – free software that allows you to save images at lower size/quality options. Be sure to download the software and the plugins, so you have the “save for web” function.
Photoshop – the premier photo editor, but very costly and complex. (tutorial here)

The first image in the post was 80kb. A quick downgrade in quality via picresize.com and we’re at 66kb. Not fully satisfied, I took this image into Irfanview and was able to reduce the quality (you can’t tell in the published version) to 50% and it brought the image size down to a tiny 25.43kb. That’s over 2/3 smaller of a file. You can imagine how doing this for the rest of the images will improve load time.

The next image was 84kb and I reduced it in Irfanview to 28kb by just downgrading the quality from 100% to 90%. (I am using the “save for web” option shown here:
sfw1
I started to see quality changes after that, so I kept it at 90%. The point is to reduce file sizes without reducing noticeable quality. You have to be aware of the line and always choose quality of image over size reduction.

Some images may already be optimized and you’ll find that the tools don’t reduce the sizes. These cases will be rare, but they do happen.

By just reducing all of the image sizes on that post, I reduced the load time by about half of a second according to the testing tools. GTmetrix also upgraded my image optimization grade from a D to a C.

If you want to get serious about image optimization, take a look at your sidebar images, header images and any other images that you have which load on every page. Reducing those can make some serious improvements to load time.
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Another thing you can do to reduce your site’s load time is to minify your css file. To many of you, that sounded like another language. The truth about this one is that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you might mess up your site’s design, so consider hiring this one out.

I use http://cssminifier.com/ and throw the minified css onto a test site. You can also hire someone to do this for you.

Basically, what it does is it makes it easier for web browsers to read your css file quickly. The faster it can read your css file (which tells it how to make your website display), the faster the site can load.
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Host ads on your own server. Upon checking the speed of my site again on pingdom, I also noticed this disturbing thing: the 125×125 pixel GIF in my sidebar took 15 seconds to load! Fifteen seconds! This is because it just happened to take a while to connect to their servers. It definitely doesn’t happen often, but these things happen and the more ads you have hosted on other sites, the greater your chance of this happening.

Download the images for the ads, upload them to your own site and add them back to your sidebar that way.
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This one may be the most obvious: get a caching plugin. A caching plugin will generate HTML files that are called upon to load when a visitor comes to your site as opposed to each visitor calling upon the server (webhost) to load a website.

Basically, caching reduced site load speed and reduces the load on your host.

The two most popular WordPress caching plugins are W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache. I use them both and find the very user friendly.

Note: caching can get tricky. While most people will be able to install these plugins without issue, things happen. Issues with caching plugins can be difficult to figure out, so I recommend leaving it to a pro if you can afford it. It shouldn’t take a pro more than 30 minutes in install and set up either of these plugins.
———————————————-
Similar to a caching plugin, you can also opt for a CDN (content delivery network) service to help your load speeds. MaxCDN and CloudFlare are the 2 most popular.

You can also use CloudFlare’s security services to prevent bots and spammers from accessing your site, this reducing the load and increasing your speed.
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A few other general ideas:

  • Reduce the number of plugins you have.
  • Reduce the number of scripts that are running on your site
  • Remove unnecessary images or change them to text
  • Reduce the number of full posts that show on your homepage

To expand on that last point. The less full posts that you have showing on your homepage, the better. If you’ve got 5-7 pictures per post and 10 posts showing up on your homepage, visitors are loading up to 70 images each time they visit your homepage!

Consider showing one or two posts and then 3-4 additional snippets of posts instead.

Bonus: this will also increase your pageviews, since people will have to click the posts snippets to read the full post!
———————————————–
Final tests:
Pingdom
test
GTmetrix
speed test

As you can see, a little bit of attention as to what is holding your site up can make a big difference in load speed time.

Also, as I mentioned in the post, there are a ton of other little ways to reduce your site’s load time. I encourage you to explore deeper into the testing tools if you’re interested in further reducing your site’s load speed. I just thought 1400 words was enough for today’s post. :)

Don’t have much time or money? Head to fiverr and search “speed up my site” to find several gigs for this exact thing. Just be sure and choose someone with a healthy amount of 5-star reviews.

How fast does your site load according to pingdom?

