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One of my first jobs I wanted to do at Baby Blog Addict was to lower the “bounce rate” and to get all you viewers to stay longer. So what is it exactly that makes people stay on a baby blog like ours or really any blog for that matter. How do you get people to keep coming back? We know a lot of our readers are bloggers and I hope this can help.

The question I kept asking myself was how focused should we be on the content versus improving the template?

Content Won

My answer to myself…… CONTENT always and I mean always wins! That is how you get a loyal following and a great community of readers. That is what we started with to get BBA readers back. Luckily we have a great family that was willing to put time and effort into this blog.  Amy and Alison have both been contributing their insights and if you haven’t read Ali’s Gestational Diabetes or Amy’s I Peed in My Pampers you should.

Template (Runner Up)

I am a very visual person and I love easy to navigate websites. And I am assuming everybody loves easy to navigate sites. That is one of the reasons we have changed our framework and template to StudioPress. There are so many great posts on BBA that are not easily found from the homepage. We are still working hard to customize the template so you will be able to find different articles very easily.

Is your blog easy to read? Can you find old articles fast?

So many blogs (ours included) out there have awesome articles to read but its trying to sift through what you don’t want to read to find that one you want to read that is chaotic.

So what is the answer…. What I do is go find popular blogs, on any topic and see exactly what they are doing and take bits and pieces of their ideas.

Content or template, template or content…… The true answer is YOU BETTER BE IMPROVING BOTH!

Happy Blogging

1.  Kelle Hampton (sorry just fixed the link)

What an inspiring mom and family.  One year ago she had a child with down syndrome and has been blogging about it since.  She raises money for the National Down Syndrome Society as well.  One of the must reads!

2.  4tunate

Raising FOUR boys at once?! In 2007 she had quad boys, just thinking about that is exhausting!  Although BBA is a little biased on 4tunate, we love her blog and believe if they can raise 4 boys at once, ANYTHING is possible.

3.  Dear Baby Blog

This blog is at the top of Top Baby Blogs for a reason!  Besides her great posts and her writing style, I love all the pictures she includes in the blog.  Awesome stuff from Melissa.

4.  Spearmint Baby

If you want ideas of baby rooms, clothes, activities and other baby things, Spearmint Baby shows all kinds of great ideas for moms.  Great pictures are included that will make you want to make these for your little one or buy it for your little one! It also takes on the slant of bargain shopping.

5.  The Crafty Nest

Well it says it in the title, but this blog is all about arts and crafts with directions and giveaways.

6.  Smart Mommy Healthy Baby

This blog is all about keeping yourself as well as your baby healthy.  A lot of great information on it that is very useful.

7. Steece’s Pieces

Her quote sums it up best, “Prayed for One, Blessed with Four”, another Quad mom blogger, which we also have had on BBA.  Great pictures on the blog! Must read!

8.  Rave and Review

Want great reviews and giveaways on baby and children products?  Well this site has it all.  Their slogan sums it up best “Honest and In-Depth product reviews for the stuff families use”.

9.  Bringing up Bumble

This baby blog is fairly like all other mom blogs except with great videos! In this day in age, we all are video junkies and this blog has some great videos to go along with their written content.

10.  Future DILF

We had to throw in a dad blog and this one made it.  Some interesting reads and very funny.

There is our 10 Great Baby Blogs You Have To Read!  We know we missed some out there and hopefully you will come through and help our readers by commenting below and sharing the blogs you like the most!  Hopefully we helped your ADDICTION!

Seeking information, community, and escape, new moms are spending more and more time on the web. How much is too much?

I was scrolling through family photos on my computer, admiring my two beautiful babies, when I spotted a disturbing trend: My laptop was open in almost all of the pictures. There’s my daughter, at 8 months, playing at my feet while I typed away on the couch. There’s me and my son, a year later, with the laptop at my side as I held him in my arms.

I’d heard about Internet addiction before, but always assumed it was something limited to socially challenged guys who played too much World of Warcraft. Now it seemed my Internet “habit” was slowly but surely crossing the line. Sometimes I found myself up into the wee hours of the morning, surfing the web while my family slept. I read the news, kept up with friends, and looked up answers to endless questions. I wrote my personal blog and read dozens of others, just for something to do.

It turns out I’m not the only mama who plugs in and zones out.

Read more…

Here’s an example from Amy in Alabama:
“I confess…I am hooked on blogs. It doesn’t even matter to me if I don’t know the people. I just love linking over to other blogs from people that I do know. I feel like I have a ‘spying’ addiction.”

And Emily in Texas:
“I like to read them because I have an infant myself, and its fun to “compare notes” with other moms. I don’t feel so alone this way knowing that there are others going through the same thing, or worse things! I just started a baby blog about my own son, but I’m writing it from his point of view to make it more interesting. I’m finding that its challenging to do this, to keep it both interesting and entertaining. So far, friends and family think its cute without being too ga-ga.”

Don’t be shy. Admitting your problem is the first step! E-mail your stories to babyblogaddict[at]yahoo.com or leave a comment here.

72%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Editor’s note: We posted this a year ago, but thought it was worth revisiting.

• Internet addiction…is becoming so common that at least one psychiatrist says it merits inclusion in psychiatry’s official handbook of mental illness, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”
  
• …But other doctors comment that Internet addiction, while it may be real, is too new of a condition and needs further study before being medically classified.

Of course I thought about us Baby Blog Addicts while reading the article and chuckled because they were talking about people waaaaay beyond us, right? Until I got to the part that said, “Recent studies are surprising, indicating the problem is worst not among game-obsessed teens, but rather among middle-aged women who stay at home, constantly on the computer as a way of connecting to the outside world.”

I guess we need to feature a 12 step program soon!

She writes:

…”The Baby Blog” has become a virtual baby book and more, highlighting more milestones than her bound baby book could ever hold.

…I read several mommy blogs each day…I don’t know any of these women or their families, yet I feel like I know everything about them.

…And though I don’t know these women, I have cried my eyes out, peed my pants laughing and been angry enough to spit bullets with them. I can relate to their stories, look forward to similar happenings in my life and thank God I’m not them when something goes beyond wrong. I look to these women for support, advice and a friend.

Send it all to editor@babyblogaddict.com. Many others have come forward and admitted their problem, now it’s your turn!

The different sections mentioned above can be found down the right side of the page under “Addict Links.”

The Malones told us their baby blog addiction story, now it’s your turn. Send your stories to editor@babyblogaddict.com.

Send your stories to editor@babyblogaddict.com.