What an awesome idea! Kudos to Natasha of Maw Books Blog for putting this all together in such a short time! I didn't get done as much as I would have liked, but I did do a lot of blog improvements! And I actually learned about so many cool things! It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it again.
Here's what I actually accomplished:
- wrote review for Blue Moon
- wrote review for Betraying Season
- started five other reviews
- wrote my guest post for Book Chic
- started my guest post for Hope's Bookshelf
- updated my author list
- updated my archives
- wrote and posted an update for the '09 Debut Authors Challenge
- cleaned my Google Reader
- organized Google Reader
- created a gravitar
- added The Story to two blog directories
- added meta tags
- added a bookmark button to posts
- answered some, but not all book related emails
- added new blogs to YABBD, still have a few more to do
- added a contact page
- graded my blog
- added a top commentator widget
- added a comment counter/post counter
Vania of Reverie Book Reviews suggested that I mention some of the cool things I learned about so here goes:
Did you know there are such things as Gravitars and Favicons? Well I didn't. And the mini challenge hosted by Trish of Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? was about favicons and gravitars! Definitely head over to her blog, because if you don't have them, you'll want to get them! I still need to get a favicon, but the hosting site is down for maintenance... poo!
Did you know you can get your blog graded!? Well you can! My first grade was a 98.9 which is not to shabby if I say so myself. Ruth of Bookish Ruth hosted a mini challenge about grading and improving your blog. You should visit Website Grader and grade your own. The grader also gives you pointers on how to improve your blog. I graded my blog again today after I'd done some of there suggestions and now my grade is a 99.3!
Meta Tags. They are your friend. These little guys help your blog show up on search engines! You can use this Meta Tag Builder to make your own. If you use blogger this tutorial helped me a lot! Meta Tags for Blogger at Blogger Tips and Tricks.
Anchor Texts. Did you know there was a right way to do those? I didn't. Do you even know what they are... I didn't. Well I knew what they were, I just didn't realize they had an official name! Michelle of GalleySmith did a mini challenge about them, you should check that out! I'll be doing them the right way from now on!
You know what's pretty...? A Contact Form. Yes, a Contact Form! And I have my very own! You can see my Contact Form page! Isn't it beautiful!? Thanks to Chris of book-a-rama for that one! If you'd like your own contact form you can visit this site Email Me Form.
Bookmark buttons. These are a great way to increase traffic, because they allow your readers to share information that they like with others. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner! I like this social bookmark at Add This, because it has everything.
There are a few other things I'm sure I'm missing but I think the sun has fried my head today and I'm having a hard time remembering! But hopefully those will help you out! ADIOS!