How to Make a Blog Header

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how to make a blog header



I wrote about how to make a blog header a while back and thought I’d polish the post a bit and make it more 2014 friendly.

No matter where you are in your blogging life, your blog’s header is of the utmost importance. If you’ve already got a header, I challenge you to take a look at it with an editorial eye Is it optimized for mobile? Does it accomplish what you want it to for new site visitors?

My favorite part from my previous post about headers was the basic tips that I led off with.

Tips on creating a website or blog header:
• keep it clean
• minimal pictures
• make sure it fits
• don’t make it too tall
• make it look professional
• don’t make it look cheap

As I mentioned above, the header is a very important part of your blog. It’s basically like the job interviews outfit you pick out: it’ll be people’s first visual impression of you, so you want to make it good.

If you’re not creative, or are not good with graphic design, hire someone to do it. There are designers throughout blogland who do a great job for $20-$50. Even better, you can check out Fiverr to find hundreds of people who will create you a header for $5! You can see their work and any feedback they have before ordering. Do your research there, find a good one and you’ll land a great header for $5!

I’ve gotten some great design work done through fiverr and can’t believe I only paid $5 for it once it’s done! It’s definitely worth a shot.

If you decide to make a blog header yourself, here’s an easy way to do it:

1. Assuming you’re in WordPress and have a header function, simply hover over “appearance” in you dashboard and click “header”. Your header’s dimensions will be listed on the next screen. In Blogger, the easiest way to find your header’s dimensions is to visit your blog and save your current header as an image on your computer. Then open the image with a photo editing program (I use Paint) and look at the dimensions.

2. Create a blank jpeg file of your exact header dimensions. Note: if you want to change the size of your header, you’ll need limited php knowledge.

3. Go to PicMonkey and open the blank file that you created.

4. From there, you’re on your own as far as creating the header. Use the tips above, familiarize yourself with the tools that PicMonkey has to offer and play around with it until you come up with something you like. Note: now would be a good time to “spring” for the paid subscription (something like $3/month) so you can use the premium fonts and graphics. Don’t skimp on your header!

5. Once you have a header created, it’s time to upload it. WordPress users will simply upload it under the “header” section and you’re good to go. In Blogger, head to the layout section of your dashboard and click edit in the header scetion. (see below)
blogger header

6. If you have an existing header image, click “remove image” and you’ll see an option to upload your new header.

7. Find the file on your computer and upload it.

8. For “placement” choose “Instead of title and description” if all you want to show in your header is your image (this is usually the case).

9. Check your blog!

That should be it! The tough part about this whole process is coming up with a header that you are happy with.

Again, get creative and keep it clean! Find out what works for you. Look around at other blog’s headers and get inspiration. Don’t copy though. Experiment with real images and text, graphics and text, or text only. Shift things around and ask the opinions of others. This is a very serious task in terms of setting up your blog, so give it the time (or investment) needed to produce a nice-looking header.

Get Paid to Blog – 85 Ways to Make Money Blogging

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get paid to blog



About a year and a half ago, I created a post telling people ways that they could get paid to blog. Well, it’s approaching the the last third of 2014 now and things have changed. I have created a new list of 85 ways to make money with your blog.

The following list is current to the best of my knowledge. I have either personally worked with, or seen bloggers working with all of these companies within the past 6-months. (FYI this post was published August 2014.)

I’ve created a 2 page checklist with all of the items on this list so you can easily keep track of which opportunities you have explored and which ones still need attention.

Click here to get the printable PDF.

Ad Networks
These networks will provide you with ads that you can put up on your site and earn passive income. They will serve ads that are targeted to your readers. There is a new ad network popping up every week and you certainly won’t find them all on this list. I do, however, cover many of the mainstream ones.

AdSense – With AdSense, you can run up to 3 display ads at one time on your site. There are tons of ad sizes available. You can also add link units, which are lines of ads that are just text links. AdSense is commonly known (though not true for eveyone) as the ad network with the highest revenue potential.

Advertising.com – They require very high monthly pageviews to join. I believe it’s 300,000 monthly. The payout is generally lower than AdSense but higher than Lijit.

BlogHer Publishing Network – You’ll have to make it through their rigorous application process where your site design, content and other ad networks will come under scrutiny. If you can make it through, you’ll be a part of the only ad network that comes close to AdSense earnings.

