The Blog Lowdown – Wild About Here

Today on The Blog Lowdown, I’m delighted to be hosting Kriss from Wild About Here

Please Introduce yourself:
I’m Kriss from Wild About Here. Until I had my twins – Luce and Theo – I worked as an international television news journalist. When I was younger I covered everything from conflict zones to royal scandals and then was the regional editor in charge of the Middle East and Asia for the world’s largest news agency.
I’m a dual national – British and American. Two years ago we moved from London to the US and then a month ago we moved back to the UK. We’re now living in the countryside in Sussex. Two years ago my children called me Mummy but now they call me Mommy!

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging just over a year ago when we were based in the Hamptons, NY, USA.

Tell us a little about your blog
I now mainly focus on outdoors fun with kids as well as photography. I want to inspire my children and others to explore and discover nature no matter what the season. In the Hamptons I wrote about the amazing trails, nature reserves, beaches and outdoor activities available to children year round. I plan to do similar posts here in Sussex. I love watching my children turn into young naturalists as we observe and learn together about nature and wildlife.
Yes, I’m a Google+ evangelist! I was pleasantly surprised to discover my G+ profile is now ranked in the top 300 in the UK. I’ve written a series of Google Plus posts with tips from how to optimize your profile to how to manage your circles. More to come soon…
Originally I predominantly published posts on British kids’ lifestyles and brands primarily for expats. With my perspective as a Mum and a Mom, I enjoy writing on topics which are helpful for families moving to or visiting Britain.

Who designed your blog?
I went down the ‘teach yourself route’ and designed my blog myself. I wanted to keep control on how it looks as well as be able to make changes whenever I wanted.

Which of your posts have been the most popular? Are there certain types that get more interest?
I actually receive regular organic search traffic for many of my British kids lifestyle posts. My top post is Mum or Mom or Ma or Mam – what do you say?
My photo based nature posts are popular with regular readers. I like to find different ways to enjoy the outdoors with kids such as ‘Would you like to watch the sunset?’
Some of my creative posts are also a big hit such as Two Fab Ways to Teach Kids How to Compare Planet Sizes.

How do you promote your blog posts, and which methods do you find to be most successful?
I share mainly on Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Google+ is Google so it’s a way of telling the search engines who you are and what you write about. I really need to focus more on Pinterest as I’m amazed at how it can regularly refer traffic to your blog.
Google+ is also a perfect place to share photography. You’d be shocked how many big photographers are active there and have huge followings.

Which linkys do you most enjoy joining in with/reading?
One of my favourites is Country Kids on Coombe Mill as it encourages outdoors fun with kids. PoCoLo on Vevivos is fantastic, but I think it’s important to only join in with linkys when you have time to visit and comment on other blogs. If I’ve written a post that I think will work with a great linky, then I try to join up as well. There are some great posts to read every week on Mumturnedmom’s The Prompt.
I’m also a huge fan of photography linkys such as on PodcastDove or TheBoyandMe’s Project 365 or Love All Blogs Better Photo Project.

When are your busiest days on the blog, and why? (if you know why!)
I need to organize my time better as often I end up way too busy at the weekends or late at night.

Can you name 3 things that blogging has brought you?
Rawakening my passion for photography.
Learning about social media.
Watching my children turn into young naturalists.

My Top 5 Tips for Bloggers:
1. Be inspired by others but find your own voice and style.5 great social sharing tips for bloggers
2. Be active on Google Plus! Like, reshare, comment and engage. Write a few sentences explaining why you’re sharing your own post or resharing someone else’s. If you just link dump then many on G+ consider this as spam. Google+ is a great platform to find the top experts on blogging and social media. It’s also very visual (like Pinterest) and you’ll find more interaction if you upload large images.
3. Make sure your social buttons are easy to find on your blog. Also customize your Twitter share button on your posts in order that your Twitter name/handle is automatically included. Tarana at Sand in My Toes has a great post explaining how to do this.
4. Include large and interesting images in your blog posts – or even graphics – particularly if you want your post to be shared in social media and encourage interaction.
5. Support bloggers you like by reading, commenting, sharing and subscribing to their posts.

My Social Media Links:
You can find me on Google+Twitter, PinterestFacebook

Thanks very much, Kriss. Lovely to know more about you and your blog. You’ve definitely been my G+ guru and inspiration, and I know I must make more effort there – you’ve reminded me to do so!

If you’ve any questions for Kriss, feel free to comment on this post, and she’ll pop by and check in. Next week, we will be hearing from Louise at At Home With Mrs H, so be sure to pop by for that on Tuesday morning. You can catch up the previous posts from other bloggers here, too, if you’ve missed them.

If you’d like to feature on The Blog Lowdown, just email me at [email protected] to get involved.

To ensure you don’t miss any blogger posts, you can now sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll always include The Blog Lowdown round up in those.

Other posts you might like:

My 20 Top Tips for Bloggers

A Blogger’s Guide to Pinterest

10 Tips to Get your Blogging Mojo Back

Follow on Bloglovin

Visit The Reading Residence’s profile on Pinterest.

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