As you can see, this isn’t really a post update. I wanted to bring your attention to the blog maintenance I have been up to lately. I announced on my Twitter account a few weeks ago about how I changed the look of my blog entirely. And if you frequent my blog often (for that I love you and think you are all awesome), you have already seen the new look. This post is more of an official announcement of the new things going on at simpleek.
Why the new blog look? Let’s just say I got bored with my old layout. I browsed around for free WordPress themes, as I’m not too advanced with Photoshop to create my own layout, and I found the current theme you see now. It’s clean, fresh, and simple. Just the way I like things. I’m also trying to find new ways to expand my blog. This brings me to the new pages.
I decided to add a more in-depth biography about myself after debating over it for a while, and after some fellow bloggers have persuaded me to create one. I don’t typically like to make it a habit to talk about myself too much and I tend to feel weird when I write these sort of bios up. You are here for a specific reason, not to hear about my life. But if it helps to know more about the person behind the blog and to show I’m an actual person and not some robot running the whole show, I’m glad to do it.
You may have noticed a ton of guest blogger posts being featured on my blog lately, instead of my own writings and viewpoints. Does this mean I’m writing less of my own stuff on simpleek? Of course not! I recently gathered a bunch of bloggers together who I correspond with on Twitter and follow on WordPress regularly, and posed the idea of doing a blog post swap.
The blog post swap is for us to trade articles to feature on our own respective blogs. Think of it as cross-promotion. I worked with those who had the time and were on board with the whole idea. It also helps that we follow each other and are very familiar with the type of content we put out daily or on a weekly basis.
The idea has been a success. It was fun trying to write something different or to just contribute to blogs we each loved reading on our own time. My goal was to help each other out by getting those who followed me, for instance, to follow my guest blogger’s blog or vice versa. I have seen spikes in readership on my blog and new followers as a result of this. My fellow guest bloggers have reported the same results.
I have created a page that showcases the guest bloggers of simpleek, complete with direct and accessible links. I have also included my own contributions to other people’s blogs, in case you missed reading them the first time. If you are interested in becoming a guest blogger for simpleek, I have updated the General Blog Info page to include what I’m looking for. I don’t have any harsh guidelines for featuring posts on my blog. If it’s well-written and it is related to what I post here, then there shouldn’t be any reason I won’t put it up.
If you wish to follow or contact me, I have added visible buttons for Facebook, Twitter, RSS Feed, and email at the very top of the right hand corner of my blog. It saves on scrolling down if you want a faster way to just click and sign up for updates, or if you have questions and comments for me.
More additions to my blog may be forthcoming, but it’s in the development stages. There are some exciting projects in the works for simpleek that involves collaborating with other fabulous bloggers/geeks. There isn’t much else I can say on the matter for now. Just know it’s exciting and my blog is branching out.
Be sure to check out my Blogroll with the many blogs/sites I have been reading and following. I quietly update this portion regularly. If you enjoy my stuff, I’m sure you will enjoy the folks who I have featured so prominently on my Blogroll. I hope you will continue to follow me and watch my blog grow!
simpleek 
I like your blog’s new look! So simple and clean ^_^
Thanks! I really like it too. It was time for a change, and this theme works for someone like me who isn’t a graphic designer whiz. 🙂
Your blog looks awesome! I really love how simple the layout is (plus I think we are using the same theme so that’s awesome) and how you have organized it all. Very cool 😀
Haha, thanks! Yeah, we are using the same one actually. 🙂 I was looking at all the themes available to WordPress and really liked the Forever theme. I mean, I didn’t change too much of what the default settings had, but I liked the layout. Just made some minor tweaks to make it my own.
I think I’ve said before, but I’m still loving the new layout! Also, the new bio’s great too! Personally, I like to know a bit more about the people whose blogs I follow, so I think it’s a nice touch. I agree it’s quite awkward writing those things though!
Thanks! 🙂 Yeah, I love reading other people’s bios, but when it comes to myself, I just never know what to write. Writing the one I have up now was difficult to put together. I think it’s a little easier to talk about yourself when you’re being interviewed. At least you are being asked a specific set of questions, as opposed to coming up with stuff you think someone else reading it might want to know about you or may not care to read.