I’m going to do a bit of a non-beauty related post today. Sorry ladies, no makeup talk today :p
If you’re a beauty blogger and/or reader, and are interested in reaching out to other beauty bloggers and readers, a great way to do so is by social networking. I discovered lots of great beauty sites and blogs through beauty networks and communities such as Beauty Heaven (for Australian readers), Bella Sugar, Splendicity and Total Beauty. If you’re a beauty blogger who isn’t part of a beauty community yet, do check those communities out. Give ’em a shout if you’d like to be a part of the communities.
A good way to gain readership to your site is to actively participate in beauty networks and blogs. You get to meet people who loves makeup just as much as you do, if not more. Participate in their blogs by comments, and you’ll see a good return in comments and readership as well. There is no shortcut in quick page rank increase though. All these take time. But trust me, at the end of the day, it’s a worthy wait.
Have a web statistics meter running on your blog to know who visited your site, if you haven’t already. You’d be surprised at the actual number of silent readers you have. It’s a great way in keeping in touch with your readers when you know who they are (especially the silent ones who visit your site regularly but do not comment – haha, I know who you are! :p)
Anyways, on my part to network, network and network with all you beauty bloggers and readers out there, do check me out on Twitter and Myspace. I’ve also added the links to my sidebar.
The Myspace page is mainly set up for my beauty blog, but I tweet personal stuff. I’m quite a Twitter-holic :p
Let’s see … what else is there?
Oh oh, have you heard of Woopra?
It’s a website tracker and analyser, which, I think, is absolutely fantastic. I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while now. It features real-time web-tracking and analysis. You get to view exactly how many people visited your website, where they were from, which of your pages are more popular and other important information. It’s like Statcounter, but on a whole new level. I’m really excited about this one, and I highly recommend this site for web tracking.
Unfortunately, this isn’t readily available to all. After signing up for an account, your website will be checked before approval. I got mine approved after a couple of weeks. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem though. Doesn’t hurt to sign up for one, so do give it a go. I can tell you’re going to like it once you get it set up. I had such a blast finding out who my readers were and all that. Call it healthy voyeurism :p
This is a blogging community service by Beautyholics Anonymous. We shall now return to our regularly scheduled program.
PS: By the way, this is not a sponsored post. Just some information which I thought you might be interested in.
Thanks so much for the information! Just at the time that I needed it. I’ve applied to join the Total Beauty community and they’ve sent me the paperworks. I’m still need to take some time to read it and understand it. If you have any advice on submitting to total beauty, do let me know.
And I do have to send back the paperwork via snail mail, yeah?
Connie:
You’re very welcome 🙂
I have yet to post articles on Total Beauty, so I’m afraid I’m just as in the dark as you. But no, you don’t have to send the paperwork back via snail mail. Just print it out, sign it, scan it (or take a really good close-up photo of it, and touch up), and send it back to Ericka. She’ll do the rest 🙂
Hahaha was just about to ask the same question as Connie! Thanks for your support and wisdom, Tine.
However, I used SiteMeter for my blog and not google analytics or any of the others. Which means I have to wait for three months to gather data before I can join. =(
Ahh… I’ve been using statcounter.com. I guess I’ll have to wait 3 months too. Fair enough. More time for me to work on my blog.
Tine, you are so right!
OMG! The Total Beauty paperwork! LOL! I’ve had mine a WHILE. I won’t say how long. I’m mailing mine in this week.
I will admit, I have discovered I don’t like to write. I like to talk:) SO I podcast and video my beauty blog. Or I guess I should say vlog. I am on a Mac. Are you ladies on Windows? Can you do me a favor and let me know if you can view my posts? I would really appreciate it. Thanks:)
thanks for the lovely tips Tine 🙂
Thanks for the tips!! =) Very helpful.
I’ve clarified with Erika and apparently I don’t have to wait 3 months to submit my analytics. I’ll be submitting my paperwork by this weekend if I can get everything done by then, that is. Way too swamped in schoolwork!
Thanks for this really informative post! I’m extremely new to this beauty blogging thing and I’ve been really wanting to get the word out about my site. I did have a question though, It’s my understanding that it’s not proper to give your blog address in your comments. So, if you don’t do that, how do people know about your blog?
Kahani:
Ahh yes, I missed out Google Analytics. That’s a very good site too actually. I use that as an either Splendicity or Total Beauty traffic monitoring request. Oh dear, I didn’t realise you have to wait three months to gather traffic information. I never had to actually. Before that, I’ve always been using Statcounter; it was only at their request that I use Google Analytics as well.
Connie:
It’s not that long a wait. Before you know it, you’ll be joining networks and networks of beauty goodies 🙂
The Home Spa Goddess:
There’s actually no need for you to mail it in. Just print it, sign and date, scan and send via email. Well, that was what I was told anyway.
I’ve checked out your site. Good work! Yep, I can view it 🙂
Askmewhats:
Glad it’s of help 🙂
Indulgent Diva:
No worries babes 🙂
Connie:
There ya go! Good luck!
Pretty N Pink:
That’s a good question actually. A good and effective way in getting your blog out there for people to know would be to comment on their blogs. Do so actively. It’s not just a matter of writing “Good post” or “Thank, I enjoyed it”, but something more constructive. Too much of the former and you’d risk sounding like a spammer. This way, people will get to know you, and will inadvertently reciprocate.
As for putting your blog address in your comments, to be honest, that’s a gray area. When you comment, you’re required to include your name, email address and URL, which is optional. The blogger whose blog you commented on will know it’s from you. Of course, you might also want to reach out to others and not just said blogger. I reckon if your comments are constructive, then adding your blog address at the end of it wouldn’t be too bad. But I would not recommend doing this on a long-term basis though. THAT could hurt your credibility.
Good luck 🙂
Networks of beauty goodies eh? *drools* Lol. totally random but I had a lecturer asked us “Why do you want to study marketing?” and the one thing that I thought of was “COSMETICS!”. My dream is to work in a cosmetic company or a beauty magazine or anything beauty-related and I can claim makeup. I’m currently part-timing at cosmetic counters and the perks are already great!
But then again, I’m not blogging for money (I only have like RM1.75 from nuffnag) or freebies or fame. I really just wanna share my thoughts on makeup and have a motivation to experiment with my makeup. I have way too much makeup that I wouldn’t be able to use up if I don’t have a blog to show it. But of course, it’d be sad to not have anyone read my blog after all the effort I put in it thus the reason for exposure.
Anyways, thank so much for your support! And good luck to you too.