Chitika – Another mediocre display ad company that should be 2nd or 3rd in your queue.

Federated Media – another ad network designed for sites with a large number of pageviews. I have heard from several sources that Federated Media is an excellent network with good payouts. The one thing you should know about FM is that your site’s pageviews are available for everyone to see on their site.

Glam Media – sponsored content in addition to display ads can be found in this tough-to-join network. They don’t allow you to have BlogHer ads and Glam ads on the same site.

Lijit/Sovrn – Similar to Advertising.com, use this if you can’t get AdSense or want more display ads on your site. I don’t know of anyone who makes even 50% of what they make with AdSense using Lijit.

Luminate – this one is a little different. Luminate allows you to monetize pictures on your site with ads that pop up at the bottom of images. See an example of Luminate in action here. Luminate is on longer in service.

Media.net – owned by Yahoo, this ad network offers fairly ugly text ads and pays rather low amounts. Another viable option if you’re without AdSense though.

Link Ads
These companies have programs that will turn regular links or pieces of text into PPC links or paid affiliate links. A lot of these are not popular, as they do negatively affect the user experience by turning random words into random links.

InfoLinks – creates links that produce small pop-out ads (when hovered over) out of pieces of text on your site.

Kontera – another major player in the in-content ad game.

Matomy SEO – This is a very large network that provides you with text ads, in-link ads, content marketing pages and more. This is a very underused network in the blogging world and is definitely worth a look.

VigLink – you’ll also find this under affiliate networks, but they also have a link program where you install code on your site and VigLink recognizes keywords (aka dress, new shoes, hotel) and automatically turns them into clickable affiliate links that make you money. There is another competitor (Skimlinks) but they have severe tracking issues in my opinion and are not worth signing up for.

Affiliates
Get paid to blog by promoting products from your favorite stores. The majority of online merchants have affiliate programs, which pay publishers a percentage of sale when they refer customers from their site. Listed below are affiliate networks, which are networks containing the affiliate programs of a large number of merchants in addition to individual affiliates, such as Amazon.com.

Amazon Associates – receive a percentage of sale for referring people to Amazon to make a purchase. Perhaps the single most popular affiliate out there. Unfortunately, if you live in the following states: Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, or Rhode Island, you cannot join due to tax laws.

Commission Junction – CJ has a huge library of affiliates that you can apply for. They also have a premium publisher program that they are building right now which focuses on content heavy blogs.

Ebay Enterprise – formerly PepperJam, EE is a network with just under 1,000 affiliates. EE lacks a lot of major retailers and has notable tracking issues. I recommend using them as a last resort for affiliates.

Flex Offers – another good sized network with major merchants such as JCPenney, Kohl’s, Roxy and Sears to name a few.

Groupon – promote the daily deals that Groupon has via their own affiliate program.

Impact Radius – a smaller network, but still with large companies such as Forever 21, NastyGal, Lord & Taylor and approximately 250 more.

LinkShare – another huge network of affiliates including Macy’s, Kohl’s, iTunes and about 1,000 others.

Point Click Track – has a lot of spammy-type offers like “free” stuff but also has a few merchants like Ellie, Pacific Sunwear and Vistaprint.

ShareASale – yet another large network with merchants including Zulily, Reebok, Wayfair and about 3900 others.

Viglink – I love VigLink because they track very well. They also have access to about 35,000 merchants. If you only decide to monetize via affiliates one way, join VigLink. Creating specific product links is a breeze and you can monetize just about any store you can think of with their massive library of merchants. The best part? They offer exclusive high commission rates for some merchants (like Nordstrom, for example).

*Bonus – ask your webhost if they have an affiliate program. Some (such as ) pay $65 or more per referral!

Offer Networks
These are networks that you can join and are given access to offers such as paid surveys, printable coupons, baby products and more. Promote these offers to earn (98% of the time) a set amount of money per action (usually just an email registration).

Centerpoint Media – offers include Esquire and Comso magazines, Home Depot sweepstakes entry, FabKids and more.

CPA/DNA – offers such as Savingstar and paid survey companies.

Integrate – a very large network of offers that can seem spammy. Some hidden Gems like ThredUp.

