Quick and Easy Ways to Improve the Look and SEO of Your Craft Blog - Part 2

It is easy to make a few design adjustments in the Blogger template designer.
Here I am changing the colours of the page tabs.

I am continuing to make simple changes to improve my blog's SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and it's appearance. The aim is to lift the profile of my doll clothes pattern business. I love to sew and designing doll clothes is a perfect way to enjoy my hobby and get some pocket money to make it self sustainable. I have had some very positive feed back from customers so I thought it can't hurt to try to reach more people.

Customise the Blogger Template

You can barely see the page tabs in the original design.

I changed the colour of the tab background and the tab text to make it more visible.

I did a bit of research on 'the best colour scheme for a blog'. I didn't want to make major changes but I did find out that blue is a good colour because it inspires trust. I already had a blue colour scheme so I just played with the page tabs this time. 

Brand Identification

Since I am trying to promote my brand I updated my blog header image so it matched my Etsy shop header and my Facebook page. I suppose if you pay for someone to set up your brand in the beginning you wouldn't have to worry about fixing things like that.

Putting a Face to My Doll Clothes Pattern Business

All the research I read says that putting in a head shot of yourself makes your site easier to trust so I have updated my profile picture to one of me instead of my cat. I am not personally recommending it. You need to decide for yourself if that is what you want to do.

I updated my Google profile information from general sewing blogger to doll clothes pattern seller so people immediately know that I have a business and what I sell.

Improving SEO

A quick and easy way for me to get my posts rated highly by Google is to share them on Google+.
I joined up Google+ quite some time ago and I often and regularly post and comment on this social media platform. I have noticed that when I search for 'doll clothes' on Google my blog doesn't rate but the blog post I shared on Google+ does.

The text on your page tabs is not always noticed by the bots that look for key words. To make these key words noticed you need to put text links for your pages at the bottom of your blog page. This is common practice on many business web pages. Now I know why they do it.
In the layouts view I added a links widget to the bottom of my blog.

I am a hobby business so I am happy to gradually make these improvements for myself. I am not interested in spending big money to have an 'expert' do it. I am also careful not to get to obsessed with the business. After all, sewing and designing is what makes me happy. I am sure there are lots of people like me so I am sharing what I have learnt.

Check out Part 1

Happy Sewing,
Val