MySvaings – current offers include – 24 Hour Fitness free 3-day pass, Big 5 Sporting Goods printable coupon, JustFab, Living Social and more.

Panthera Network – offers from Zoombucks, SoundCloud and a slew of paid survey sites.

Sponsored Content Networks
These are large networks with a lot of bloggers in them. They seek out sponsored opportunities that you can apply for as a member. It’s a nice way of getting sponsored posts without having to go out and pitch yourself.

Bookieboo – sponsored posts/Tweets and more, mostly revolving around healthy eating and living.

BSM Media – sponsored posts for mom blogs. The linked page isn’t necessarily an “apply” page so I recommend using the contact form to introduce yourself.

Burst Media – sponsored campaigns from companies including L’Oreal, Ella and Disney.

Clever Girls Collective – less campaigns than Social Fabric, but the ones they do have are pretty good.

CrowdTap – They have a Socialstars program that people are posting sponsored content from. I know for sure you get free products, but I think some get paid as well.

Glam Media – sponsored content in addition to display ads can be found in this tough-to-join network.

Ignite Social Media – land sponsored posts and even larger post series that can net 4 figures.

Latina Bloggers Connect – sponsored posts for Latina bloggers.

Latina Mom Bloggers – it’s pretty obvious who they are looking for… if you fit the bill, apply and be in the running for sponsored post opps.

Linqia – sponsored posts that pay per click. You are given a goal, but even if you don’t reach it, you get paid for the clicks you did get.

Massive Sway – the network created by the SITS Girls offers sponsored posts from a variety of brands.

Mode Media – part of the Glam family, Mode offers members sponsored post opps from a variety of companies.

ModernMom – sponsored posts and product reviews. Invitations delivered to your email inbox.

Mom Central – review opps, samples and sponsored content opportunities

Mom it Forward – sponsored posts and event hostings for moms.

Mom Spark – sponsored posts, in-home parties, blogging events, ambassador programs and more.

Mom Trends – host parties locally, get sponsored posts and more.

Pollinate Media – Even less campaigns than Clever Girls, but some decent ones.

PopSugar Select – sponsored campaigns for fashion, food, beauty fitness and mom blogs.

She Speaks – connect with brands and land sponsored opps.

Single Edition – sponsored posts for lifestyle bloggers.

Social Fabric – a lot of grocery and food based sponsored posts with fairly picky requirements, but they pay decently and on time.

SocialMoms – I recently saw a slew of bloggers posting a Cheesecake Factory campaign through this company.

Social Spark – sponsored blog posts and tweets.

Sverve – sponsored posts, tweets and Pinterest contests.

Tap Influence – create a media kit and let brands come to you. Once a brand chooses you, you can negotiate your rates.

The Motherhood – lots of sponsored posts for local and national brands.

Companies that Help You Sell Ads
These companies will help you manage the sale of private ads on your site. Most of them will have you enter your stats and companies will see your site in a marketplace of potential advertising places.

BlogAds – You enter your blog’s info and are in their network of potential blogs whose ad space is sold to buyers. They have a sales team in place to try and sell your (and all of the other members’) ads.

BuySellAds – for larger sites expecting to sell over $1,000 in ads per month.

Passion Fruit Ads – more of an ad management system, but allows people to purchase ads and pay you right away on your site. Offering discounts is also a breeze with Passion Fruit.

Free Credits
While not actual money, referral credits can be just as good as money if it’s used to purchase something that you would have bought anyway. Also, sometimes it’s okay to just rack up a little bit of fun money at some of the stores below. Note: many of these companies also have affiliate programs where you can earn actual money, but it will be a lower amount than the credits you can earn.

Cell Phone Companies – check with yours- most companies (Virgin Mobile, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc) have a referral program which gets you $25 or more off of a bill for referring new customers.

DirecTV – along with other cable companies offer a bounty for referring customers. DirecTV actually gives you $100 toward your bill(s) so that’s significant!

Diamond Candles – once you make a purchase, you get a referral link that gets people $5 off and you $5 in credit for each one who signs up and makes a purchase.

Dropbox – get 500mb of space (up to 16GB) for each referral.

Gilt – earn $25 after your referral’s first order ships.

Groupon – get $10 in credit for everyone who you refer with your special link.

Hulu – get 2 weeks of free credits (and so does your referral) for sending people to Hulu Plus.

Ipsy – earn Ipsy points for each referral that you can use to get bonuses in your Ipsy bags.

Julep – get $15 in credits for each friend who signs up using your referral link. New signups will get a code for a free box upon signing up!

Living Social – order something you want/think your fans will like. You will get a link to share with others. If 3 people purchase using that link, yours becomes free!

Lot 18 – get $25 for everyone you refer who makes a purchase on this fine wine site. The person you refer will also get $10 in credits!

ModCloth – get $15 for every referral who makes a purchase of $50+ within 30 days of signing up via your link. $585 max credits per calendar year.

My Habit – Earn $20 to spend on MyHabit for each friend who accepts your invite and makes a purchase of $20+. You can also find MyHabit’s affiliate program through Commission Junction and Amazon Associates.

Naturebox – get $10 in credits for each person you refer. No credits on special pricing offers.

One King’s Lane – get $15 for everyone who signs up using your link and makes a $30+ purchase within 30 days of signup.

Rue La La – get $10 for everyone you refer who makes a purchase. The nice part here is that they can join one day and make a purchase 3 weeks later and you still get credit for the purchase.

The Honest Company – get $20 for everyone who you refer who makes a purchase or starts a subscription.

ThredUp – get $10 for everyone you refer who makes a purchase. ThredUp makes it easy by giving everyone you refer a $10 credit to get them started.

Vitacost – get $10 in credits for each person you refer once they make a purchase.

Zaycon Foods – get a whopping dollar for each person you refer who makes a purchase.

*Bonus – my local pest control company has a referral program. Don’t hesitate to ask around – especially if you have a local audience.

*I could go on for pages and pages listing places with referral programs, so I’ll stop here, but that doesn’t mean you have to!

Free Products
While I subscribe to the philosophy that free products don’t pay the bills, some people aren’t blogging for money, so free products are totally fine. Additionally, if a free product is something that you would have purchased anyway, it’s money saved, which is the same as money earned in my book.

BlogDash – write reviews of products that are sent to you for free. With clients like HP, Sands Resorts and Intel, you could land some nice freebies.

Tomoson – join and apply to receive free products in exchange for reviews on your blog.

Wolf at Best Buy – sponsored posts from Best Buy in return for free products.

Product Sales
Another trend in blogging is to use your blog as a trampoline into the product/services sales business. Using your blog to connect with potential customers can be a great way of promoting your business.

Etsy – sell craft/diy/art things among others at the one of internet’s most popular stores.

Instagram sales – a popular thing with fashion bloggers is holding sales on Instagram for their clothing. Quite a few bloggers make decent extra cash doing this. Running these sales on Instagram means you avoid eBay/etsy/Amazon seller fees.

MLM businesses – use your blog to promote your essential oil, Avon, Mary Kay, Stella & Dot and other mlm business.

eBooks – write an eBook around your content (or about anything) and sell it on your blog. Tutorials, guides and recipe books are also options.

Want more?
Enter your name and email to get on my newsletter and you’ll get 5 additional ways to make money with your blog delivered right to your inbox!


Do you know of any opportunities that I should add to this list?

What are some ways you get paid to blog?

BlogHer Observations and a Trip to the Mecca

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blogher 14
We traveled to San Jose for BlogHer14 this past weekend. It was actually our first conference, so we felt like we were going all out by going to BH. It was drive-able for us, which was important because we have a 3.5 month old baby. I’ll be blogging more about the trip from the parental end shortly on Baby lu.

The conference was interesting. We went with the idea that we would make many more connections for my wife’s blog Katie Did What and we definitely did just that.

Here are some things that I observed about the conference:
These are simply observations. I am not saying anything is right or wrong/good or bad.

  • We stayed in the right hotel. The Marriott and Hilton are attached to the convention center. Had we stayed at the other two (Hyatt, Fairmont), I would have gotten tired of the walk after the 10th time.
  • From what I heard, Pathfinder day was completely useless. I heard that from multiple sources but won’t get into it more than that since I wasn’t actually there. I’ll just say that if you ever go to BH, skip this, as it’s probably not worth the extra $100 or so.
  • The suite parties were just that – parties. There was no networking to be found there.
  • The official parties were dreadful. We listened to someone talk about how great pets are (which I completely agree, but didn’t need to spend an hour listening to that) and how everyone should adopt from a shelter instead of buying them. Great message, but I didn’t feel like it was a good use of my time at all and I certainly would not have called that a party. I have friends who went to 2 of the other 4 official parties and they also sounded useless.
  • More people needed to read my Blog Conference Etiquette post before going.
  • Some brands baffle me with the ways they spend money. A couple of brands wasted huge opportunities by sending reps with no personality and having boring booths.

    • 2014-07-26 11.39.27

  • We fenced with giant spoons.
  • The candy in a pill bottle was not the best idea. Neither was the expired candy from Sonic.
  • When possible at these conferences, connect with the PR people behind the brand. Sometimes, the booth has 3-4 people working. Make sure you are exchanging contact info with the right one.
  • If you’re looking to connect with brands, ask how they work with bloggers and take it from there. A lot of companies were happy we asked.
  • Samsung spent thousands of dollars to be there only to tell us “we’re not really sure how or if we are going to work with bloggers”. They would have been better off at a fair or home show.
  • A couple of the booths (Microsoft and Best Buy) were apparently invisible.
  • BlogHer is no longer about the swag.
  • The keynotes are more “feel good” speeches than actual helpful blogging info. That said, a lot of people seemed to really enjoy Kerry Washington and the other keynotes.
  • The sessions are full of very basic info that you can easily find on sites like this one.
  • BlogHer doesn’t really care about your health. With a final party sponsored by McDonald’s (and serving only McDonald’s food) and water nowhere to be found at the conference (champagne was free, water was not), it was clear that health is not a topic BlogHer cares much about.
  • BlogHer may actually be ruining some bloggers’ reputations. Upon entering the McDonald’s closing party, there was a sign that said something to the effect of “by entering, you consent to your photos being taken and used however we want”. Hmm… might not be the best idea for a healthy living blogger or fitness blogger to have their picture at a McDonald’s party plastered all over the place. Just be aware when at conferences or events like this that this might happen.
  • Attendance seemed down. The sessions had empty seats all around and just about every brand at the expo hall was basically dumping swag into people’s bags on the last day.

The best part was that on the way out, we decided to make the 20 minute drive to Mountain View and the mecca:
google-headquartersI wonder if just being there will rub some good SEO ranking onto me!

All in all, I wouldn’t go again unless it is within driving distance. The three best things to happen to us and our business at the conference were not actual conference activities. We met with the owner of a site that Katie writes for and met with the editor of another one she contributes to. The third was a private breakfast that led to some great partnership opportunities for Katie’s site. Side note – we did meet GiGi, who I featured here and she was awesome!

So if you do go, try and arrange meetings beforehand. Don’t rely on the conference alone to provide the value you are looking for. The best thing about the conference is that it brought all of these people together in one place and that makes it easier to touch base with more people.

It’s a worthy conference if you are a brand new blogger or are just looking to make personal connections. I do also think it is still going to give you the most “bang for your buck” when it comes to brands. I hear that Blogger Bash (which was held a week before BlogHer) is trying to “be the new BlogHer” but I also heard from a friend who went that it was a total waste of time. Conferences are really what you make of them and this one was no different. I’m glad we made things happen outside of the official conference so I can say it was a worthwhile trip.

BlogHer 2014

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I'm Going to BlogHer '14!
Tomorrow we’re heading to BlogHer 2014 in San Jose, California. It’ll be our first one and I’m excited to meet a ton of awesome bloggers and brands. I’ll be going with the hope of meeting good companies to work with and good friends to hang with.

I am excited about this conference because I want to share my blog with other bloggers. I really write this blog for actual bloggers, as opposed to internet marketers. More than most other “blog help” sites, I try to connect with true bloggers. I look forward to meeting people who are like myself and my wife – people who want to be successful with a personal blog. I can’t think of a better place to meet about 3,000 of those people!

I’ll be tweeting and instagramming from the conference with the hashtag #BlogHer14.

I’m definitely going to keep in mind blog conference etiquette while there.

If you’re seeing this post and I met you at BlogHer, say hi! I’d love to hear from you via an email or comment on this post!